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Gassan Glacier - Anyone Been?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I'm heading to Japan next week for all of June, staying in Iwaki, and will be free on the weekends. Gassan Summer Ski Area isn’t a million miles from Iwaki but would still be quite a bit of effort to get to. Anyone been? Worth the effort? Anything else that makes it worth the effort of getting there? Conditions don’t need to be great for me to have a good time on skis and I do enjoy spring slush. I don't enjoy long queues. Their website is pretty awful so hard to tell much from that. I’m not going to take skis but if anyone thought that it is worth it I could pack boots
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
No idea, but wouldn't it be better to take boots than skis?
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@pam w, isnt that what the OP said they would do, take boots if worth it but not skis?
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Ah yes, you're quite right, I misread it! Makes sense....
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I'm with the OP Very Happy
Quote:
Conditions don’t need to be great for me to have a good time on skis

On that basis, I'd say go for it Shocked
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@rambotion, if it's feasible, I'd go even if it's just for novelty value. I find traveling around Japan fascinating.

Are you working out in Iwaki? It looks a bit off the beaten track.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@sugarmoma666, yes for work, I haven't heard anything about Iwaki that would make you want to go there as a tourist. Some colleagues have already been and they reckoned that the highlight was the bowling alley!

Anyway ski boots, helmets goggles packed. I figured that I probably don't need an actual ski jacket. Hopefully I can post some photos up in a few weeks of sunny bump or corn skiing, we shall see. Just need to get sent here in the winter at some point
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@rambotion, I'll be interested to see a trip report if you end up going!

As an aside, I'm not sure why some English language websites refer to it as Gassan Glacier. It's not a glacier, and the Japanese sites that mention the resort along with the official site don't seem to mentioned anything about a glacier.

According to this, there's not a permanent rental shop at the ski area (whatever that means!):

https://www.visityamagata.jp/en/event-nishikawa-summerski-en/
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@musehead, I realised after posting that I had made up the glacier part of the name. A local who knows the area insists that it is really not worth the time and is more akin to patch skiing than European summer skiing so with the difficulty in both hiring skis and getting there I am not going to bother. Hopefully there is the opportunity to return during a month more renowned for skiing than June
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It turns out that I didn't make up the glacier part of the name, that is what snow-forecast has it as but I'm pretty sure that there is no glacier there. Illiterates nicely.

Anyway, a friend of a friend who lives there said that its not worth visiting it even if it is open in June. Instead I spent a weekend hiking around Bandai-San, a volcanic mountain, not currently active but did erupt in 1888 with the material from the eruption now forming a tiny ski area



View from the top of the pretty but miniature Urabandai ski area on on volcanic debris



Snow cover on Bandai-San, this is a smilar height to Gassan ski and about 65 miles due South so I'm willing to believe that the snow cover at Gassan wouldn't have been worth it



View of Hoshino ski area from near the summit of Bandai-San

And finally, not really ski related, but Japan appears to have a lot very attractive lakes, here is one with what I believe is the remaining half of the crater from the 1888 eruption with the other half now making up the Urabandai ski area pistes



In conclusion, do not take ski kit to Japan in June!
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