ShayDn 0 Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Ok... So last year was great - I was living in Tokyo - and was having a lot of fun taking cheap day trips on the shinkansen up to GALA, Karuizawa and ended the season with a trip to Naeba in Golden Week! The conditions at Naeba were very bad, but we'd expected that and only stayed there to use the Dragondola to take us to Tashiro, Kagura & Mitsumata - where things were a lot more fun. This year - I'm living in Beijing - had a very early trip to Karuizawa back in December to help get my girlfriend interested in Skiing, and then had a few day trips here in Beijing - which is a very interesting experience..... Anyhow - two weeks ago I went to Gala on what must have been one of its worst days (15th Feb) - it was 7/8 degrees, and raining, and the snow was awful. And then I popped my knee when my binding pre-released - and now the doctor reckons it'll take at least 6 weeks to heal (torn MCL). So that means I'm not going to be able to ski again until around the middle of April. So - my question is - if I was going to go skiing around the middle of April - trying to finish the season with a good memory as it were... - what should my plan be? This year I'd be able to get a Japan Rail Pass - which would be great to try out a bunch of different places - but unfortunately my girlfriend can't get one - so that's gonna be difficult... Could try Kagura Mitsumata & Tashiro again - but is there anything better? What about flying to Hokkaido - is there anything reasonable still around the middle of April? Please give me some good ideas so I have something to look forward to while my knee gets better... Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 take the season off and come back next year Link to post Share on other sites
RockyV 0 Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 as I see it now, who knows but the way it is looking is the the end of season will be bad (we still have 2 months, so hopefully I am wrong) the weather has been very warm for over a month now. The middle of April is probably going to be bad everywhere. having said that if you have the right attitude and you don't expect much in regards to snow quality you can have fun anywhere. If you think karuizawa is good then most major places will be reasonable by comparison (hakuba valley, shiga, nozawa or even venturing up north) my advice is not to go to places with easy shinkansen access maybe it is convenient but some of the yuzawa resorts and karuizawa are probably some of the busiest resorts in Japan. Link to post Share on other sites
rigor mortis 0 Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 okutadami maruyama is pretty fun for spring boarding. dosent open until April cause of too much snow. however its quite a journey to get in there - propped in a valley, between a couple of big ass mountains. (niigata prefecture) closest shink station is Urasa - from there u get a shuttle which is either free or very cheap. Link to post Share on other sites
number9 0 Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 No point risking injuring your knee again for the bad snow. Link to post Share on other sites
2pints-mate 0 Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 I'd prefer to wait and enjoy decent snow than trouble to go out and find heavy crap. Then again it is much more of an effort when you live in London than if you are near it! Link to post Share on other sites
ShayDn 0 Posted March 3, 2006 Author Share Posted March 3, 2006 Thanks for all the suggestions. I may well end up just resting and trying to get my fitness up for a more serious season next year... Will look more into okutadami maruyama though - and keep doing my exercises to ensure a quick recovery... Oh - and just to clear one thing up - I never said Karuizawa was good! But it served its purpose well - getting the girlfriend hooked onto snowsports. At the time we went only the bottom part of the resort was open - so there was nothing too tricky to contend with. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 I just think with a bum knee you might as well stay off it. heck go to New Zealand and ski when you are 100% sure on the knee. Link to post Share on other sites
snowboard 0 Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 I agree, get the knee fixed up proper. Link to post Share on other sites
ncorrenti 0 Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 Six weeks to heal... I'm guessing that's a complete tear. Usually if it's an incomplete tear you can get back in action fairly fast but complete tears can sometimes take up to three months to fully heal. Go see a physio, they'll probably be able to offer you a better assessment of your recovery time. Link to post Share on other sites
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