Ski Resort Opening Dates - Sakae, Tsunan & Tokamachi

Rounding off the opening dates for resorts in Snow Country. Again - planned dates only at this date. It has been snowing today in the region but all the resorts need more snow yet so it is possible that certain places may have to postpone their opening or receive one of Snow Country's legendary dumps.

Sakae

Sakae Club - 23 December


Tsunan

Greenpia Tsunan - 17 December
Mountain Park Tsunan - 23 Tsunan


Tokamachi

Matsunoyama Onsen - TBC
Nakasato Kiyotsu - 23 December

Ski Resort Opening Dates - Uonuma

The schedule dates for the resort in Uonuma. If you are looking for other resorts in the area you can try the posts for the Minami Uonuma area or the Yuzawa town area. All dates are the planned opening and will depend on there being enough snow for the resort to open. If the conditions aren't right they will push this date back a bit.

Okutadami Maruyama - as soon as there is enough snow
Yakushi - 17 December
Suhara - 23 December
Ohara - 23 December
Koide - 23 December
Oyu Onsen - 23 December

Ski Resort Opening Dates - Minami Uonuma

We have listed the opening dates for resorts in the Yuzawa area and here are the planned opening dates for resorts that are further up the valley in the Minami Uonuma City district. Again it is worth noting that these are the planned days and will depend on there being enough snow for the resort to open. Delays are likely if the weather does not cooperate.

Joetsu Kokusai - 10 December
Ishiuchi Maruyama - 17 December
Centreleisure Maiko - 17 December
Muikamachi Hakkaisan - 23 December
Itsukamachi - 23 December
Mt. Grand View - 23 December
Muikamachi Ski Resort - 23 December
Hakkaisan Sanroku - 23 December
Chateau Shiozawa - 24 December
Ishiuchi Hanaoka - 29 December

Ski Resort Opening Dates - Yuzawa Town

List of some of the planned opening dates for the upcoming winter. As always, it is snow dependent so subject to change. It has been pretty cold recently but the snow is still quite high up. Many of the resorts listed below will need quite a bit of snow lower down to be able to open on these dates so some postponements are looking highly likely.

Kagura (Mitsumata) - 23 November
Kagura (Tashiro) - 10 December
Naeba - 10 December
Iwappara - 10 December
Yuzawa Kogen - 10 December
Kandatsu Kogen - 16 December
Yuzawa Nakazato - 17 December
Ludens Yuzawa - 17 December
Nakazato Snow Wood - 17 December
GALA Yuzawa - 17 December
Yuzawa Park - 22 December
NASPA Ski Garden - 23 December
Nunoba - 23 December
Ipponsugi - 23 December

Yuzawa Resorts Radiation Checks - No worries

The Geiger counters were out this week in Yuzawa as checks were done on all the ski resorts before the snow falls to see what current radiation levels were. Everywhere was given a clean bill of health with readings within the range of 0.016 - 0.160 uSV/h, so you can hit the slopes with peace of mind this winter. For a run down of results by resort in English have a looks at this document or if you would like to check the full results (in Japanese) head to the Yuzawa Town homepage.

Snowmobiling

All the surrounding peaks are snow-capped now and there is the definite winter feel around Snow Country at the moment. The first resorts are already opening their doors for the winter and the other resorts are just waiting for the snow line to creep a little lower down. Skiing and snowboarding are hugely popular but there are plenty of other things to keep you amused if these are not your thing.

One great activity for thrill seekers is snowmobiling. Hurtling around the winter landscape on a specially designed machine definitely gets the pulse racing.

One of the great things about is that no special skills are needed to have an amazing time on a snowmobile. With a few pointers from the experienced instructors you are soon up and away, throttling your machine through the powder. It is also a good day out for the kids as there are smaller machines for the young ones or they often get a kick out of riding on the same sled as their parents.

RSS Snowmobiling run tours in Yuzawa and in Naeba. The course in Naeba is particularly good as there is a trail through the forest so you get a real feeling of exploration.

Parties in Naeba - SnowSplash and FIS World Cup After Party

Winter in Japan means some of the best snow in the world but one aspect of the winter sports vacation that people from abroad often lament is the lack of a apres-ski party scene. Most areas have a couple of bars in town but they are not as popular as their European resort counterparts. If you are going to do it like a local you will either crash back in your room with some beers and a good soak in the onsen, or head to an izakaya - a drinking restaurant. Later at night you might wander out to sing a bit of karaoke.

There are plenty of parties and events around though you probably have to make sure you are in the right place at the right time so as not to miss out. Naeba is a good place to go if you are looking for some apres action and there are a couple of dates you need to keep free for 2012.

SnowSplash - Saturday January 21st

This is a popular annual party that does the rounds in Minakami, Naeba and Hakuba that draws some big name foreign acts, DJs and performance artists.


There is also a World Cup Mogul Event in Naeba this year and there is nothing highly trained athletes in the peak of the physical condition like more than to let their hair down and party after a tough day at the office. The official after party will be on Saturday February 18th.

Full details on both of these to follow...