ippy 66 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Yes dad, youre right. but not that one Ive got ten days (feb 17th to 27th) and a stack of restrictions. 1. I need somewhere in cheapish reach of chubu airport (gunma, aichi, nagano, niigata id say). 2. I want to hit slackcountry features. 3. I wish i had a split board, but alas id be bootpacking and probably on my own. So maximum pow with minimum risk. 4. I needs pow and trees and untracked as possible. 5. It needs to be accessible by public transport and also have nice cheap accommodation. So where should i go. Kagura sounds easy enough to reach but would it be honestly worth the bother leaving behind myoko for it? I mean myoko ticks the boxes right, i can just shuffle up the closed lift at the top of suginohara and hit lines up there all day, then bomb down in the trees and under the lifts? And then theres seki down the road... Basically anywhere thats going to beat the crap out of my very biased nostalgic love of myoko? Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Kagura is easy enough to reach*, but from where? Are you wanting to go from Myoko to Kagura for a few days, or just spend all your time at Kagura? *10 mins from Echigo Yuzawa Station / Yuzawa IC. Which is 80 mins from Tokyo via Shinkansen. Or 60 minutes from Niigata via Shinkansen. Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 i reckon the central point is nagano and then hitting stuff from there. Might make it a three day trip or so, is it worth the bother or you reckon the time would be better spent myoko/nozawa/hakuba (have to hit hakuba even if only for an afternoon just because i need to see if that dude will split my board for me). Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 To get to Kagura from Nagano, you will need to get over to Echigo Yuzawa which is a 100+ minute drive, then another 15 to Kagura. Not very convenient by train either. Personally, I would be very pleased to stay with Nozawa, Myoko, and Hakuba and Shiga Kogen. There's more than enough there. Remember though I'm over-familiar with Kagura. Of course, with Kagura you've got Naeba attached too, though sounds like Kagura is more what you are looking for. Link to post Share on other sites
Mick Rich 78 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 I'll be interested to see how this unfolds as I'm planning something remarkably similar in mid-March, on my way back from Furano!! Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 Cheers for that! Sounds like a pain then Can you think of any other places that fill the criteria and are reasonably within range of nagano? (ie, 2 or so hours away to the main hub). You know, little powder magical lands like seki (not so secret i know) tucked away that no one but grizzly locals know about? Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Isn't Shiga/Myoko/Nozzle/Hakuba enough!? Hows about Sugadaira? (Dunno myself) Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 tcha! i used to live in suzaka. No thanks! And yeah it is, but i do it every year so was thinking of branching out this time into niigata to some super super secret place that gives me trees and pow all day Link to post Share on other sites
iiyamadude 6 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Ryuoo Ski Park? Link to post Share on other sites
iiyamadude 6 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 BM posted a good report http://www.snowjapanforums.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/397162/1.html Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 ive only seen that place driving past it on a bus. Isnt it like this MASSIVE drop attached to a baby run? Whats there? Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Going off topic a bit, but you didn't like Sugadaira? Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 oooh! you ninja editer That place looks great. Can you hit those trees? on the skiers right side easy enough in the shot that looks right down the mountain, because if they arent as tightly packed as they look, im so there! And er, <cough> never went, but i lived in suzaka and that was enough to make me never go there Actually i loved suzaka, but getting there was a pain without a car. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 You lived there and never went up the hill? What kind of gnarliness is that?! Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 lazygnass? Actually could be fun to do a day there. I might see some of my old students Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 Ive been sat on this site all night reading trip reports, and its slowly dawning on me i need to hit up shiga kogen. I never did it before (even though i lived on the train line), because the whole mythos surrounding it ("you MUST have a car to truly enjoy it") always put me off. so lets say i spend a few days at myoko, a couple at ryuoo, and the rest minus 1 (splitboard run to hakuba before i leave) at shiga? Sounds like a plan? But the only place i actually knew was ryuoo, and turns out thats not even in shiga... 2 secs, ill try and do some of my own research for a tiny change hang on! Are my eyes deceiving me? Is it really just 4 quite big resorts? Actually make that 1 MASSIVE resort! For the sake of pure intellectual curiosity, but could you snowboard from one side of shiga all the way to the other just by carefully choosing lifts? If you can, what a fun place? Id be lapping that just to say i did I might even spend all ten days there! I assume you cant and theres actually a bit of space between them... but anyone with a bit of sneaky knowledge? If it can be done, by god! it NEEDS to be done! I assume though if it can be done it would have been done and the fact it probably hasnt been done shows that im looking at a ski map equivalent of the london underground map Link to post Share on other sites
Mick Rich 78 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Someone please put this man out of his misery! Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 as far as I'm aware the lifts link together, I didn't do this when I went there, I was based over next to Ichinose Takenonahara or something along those lines. Terrakoya, Tanne-no-mori, Ichinose and Yakebitaiyama were more than enough. I loved the place Link to post Share on other sites
iiyamadude 6 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 No 100%. The bit between Kumanoyu/Yokoteyama in the south is not connected or skiable - you need to take a short bus ride for that. Then again, you might not want to because Kumanoyu is skiers-only. Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 say if for example you were an obnoxious snowboarder, and started at shibutouge, how on earth do they stop you riding all the way back down to maeyama? I mean id understand if they made the whole area there skier only and i have nothing against skier only if thats what they want (hey! we all got to get people to our resorts somehow?), but that looks like a straight run down under the gondola right there! and if not, it looks very much connected. Sure i cant ride it back up, but riding it down seems, well, inevitable. And speaking of inevitable. I was up till 1.30 last night hunting for some kind of knackered digs in that place for a single person just bombing the terrain. I have been led to believe that in fact the bottom prices are a cool 6 or 7,000 yen pppnt! And thats based on two people sharing. I assume theres a premium if its just you on your own. You dont HAVE to give me actual cheap places (though itd be nice), but just tell me theres something out there in the 3-4k range, or something that has a sick package with a lift pass making it doable. 11k per day, scran not inclusive, is pretty much spanners in the plan. Link to post Share on other sites
best skier in hakuba 5 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 It's not a gondola. And Shibutoge is actually "over the hill" on the other side to Yokoteyama, and a tiny run really. The map doesn't quite show it well. Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 Dudes i have some really odd questions: 1. Is there a bus+lift package deal for nagano ---> shiga, myoko or ryuoo? I cant see one and assume thats my answer, but thought id check. 2. If shiga kogen is too expensive (it is), would it be feasible to base ones self at kita shiga kogen? Prices there are reasonable sounding. Yudanaka is also an option but seems a bit of a pain. 3. Being on your own is a gigantic pain in the ass. Its either a 2000 premium for an empty bed, or no option at all for booking. Anyone have any info on accommodation in shiga/ryuoo thats around 4k (no meals) and not trying to gouge me because i have no friends? At this rate its gonna be hakuba/myoko yet again :'( Ah well, theres worse things at sea Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 I would have thought getting to Shiga Kogen from Ryuoo Ski Park would be more than from Yudanaka. After all, Yudanaka is between the two (ie. between Ryuoo Ski Park and Shiga Kogen). You just need to get more money, ippy What about the Nozzle, and staying in Togari which will be cheaper. Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 it would actually be cute to hit togari! its the place i learned to link my first turn It also has that run/non run that i couldnt even look over the edge of because i got vertigo but which i later found out was about 37 degrees and not the 70-80 i always believed it to be! And even if i had more money id still be trying to find the cheap ass option. Its something hardwired in my brain Link to post Share on other sites
Mick Rich 78 Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Originally Posted By: ippy Its something hardwired in my brain or those Scottish genes perhaps? I could help your cashflow by giving you 10K for the Charlie Slasher Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts