ozsnowbum 9 Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 The Arai thread got me thinking about these places and I was wondering if there are any others worth checking out. I've already been to Hakuba Highland and thought that was kinda cool. I might check a few out and review them on my upcoming trip if people could be kind enough to mention some names so I could research where they are etc. Link to post Share on other sites
fukdane 2 Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 Alts Bandai. It's in Fukushima. Link to post Share on other sites
NECK 14 Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 The Arai thread got me thinking about these places and I was wondering if there are any others worth checking out. I've already been to Hakuba Highland and thought that was kinda cool. I might check a few out and review them on my upcoming trip if people could be kind enough to mention some names so I could research where they are etc. How was Hakuba Highland ozsnowbum? How long has it been abandoned for? Link to post Share on other sites
ozsnowbum 9 Posted June 15, 2013 Author Share Posted June 15, 2013 i think its pretty recently closed. Its tiny, we just hiked it and did some yukita there which was pretty fun. we saw probably a dozen people that day doing the same/snowshoeing around. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 Yukita? Link to post Share on other sites
joshnii 2 Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 A few years ago I think not too long ago Link to post Share on other sites
ozsnowbum 9 Posted June 15, 2013 Author Share Posted June 15, 2013 Yukita? yukita = bindingless snowboarding, noboarding, pow surfing here a video of me and my friends trying yukita at highland. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 Never heard it called "yukita" before Cool Link to post Share on other sites
ozsnowbum 9 Posted June 16, 2013 Author Share Posted June 16, 2013 Never heard it called "yukita" before Cool actually its yuki-ita. so maybe that makes more sense. Link to post Share on other sites
igloo 3 Posted June 16, 2013 Share Posted June 16, 2013 I read yukata there! Link to post Share on other sites
Dunga 1 Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 Have they just left all the equipment up on the mountain or have they pulled most of it down? Most resorts don't seem to pull down the lifts once they have abandoned that line I Japan. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Often wondered the story behind whether places lave lifts up there to rot or take them down. In this area, there used to be a place called Urasa Sports Com or something (I've actually forgotten the name!), and they took their lifts down. Mikuni up by Naeba, owned by Prince, they took their lifts down. Kayama Captain Coast still has it's lifts sitting there, though that has only been closed a few years now. Link to post Share on other sites
ozsnowbum 9 Posted June 18, 2013 Author Share Posted June 18, 2013 i think sapporo teine has a rotting lift too that ive seen photos of. Link to post Share on other sites
Dunga 1 Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 I would have thought japan being realativly progressive on the environmental front like Australia, that the resort owners would be forced to take down the abandoned lifts. I remember iwatake has quite a few lift lines abandoned, but obviously they are still running overall as a resort. I'm sure it wouldn't take much for the owner to be forced to take down the line. Just a few guys with angle grinders and gas torches a few days to take down the towers in pieces on the back of trucks in the summer season... It could let the mountain return to its original state. But I guess in some ways it's kind of fun finding abandoned things out in the wilderness. Link to post Share on other sites
ozsnowbum 9 Posted June 18, 2013 Author Share Posted June 18, 2013 think of it from the owners perspective. just gone broke, forced to close resort, likely owe tons in debt. spend tons more money dismantling lifts for no reason? or just gtfo and leave. japan has a big urbex scene, they even have a name for it. HAIKYO. look it up, theres lots of sites dedicated to some incredible places. Its probably the best country in the world to get into it being so much safer etc. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 i think sapporo teine has a rotting lift too that ive seen photos of. They've an old gondola that just sits around and rots. Cars are all at the bottom Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 think of it from the owners perspective. just gone broke, forced to close resort, likely owe tons in debt. spend tons more money dismantling lifts for no reason? or just gtfo and leave. japan has a big urbex scene, they even have a name for it. HAIKYO. look it up, theres lots of sites dedicated to some incredible places. Its probably the best country in the world to get into it being so much safer etc. I don't know how big urbex is in Japan outside the blogosphere which tends to amplify things with all the self-references. When the writers know what they are talking about and do original research about the places they're visiting, it can be a good read. Unfortunately its easier to just take a load of photos and hit them with heavy post-processing to crank up the atmosphere/pathos. Link to post Share on other sites
ozsnowbum 9 Posted June 18, 2013 Author Share Posted June 18, 2013 true Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Regarding lifts being left up, my understanding is that a lot of ski areas are built on national forest land, and part of the condition for being able to build a ski area was that they had to remove all lifts when they shut down. Of course, in practice, at that point they ski area management company is likely broke and unable to pay the clean up work. Bigger companies like Prince seem to be more conscientious about cleaning up after themselves. Smaller companies sometimes manage to fob the place off on the local town government, which then often discovers that they cannot make a go of it either. But since it is a town government in charge now, they can drag their heels on clean-up (cf. Shirakawa Kogen, aka Akazurayama: http://www.snowjapanforums.com/index.php/topic/21769-guess-where-this-is/page__view__findpost__p__446778) Link to post Share on other sites
ozsnowbum 9 Posted June 19, 2013 Author Share Posted June 19, 2013 thanks for akazurayama metabo. i just found where that is, appreciate that. would you be kind enough to point out a few more you know of? i know of another two azuma and captain coast Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 Hakusan (nantoka) Onsen......the one I used in the "guess where this is" thread.....thats closed down....in Ishikawa-ken. I have no idea if its worth going to....it looks pretty small from the sat photo...but whatever blows yer hair back, I suppose Link to post Share on other sites
ozsnowbum 9 Posted June 19, 2013 Author Share Posted June 19, 2013 yeh cheers for that tubby, its out of the way so i wont bother with it. Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 thanks for akazurayama metabo. i just found where that is, appreciate that. would you be kind enough to point out a few more you know of? i know of another two azuma and captain coast If you are in the "neighborhood" of Akazurayama, there are also the remains of Keichozan and Maple Hill on the Momiji Line in Tochigi: http://www.snowjapanforums.com/index.php/topic/21897-edelweiss-last-man-standing/page__hl__keichozan__fromsearch__1 I believe the lifts have all been taken down, but reportedly some buildings and nighter lights remain. There also used to be a tiny Prince resort called Shobugahama on the shores of Chuzenjiko, but that has been cleared and replanted as I understand it. The old hotel might still be there. Near Azuma there is also Yokomuki Onsen, part of which is still operating, but part of which is closed down, along with an abandoned lodge there. No idea if the old lift is still there or not, but the lodge is apparently a popular ghost-hunting place： http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O76JCdTcoTs Also a couple of small places in the Aizu area which I can look up if you are interested. Link to post Share on other sites
ozsnowbum 9 Posted June 19, 2013 Author Share Posted June 19, 2013 very interesting report on keichozan and maple hill. definitely interested in aizu area if you have the time, thanks a lot! Link to post Share on other sites
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