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This is the ultimate powder holiday, hitting up 3 great resorts over the weekend. 3 nights lodging, 2 days lift ticket included.
Actual order of ski resorts will be dependent on snow conditions, with the best powder days being reserved for Arai, and Seki Onsen.
Lotte Arai
Arai Mountain is known for having huge dumps of snow and big deep powder!
The Arai Ski Resort is long 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.
Seki Onsen
One review stated Seki Onsen as, “a resort which understands the needs of the powder hounds” in an area that, “…can provide Japan’s best powder snow skiing”. The appeal of Seki Onsen Ski Resort (関温泉スキー場), open as late as May, is its soft and pure powder snow. In January 2008 Seki Onsen was Japan’s only resort represented in the Travel Channel’s “Skiers World” series. The resort is owned and run by a local family and the home ski area for Masanori Takeuchi – a well-known Japanese snowboarder. Little grooming of the slopes is done, if at all. There are only two small lifts. Off Piste and Back Country are no problem at this resort, but you need to be prepared for the conditions and do not head out of bounds alone.
**If snow conditions are less than ideal for Seki, then we will head to Akakura Onsen as an alternative.
Myoko Suginohara
Myoko Suginohara is home to the longest continuous run in Japan at over 8.5km. There is also a good amount of off piste tree skiing terrain on the upper part of the mountain. This is a great resort for people of all abilities and the food and drink options on the mountain are top notch.
Lodging
Thursday through Saturday night we will be staying at Guesthouse Bunk at the edge of the Akakura Village. Rooms will have 2 to 3 people each room. American breakfast buffet is available on certain days for 1,000 yen per person.
Ski / Snowboard Rentals:
We can arrange for a ski and snowboard set to be picked up near 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 Thursday night from Ikebukuro station
**Seki Onsen or Akakura-kan lift tickets will be your responsibility to purchase.
Actual order of ski resorts will be dependent on snow conditions, with the best powder days being reserved for Arai, and Seki Onsen.
Lotte Arai
Arai Mountain is known for having huge dumps of snow and big deep powder!
The Arai Ski Resort is long 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.
Seki Onsen
One review stated Seki Onsen as, “a resort which understands the needs of the powder hounds” in an area that, “…can provide Japan’s best powder snow skiing”. The appeal of Seki Onsen Ski Resort (関温泉スキー場), open as late as May, is its soft and pure powder snow. In January 2008 Seki Onsen was Japan’s only resort represented in the Travel Channel’s “Skiers World” series. The resort is owned and run by a local family and the home ski area for Masanori Takeuchi – a well-known Japanese snowboarder. Little grooming of the slopes is done, if at all. There are only two small lifts. Off Piste and Back Country are no problem at this resort, but you need to be prepared for the conditions and do not head out of bounds alone.
**If snow conditions are less than ideal for Seki, then we will head to Akakura Onsen as an alternative.
Myoko Suginohara
Myoko Suginohara is home to the longest continuous run in Japan at over 8.5km. There is also a good amount of off piste tree skiing terrain on the upper part of the mountain. This is a great resort for people of all abilities and the food and drink options on the mountain are top notch.
Lodging
Thursday through Saturday night we will be staying at Guesthouse Bunk at the edge of the Akakura Village. Rooms will have 2 to 3 people each room. American breakfast buffet is available on certain days for 1,000 yen per person.
Ski / Snowboard Rentals:
We can arrange for a ski and snowboard set to be picked up near 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 Thursday night from Ikebukuro station
**Seki Onsen or Akakura-kan lift tickets will be your responsibility to purchase.
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Included in the Trip Fee
-Roundtrip Van transport from Tokyo to Myoko area -Lodging at Guesthouse for 3 nights -2 days lift tickets at 2 resorts Participation Fee: 37,500 yen |
・Required Equipment: Overnight Toiletries, Towel, Change of Clothes, Onsen Kit, Ski / Snowboard Gear
・Maximum Participants: 9
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