USer 0 Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 hey guys, I am planning a trip to Japan [roughly 21 days] in Jan/Feb, and was thinking of fitting around 4-5 days of skiing into my itinerary I am currently looking into any decent [cheap] places around Tokyo [ie. not way down south] I have looked at the Yuzawa fields, and the www.hunter.co.jp [look nice], but apart from that im pretty lost. I will be staying at the slopes for the duration of my ski trip... sooo in summary, could you guys tell me: *Where's a nice [not too packed] place to ski preferably close to tokyo, but not a Major worry *Do all ski resorts/fields have ski/clothing/lift pass hire? and what are the average prices of these? *Do ski fields in japan have hostel like places as opposed to resorts/hotels? <---keeping in mind that accommodation is for 1...all the places i have checked out seem to have twin share as a minimum *Despite the travel guides telling me that there is no holiday during that period [jan-feb], will the fields be packed? Thanks guys!! Link to post Share on other sites
mina2 6 Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 Well just a quick point, Hunter is not in Yuzawa - it's in Tochigi which is a long way off. (If that is what you were thinking). If I were you and had 21 days I'd spend it in 2 or 3 places. Maybe Yuzawa (Niigata) > Nozawa (Nagano) > Myoko (Niigata) or Hakuba (Nagano), something like that. Link to post Share on other sites
USer 0 Posted December 19, 2005 Author Share Posted December 19, 2005 thanks for the reply, i plan to spend 4-5 days...so out of the places you listed, what would be your preference if you only had less than a week Link to post Share on other sites
gamera 0 Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 Quote: Originally posted by USer: *Where's a nice [not too packed] place to ski preferably close to tokyo, but not a Major worry You can choose some from Gunma, Niigata, Tochigi, Nagano, Fukushima in the page below. http://www.snowjapan.com/e/resorts/index.html Quote: *Do all ski resorts/fields have ski/clothing/lift pass hire? and what are the average prices of these? I think they do, lift passes depend on the ski slopes, you can check each and every pass price in the resort section page in this site e.g. http://www.snowjapan.com/e/resorts/resortdetail.php?resid=14 Quote: *Do ski fields in japan have hostel like places as opposed to resorts/hotels? <---keeping in mind that accommodation is for 1...all the places i have checked out seem to have twin share as a minimum In my Hakuba area, there are some backpackers where you can share a room with others so you don't really mind book a room for yourself. http://www.snowjapan.com/e/hotel/index.html#nagano Quote: *Despite the travel guides telling me that there is no holiday during that period [jan-feb], will the fields be packed? No, Feb.11th is always a national off, so if it were a Fri or a Mon, the weekend must be crowded but it's Saturday this season so it won't make a big weekends. Good luck and have fun. Link to post Share on other sites
number9 0 Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 Avoid the weekends, and the hills shouldn't be too busy, or so I hear. Link to post Share on other sites
USer 0 Posted December 19, 2005 Author Share Posted December 19, 2005 thanks for that guys, gamera, i've searched through all the fields and read many-a-reviews. the problem is im too indecisive, and thus can't commit to a single field. thus i am relying on you guys for personal input does anyone have any 1st hand experience on what nice fields/accomodation is in early feb? Also...do 'resorts' hire out ski clothing? or just skis/equiptment...? changes: i might even venture north up to hokkaido for a chance to ski BTW: when these places refer to themselves as 'resorts,' they mean the whole ski-field in general, right? NOT a large hotel containing many facilities... thanks Link to post Share on other sites
minus 1 Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Surely all the reviews and stuff like that are "1st hand experience"?? Link to post Share on other sites
LiquidX 0 Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 They probably refer to the slopes and if they have a hotel as part of the same business that included. Link to post Share on other sites
USer 0 Posted December 20, 2005 Author Share Posted December 20, 2005 just got back from the japan tourist info place in Sydney... they say that in sopporo/hokkaido the fields will be absolutly packed due to the ice festival that is running 6-12 feb 2006. what do you guys think about Niseko, Hokkaido? looks like it has nice runs from the trail map i saw in a brochure... do you think it will be packed that time of year? thoughts of it? ta Link to post Share on other sites
TJ OZ 0 Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 I will tell you what you should do. Go to Hakuba. Stay at Snowbeds (Backpackers) The free shuttle bus stops right outside your door to take you five minutes to the slopes or jump on another bus for ten minutes and you are at another mountain and so on. It will take you about 3 1/2 hours to get there from Tokyo. The mountains are huge the powder is epic and the crowds are non existant. Link to post Share on other sites
kkk 7 Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 The evidence proves otherwise: http://www.snowjapanforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=recent_user_posts;u=00001839 Link to post Share on other sites
TJ OZ 0 Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 I recommend it because I have stayed there. The other place I stayed at was Mominko but that sounds like it isn't what USer is looking for. It is very hard to find info on accomodation in Hakuba, I know because I am still looking for options this season and I've been there a couple of times. -(message censored for the good of our community)- I don't have a problem offering my advice even if it is a free plug to a particular business. USer seems to need some direct advice and I gave mine and I don't think it is the wrong advice. Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan#Andrew 6 Posted December 20, 2005 SnowJapan Admin Share Posted December 20, 2005 Before I start....we are not accusing you TJ OZ - this is a general comment. As you all probably know we are not happy about people trying to promote their business on our forums - whether it be directly or plotting some cunning plan to try to get people to go to their site in a less obvious way. (And you would be surprised at some lengths people might go to do that, but it's another story). We are always put in a really awkward position when this kind of thing flares up, especially 'borderline cases' - we either take action and get accused of all sorts of crimes, or leave something on and get accused of other things. Whichever, it almost always ends up wasting a lot of our time as well as usually creating bad feeling somewhere. Which is something else that of course we don't want any of on here. Of course we welcome posts with people helping each other with advice etc, but if we find out that someone is trying to use the forums to promote a business they are involved in, then we will do something about it. All we ask is - please just refrain from making posts like that so we don't need to even have to think about it. We also encourage people who feel that someone who is posting ad-like messages to let us know and we will look into it. Thanks! Link to post Share on other sites
griller 9 Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Why don't you allow ads? Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan#Andrew 6 Posted December 20, 2005 SnowJapan Admin Share Posted December 20, 2005 Why should we? This forum is not an free ads/classifieds forum. If someone wants to promote their business to SJ readers, they can - the place to start is sending us an email to ask how they can go about it. Back to topic now? Link to post Share on other sites
griller 9 Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Fair enough. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 If you allowed any sort of ads say by people that pay the true spammers would find it and just take over the site. I should have made my point in a different way and for that I will now delete what I have written above. Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan#Andrew 6 Posted December 20, 2005 SnowJapan Admin Share Posted December 20, 2005 Yes you are right - if we did not have this, and the very few other rules that we do have - the forums would be flooded very quickly and would not be the (we hope you agree) fun place that they are. But just to be very clear on one point.... We do not allow paying SJ advertisers to post ad-like messages in the Forums either. Basically, no ads or posts that sound like ads on the forums is the rule whoever the poster is. Thanks. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Hey guys, I just heard about a great new product - it's called "Snowboard Rub" - you just rub it on your knees and it makes you go really fast. I'd like to buy some of that! Link to post Share on other sites
brit-gob 9 Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Hilarious. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Hey brit-gob, PM me next time you post something that raises a chuckle. I wouldn't want to miss a historic moment. Link to post Share on other sites
USer 0 Posted December 22, 2005 Author Share Posted December 22, 2005 Thanks for the info guys, TJ OZ ta for the hakuba info but i think i've made my mind up about going to hokkaido > niseko. what do you guys think? niseko during (end jan) - (early feb)? crowds? i want to be in the area for the snow festival (6th - 12th feb) that pretty much my reasoning Also: does ski hire places rent out everything (ski's, poles, boots, clothes, gloves) or JUST ski's? thanks fellas Link to post Share on other sites
intr0 0 Posted December 22, 2005 Share Posted December 22, 2005 niseko in early feb? yeah maybe some crowds, thats pretty much peak. ski hire can rent everything. maybe not gloves/hat... but to be in japan youll want to buy that anyway.. as well as a half decent jacket imo. but yes you can rent jacket/pants. Link to post Share on other sites
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