sutebun 0 Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 Heyyy! I lived in Miyagi-ken last year and went boarding around the Zao area during the 09-10 season. I've moved to Tokyo now and am getting ready for the next season! I wanna hit the mountain several times this season and have been laying plans for day trips from Tokyo, trying to include a variety of places and be economical. It seems like DAY BUSES are the cheapest way to get on the mountain. Any experts out there that can correct me if I'm wrong?? My plan for the season is something like this: Nozawa (once in December while it's cheap), karuizawa, white world (ozeiwakura), Hakuba Goryu, Inawashiro, Centleleisure Maiko, others??? I also want to go to Naeda/Kagura but those are quite expensive (and the time on the mountain is low) compared to others. Most of these places I can get the bus fee + lift ticket for around 4,000 to 6,000 yen depending on the day and the place. I will be spreading my trips around, going probably twice in December (20th and some other day later), then 3 times in each Jan/Feb/March (3 times each month). Because of my schedule I will always be taking day trips on Monday. There are lots of companies doing shuttles, but it seems like they all offer the same destinations from Tokyo. If anyone has some comments about the places I listed please share! I don't need the biggest and best places to go to all the time but want something which can offer some excitement. If I were to use Zao as an example, I don't need to go to Zao-onsen resort every weekend, but something at least at around the same size as Eboshi is what I would like. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 I would scratch Karuizawa off your list, don't think its worth it. Those day buses won't get you there until about 10 or 11am, you know that right? If you wanna get there for first lift then you'll have to take the night buses, you leave tokyo at 11-11.30pm and get there the next day about 6 or 7am depending on where you are going. Naeba and Kagura and the other Yuzawa ski-jo's are easily accessed by the Shinkansen, you can get a deal in peak season for about 12k return shink incl. your lift ticket which isn't that bad (but of course more expensive than the buses). Depends on what you wanna do and how comfortable/fast you want to get there. I'd check out Ishiuchi and GALA (I haven't been to GALA yet but I'm gonna go this year), Joetsu Kokusai also gets good reports. Actually I've just noticed that you'll be taking trips on Mondays, I guess first lift isn't so important as the places aren't that busy midweek. Shiga Kogen is also awesome but I think you can only take the night bus there, no day bus service and a day return trip by shink isn't really worth it in my opinion by the time you get the shuttle bus from Nagano station to the ski area. Nozawa Onsen is also a good destination but again the same applies. Link to post Share on other sites
RobBright 35 Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 Karuizawa - AVOID! Link to post Share on other sites
RobBright 35 Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 And how have you not been to Gala tubby? Am surprised with that actually. Seriously. To the OP, while buses are cheaper than shinkansen deals, they are also more hassle, as sometimes the required bus is a bit of a trek from the station, yes you, bus to hakuza from shinjuku, 10 mins walk through the station, then 10min from station to bus stop! Kagura - you can easily spend about 8hours of your day on that mountain if you get the right shinkansen. Last season, I was waking up at 5am, and boarding at 9am, and finishing at 5pm or so.. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 Let's Gala! Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 Have a Gala day! Link to post Share on other sites
RobBright 35 Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 Originally Posted By: Cilla ga-la luvs Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 Just hadn't been, looking at the height etc of the hill, I've always favoured Kagura BUT last year I went to Ishiuchi which is connected to it at the top (right?!) and the snow there was great. So this year I'm gonna give GALA a whrl Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 On a weekday when it's not crowded, I prefer Gala. And with the Southern Area open again - the best area - it should be good this year. Looking forward to it. Just best to avoid holidays as lots of the runs are fairly narrow and it's not fun when it's congested. When it's not busy at all and lots of fresh snow, it's great. They get some fine snow up there. In the Southern Area, lots of it is untouched, I have been scarily deep in it over there when I was still perhaps not good enough to be over there. Link to post Share on other sites
RobBright 35 Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 That is true - Gala at the weekends is a hell hole - have to wait 10/15mins sometimes for a 3min run. Link to post Share on other sites
Slippery Jim 65 Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 Day trips by bus to Nozawa and Goryu? Hardly seems worth doing, unless you take the overnight bus as TB suggests. For days trips I'd join the chorus for Kagura or Gala by shinkansen. Even if it costs an extra couple of thousand, the added time on snow and reduced hassle make that well worthwhile. Link to post Share on other sites
sutebun 0 Posted November 16, 2010 Author Share Posted November 16, 2010 Are there any special shinkansen ticket+lift ticket combos out there? Just looked at prices and a one-way ride to Yuzawa would be about 3000 yen it seems. Making the whole day cost around 10,000 or more, a little pricey for me. Yeah, I've looked at the night buses too. I'm not ruling them out yet at all. They are a little more expensive but you get a lot more slope time. I'm probably going to end up taking day buses to places which are closer and cheaper and don't have as a good a reputation to save money, and then will take the cash hit and take some night buses out to the places where the good boarding is supposed to be : ) But spending 10,000 yen every trip isn't an option for me, unless I want to go a lot less. This is only my third year boarding so I'm still not too picky. And thanks for the advice so far!!! Link to post Share on other sites
RobBright 35 Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 yeah, do a search on here for jr east deals and there should be a thread. All JR stations with a view plaza also have brochues too. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 night buses aren't that much more expensive, especially since you are gonna go on a Monday, there won't really be a "cash hit" to speak of. JR do shink + lift ticket deals, there is a thread on here called Kagura & Naeba (or maybe Yuzawa) where me and Rob and a few others have dug out the early season prices for the JR shink deals Link to post Share on other sites
Mick Rich 78 Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 This is really useful info for me too - cheers guys! Link to post Share on other sites
RobBright 35 Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 look here Cheap deal thread (old) 1 and here for cheap return 4 day tickets And direct link to the JR East View plaza. And in a while, muikabochi will come in complaining about the lack of cheap reverse tickets. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 Originally Posted By: RobBright look here Cheap deal thread (old) 1 and here for cheap return 4 day tickets And direct link to the JR East View plaza. And in a while, muikabochi will come in complaining about the lack of cheap reverse tickets. actually I guess its the same as the rant I had about the same flights being cheaper from the UK to Japan than the Japan to UK route we have to buy Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 I think it's really unfair that there are no cheap day returns to Tokyo from Yuzawa. Link to post Share on other sites
iiyamadude 6 Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 Yeah I really wouldn't be mad on a day trip to Nozzle from Tokyo - it doesn't make much sense really. You need at least one night preferebly more. Save the day trips to Yuzawa and the likes. Link to post Share on other sites
sutebun 0 Posted November 17, 2010 Author Share Posted November 17, 2010 Re-evaluating everything and changing stuff around. The night bus prices just got released and while a little more expensive than day buses their prices aren't too bad. A lot of the nicer resorts have decent A/B prices in December and Jan, so I am going to hit up Happone in December, and Goryu and Joetsu in January. In between those I'll be taking trips to cheaper places as well! Feb. prices look so expensive though...I might end up doing a trip to Kagura or Gala since everything is so expensive in Feb. anyway. If anyone would like a Japanese site with some good bus prices from Tokyo PM me~ Can't wait for this season.....!!! So many new mountains to try!!! Buying a new (used) snowboard this week!! Link to post Share on other sites
linalmeemow 0 Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 Avoid Karuizawa. Gala is great (though the runs are short) on a weekday. As everyone else has said, it supposedly gets stupidly busy at the weekend. Joetsu Kokusai is good. Link to post Share on other sites
beowulf 1 Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 Why should people avoid Karuizawa? I have never been there, so I do not know why it is bad. I am just curious, because everybody seems to agree that it is bad. It is probably a bit too expensiveã€but you could try Minakami. Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 Karuizawa is more about the shopping and family stuff than skiing. And they don't get that much real snow. There's just tons of places better than there. Unless you want to go shopping. Link to post Share on other sites
sand 17 Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 Originally Posted By: Sutebun Heyyy! It seems like DAY BUSES are the cheapest way to get on the mountain. Any experts out there that can correct me if I'm wrong?? Nozawa (once in December while it's cheap), karuizawa, white world (ozeiwakura), Hakuba Goryu, Inawashiro, Centleleisure Maiko, others??? I also want to go to Naeda/Kagura but those are quite expensive (and the time on the mountain is low) compared to others. Most of these places I can get the bus fee + lift ticket for around 4,000 to 6,000 yen depending on the day and the place. I will be spreading my trips around, going probably twice in December (20th and some other day later), then 3 times in each Jan/Feb/March (3 times each month). Because of my schedule I will always be taking day trips on Monday. A skiers perspective: White World become a favourite of mine last year. During mid week there was no or extremely little wait for the lifts. Very consistant snow, and a large vertical for the price. The 3 kickers for beginner and intermediate level huckers were good fun. I also tried Oze Tokura, just up the road which didn't off the same amount of vertical or terrain as White World, but had far better park facilities, bigger kickers and rails. I also visited Kawaba, which I found OK, and has the potential for some nice looking tree runs if there's some new pow. Also a bit closer than White World, with arrival time around 10AM. Hakuba Goryu is not bad, but if you take the morning bus it will be after 12 by the time you get on the hill. A very reasonable option if your planning to stay there a night or 2 and get home some otherway cheap way, such as by Keio bus. Remember if you go on a Monday which is a public holiday you will have at least a couple hour delay when arriving back to Tokyo due to traffic. Also important to remember is that these buses don't have a toilet, so don't make the mistake of thinking you can enjoy a beer or 2 after you finish riding as you may be peeing your pants before the bus makes a rest stop. Link to post Share on other sites
mina2 6 Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 Originally Posted By: beowulf Why should people Karuizawa? I have never been there, so I do not know why it is bad. I am just curious, because everybody seems to agree that it is bad. It is probably a bit too expensiveã€but you could try Minakami. It suits some people. Just not if you are just wanting to ski as others said there are tons of much better places with better snow. Link to post Share on other sites
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