Intermediate's 1st ski trip to Japan: Nozawa Onsen, Nagano (28th - 31st December, 2018)

[alison wong]

I’ve always wanted to ski in Japan. It is higher on my list than the Alps. Primarily because: 1) heard a lot about the powder snow in Japan; 2) curious to see what the skiing culture is like (if there is such thing); 3) want to check out a ski town in Japan; 4) last but not least, food… my 1st love, I always prefer Japanese food (or Asian food) over western food.

Since I was going to HK for x’mas, I decided to utilize this opportunity to visit Japan for a short ski trip before returning to the U.S..

Why did I decide Nozawa Onsen? I’ve only heard of Hakuba and Niseko prior to this trip. When I started planning, I have my eyes set on Hakuba since Niseko is too far for a short trip. I posted a thread on this Japan forum on Aussi website with my questions about skiing in Hakuba, as well as my “bucket list” in “must have” and “nice to have” for what I was looking for.
My must haves are: traditional authentic Japanese experience (including lodging, food), easy accessibility to public transportation. Nice to haves are good terrain, snow condition but they are not essential since I am only an intermediate skier.

Based on the list, folks from the Japan forum recommended few places: Zao Onsen, Nozawa Onsen, Naeba, etc. I settled in Nozawa Onsen because its local tourism board was the first to give me a reply and found a lodging that fitted my time frame. Upon further research (youtube video), I learned Nozawa is a traditional Japanese village, not as westernized but enough to get around with minimum Japanese.

This is what I learned about Nozawa Onsen ski resort:
1) Locate in NE of Nagano prefecture, it is considered as the birthplace of skiing in Japan (info. from Powderhound). 2019 marked it’s 95th anniversary year since it first opened in 1923.
2) It has 2 gondola, 19 lift chairs - from double to quad, one bubble quad chair. I’d say all chair lifts and gondolas are quite dated (compare to what I have seen in other places), but they are not slow!
For the fixed grip, lift attendants don’t slow down the chair for you, they can be fast approaching and slammed toward you, so be prepared.
3) Total area 297 hectares, vertical just over 1000 meters, 36 trails, ~30% intermediate trails.
3) Trails are rated as green (beginner), orange (intermediate), black (advanced).
4) Trails at top and bottom part of the mountain are considered to be mellow.
5) Mid mountain section is where the steepest (blacks) terrains are. Some blacks can be considered as double black in other resorts. It is considered as a rarity in Japan with some of the steep terrains it has.
6) One black run called “Schneider run”, named after this famous Austrian ski instructor, Hannes Schneider, who taught skiing in Nozawa.
7) There are 2 base areas, where the 2 gondolas are located: Hikage station, Nagasaka station.
Hikage station is where the information center, restaurants are located. You can take a lift chair, ski down a green to reach the station. Alternatively, you can take the resort shuttles. It is also the meeting place for lessons.
Nagasaka station is near the ski bus stop and parking lots. Many ski rental shops are near Nagasaka station. I rented my skis at the rental shop there.
8) The most famous run is the 3500 m long Skyline course, off Nagasaka gondola. On a clear day, you can see the village from Skyline.
9) Another popular and famous area is the Paradise area. It is off Nagasaka gondola. The area is so wide that it divides to 4 little areas: 1) race course; 2) x-country course; 3) terrain park; 4) Paradise run (green) …..
10) Yamabiko course A, B, C, D and E are the runs off the top of mountain. My understanding is, you can find some nice powder in that area. Since top of the mountain is not very steep, these 5 courses are not very steep, rated orange, but quite mellow, I’d say.
11) There is quite few flat areas that you have to push / hike up. e.g. after a pitch / steep run you arrive to a rather long flat section or; once you get off a chair, you need to go uphill to get to a run…
12) In terms of snow depth, I went in late December (28th - 31st), snow accumulation was 120 cm - 150 cm depends on the areas. I thought it was good considering it is early season, I wonder how much accumulation it will be in mid / late season.
13) Trail signages are adequate, but not as detailed as the ones I’ve seen in some other places like Val D’Isere. Probably I am just not used to how the signages are displayed / communicated…. With the combination of sign posts and trail map, for someone who has poor sense of direction (i.e. me), I managed to navigate around the mountain without getting too lost.
14) With the amount of snow it got during my 3 days there, it was surprised that I did not see many skiers/ snowboarders venture to offpiste to chase deep powder. The off piste areas remain untouched in many areas based on what I saw from lift chair.

Lodging:
1) I utilized Nozawa Tourism Association to find the lodging. My hotel is located near the local bus station depot, about 5 minutes walk. Ski bus stop is located in the same area as bus station depot.
(I requested this location because I know I would utilize public bus to and from Nozawa.)

There are accommodations close to the ski resort, but no ski in / ski out lodging. Alternatively, you can opt to stay in village (which I did) and take ski bus to resort.

Transportation:
There is a free ski bus takes you to and from village to the base area near Nagasaka station.
Bus ride is about 10-15 minutes. Bus runs on schedule, it is not as frequent as buses in Aspen / Snowmass. Bus frequency is more like the ones in Alta/Snowbird, or Sunshine Village / Lake Louise. Essentially, I feel like the time to wait for bus was longer than the bus ride to the village.
First bus starts at around 8 am, last bus at 5:10 pm.

Lift ticket:
1) Besides getting lift ticket at the resort, you can also get it at hotels. They usually sell it at a discounted price. My understanding is, it is better to get it at hotel if they sell it.
Lift ticket window price: 3 day lift ticket 13000 yen, roughly $130 for 3 days. (exchange rate: 108 yen = $ 1 USD). One day is 4800 yen, $48 USD.
If get at hotel: 12100 yen ($121 USD) for 3 days. Saved about $9 USD. I got mine at hotel and I had to pay cash for it.
2) Japanese are “operated” on “honor system”. At Nozawa, there is no lift attendant scan or check lift tickets. There is no gate uses RFID. The only time they asked me to show my lift ticket was when I got on the 2 gondolas.

Visitors make up:
1) Besides Japanese, there are Chinese from Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan, also Singaporeans. For westerners, I heard English, I assumed many are Aussies, I also heard people speak French, German (probably it’s Austrian connection).
2) There seems to be more snowboarders than skiers.

Now onto my trip..........

28th December - travel day. 5-hour flight from HK to Haneda Airport around 7 pm. Got on Chuotaxi (shared van) at 8 pm, arrived to Nozawa around 12:30 am. It was snowing pretty hard when I arrived.

Japan bond

 

[alison wong]

Day 1 - 29th December

Got up early because I had to sort out few logistics: ski rental, lift ticket, figured out where the ski bus stop was…. it was still snowing pretty hard when I headed out around 8:30 am.

I made an online reservation in advance for my skis at the shop called, Nozawa Sports Thanx. I picked this shop because it advertises as, English speaking and it offers discounted price if reserve early. Price wise, it was cheaper than another shop I checked.
I requested Rossi Temp. 84 or 88, length mid 150 - 160 in length 2018 or prior model. When I arrived to shop, staff at the shop already set the skis aside for me: Rossi Temp 88 152….. I thought it was too short (I am 165m) and asked for something longer or equivalent. Not much options, they have Vokl but I found Vokl too stiff, DPS is too fat, K2 - they don’t have ToughLuv that I liked. It only came down to Rossi Experience 2019 model 88 166 or Rossi Temp 88 152.
I demoed the exact same Rossi Experience 2019 model and length at Alta, so I know I can ski it. The staff also mentioned, I’d need longer skis to ski in powder…

My original plan was to take the Nagasaka Gondola to the top. As I was on my way to the gondola station, I was stopped by a staff, explained me something in Japanese.

Me: sorry, I don’t speak Japanese….
Staff: do you speak Chinese?
Me: Yes, are you Chinese too?
Staff: No. I am Taiwanese....
Me: Alright… Great that you can speak Chinese. Can you explain me what’s going on?

It turned out the gondola was not working this day. He advised me to take the Nagasaka triple chair and skied to Hikage station, which was another main base area. No wonder there was a long line at the triple chair behind the gondola station….

My first impression of the lift chairs, they were very low, as if they were designed for kids! I am not very tall (1.65m), if I found these chairs were low, I wonder how would the taller westerns feel...

I took a green run to reach Hikage station. Well, ski length of 166 felt long…. at times, the skis were “running away” from me. After the first run, I decided to switch to 152, the one he picked out for me. (This was the time I wish I could bring my own skis! Because I am not the most adaptable, there is very few skis I can ski ..…)

Once I got on the 152 length, I felt like myself again…… This was the first day of my season. Fortunately, I never felt that I’ve lost my ski legs. Thanks to the fact that I had been taking ski lessons at the indoor ski deck once a month for the past 8 months. The only difference I felt was, instead of skiing on a carpet, it was snow underneath…

Visibility was bad as it was snowing pretty hard, it was also cold and windy at times. I felt a bit uneasy with the poor visibility considering it was my first day, in a foreign place I visited the very 1st time.

In a way, I was glad I picked the holiday period because there was enough people for me to follow around. For someone who is not good at reading maps, this is a big plus! I spent most of my time off the trails around Hikage station. I also ventured to Yamabiko (top of the mountain) area, I lapped all courses (Yamabiko course A to E) except B because it was very mogul’ly. It was a bit flat light in the area, I felt like I had to “feel” the terrain with my feet, coz I could barely see.

Overall, the greens are true to it’s color, except short part in mid mountain was a steep. This was expected because Nozawa Onsen is known for it’s steep in mid mountain section, top and base areas are quite mellow.

Throughout the day, I heard Public announcement (PA) in Japanese, something about Nagasaka Gondola. I assumed it was about the gondola was not working. I only heard PA announced twice in English about Nagasaka gondola and resort was extending chair lift operating hours by additional 15 minutes to compensate the “mistake”.

Lessons I learned that day:
1) It is always good to follow the crowds if you are unsure where to go.
2) It is never good to follow bunch of snowboards because you would find yourself heading toward a terrain park.
3) Always dry your hair before heading out on a snowy day. Otherwise, your hair would remain damp throughout the day and it adds to the cold….
4) When I am unsure how difficult a run will be, if I see someone “plowing” or “wedging” downhill, it gives me assurance that likely I could handle it and I try to make it my next run.

Photos from the 1st day:
I had lunch at this restaurant. You order at the cash register, find a table, put down your meal ticket (with order number) then staff will bring the food to you.
I ordered Udon noodle soup for lunch. Forgot to take picture because I was beyond starving, I literally inhaled everything in one breath, only things I did not consume was the bowl and chopstick.


This is at the entrance of the restaurant, a heater with cloth pins (?) that people can dry/ warm their stuff, and there are stools for people to warm up. Since Japanese do not share tables, I sat here to eat my lunch.


It is the "little" detail-oriented things that count.... on this rack, there are cloth pins for people to hang and dry their stuff. In the U.S., I see people put their stuff all over the tables or chairs to dry.



There was a road from the base of Hikage station to then base of Nagasaka station. The road is shared by skiers and cars. I assume it is a cemetery right above this road.


The Nagasaka gondola


This is the vehicle that some people take to get from Nagasaka base to Hike gondola (if they don't want to ride the triple chair).

 

[alison wong]

More photos from Day 1:
This is the view of Nagasaka triple chair. You take this, ski a green run to reach Hikage station.

Nagasaka gondola station


This is the shop I rent my skis


My dinner dumplings and ramen noodle, very delicious.




After dinner, I stopped by a convenience store to get something for breakfast the next day: sandwich and cheese stick - made from Hokkaido milk.

 

[alison wong]

Day 2 - December 30th

Yesterday I felt quite cold, this day I decided to add one more layer top and bottom… so 5 layers on top + 3 layers bottom = 8 layers total and I can still move!!!

Before I headed out to the slope, I visited tourism office (across from the ski bus stop) because I wanted to find out the time and place for the New Year’s eve fireworks.

I thought staff at the tourism office would speak some English, it turned out not to be the case. The female staff wasn’t able to understand my “fireworks” question and felt helpless to help me, I heard she murmured few times: “S.O.S.” (sigh).

It continued to snow this day and visibility was worse than yesterday. But Nagasaka gondola was running…. My goal of the day was to ski the famous Skyline course (orange), 3.5 km long. I tried to find it yesterday but did not manage due to poor visibility.

I knew there was a way to get to Skyline from Nagasaka gondola, and I even saw a sign for it. But I still wasn’t sure how (due to poor visibility) so I asked an older Japanese couple. The husband understood my question in English but he explained me in Japanese. He took the time and effort to explain but I could not understand anything… I felt very bad wasting his time…

I found myself ended up in Yamabiko area in the top mountain again because I knew there was a way to Skyline from Yamabiko according to trail map. I spotted a western instructor with her student, so I asked her. She told me to stay on the left side and I would run into Skyline.
Half way through one of the Yamabiko courses at a trail split, I saw signage to Skyline but there was no ski track, which meant no one has been on this trail for a while…. with the poor visibility, I decided not to be adventurous and ended up following the instructor with her student back down to mid mountain.

On the next run, I was back to the same trail split point. This time I saw couple skiers, one seemed to be heading toward Skyline. I decided not to be shy and asked if I could follow him… He nodded. I usually ski slow but this time I tried to ski faster because I needed to keep up with him. He was nice and considerate, waiting for me at each trail split point. Finally, we arrived to a split that would either take you back to the chair lift or a catwalk… I think the catwalk was Skyline. So I told him I’d be ok to find my way and told him to take off… Before we parted our ways, he held out his fist to give me a fist bump. I thought that was a cute gesture and it was my very first fist bump….

I decided not to take the catwalk because I saw no one there…. so I was back to Yamabiko again…. this time around, I heard a group of westerns chatting about getting to Skyline… So I decided to follow them, they arrived to a double chair lift, located near the top of Nagasaka Gondola station, called Skyline Link. The leader of this group said to her group: “you guys take this double chair to Skyline.”

It finally dawned on me that the signage I was looking at this morning (near Nagasaka Gondola), it was actually pointing to this Skyline Link chair lift, which would take you to the start of the Skyline course… (I think that was what the husband trying to explain me in the morning…)

Finally, I arrived to the famous Skyline course. During this time, the sky started to clear a bit and I could finally see…. I came at the right time. The view was good from top of Skyline, where I could see the mountain and the village.

Compared to Yamabiko, Skyline was about the same in terms of steepness but it was a bit wider…. there was a long flat section after the initial pitch.

Skyline then splits to either the black or green. I opted to take the green, which was a very long catwalk. Scenery of this long green reminded me of Great Northern and Great Eastern in Killlington, Vermont. After the long catwalk, it merged to another green called Karasawa. I’d say, this was one of my favorite green trails at Nozawa. It was a wide tree-lined trail and not crowded at all.

I fell today on a cat track near the base area of Nagasaka Gondola. It was the stupidest mistake as I was trying to practice my edging and steering. I turned too far left and luckily got “caught” by the safety net.

Lessons learned this day:
1) On a more challenging run, if you are unsure where to go, try to see if there are instructors with students around. Follow them because instructors usually know the good places.

Again, it is the little things that count. Front staircase of my hotel, they sprayed water to melt the snow, so it would not get icy..


Almost all people I saw, they did't use snowblower / any machine to plow, they just used shovel, to clear up the road, one shovel at a time.


I went to this building for bio break around noon. (In chinese character, it means gathering place)


2nd floor is where the people are gathered, take breaks, you can brown bag, some people even brought stove and pot for hot pot to enjoy with their family/ friends.



There is a heater here, where people use to warm up rice cakes.

 

[alison wong]

More photos from Day 2:

This was pretty much the visibility like for most of the morning: worse than yesterday because of the wind. But the snow was good, that's all mattered right?


Finally I arrived to Skyline course, sky started to clear a bit, perfect timing. From Skyline, when visibility is good, you can see the village.


S.O.S. signs throughout the Skyline course:


Skyline leads to Karasawa (green run) - a very wide, uncrowded, tree-lined trial


Ski jump course:


Again, little things matter because it shows how thoughtful people are. Charcoals in all restrooms I visited, I assume it is used to absorb the odor.

 

[alison wong]

More & more photos from Day 2:

At the end of the day, around 4 pm. I saw a group of (young) instructors getting trained by an older experienced instructor.

Nagasaka gondola:


Inside the gondola: quite small. It said max capacity is 12 people. But I think it fits 8 people at most, since you have to bring in your skis/board.


Since I skipped lunch, I decided to pig out and splurge a bit. Beef hot pot (Shabu Shabu in Japanese) with 2 kinds of dipping sauce, mushrooms, noodles,
top photo is appetizer: tofu dish.

 

[alison wong]

Day 3 - December 31st

Finally, it stopped snowing and I saw a blue sky. I could finally see where I was heading! My goal today was to revisit my favorite runs from previous 2 days, and to check out trails I did not get to visit due to visibility issues past 2 days.

My original plan was to stop at early afternoon because I wanted to do some sightseeing, and onsen’ing in the village before it got dark.

Of course things never turned out the way I planned, I skied until the last chair at 4:30 pm (more explanations below).

I had so much fun and I wanted to soak in all the incredible views I did not get to see the last 2 days. I was all over the place.
I found these 2 trails have the best views: Kokenashi A and B (from Skyline Link double chair - that same chair takes you to the beginning of the skyline course).

Even though these 2 trails are only 200 m long, they offered the most incredible views of the entire mountain. The trees along these 2 trails were covered in white, it was magical. I lapped around the trails many times in the morning so I could soak all these in, knowing I would not be able to see such views in any other places. This place is it….

With good visibility, I became brave, as long there were signages for orange (intermediate) trails, I would explore them…. I got to check out mid mountain area: Yunomine and Mizunashi. This was a closed loop area and I actually got stuck for an hour or so because I could not find my way out. I even got nervous thought I had to ski a black diamond to leave that loop.
Fortunately, my map reading skills was not as hopeless as I thought, I found a way to get back to Nagasaka gondola mid station.

I went back to the Paradise area. Actually I lapped around Paradise multiple times the past 2 days but I did not get to appreciate it until this day because of visibility. I discovered there was even a Paradise quad chair just to serve the Paradise run.

In my opinion, Paradise leads to the 2 best intermediate runs in Nozawa : Challenger and Utopia. Challenger was steeper and bumpier than Utopia.

While I was on Challenger, I thought to myself, if I were on this trial 2 years ago, my legs would tremble and then paralyze with fear, likely I would take off my skis and walk down the trail.

This time, even though I could not ski it with elegance, at least the fear was gone. I felt relaxed and knew I could ski this run with good control. Reflecting back, I came a long way (from a struggled beginner to a solid intermediate) and this was a good feeling. For this reason, I cherished this run very much.

I also stopped by the tourist information center at HIkage base to ask my “fireworks” question again. Fortunately, no one had to call “S.O.S.” this time. There was few Chinese speaking staff on site that I could communicate in Chinese. The fireworks was scheduled to be held at Nagasaka station at midnight. They also had night skiing starting at 5 pm until 11: 30 pm. I was going to do the night skiing and then watching fireworks at midnight. Then I found out there would be no bus running after 5 pm. Logistically, it’d be too difficult to do these without a car. So I decided to ski until the last chair and skipped night skiing fireworks altogether.

Lesson learned today:
1) skiing is as much of a head game as a game of skills. After my fell on a cat track yesterday, I had some fear issues. There were cat tracks that I know in my heart I have the skills to ski them, but my head said no. So I side slipped on those until they became wide enough for me to make turns again.

It snowed pretty hard 2 out of 3 days while I was in Nozawa. I supposed it would be the best time to explore powder, but I chickened out since I did not really know how to ski powder properly. Besides this was my first ski trip of the season and I was on my own in a foreign country, I decided better to be safe than to be sorry, so I decided not to do it this trip.

I never attempted any black runs either. Therefore, I had not idea how the blacks were like. The closest I got to the black was the Skyline course, which was rated half orange and half black.

Photos of Day 3:

Blue sky this day. View of my favorite run Kokenashi A and B trial, they are short but very sweet. Snow covered tree, as if I was in winter wonderland. It was magical.

 

[alison wong]

More photos from Day 3:

Let's say someone was adventurous but had poor sense of direction, unknowingly ended up at this place.
In Yunomine / Mizunashi areas, ski racers had their practice. Everything has a silver lining, if I were not have gotten lost, I would get to see this.
(even though the following hour was a bit frantic because I was not sure how to get out of this area without venturing to a black run.)


This is the Paradise quad chair, sole purpose was to serve the paradise area. So many people waiting in line, at first I thought this chair was broken. It turned out it was that many people because this is a popular area. I totally missed this chair due to poor visibility the prior 2 days.


I played hard today, ended up catching the last bus 5:10 pm.


Tonight I opted for Yakitori (meat on stick). I had chicken skin and pig's cheek mean. Chicken ski was not very good because it was chewy like eating rubber band. I thought it would be crispy.





Continued with some steam buns after Yakitori:

 

[alison wong]

More photos from Day 3:

There are variety of flavors, from savory to sweet. I prefer the savory kind since I am not a sweet person. The savory kind has fillings such as, mushroom, Nozawa local veggies. Sweet ones has red bean paste.


As a first timer skiing in Japan, below are my observations and impressions:

Plenty of restrooms throughout the resort, they can be found almost near every chair lift. I think I visited almost all of them because I had to stop for biobreak very often due to the cold.

Skis and boards are always put on racks, I have yet seen any laid on the ground. This is very different from what I’ve seen in U.S., Canada or France, people put their skis / boards on the ground all over…….

Despite lift lines, I noticed Japanese does not like to share chairs. Handful times that I shared a chair, it was with a westerner. Same observation applies to table sharing at cafeteria and restaurant.

Just like France, people are kept to themselves during lift rides, they don’t chitchat with you at all. So, I kept to myself the whole time and did not initiate conversation with others. (This is the time I wish people could be chatty. Because I really wanted to ask someone questions such as, what is the easiest black here, what is the condition / visibility like in area / slope “x”.)

PA announcements could be heard throughout the resort, not offensively loud but loud enough I could hear. Almost all were announced in Japanese. The only times I heard in English was: 1) Gondola not working, resort extends operating hours to compensate. 2) Closing of the Yamiboko trails. I suppose these trails close at an odd time 15:20 (?).

The lifts opening times and closing times are staggered. Earliest chair opens little after 08:00, last opens 09:00. For closing times, they ranged from the earliest closing at 15:30 to the latest at 16:30. I suppose if you are strategic, you can maximize the slope time by starting at the earliest chair before 8:30 to the last one closes at 16:30. However, the lift operating hours are not mentioned on trail map. It only displays at lift stations.

At the end of the day, a Japanese song was played over the PA, likely it signified it’s closing time.
I did not see grooming status mentioned anywhere. Does it mean they are all groomed at all times, so there is no need to mention it?

As my experience of staying in a traditional Japanese accommodation (Ryokan), it was good overall. My only 2 issues were: tatami can be a bit hard to sleep on, but I supposed I can remediate the problem by doubling up the futon to soften it. I was also not used to have no chairs in the room. I had to sit on floors to do things.

Photos of my room:

 

[alison wong]

Photos of the Ryokan (Japanese traditional hotel) I stayed:
In the hotel basement, there is a dry room. Actually the room is very warm also, people put their boots and clothes to warm/dry.



This is the ski room:


Nozawa Onsen village:
Nozawa Onsen (Onsen = hot spring) is known for it’s onsens, 13 (or 14?) in total. They are public onsens and you can visit for free. However, there is a donation box outside of the entrance if you want to contribute.

This was the first Japanese village I’ve visited. I’d say it is what I imagined a typical Japanese village. It has some very narrow roads, few streets restricted to pedestrians only. No high rise buildings.

To my disappointment , even though a famous ski resort is nearby, I don’t see shops selling ski gears / accessories in the village town itself. Most shops are selling souvenirs. There are also convenience stores, bakeries, restaurants. You can find public onsens throughout the village.

Based on what I know & see, there are no street signs. There is a village map, you have to rely on the landmark (e.g. onsen, restaurant, hotel) mentioned on the map to reference / navigate your way around…

Photos of the village: taken on different days

 

[alison wong]

Photos of the onsen:
This is the onsen I visited and had my first soak. It was not the main onsen of the village, this one was closer to my Ryokan.
I admit, I was a bit hesitant to do this at first. That's why I procrastinated until my last day. However, I really enjoyed this experience. After the soak, I felt much rejuvenated. Since the temperature is quite hot, I only soaked for ~5 -10 minutes? Even it was short, I felt much better afterwards. Now I understand why this becomes a daily rituals for many locals. I regretted why I did not try it sooner.

Inside the onsen, male and female sections are separated by the wall. But you can hear the other side (since the wall is not all the way up to the ceiling). Local couples would visit the onsen together, When ready to leave, they "shout" over the wall to let the partner/spouse know.



Male and female has separate entrances.


If you are unsure about the etiquette of proper onsen'ing, read this before entering. The "instruction" is posted in every public onsen by the entrance.


This is the main onsen, called O-Yu. I did not onsen here.


Another view of O Yu:


Across O Yu, it is the foot bath.

 

[alison wong]

More Onsen pictures:

I soaked my feet also... in this footpath





Bus station depot:
From this bus stop you can take regional bus to the nearest town (Iiyama) to catch Shinkansen (bullet train).



Another view of the bus top. On right, where the telephone booth is that where the ski bus stop located.


Ski bus:


In Iiyama station restroom. 3 wash basins in different height levels - accommodating people of different statues. Again it is the small things that count. Japanese are so detailed oriented, they really think for you in every aspect.


Final thoughts:

French Alps may have the terrain, but Japan has the snow, in vast amount and good condition. While people in N.America complained and stressed about the rains and lean coverage in early season, I was in Japan hoping it would stop snowing so I could see better…..

Language barrier is the biggest issue for me. Knowing Chinese definitely helped, but often times, I still felt like a deaf, blind and mute.

In the foreseeable future, I would very much like to check out few other ski resorts in Nagano prefecture, e.g. Zao Onsen, Naeba. Because I don’t have a good knowledge base to figure out how the bus or the shinkansen works, plus the language barrier, probably I will have to check out these places one at a time for couple more trips. Once I have done that, I shall feel more comfortable to do a ski safari type trip to visit multiple places in one trip.

In any case, despite the language barrier, I still prefer Japan over Europe for reasons: 1) better snow condition and in vast amount… 2) food is more agreeable to my Asian stomach, I much prefer shabu shabu over fondue, ramen /soba/ udon over pasta, rice over potato, you get the idea.

Logistics / planning / Miscellaneous:
Besides of what I mentioned on the thread about traveling in Japan (Japan in December), few more points worth noting:

1) Cash is essential. Some restaurants, convenient stores in small villages do not take credit card.
Can get cash from ATM machine in Japan (airport for e.g.). Bank may charge additional fee for transactions, better to call in ahead to find out.
Or
Get Yen at your bank before travel. Not sure how it works in the U.S. or Canada. I always exchange foreign currencies in Hong Kong. If I need smaller bills, I call bank in advance to “reserve” those for me.
Exchange Yen in Japan is pretty bad deal as I heard, you can loss as much as 10%.

2) Many people take advantage of the JR pass. But I have never gotten one and don’t know how it works. My only understanding, It works out a pretty good deal if you will be doing some extensive traveling in Japan by Shinkansen.

3) Hokkaido milk is delicious, taste better than the U.S. milk. You can get it while in Japan (of course). Also, for any flights out of Japan, usually they stock Hokkaido milk. Something to keep in mind If you are transiting in Japan.

 

[Tvan]

@alison wong - this is an excellent trip report! You shared a wealth of information, great photos, and inspiring descriptions of your experiences!! I traveled alone in Japan (not to ski) in 1992, and many of your descriptions are similar to things I remember. Thank you so much for sharing ... now I want to go to Japan to ski... and also to eat!

 

[MissySki]

Awesome report, thank you for sharing! Maybe we should do a future Diva week in Japan!

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

Another great trip report, Alison!

 

[MrsPlow]

Great trip report, love all the photos!

 

[Mary Tee]

Great report, Thank you.

 

[Powgirl]

Such a great sense of adventure you have!

 

[TeleChica]

@alison wong Great trip report! Japan is definitely on my bucket list--for many of the reasons you mention.

 

[Christy]

Thanks for another great report. We went to Japan last year for the first time and LOVED it. I can't wait to go back. One thing I noticed was that we had almost no jet lag compared to going to Europe. We'll probably explore Japan more before taking a ski trip but we'll ski there someday.

Did you talk about snow quality (did I miss it)? Was it far better than anything you've experienced?

Despite lift lines, I noticed Japanese does not like to share chairs. Handful times that I shared a chair, it was with a westerner. Same observation applies to table sharing at cafeteria and restaurant.

This is very interesting given how closely the Japanese have to share space in other circumstances, like the subway, and how much of Japanese etiquette revolves around the fact that you are so often in close proximity to others (so no chatting on cell phones in public, don't blow your nose in public, wear a mask if you are sick, etc). You mentioned (not) chatting--that's something I have been told about the culture in general. Foreigners hoping to strike up conversations are probably going to be disappointed.

At the end of the day, a Japanese song was played over the PA, likely it signified it’s closing time.

I love this.