Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Snow-closed roads to Fukushima dictated Plan B: Mt. JEANS in Tochigi. A place I had visited once before, and had been wanting to revisit for a while. Impressions: indeed, this place caters almost entirely to intermediates, with only one novice course and one expert course. Though they have added a kid's area since last time I visited, with sledding and banana boat rides. The temperature was just around freezing, so though there was new snow from the previous night, the piste-side powder was fairly heavy and sticky. Like skiing through cotton-candy. So best to stick to center on-piste. Perhaps the best part was the views from the top of the chairlifts. Low-lying layer of clouds below, and a higher layer of clouds above, with expansive views between the layers, made for a top-of-the-world (or between-worlds) feeling. My lousy photography doesn't do it justice. But, some pics. Nantai-san, in Nikko next to Chuzenji-ko, seen on the drive there: View from top of the high-speed quad: Monoskier: Mt. Tsukuba (double-peaked mountain to the right) seen from Mt. JEANS gelaende: View from top of #2 pair lift: Of course, it would be a crime against gastronomy to visit Tochigi without sampling the famous Utsunomiya gyoza. Fried Utsunomiya gyoza: Yes, it was yummy. All-in-all, previous impressions were confirmed: Mt. JEANS is not a bad place to spend a day, especially for intermediates -- not much for beginners or experts (only one course each for them, with all the rest of the courses being ranked intermediate). Access is super-easy from the Kanto area. Wouldn't get a season pass there, but wouldn't mind spending a day there once a season or so, either. The views, on the other hand, are almost worth a visit alone. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Love the views, looks great... Want to go! Link to post Share on other sites
nippontiger 8 Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Mount Tsukuba! I guess on a clear day, you could see my house! I think it would be just to the right and about 20km beyond mount Tsukuba! Link to post Share on other sites
brit-gob 9 Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Love low clouds like that. Thanks for sharing Metabo. No cheese this time? Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 No cheese this time? Mea culpa. In my defense, I did have Utsunomiya gyoza. That should be worth something. Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Those gyoza do look good. Crispy? Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 Yes -- deep-fried. Link to post Share on other sites
hellyer 216 Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 That is a beautiful drive from Nikko to Chuzenji -ko and a great view over the lake when you get there. But watch out for the pesky monkeys. Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Looks very pretty. How far away from you is that place MO? Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted January 27, 2012 Author Share Posted January 27, 2012 How far away from you is that place MO? It's in reasonable day-trip range. Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts