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This is the ultimate powder holiday, hitting up 3 of the best resorts over the 3 day holiday. 3 nights lodging, 3 days lift ticket included.
Actual order of ski resorts will be dependent on snow conditions. Seki Onsen we must have a powder day and will schedule accordingly. If conditions are no good for Seki Onsen, then we'll head to Myoko Suginohara as a backup plan.
Lotte Arai
Arai Mountain is known for having huge dumps of snow and big deep powder!
The Arai Ski Resort is long and reasonably skinny with a big 951 metres of vertical (329 - 1,280 metres). Like many Japanese ski resorts, there isn't a lot of piste terrain (only 11 "courses" ie runs), but there's extensive off-piste terrain. The Arai ski area is serviced by 5 lifts: a gondola; 2 hooded fast quad chair lifts; and 2 double chair lifts (one of them is a detachable lift).
The piste statistics are 25% beginner, 45% intermediate and 30% advanced, so there's enough variety for beginners.
The avalanche controlled off-piste areas are mostly towards the top of the resort, which includes a variety of open slopes, sub-alpine with light trees (including my "Happy Place"), and tree skiing. From the top lift you can hike up the additional 149m vertical to the summit for some extra freshies. Considering the potential for significant avalanche risk, these areas are opened and closed by the patrollers depending on the snowpack.
Myoko Suginohara
Myoko Suginohara Ski Resort (妙高杉ノ原スキー場) rates highly amongst the legions of ski slopes in Japan with beautiful views of the lakes on the plain below. Suginohara is recommended for those who like long cruisy trails because it possesses the longest ski run in Japan at around a massive 8.5 km.
It boasts many varied slopes, great snow, short ski lift lines, and a halfpipe for snowboarders. Covering 1124 metres in vertical drop Myoko Suginohara dishes up a diverse range of ski trails with plenty of easy, mid-level runs as well as long downhill trails suitable for beginners. The ski lifts at Suginohara ski resort transport riders up to 3 km in one stretch, and it has three connecting lines of quad lifts that can carry skiers to the peak. There are 15 ski lifts in total, with a capacity to lift 16,000 people per hour. The upper reaches of the Suginohara ski slopes have premium snow quality and a magnificent view, even of Mount Fuji on a clear day. There are some ungroomed slopes and plenty of tree areas to jump into some powder.
Madarao
At Madarao, 60% of the courses are ungroomed, so there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to enjoy a fluffy, deep powder when you ski. Also, since not as many people as you might think like to ski on untouched powder, there is not a lot of competition for the slopes! Mt. Madarao stands 1382 meters tall and has 30 separate courses. There are 15 ski lifts at the resort. The ski area features a unique bowl-shape. Since Madarao was host to Japan’s first Freestyle Skiing Competition, there are many unique courses to choose from. There are groomed courses, ungroomed courses, the Tree Run courses, Free Ride Park, Kid’s Park, and wave courses - Madarao can be enjoyed by everyone from first timers to advanced skiers!
Lodging
Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights we will be staying at a local cabin style guesthouse featuring a nice cafe and bar, Guesthouse Lamp. You can order what you want for dinner, and a great selection of local beer and sake are available for a very reasonable price. Breakfast features farm fresh eggs and bacon with toast and salad among other sides.
Ski / Snowboard Rentals:
We can arrange for a ski and snowboard set to be delivered to the ski resort and rental prices cost between 2000~3000 yen per day for board and boots set depending on the quality level.
*Trip departs Friday night from Ikebukuro station
Actual order of ski resorts will be dependent on snow conditions. Seki Onsen we must have a powder day and will schedule accordingly. If conditions are no good for Seki Onsen, then we'll head to Myoko Suginohara as a backup plan.
Lotte Arai
Arai Mountain is known for having huge dumps of snow and big deep powder!
The Arai Ski Resort is long and reasonably skinny with a big 951 metres of vertical (329 - 1,280 metres). Like many Japanese ski resorts, there isn't a lot of piste terrain (only 11 "courses" ie runs), but there's extensive off-piste terrain. The Arai ski area is serviced by 5 lifts: a gondola; 2 hooded fast quad chair lifts; and 2 double chair lifts (one of them is a detachable lift).
The piste statistics are 25% beginner, 45% intermediate and 30% advanced, so there's enough variety for beginners.
The avalanche controlled off-piste areas are mostly towards the top of the resort, which includes a variety of open slopes, sub-alpine with light trees (including my "Happy Place"), and tree skiing. From the top lift you can hike up the additional 149m vertical to the summit for some extra freshies. Considering the potential for significant avalanche risk, these areas are opened and closed by the patrollers depending on the snowpack.
Myoko Suginohara
Myoko Suginohara Ski Resort (妙高杉ノ原スキー場) rates highly amongst the legions of ski slopes in Japan with beautiful views of the lakes on the plain below. Suginohara is recommended for those who like long cruisy trails because it possesses the longest ski run in Japan at around a massive 8.5 km.
It boasts many varied slopes, great snow, short ski lift lines, and a halfpipe for snowboarders. Covering 1124 metres in vertical drop Myoko Suginohara dishes up a diverse range of ski trails with plenty of easy, mid-level runs as well as long downhill trails suitable for beginners. The ski lifts at Suginohara ski resort transport riders up to 3 km in one stretch, and it has three connecting lines of quad lifts that can carry skiers to the peak. There are 15 ski lifts in total, with a capacity to lift 16,000 people per hour. The upper reaches of the Suginohara ski slopes have premium snow quality and a magnificent view, even of Mount Fuji on a clear day. There are some ungroomed slopes and plenty of tree areas to jump into some powder.
Madarao
At Madarao, 60% of the courses are ungroomed, so there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to enjoy a fluffy, deep powder when you ski. Also, since not as many people as you might think like to ski on untouched powder, there is not a lot of competition for the slopes! Mt. Madarao stands 1382 meters tall and has 30 separate courses. There are 15 ski lifts at the resort. The ski area features a unique bowl-shape. Since Madarao was host to Japan’s first Freestyle Skiing Competition, there are many unique courses to choose from. There are groomed courses, ungroomed courses, the Tree Run courses, Free Ride Park, Kid’s Park, and wave courses - Madarao can be enjoyed by everyone from first timers to advanced skiers!
Lodging
Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights we will be staying at a local cabin style guesthouse featuring a nice cafe and bar, Guesthouse Lamp. You can order what you want for dinner, and a great selection of local beer and sake are available for a very reasonable price. Breakfast features farm fresh eggs and bacon with toast and salad among other sides.
Ski / Snowboard Rentals:
We can arrange for a ski and snowboard set to be delivered to the ski resort and rental prices cost between 2000~3000 yen per day for board and boots set depending on the quality level.
*Trip departs Friday night from Ikebukuro station
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Included in the Trip Fee
-Roundtrip Van transport from Tokyo to Myoko area -Lodging in a lakeside guesthouse -3 days lift tickets at 3 resorts -Sunday Breakfast Participation Fee: 41,500 yen |
・Required Equipment: Overnight Toiletries, Towel, Change of Clothes, Onsen Kit, Ski / Snowboard Gear
・Maximum Participants: 9
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