 Poster: A snowHead
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Arrived via the bullet train (got to be one of the best ways to travel) at Nagano. On time to the minute, as was every train we caught in Japan. Stayed in hotel by the train station overnight. There are drinks machines everywhere in Japan, even street corners. The one on our floor even had beer, which I felt oliged to try.
Got the bus next day up to Shiga Kogen. Arrived at hotel, all very polite. This is where we met up with our ski stuff which we'd sent direct from the airport (how convenient is that ?!). Dropped daughter off at nursery and went to get hire skis. Oh dear, oh dear. Down in the car park was a hole in one corner. Outside on a rack were the sort of skis you normally see on a wall, in a bar, in a European ski resort. I thought maybe they were the crappo ones left there in case anybody stole skis. Imagine my thoughts when I found they were the good ones.
I more or less told OH there was no way I was hiring any of those.
The fantastically helpful people at the front desk arranged for us to go to one of the Prince hotels (local chain of three). Skis were fine but they wouldnt hire them to us unless we brought them back every night. Yes, I was incredulous to but rules are rules. We were basically held to ransom and moved to that hotel.
No charge or problem with the hotel we had booked so if you ever go to Shiga stay at the Tagaharamata (from memory) just take your own skis.
Prince hotel very good and very convenient except we were in the same room as our daughter so when she went to bed so did we. Meant there was no problem getting up, having (fantastic) breakfast, getting everyone ready and getting out for 9ish. We`d taken the baby backpack so took daughter up with us on the gondola and skied down to the new nursery. I was never allowed to be the carrier because I ski too fast and I`m crap at snowplough (I was informed).
The ski area was big, spread out over a number of valleys but the vertical descent wasn`t like you`d get in Europe so didn`t have the same impression of size. I`d assumed, like the train system, the lifts would be state of the art but they were actually a very mixed bunch. Including my favourites: the one pylon chair lift and the tractor seat chair.
The linking of the various areas was also a bit crummy in places: in places by skating, bridges you had to skate up or use a belt, a rope tow, a closed run (!). On that last theme, 2 points:
Ski patrol did not go potty if you skied off-piste, in general, but as the trees are about 4 foot apart there aren`t actually that many places you can. There were also certain areas that were taped off. I left those alone though you could tell somebody had come down them.
There was one area that was a bus ride away so we only got there on the last day and OH had to go back at lunch to look after daughter. Try getting food when you have to buy a meal ticket first and all the writing is in squiggle. This area was however my favourite, reasonable descent, practically deserted, loads of fresh snow. On piste was like off piste there was loads of fresh snow. Even some nicely spaced off piste. Also that sulphur smell you get when there are hot springs around. And hot springs mean Onsen (natural hot baths).
Getting back was an adventure though. Misread squiggle and got a late bus. Thought the driver at the terminal said he was going to the Prince hotel but then he headed back the way we`d come. I got off at the last stop where I could still ski home. Skied like a lunatic, skating as fast as possible at the link points, barging kids out of the way etc. Got on the bubble which they`d only just reopened after wind too high. Me and four 30 kg weights successfully made it. By this time I was at least in the right valley. Missed the last lift but was able to get the bus.
Apart from school trips the slopes were deserted during the week. The Japanese tend to go for weekends only. Very few westerners.
To be honest I wouldn`t go just for the skiing but if you`re near by . . .
Mght angle for a trip to Hokkaido next year. The snowfall statistics are amazing next to Europe and N.America.
Apart from that everyone was very polite. Snowboarders can screw you up wherever they are. The food was fantastic but forget river eel, puffer fish and the soya bean mix thingy. Oh and Tokyo (Narita) airport. That`s a bit like saying Manchester (Chester) airport.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Sun 4-11-12 23:10; edited 2 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Great post Nickski! Brings back memories of living in Japan 14 years ago. I dunno how it's changed but the main problem then was that unlike the Alps, where usually they have too many resort beds for the capacity of the lift system, in Japan they have too many lifts for the capacity of the slopes. Result is not too much queuing but carnage on the way down (this was weekends). Also many Japanese skiers at that time fell into the 'all the gear, no idea' bracket. So some were standing on moguls, wondering how to get down; others were falling past them and taking out all in their path. It was all a lot like a game of human pinball.
Great snow though. I'd recommend to all on Snowheads to ski Japan once in your life if you possibly can. Probably Hokkaido is best though (I didn't make it up there). Spent 3 days in a place (I think it was Appi Kogen) in Iwate prefecture, at the north end of Honshu. Not bad and quite a bit more extensive than Shiga.
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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?
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Thanks.
Was angling for a trip south this winter, but having kept an eye on reports and hearing / reading about some of the difficulties skiing on Honshu presents I'll stay up on 'Fantasy Island' until I'm certain I can get better there than what I'm getting up here.
This was yesterday, which was a decent day for us
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=1187594#1187594
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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You lucky, lucky b@stard...
Still, I don't mind not living in Tokyo any more!
Cheers,
Barry
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