ozsnowbum 9 Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Hey, long time lurker, I thought I'd post and ask for advice on my plans next season. This will be my 4th season in Japan and I've always dreamed of doing a bit of cardanchi around honshu. I am landing sometime late december. My plan is to hire a toyota suceed or probox from Toyota @ 120000yen/month for 2 months and drive up to aomori and then back down to nagano hitting as many resorts as I can and then probably spend my final month around hakuba or thereabouts. I'll probably stay in a hostel once or twice a week and the rest of the time just sleep in the car and shower at onsens. I'll rent one a mobile wifi unit so I still have internet everywhere I go. I've got a -40 degree sleeping bag that I use to go touring with along with a thermarest pad so I think I should be ok for warmth but I'll keep an eye on temperature forecasts and if its super freezing Ill grab a bed for the night. After some research I've listed a bunch of resorts that are on my hit list. My route will be up the east side of honshu and then back down the west side so I've listed the following resorts in that order. I'm not sure whether or not this is the best route and Im open to suggestions on ideas that might be better depending on whether there will be snow around minowa around late december for example. I'll spend more time at the bigger resorts obviously and the ones I really like and Ill skip the ones that people here think arent worth going to. I basically went through the reviews and trail maps on this website picking the ones that looked good. so starting from narita ill drive up to: minowa inawashio alts bandai grandeco snow resort kuriko kokusai zao onsen Kurobushi Kogen Snow Park Jangle Jungle geto kogen Wagacho Iwasaki Shinden Shizukuishi tazawako AKITA appi kogen hakkoda naqua shirakami niigata Joetsu Kokusai Maiko Snow Resort, Ishiuchi Maruyama gala yuzawa iwaparra kandatsu kogen naeba/kagura tenjin Okutone Snow Park Minikami Houdaigi Oze Iwakura Marunuma Kogen kawaba Sugadaira Kogen kusatsu kokusai manza onsen shiga kogen Ryuoo Kogen Makinoiri Snow Park Togakushi myoko suginohara akakura, seki onsen charmant hiuchi Kashimayari and drop the car off at nagano. Note I've already ridden these resorts niseko rusutsu chisenpurri niseko moiwa saporro teine saporro kokusai hakuba goryu hakuba 47 hakuba norikura hakuba cortina hakuba tsugaike hakuba yanaba hakuba iwatake hakuba highland hakuba minekata happo one nozawa onsen madarao kogen tangram Thoughts? Link to post Share on other sites
cal 6 Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Hi You need to be a bit more adventurous and go for a few more places. Nothing wrong with variation you know! Link to post Share on other sites
Wizz 11 Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Excellent stoked for you. But you missed off Mt Granview. Homework lacking somewhat there ozsnowbum! Link to post Share on other sites
ozsnowbum 9 Posted May 31, 2013 Author Share Posted May 31, 2013 my only small concerns are finding places to park and sleep. i know resort/hotel carparks are fine as ive seen/talked to others that have done that. are seicomart/lawson/711 carparks ok to sleep in? the other thing will be finding onsens to bathe in but i see that the bigger resorts tend to have onsens around. i hear that tolls are expensive in japan? any idea of what this kind of trip would add up to? Link to post Share on other sites
gozaimaas 61 Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Finding places to sleep is no problem. I did the same thing in hokkaido for 6 weeks. Coldest night was -21 and i was never cold in my -10 synthetic bag. Onsen is your shower. Resort is your bathroom. I used a pupuru have it sent before you leave and pick it up at the airport. Link to post Share on other sites
gozaimaas 61 Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Also stay off toll roads theyre way too expensive. It hard at first but you will be a toll dodging guru after a week or two. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Easier said than done on travelling the length of Honshu. You can still do it but it'll take a lot longer Link to post Share on other sites
onehunga 26 Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 If you are worried about tolls I'd drop Manza Onsen off your list, the only way to get there is on a toll road. Have to pay going in and out. Once you work out how to use the Nav system you will be able to find routes that don't have tolls, it will add a bit of time, but given the number of resorts you want to go to the travelling time between won't be that much extra. Try using google directions to see the time difference between places you intend to go, see if the difference is acceptable. Link to post Share on other sites
snowdude 44 Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 I would say if it fits your budget just use the toll roads where the ilittle roads are likely to be to small and not practicle especially if the distance between resorts is a bit far. Basically just use the toll roads to reach each group of resorts if you feel you are pushed for time. One thing to bare in mind that if there is likely to be a major snow storm during the night you may end up with your car half buried by the morning which may make actually getting out of your car a tad difficult. I would recommend using some accomodation if the weathet is looking like major snow. Sounds like a cool plan though driving around visiting as many resorts as you can. Hope you have fun. Link to post Share on other sites
ozsnowbum 9 Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 thanks guys. toll roads arent a huge concern, but id obviously like to avoid getting stung with like $50+ tolls like in europe. are there any must see things along the way? i like ghost towns and was wondering what the deal is around the exclusion zone. how close can i get to namie? also im taking my split with me for backcountry in hakkoda and tenjin but im not that familar with any other areas that have easy to access backcountry. ideas? Link to post Share on other sites
ozsnowbum 9 Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 goz, who did you hire your van through? Link to post Share on other sites
gozaimaas 61 Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 Toyota rentacar. There is cheaper but you need native tongue to deal with them. My noah was a dirtbags paradise. Fwiw i spent every one of my 42 nights in the car and loved every minute of it. Link to post Share on other sites
ozsnowbum 9 Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 yep cool thats who im going with. what did you do in terms of powering electronics? i have bought an inverter but im not sure if thats capable of powering a laptop. did you open your windows while you slept? whats the deal with ETC cards? where did you do laundry? any other car issues i need to be aware of? Link to post Share on other sites
gozaimaas 61 Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 Charge your electronics on 12v while the engine is running, a multi port cigarette lighter adapter with usb ports is essential, they are readily available in hardware shops like homac which seem to be everywhere. Also essential is an aussie powerboard with 3 or 4 sockets so you can plug your gizmos into mains power (with japanese adapter) whenever you are bumming in the lobby of a resort which I highly recommend lol. Crack your window a small amount whenever you are in the car, put some 50mm wide gaffa tape on the top edge of the door so the snow cant blow straight in, its amazing how much will blow in if you dont do this. I had 10cm on my drivers seat the first morning! ETC card will be fitted to the car when you pick it up, Coin laundry. Take 2 big tough plastic bags, one for clean and one for dirty clothes. Be prepared to wage war with other punters to get your clothes in that machine, its dog eat dog in a coin laundry LOL. A set of jumper leads will be a worthy investment, better safe than sorry. I never got a flat but I went close one morning, if you have leads it will be a non issue, if you dont it could wreck your day. You will NEED a down jacket,down pants, down or synthetic booties, multiple pairs of thermals, multiple pairs of snow socks etc. When you see a 7-11 pull out a heap of cash, small towns will not have an atm that works with foreign cards. Keep the tank full Link to post Share on other sites
ozsnowbum 9 Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 cheers mate. Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 Can you say exactly when in December you are arriving? Minowa and Grandeco open in late November/early December, and are usually fully open by some time in late December, but of course exactly when varies year to year. Last year Inawashiro and Alts both opened 12/22, but I don't think either was fully underway until around New Years: http://www.snowjapan...ushima-20122013 Nekoma opened 12/12, by the way. Might be worth considering as well. As for getting near the exclusion zone, here is the latest map from the Fukushima prefecture web site: From the north, you can get to Minami Soma, it looks like. From the south, maybe as close as Hirono and part of Futaba. The green areas are supposed to be accessible for decontamination in preparation for reopening, but cannot be freely entered yet by those who have no good reason to be there. In case you are interested, the nearest ski area to the exclusion zone is Adatara Kogen, which I happen to like. Link to post Share on other sites
ozsnowbum 9 Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 i havent booked my flight yet as usually i wait for the cheap jetstar deal. the past couple years ive arrived december 18. thanks for the info about minami soma and adatara kogen, i will check that out for sure. looks like an easy drive east from minowa. Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 Note that Adatara Kogen is often not fully open until January. Link to post Share on other sites
ozsnowbum 9 Posted June 2, 2013 Author Share Posted June 2, 2013 metabo, which resorts in fukushima do you think are must ride and how many days would you allocate to them? Link to post Share on other sites
lin 0 Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 Thats an impressive list! Good luck. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Sounds great ozsnowbum, what an adventure. Presuming that list isn't in strict order yet there. And hoping that you will be keeping us in on your trip on these here forums. Link to post Share on other sites
onsen tamago 0 Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Seki Onsen really doesn't deserver a spot. The only thing about that place is the amount of snow, and you get enough of that in Myoko anyway! Looks like a great plan though, wish I could do something like that. Link to post Share on other sites
ozsnowbum 9 Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 oh really, all i keep hearing is seki is super awesome. i will probably start a thread about my adventure when the time comes. Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 metabo, which resorts in fukushima do you think are must ride and how many days would you allocate to them? I think most of the notable ones have been listed in this thread. Most can be fully explored in one day, perhaps two for Alts. Of course if you are in the Inawashiro/Bandai/Adatara area, you can visit a different one each day easily, and go back and re-hit any that you found worth a second look. Of historical interest might be Numajiri, the oldest still-operating ski area in Japan. Not particularly gnarly course selection as far as I know (never been), though they do have a bag jump, and fun-looking retro-style ads on their web site. I think next season will be their 99th anniversary. Some of the places south of Aizu Wakamatsu seem to get good reviews, though I have not been to any of them. (Except for Grandee Hatoriko, which is mainly good for families and somewhat lacking in challenging terrain.) If coming from Narita, you could also stop by Hunter Mountain in Tochigi on the way to Fukushima. Not particularly overwhelmed by the place myself, though it is popular and at least one other poster here seemed to think highly of it, so you can form your own opinion. They do manage to open pretty early as well, usually around the beginning of December, though with artificial snow at first. Link to post Share on other sites
joshnii 2 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Most can be fully explored in one day, perhaps two for Alts. Depending on how much of it they decide to open next season Link to post Share on other sites
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