blueyonder 0 Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Need your help guys to decide where to ski.My wife and I are in our 50's and are not so much into massive vertical or off-piste deep powder nowadays.We do like long cruisy runs in varied and scenic terrain though,especially if there is a foot or so of fresh on top! We prefer resorts with a more Japanese feel,a few bars and restaurants and access to other close resorts. We are starting in Zao onsen for a few days and then will base ourselves in perhaps two other resorts.We have a total of 3 weeks and will just move resorts when the fancy takes us. Which two out of Echigo Yuzawa,Nozawa Onsen,Akakura Onsen,and Shiga Kogen would suit us best? Will be also spending a few days around Takayama but may have shipped our skis back to Tokyo by then. Cheers for your help..Dave Link to post Share on other sites
Gunma Boarder 14 Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 I asked a similar question recently and everyone said I should go to Nozawa Onsen. Here's the link to the thread. It might be worth a read. http://www.snowjapanforums.com/index.php/topic/22336-where-should-i-go/page__p__465585__hl__nozawa__fromsearch__1?do=findComment&comment=465585 Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Akakura Onsen is pretty small but just around the corner is Suginohara with one of the longest runs in Japan. It's a decent sized resort with quite a few options. Link to post Share on other sites
NECK 14 Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Nozawa Onsen for sure! Like Black Mountain said, Myoko Suginohara would suit your needs too Link to post Share on other sites
hellyer 216 Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 As the guys said above, Nozawa ticks most of your boxes AND there is a ski shuttle bus service between Nozawa, Togari Onsen and Madarao Kogen for more ski variety. Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 If youre just after a long cruisy run in a beautiful environment im gonna go ahead and suggest "japan's longest on piste run!": Myoko Suginohara. You shoudl also play in nozawa as well though. But Have a day or two in akakura onsen for apres stuffs and head to suginohara for a spot of pow and joy. Link to post Share on other sites
hellyer 216 Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 If youre just after a long cruisy run in a beautiful environment im gonna go ahead and suggest "japan's longest on piste run!": Myoko Suginohara. You shoudl also play in nozawa as well though. But Have a day or two in akakura onsen for apres stuffs and head to suginohara for a spot of pow and joy. yes but that run's 50% mind numbingly boringly flat. The top runs there however are good Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Its not downhill quality and the gradients are in the low teens from the middle down, but the OP literally described exactly this so i reckons its perfect.Its actually one of the prettiest runs ive done. Top to bottom its one of those perfect runs that make you love snowboarding or skiing or whatever you do. I didnt notice at the time of posting, but BM also recommended it so there you go. Two votes for suginohara since it ticks pretty much all your boxes. Nozawa is also great but its a bit... muddling and not altogether suited for cruising unless you take the green run off paradise. The rest of it though is cluster****: skyline; ushikubi; schneider. Its also got a broken fall line of you want to ride top to skyline, and a near broken one if you want to ride either of the other two (unless youre carrying decent speed past the top of the gondola). And if theres pow, uenotaira gets slow and the little green looping run at paradise is almost immovable (too flat). Thats not to say you shouldnt run nozawa, but i honestly think of the two and based on what the OP wrote, suginohara a kip at akakura, then a day out at akakan would be great. Then its just train back to toyono, switch to the iiyama line and off to nozawa. Easy peasy (or get the bus). Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Myoko and Nozawa are pretty close to each other so if you were going from Zao down to there then you could hit both areas fairly easily I reckon. Theres also a few other resorts dotted around there that might tickle your fancy for a day....Togari, Madarao and Ryuo spring to mind. Link to post Share on other sites
hellyer 216 Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Ipps. I love Suginohara too - been there three times - I just don't love 50% of the longest run in Japan. Love the rest of it and suggest Blueyonder goes there also Though when a Kiwi skier says they want a cruizy run they usually means stepping back a bit from this- To something more gentle like this- Isn't that right my gnarly antipodean neighbours? Pics are from Treble Cone my home hill when in NZ Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 hahaha, kk, Link to post Share on other sites
blueyonder 0 Posted January 8, 2013 Author Share Posted January 8, 2013 Great replies and many thanks for them. Nozawa and Myoko seem to be getting the raps. Loved the pics of Treble snowjunky.Was a ski-bum in Queenstown in early 80's,was a lifty on Coronet etc and both my kiddies were born there.Wonderful days. Having skied in Europe,Colorado and Japan, I am now a bit of a snow-snob.NZ and OZ skiing is mainly club fields for their character..don't like getting fleeced by the white shoe brigade..Cheers to all..Dave Link to post Share on other sites
skiwi 0 Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Ipps. I love Suginohara too - been there three times - I just don't love 50% of the longest run in Japan. Love the rest of it and suggest Blueyonder goes there also Though when a Kiwi skier says they want a cruizy run they usually means stepping back a bit from this- To something more gentle like this- Isn't that right my gnarly antipodean neighbours? Pics are from Treble Cone my home hill when in NZ Haha thats right mate, Treble Cone certainly has some nice steeps and chutes... suffice to say Treble Cone and cruizy don't usually go in the same sentence. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Those pics look very much like Mt Granview to me. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Ross 4 Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Shiga is pretty incredibale as well but no town ship. When are you heading over Blueyonder. Link to post Share on other sites
hellyer 216 Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Hey Roscoe, thanks again for the mags mate, I kept more than half of them! Have you remembered that hotel name yet? Link to post Share on other sites
blueyonder 0 Posted January 8, 2013 Author Share Posted January 8, 2013 Arrive in Zao on 5th Feb Roscoe..Dave Link to post Share on other sites
alexeiw123 2 Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Ipps. I love Suginohara too - been there three times - I just don't love 50% of the longest run in Japan. Love the rest of it and suggest Blueyonder goes there also Though when a Kiwi skier says they want a cruizy run they usually means stepping back a bit from this- To something more gentle like this- Isn't that right my gnarly antipodean neighbours? Pics are from Treble Cone my home hill when in NZ Haha thats right mate, Treble Cone certainly has some nice steeps and chutes... suffice to say Treble Cone and cruizy don't usually go in the same sentence. treble cone is one of the greatest places I've ever skiied. not for snow quality though, but just everywhere is so much fun. Link to post Share on other sites
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