Tom's Review
We arrived at Narita airport in the evening, you sure know you are in a foreign country, everything is a bit different, plus of course all the Japanese. (We is Me and my two teenage Children) Customs was easy, then straight to the Hakuba express bus, easy to find, a short wait then we were underway in a bus that was cosy and spacious... compared to the Jetstar plane. I’ll never forget driving through the outskirts of Tokyo, hundreds of commuter trains leaving the city, looked like some sort of science fiction scene, some came so close you could see the tired faces of Japanese office workers packed into them, by now we were getting tired and drifted in and out of sleep, we were woken by the first of two rest stops. Our first look at Japan up close, wow very difficult to choose food as the packaging didn’t seem to give any indication of what was inside, we ate some sort of Japanese dagwood dog, very nice. First myth busted about Japan, all the food was
cheap.
Can’t really remember the second rest stop, much the same not as big, by now it’s getting late and we are all very tired. Woke again when the bus stopped to drop off some passengers, first sight of snow on the ground, then a series of tunnels, each time we got to the end there was more snow on the ground. Finally Hakuba, very late past 2 am, we transferred to a smaller bus and reached @Tsugaike at about 2:30 am, the hosts, Marc and Heather were waiting for us, rooms prepared and a friendly face. They showed us to our rooms, after 20 hours travel the room and beds were so welcoming. Straight to sleep.
Woke next morning and looked outside, fantastic, the place is covered in snow, from our room we look over a deciduous snow covered forest, absolutely beautiful, our room had its own Japanese style en suite. Once up we got the tour of the chalet, it’s a typical snow chalet, rooms everywhere and some large common areas, very well appointed and the Hunters made us instantly feel at home. Their hospitality knew no bounds, somehow we resisted skiing and Mark gave us a tour of Tsugaike and Hakuba, again the scenery was stunning. Tsugaike is located 15 mins from Hakuba, and is inhabited by mostly Japanese, most non-Japanese haven’t discovered it yet. Ssshhh.
Next day we hit the ski runs, purchasing ski passes is complicated and a two-step process, first you pay then you collect the electronic pass from, of course, a vending machine, again Mark was there to help us through it, cost was about $55.00 AUD a day (2014), again cheap, again another Myth busted, the Japanese are not efficient at everything, cause at the end of the day you have to return the pass get a deposit back and go through the same process the next day even if you bought a multi-day pass.
Skiing was amazing, snow was perfect and deep, even in late Dec early Jan, at least a two metre plus base and no wind to speak of, Mark keep saying the default weather was lightly snowing, and it literally snowed almost every day of our 10 day stay. Every day fresh tracks.Skiing Japan is different to Oz, there are rarely any queues, the lift attendants are the politest I've ever encountered, every time you approached the chair you were greeted, bowed to and the chair swept before you sat down. For the most part, most of the resorts frown on skiing in the trees, again Mark to the rescue, he knew what was tolerated and where, which is great because it can be dangerous and you are warned that you will be charged the cost of a rescue outside the marked runs. Not much more to say about skiing, other than it was great, we enjoyed another 5 days all were excellent in their own way, there was one night it bucketed down and cleared to fine day the next, perfect, knee, waist and in places shoulder powder. We also had a day at Cortina, this resort will blow your mind, looks like it was accidentally built in Japan instead of Tudor England, but at Cortina there is unlimited tree skiing and your day pass includes a sit down buffet lunch and an onsen to finish your day. Also if you somehow tire of skiing there is an extensive games room to play in. Cortina is a must see resort.
Mark and Heather took us on a pub crawl they were invited to one night, what fun, 5 or 6 different bars, each had its own distinct character, one was a small bar that was all atmosphere, another an Aussie owned “Bikie” bar, another a high class resort style bar, and I can’t remember much after that, other than it wasn’t easy to get up to go skiing the next day.They also took us to that Japanese must, the Onsen, guided us through the protocols on how to Onsen, well worth it, but be prepared, very hot, very naked, very relaxing.
Our stay in Tsugaike also included a day trip to see the snow monkeys, another must, as well as trip to Matsumoto Castle in Nagano and shopping, a temple and a Samurai show. Too much to do, but again the Hunters hospitality and advice made everything so easy, the only Japanese I needed to learn was Thank You.
Even on our last day we were taken to the Bullet train in Nagano by the Hunters and arrived at Ueno (near Tokyo) two hours later. By then we had enough confidence to spend two days in Tokyo on our own before flying home. What a Trip! Again I can’t thank our hosts, Mark and Heather enough for their hospitality and help.
The Chalet is located across a narrow urban street from the ski runs of Tsugaike, most days we could ski across the road from the chalet after getting ready in their sizable drying room. Tsugaike is much quieter than Hakuba and genuinely Japanese.
I recommend @tsugaike to anyone who wants a good value Japanese Ski Holiday, especially if you have a family, because the open areas in the chalet allow plenty of room for a family to spread out have fun and feel at home.
Tom, Georgia and Ryan
cheap.
Can’t really remember the second rest stop, much the same not as big, by now it’s getting late and we are all very tired. Woke again when the bus stopped to drop off some passengers, first sight of snow on the ground, then a series of tunnels, each time we got to the end there was more snow on the ground. Finally Hakuba, very late past 2 am, we transferred to a smaller bus and reached @Tsugaike at about 2:30 am, the hosts, Marc and Heather were waiting for us, rooms prepared and a friendly face. They showed us to our rooms, after 20 hours travel the room and beds were so welcoming. Straight to sleep.
Woke next morning and looked outside, fantastic, the place is covered in snow, from our room we look over a deciduous snow covered forest, absolutely beautiful, our room had its own Japanese style en suite. Once up we got the tour of the chalet, it’s a typical snow chalet, rooms everywhere and some large common areas, very well appointed and the Hunters made us instantly feel at home. Their hospitality knew no bounds, somehow we resisted skiing and Mark gave us a tour of Tsugaike and Hakuba, again the scenery was stunning. Tsugaike is located 15 mins from Hakuba, and is inhabited by mostly Japanese, most non-Japanese haven’t discovered it yet. Ssshhh.
Next day we hit the ski runs, purchasing ski passes is complicated and a two-step process, first you pay then you collect the electronic pass from, of course, a vending machine, again Mark was there to help us through it, cost was about $55.00 AUD a day (2014), again cheap, again another Myth busted, the Japanese are not efficient at everything, cause at the end of the day you have to return the pass get a deposit back and go through the same process the next day even if you bought a multi-day pass.
Skiing was amazing, snow was perfect and deep, even in late Dec early Jan, at least a two metre plus base and no wind to speak of, Mark keep saying the default weather was lightly snowing, and it literally snowed almost every day of our 10 day stay. Every day fresh tracks.Skiing Japan is different to Oz, there are rarely any queues, the lift attendants are the politest I've ever encountered, every time you approached the chair you were greeted, bowed to and the chair swept before you sat down. For the most part, most of the resorts frown on skiing in the trees, again Mark to the rescue, he knew what was tolerated and where, which is great because it can be dangerous and you are warned that you will be charged the cost of a rescue outside the marked runs. Not much more to say about skiing, other than it was great, we enjoyed another 5 days all were excellent in their own way, there was one night it bucketed down and cleared to fine day the next, perfect, knee, waist and in places shoulder powder. We also had a day at Cortina, this resort will blow your mind, looks like it was accidentally built in Japan instead of Tudor England, but at Cortina there is unlimited tree skiing and your day pass includes a sit down buffet lunch and an onsen to finish your day. Also if you somehow tire of skiing there is an extensive games room to play in. Cortina is a must see resort.
Mark and Heather took us on a pub crawl they were invited to one night, what fun, 5 or 6 different bars, each had its own distinct character, one was a small bar that was all atmosphere, another an Aussie owned “Bikie” bar, another a high class resort style bar, and I can’t remember much after that, other than it wasn’t easy to get up to go skiing the next day.They also took us to that Japanese must, the Onsen, guided us through the protocols on how to Onsen, well worth it, but be prepared, very hot, very naked, very relaxing.
Our stay in Tsugaike also included a day trip to see the snow monkeys, another must, as well as trip to Matsumoto Castle in Nagano and shopping, a temple and a Samurai show. Too much to do, but again the Hunters hospitality and advice made everything so easy, the only Japanese I needed to learn was Thank You.
Even on our last day we were taken to the Bullet train in Nagano by the Hunters and arrived at Ueno (near Tokyo) two hours later. By then we had enough confidence to spend two days in Tokyo on our own before flying home. What a Trip! Again I can’t thank our hosts, Mark and Heather enough for their hospitality and help.
The Chalet is located across a narrow urban street from the ski runs of Tsugaike, most days we could ski across the road from the chalet after getting ready in their sizable drying room. Tsugaike is much quieter than Hakuba and genuinely Japanese.
I recommend @tsugaike to anyone who wants a good value Japanese Ski Holiday, especially if you have a family, because the open areas in the chalet allow plenty of room for a family to spread out have fun and feel at home.
Tom, Georgia and Ryan
