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Well at least according to the Niigata Nippo newspaper the other day.

 

For the first time in 10 years, numbers of snow riders increased, with Akakura seeing a nearly 10% increase. So it says here.

 

Also says that Arai resort took a whopping 15% decrease this season. eek.gif

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Im not going to get into the Arai debate again I got beat up over it before. I hope that resort hangs on cause there policy of opening up terrian could help Japan as a whole to open up a bit more.

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 Quote:
Originally posted by Fattwins:
You can ski extreme terrain inMyoko if you know where to look.
Ahh...there you go again Fattwins. You`re such a teaser! ;\)

I don`t get why/how Akakura Onsen would get an increased number of visitors. From all the "gasshuku" uni-students probably(cuz I saw lots of them...many behaving like dumb asses and had no manner)? That ski area is not worth going all the way out there for, in my opinion.
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Suginohara hike above the highest chair or go extreme skiers right. extreme right is to be skied with care do a slow firtst run to get an idea of what your sking. above the lift has small cliffs and a natural gullie.grest quater pipe making spot.

 

As for Akakura my Japanese friend skis there and swears that it has the best longest open powder and chute that you can hit without hiking. (this guy hates hiking) Of of one of the lifts you can hit some good OB, but be carefl its steep and it is slide prone. clap.gif

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Hello

 

I have not seen the Niigata Nippo article, though I am looking forward to reading further on SJ this summer concerning stats for the season.

 

ARAI had a good start to the season just finished, with numbers up compared to the last white season for both December and January; However, the latter half of the season was disappointing.

 

I learned this year about the "CNN effect", and how when a big thing such as the Iraq War is unfolding, alot of persons stay home and watch TV rather than go out boarding for example. I feel this "CNN effect" hampered the latter half of the season's attendance.

 

Though the Half Pipe guys did their best to keep the pipe open, it was done by the end of Golden Week as opposed to previous seasons where it was still open into mid May.

 

Blair.

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CNN effect? You're kidding right? wakaranai.gif

 

So maybe we can conclude that with Akakura getting a 10% increase in guests, their demographics are non-CNN viewers.

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Things like this are usually more complicated than they seem. It's not difficult for a resort with nearby competitors (e.g. Akakura) to increase numbers by discounting aggressively and drawing customers away from their neighbours. Hakuba Iwatake did this last year, but it resulted in a large fall in revenue for them and difficult-to-prove but no doubt negative effects on the other resorts too.

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I'll just add that I wasn't disagreeing with the "bad year for Arai". I was saying that there may be more to the "good year for Myoko" than meets the eye.

 

According to the Hakuba Shimbun, in 01-02 large discounts meant that Iwatake's revenue fell considerably despite them getting 20% more customers that season. For this season, they raised the prices of their day tix-lunch-onsen set by 300 yen.

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Hello

 

I learned about the snow industry in Japan by working at ARAI, and base most of my observations from what I see at this resort.

 

I'd like to hear more from the readers of this thread concerning their own theories on the numbers in the Niigata Nippo article.

 

Blair.

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If there's plenty of snow, I don't see any reason to drive any further north than Nozawa, either to Miyoko or Arai.

 

Maybe this year there was enough snow at other cheaper resorts so that more people went to them rather than Arai. I think it's far more likely that regular riders begin to economise towards the end of the season and stop going to more expensive places than that they were glued to their TVs in the run up to war. I certainly started seeking out the cheaper, closer places towards the end.

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I read a great article in Bravoski about Myoko and Seki onsen. Shane Szocs and the Line team came over this past season. While they were here there wasnt any powpow, while Niseko did \:D , but it still got me stoked to go there after seeing the pictures!!

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 Quote:
Originally posted by Ocean11:
If there's plenty of snow, I don't see any reason to drive any further north than Nozawa, either to Miyoko or Arai.
Well we weren't going as far as you, but a little variety is nice. I like the terrain at Arai. I heard good things about Myoko but didn't get to check it out. Actually from Nagano-shi it can take longer to get to Nozawa than Arai (if you take the express way). Especially longer if you are stuck waiting for Zwelgen's perpetually slow morning skiing preparation. \:D
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