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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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Participation Fee: 42,500 yen |
・Required Equipment: Overnight Toiletries, Towel, Change of Clothes, Onsen Kit, Ski / Snowboard Gear
・Maximum Participants: 9
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