This is my first time boarding out of Australia.  I got flights easily on points through to Tokyo so I could either fly north to Sapporo and Ski Niseko and those areas or head south via the Bullet Train.  After a lot of contemplation I decided that we are going to Shiga Kogen.

 

Shiga Kogen is situated in the heart of the Johshinetsu Kogen National Park. Shiga Kogen is by far the largest ski resort in Japan, with 21 interlinked resorts all on one lift ticket! It also has one of the longest seasons in Japan. Shiga Kogen hosted a variety of events in the 1998 Winter Olympics including the women's downhill, slalom, the super Giant slalom and both snowboarding events. Snow conditions and quality are superb.

 

The extensive lift network enable skiers and snowboarders to easily move around from one resort to the next.  If you were to actually ski all the runs it would take you days.  We could have easily gone a day without doing the same run twice.  There is also a shuttle bus system running non-stop between resorts that is included on your all mountain lift pass. 

 

1 Tram

4 Gondolas

14 Quads

7 Triples

35 Doubles

6 Singles

 

0800am-2100pm

 

Over 80 kms of slopes

6km longest run

Advanced 30%

Intermediate 40%

Beginner 30%

 

After checking out the mountains prior to booking we decided on the Shiga Kogen Price Hotel (west wing), which is located on the YakebitaiYama.  This is the most modern of all the resorts at Shiga and offers good facilities compared to some of the other mountains. Fast lifts, a huge variety of terrain and some of the longest and widest runs which are out of this world when you have only skied in Australia before, plus there was hardly anyone there.  You could nearly do a 3km run and only pass a couple of people unless there is a lesson and even then its still nothing. 

Adjoining Yakibtaiyama is Ichinose resort and village,this is the most central location in Shiga Kogen to be based and had some great runs also. Within Ichinose Village a good variety of accommodation is available, the Sunroute Hotel with its extensive facilities caters well to families and those seeking mid range lodging. Hotel Mount Shiga situated by the slopes, offers comfortable budget style lodging. For the most exclusive and intimate lodging at Shiga Kogen the Grand Phenix Hotel situated on the slopes of Oku Shiga is the property of choice.

The Shiga Kogen Prince Hotel was not at all what i expected to be honest. There were 3 of us travelling and we requested a twin room with 2 double beds, which I didn’t think, would be a problem.  On arrival into our room we were shocked to find our room, which was more like a shoebox with 4 tiny little single beds.  Our suitcases only just fitted under the beds, lucky for us we had a fourth bed which was home to our snowboard bags.  We had a locker downstairs which held 2 boards.  So our room was also home to our boots and the third snowboard.

The guys travelling with me are over 6ft so after 8 nights they were very happy to return to a longer/bigger bed for a good night sleep.  The package we booked included breakfast and dinner daily which was very handy as there was not another place that we could of eaten out.  It catered for both Japanese and western style food, you would never go hungry....

The resort had ski/board hire, an onsen, restaurant/cafeteria, convenient store and karaoke rooms + massage therapist (which was extremely handy to have)

 

 

I would stay at this resort again, the location is great however would definitely try and get another room type with a little more room.  The resort didn't have a bar or a games room as such so when you weren't boarding or eating you had nothing else to do.  It is still very Japanese and didn’t completely cater for the western market but in the next couple of years this place will take off.  The mountains also don't have too much English signage so make sure you get a map (even though in Japanese, you can mark where you are going easily)

Before we departed we purchased a JR Rail East pass that allows for your train from Narita airport to Tokyo then the Bullet Train to Nagano.  It was easy having this as communication was hard and we didn't have to bother with the money etc.

- From Narita Airport Passengers transferring from Narita Airport board the Narita Express to Tokyo or Shinjuku Station. There are frequent departures from airport rail terminal. Travelling time to Tokyo - 1hr.

- From Tokyo, departing from Tokyo Station to Nagano City passengers board the Nagano Bullet Train (Asama Shinkansen). Travelling time 1.30hrs.

The Bullet trains run regularly throughout the day to Nagano City, which is where you get off at, the Nagano Terminal is also the last stop, so when you get ushered off the train by the cleaning crew you will know you have reached the right place. We organised a private transfer from Nagano to the Shiga Kogen Prince, this was good and can take between 1-2 hours depending on the conditions.  There are also frequent buses however after your 10 hour flight 2.5 hours on train and transfer times you are pretty exhausted and just want to get there. You do exactly the same thing for the return, I would suggest that you investigate your return times as we had trouble communicating to organise the trains and transfer back to Narita but again its manageable.

The baggage allowance for Qantas is 20kg per person and they do not give extra kilos for snow gear.  A kit for snowboarding (board, boots, binding, helmet) weighs approx 10kg.  So what you can have as checked baggage is 10kg.  Snow gear weighs a lot but you don't really need much else over there as you aren't going out every night.   They will charge you excess. Keep your bags to a minimum because of all of the transferring it makes it hard with all the escalators etc. Not that we experienced this but make sure you have travel insurance as doctors and hospital are very expensive.

 

We came back exhausted, no real injuries and we made the most out of every day we were there.  We could not have asked for a better week.  There was hardly any wind, there were blue skies most of the day and snow in the afternoon so there was fresh powder every morning.  The lines for lifts and gondolas were so quick that you really did board as much as possible.

 

I honestly can't wait to book my 2008 ski trip to Japan!! I'm hooked!

Until next time