Shiga Kogen Ski Area
Shiga Kogen Ski Area
4.5
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4.5
440 reviews
Excellent
256
Very good
143
Average
30
Poor
8
Terrible
3
Adam S
Sydney, Australia81 contributions
Jan 2020 • Family
Shiga kogen is a very good ski area, it has a lot of terrain and is good for all levels of skiing and boarding. I would give the area a five if some of the connections between each resort didn’t mean you had to do a short pole. The fact that most of the resorts are accessible by skiing is very handy, if your legs are tried then there is always the shuttle bus. The shuttle bus comes every hour or so and there is a timetable in one of the maps. There is so much terrain and would recommend it to anyone coming to Japan.
Written 18 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Madshus
Canberra, Australia1,362 contributions
Jan 2020 • Solo
Shiga Kogen got lots of kudos from The reviewer powder hounds. It’s connected mainly by ski lifts and shuttle buses. The ski areas are all pretty good. There right on back country skiing without a guide. Okushiga Kogen seems a bit more relaxed on this front. My only gripe is there seems to be only one international ATM st the post office to service this massive ski area.
Written 27 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Barra G
Darwin, Australia64 contributions
Jan 2020 • Family
Skied twice at Shiga, there are many runs in the varying resort areas.
The runs don’t have the length of Happo or goyru. If you are after thigh burning runs Shiga may not be the place for you.
If your after good red runs then Shiga will probably suit you well.
The runs don’t have the length of Happo or goyru. If you are after thigh burning runs Shiga may not be the place for you.
If your after good red runs then Shiga will probably suit you well.
Written 26 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Peter S
Ipswich, Australia17 contributions
Jan 2020 • Friends
Staying at the Prince Hotel (East Wing) was the perfect location for our Ski in Ski out holiday. Shiga Kogen has so much terrain on offer with the majority of the resorts connected and can be skied on an all mountain pass. The Shiga area is ideal for intermediate and beginner skiers. I have skied at Hakuba, and Niseko and have now put Shiga Kogen on my list of return Japanese ski destinations.
Written 17 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
capykyu
Hong Kong, China408 contributions
Jan 2020 • Family
We drove to Shiga Kogen for a day trip to ski with our relatives and friends. We were pleasantly surprised at how big the ski resort was. There were so many slopes to explore and one day actually was not enough. There are many hotels to choose from. We visited Gramd Phoenix Hotel, where our relatives were staying at, and skied to the Prince Hotel to have lunch. The overall skiing experience was fantastic. The slopes are well connected, and there was so much to explore for first time visitors like us.
Written 1 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Niki C
Auckland, New Zealand101 contributions
Jan 2020 • Family
We really enjoyed our family holiday to this ski resort. The snow was great and there is no end of lovely long runs catering for various ability levels.
A couple of things to note
1) Many places only take cash so make sure you have plenty before you arrive. We had to make a trip to the nearest ATM at a local post office 40 minutes away!
2) I wish I’d taken my own coffee. It’s hard to find (apart from sweetened coffee in a vending machine. We did find a few places for coffee but they aren’t nearby.
3). Sleeping arrangements are all single beds - no doubles.
A couple of things to note
1) Many places only take cash so make sure you have plenty before you arrive. We had to make a trip to the nearest ATM at a local post office 40 minutes away!
2) I wish I’d taken my own coffee. It’s hard to find (apart from sweetened coffee in a vending machine. We did find a few places for coffee but they aren’t nearby.
3). Sleeping arrangements are all single beds - no doubles.
Written 25 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
john m
Shell Cove, Australia23 contributions
Feb 2020
Has a large number of small resorts joined together so you can cruise around a big variety of runs. Eating options are a bit limited, so try and get a hotel in a village. Ichinose is pretty good and central. Some tree runs. Runs are generally not overly long, plenty of steeps. Very nice in the powder.
Written 5 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Natalie
London, UK30 contributions
Mar 2020
We had an incredible time skiing in Shiga Kogen. The resort was really well run, there were a vast variety of slopes and the snow was incredible. Didn't get a chance to cover it all in the time we were there either so would definitely return!
Written 9 June 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Lokky_78
Melbourne118 contributions
Feb 2012 • Couples
Having skied Nozawa Onsen and Myoko Kogen in 2010 and now Hakuba and Shiga Kogen and Hakabu in 2012, my wife and I decided that if we were to ski Japan again Shiga Kogen is the place for it, but we'll always have a soft spot for the traditional village atmosphere of Nozawa Onsen. We’ve decided that we won’t bother with Hokkaido as the travel from Melbourne to Hokkaido for skiing is about the same as heading to Europe and more of a hassle than going to North America. Also, the resorts in Nagano and Niigata prefectures offer better Japanese culture than the ones up north.
We based ourselves at Villa Ichinose in the Ichinose Village and had 5 ski days on this trip.
The marketing materials for Shiga Kogen claim that it takes 3 days to ski the entire resort, consisting of 21 ski areas. This is reasonably accurate but not all the ski areas are interlinked by ski runs.
Below are a few specific comments before I go into the more general comments about the resort
• The Yokoteyama / Shibutoge / Kumanoyu Ski areas are only accessible by the village bus and is a 1 hour bus ride from Ichinose. Mt Yokoteyama is the highest peak in the area at 2,307m. The view from the top is fantastic but the runs in the area are limited. There is a restaurant at the top and a couple of lodges halfway down the mountain.
• The “single chair” lifts are worth trying for the novelty of it. Two at Yokoteyama and one at Sun Valley.
• Kido Pond is a tiny tiny ski area accessible by bus only.
• The rest of the ski areas are all interlinked.
• Okushigakogen and top part of Yokoteyama are skiers only (no boarders).
What we liked about Shiga Kogen:
• Variety of runs all over the resort and the ease of accessing those runs. The resort is an intermingle of Green, Red (intermediate), and Black runs.
• Length of runs. The runs are reasonably long at ~3km on average.
• The snow. The base of the village is at 1,660m. This means it gets more reliable show and powder more often.
• Simple logistics of getting there – land into Narita – Skyline to Ueno (~40min) – Shinkansen to Nagano (~1.5hrs) – express bus (~1.5hrs)
What we didn’t like about Shiga Kogen:
• They didn’t seem to fully comprehend the meaning of “downhill”. It was not uncommon to have to climb uphill in the middle of a run to the tune of 2m+ vertical uphill. One of the quad chair lift at Okushigakogen actually unloaded uphill – the dismount area is in a bowl with the chair being the base of the bowl, requiring a climb of 1.5m+ vertical to get out …. Seriously! On a quad chair!!
• Linkages between the ski areas on different sides of the road. The ski areas span across both sides of the road, and the ski areas are linked together by bridges. These bridges often involve climbing up 30 slopes to get over.
• Lack of restaurants. The majority of the restaurants are located at the base of the ski areas, which can be a long way away …. Toilets are usually where the restaurants are located.
• The last free shuttle bus on the day finishes before the last lift
• The resort seems to have been built for travelling East ward. By this I mean it was much easier with more run options skiing from West to East than from East to West. Keep this in mind when planning your day. Skiing back from Hasuike towards Ichinose one must use a rope tow and ski down a black run.
• No central information on which lift is running and which not, which makes life a little uncomfortable if one was trying to ski back and it was touch and go whether one would make it back to the lodge before last lift
A few notes:
• The runs can be rather icy. Make sure you have sharp edges
• For skiers, if it hasn’t snowed for a while head towards Okushigakogen. Being a skier only resort the snow stays on the slopes for much longer (no boarders ploughing all the snow down the hill sliding down on their heel edge)
• On a nice day, head up to Terakoya Ski Area. It has a couple of really nice runs with fantastic views
• The small noodle place on the ground floor, top of Gondola #16 (Takamagahara Mammoth) serves very good udon and soba noodle soups. The restaurant upstairs has some interesting displays
• The restaurant at Maruike Ski Area makes very nice coffees and hot chocolates
• Bring a phrase book. English doesn’t get one far
• Wear a helmet and be careful. Slowest cruising speed we did while on a green run was 47km/hr. Fastest was 75.8km/h (just cruising down a black run, not trying to go fast). During our stay, in the same lodge one boarder dislocated his shoulder, another did his ankle, and two skiers did their knees and ankles.
We based ourselves at Villa Ichinose in the Ichinose Village and had 5 ski days on this trip.
The marketing materials for Shiga Kogen claim that it takes 3 days to ski the entire resort, consisting of 21 ski areas. This is reasonably accurate but not all the ski areas are interlinked by ski runs.
Below are a few specific comments before I go into the more general comments about the resort
• The Yokoteyama / Shibutoge / Kumanoyu Ski areas are only accessible by the village bus and is a 1 hour bus ride from Ichinose. Mt Yokoteyama is the highest peak in the area at 2,307m. The view from the top is fantastic but the runs in the area are limited. There is a restaurant at the top and a couple of lodges halfway down the mountain.
• The “single chair” lifts are worth trying for the novelty of it. Two at Yokoteyama and one at Sun Valley.
• Kido Pond is a tiny tiny ski area accessible by bus only.
• The rest of the ski areas are all interlinked.
• Okushigakogen and top part of Yokoteyama are skiers only (no boarders).
What we liked about Shiga Kogen:
• Variety of runs all over the resort and the ease of accessing those runs. The resort is an intermingle of Green, Red (intermediate), and Black runs.
• Length of runs. The runs are reasonably long at ~3km on average.
• The snow. The base of the village is at 1,660m. This means it gets more reliable show and powder more often.
• Simple logistics of getting there – land into Narita – Skyline to Ueno (~40min) – Shinkansen to Nagano (~1.5hrs) – express bus (~1.5hrs)
What we didn’t like about Shiga Kogen:
• They didn’t seem to fully comprehend the meaning of “downhill”. It was not uncommon to have to climb uphill in the middle of a run to the tune of 2m+ vertical uphill. One of the quad chair lift at Okushigakogen actually unloaded uphill – the dismount area is in a bowl with the chair being the base of the bowl, requiring a climb of 1.5m+ vertical to get out …. Seriously! On a quad chair!!
• Linkages between the ski areas on different sides of the road. The ski areas span across both sides of the road, and the ski areas are linked together by bridges. These bridges often involve climbing up 30 slopes to get over.
• Lack of restaurants. The majority of the restaurants are located at the base of the ski areas, which can be a long way away …. Toilets are usually where the restaurants are located.
• The last free shuttle bus on the day finishes before the last lift
• The resort seems to have been built for travelling East ward. By this I mean it was much easier with more run options skiing from West to East than from East to West. Keep this in mind when planning your day. Skiing back from Hasuike towards Ichinose one must use a rope tow and ski down a black run.
• No central information on which lift is running and which not, which makes life a little uncomfortable if one was trying to ski back and it was touch and go whether one would make it back to the lodge before last lift
A few notes:
• The runs can be rather icy. Make sure you have sharp edges
• For skiers, if it hasn’t snowed for a while head towards Okushigakogen. Being a skier only resort the snow stays on the slopes for much longer (no boarders ploughing all the snow down the hill sliding down on their heel edge)
• On a nice day, head up to Terakoya Ski Area. It has a couple of really nice runs with fantastic views
• The small noodle place on the ground floor, top of Gondola #16 (Takamagahara Mammoth) serves very good udon and soba noodle soups. The restaurant upstairs has some interesting displays
• The restaurant at Maruike Ski Area makes very nice coffees and hot chocolates
• Bring a phrase book. English doesn’t get one far
• Wear a helmet and be careful. Slowest cruising speed we did while on a green run was 47km/hr. Fastest was 75.8km/h (just cruising down a black run, not trying to go fast). During our stay, in the same lodge one boarder dislocated his shoulder, another did his ankle, and two skiers did their knees and ankles.
Written 14 March 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Billysnow2015
Vancouver, Canada2 contributions
Feb 2015 • Family
I have booked two rooms for 2 adults and 2 kids including breakfast for this entire stay. Upon arrival, a Japanese front desk women checked in for us. She was not very helpful and could only speak Japanese. Since we understand Japanese, we did not mind being served in Japanese. However, she was not very helpful and apparently not too eager to introduce the facilities of the hotel to us. After checked in, we found out she only gave us one set of breakfast coupon of one room and forgot to give another set as the second room was not ready. The next day morning, I went to the front desk and asked for the breakfast coupon for the other room before having breakfast. Another front desk staff (who speaks fluent English) took care of the problem. He was doubtful of why only one set of breakfast coupon was issued, and implied that we might have lost the other set. Eventually, he issued another set of "children" breakfast coupon for us, but reminding us that we have to returned the lost coupons. We were dissatisfied with the way he handled the problem. I have paid adult breakfast for my kids when I booked the room, I of course should receive adult breakfast coupons, why am I receiving children breakfast coupons, which only costs 1000 yen? The way he handles this problem is just unprofessional and disrespect the guests.
Then we found out there was no "bathhouse" in the East Tower. We wanted to go to the West Tower to use the bathhouse. Somehow the front desk in the East Tower told us that only West Tower guest can use the big bath there. I am surprised to find out this rule as it is not written in any of the official documents in Japanese, nor mentioned in anywhere in the internet booking. It was just written in a extra piece of paper for "gaigin" to read about hotel information. I am very uncomfortable with this "rule" and I strongly feel that "gaigin" guests are being treated differently than the local. I also feel like I have been cheated by the internet booking as I would never book a hotel without a big bath in any ski area in Japan.
As mentioned that I stayed in this hotel for 5 nights, the cleaning staff only replenished my amenities 1 time among the 5 days stay. The beds are also extremely uncomfortable! All my family members got back pain every morning we woke up.
There was also one incident that the ski school passed a message of change of time of lesson to the front desk but we did not get the message from the front desk at all. Eventually my kids wasted one hour in waiting for the instructor to come due to the lost of message. Again, the front desk was not doing the job!
On the day we checked out, I decided to take a taxi to Nagano station as we found the bus service was not too reliable in terms of meeting the schedule. We called the front desk at 8am in the morning to ask for a taxi to pick up at 9:30am. Again, the same women who did the check in for us picked up the phone, she told me that the taxi company was very busy and not sure whether any taxi would be able to come to pick us up. We then again insist that we want to take a taxi to Nagano, she then told us it would take 50 minutes for a taxi to come to the hotel. We then told her that now is 8am and 50 minutes later is before 9pm, I would like to wait for the taxi. She finally reluctantly booked the taxi for us. The family gathered at the lobby at 9:10am and check out. Not too sure why, but the same front desk women came to check us out! She was finishing all check out and payment around 9:20 when my wife saw a taxi at the entrance arrived. We then asked her to check whether the taxi is the one we called, again, she was very reluctant to check! She finally checked after I requested her 3 times in Japanese!!! One thing worth to mention about this women is that she never wears any smile and never speaks in polite tone even she was speaking "Keigo". Also, she is definitely not enthusiastic about her work as she is never helpful to any of our requests.
Lastly, after we checked out, we returned to Tokyo. We got a call from the front desk of Prince hotel front desk telling us they forgot to charge us 2000Yen for the tax of the delivery service of 3 ski bags to Narita airport! The front desk staff who speaks fluent English called us 3 times to ask us to pay for the mistake they made. I was very unhappy about the 3 roaming phone calls as it definitely costed a lot more than 2000Yen, but still I am willing to pay for the difference and therefore I asked them to send an invoice with the explanation of charges to us. Eventually we did not get any emails from the Prince hotel, so we asked the staff in our Tokyo hotel (Ritz Carlton) to call the Prince Hotel to make sure that the bags are sent and the invoice is prepared for us to make payment. Eventually, the front desk said the hotel will bear the cost. However, it is still a very unpleasant experience for us.
Looking at my bills from Prince hotel per night, I am paying more or less the same rate as those top tier hotels in Tokyo. The experience that our family had is just one of the most dissatisfactory service of all the hotels I have stayed in Japan. The service level is not anywhere close to the Japanese minimum standard and also not to the other Prince hotels standard at all. Lucky that I speak and understand Japanese, otherwise, we probably got even worse service from them. We chose the Prince hotel for good experience in the past, but this time we are totally disappointed. I hope the hotel management can look into the problems. It is very unlikely we will choose this hotel again.
Then we found out there was no "bathhouse" in the East Tower. We wanted to go to the West Tower to use the bathhouse. Somehow the front desk in the East Tower told us that only West Tower guest can use the big bath there. I am surprised to find out this rule as it is not written in any of the official documents in Japanese, nor mentioned in anywhere in the internet booking. It was just written in a extra piece of paper for "gaigin" to read about hotel information. I am very uncomfortable with this "rule" and I strongly feel that "gaigin" guests are being treated differently than the local. I also feel like I have been cheated by the internet booking as I would never book a hotel without a big bath in any ski area in Japan.
As mentioned that I stayed in this hotel for 5 nights, the cleaning staff only replenished my amenities 1 time among the 5 days stay. The beds are also extremely uncomfortable! All my family members got back pain every morning we woke up.
There was also one incident that the ski school passed a message of change of time of lesson to the front desk but we did not get the message from the front desk at all. Eventually my kids wasted one hour in waiting for the instructor to come due to the lost of message. Again, the front desk was not doing the job!
On the day we checked out, I decided to take a taxi to Nagano station as we found the bus service was not too reliable in terms of meeting the schedule. We called the front desk at 8am in the morning to ask for a taxi to pick up at 9:30am. Again, the same women who did the check in for us picked up the phone, she told me that the taxi company was very busy and not sure whether any taxi would be able to come to pick us up. We then again insist that we want to take a taxi to Nagano, she then told us it would take 50 minutes for a taxi to come to the hotel. We then told her that now is 8am and 50 minutes later is before 9pm, I would like to wait for the taxi. She finally reluctantly booked the taxi for us. The family gathered at the lobby at 9:10am and check out. Not too sure why, but the same front desk women came to check us out! She was finishing all check out and payment around 9:20 when my wife saw a taxi at the entrance arrived. We then asked her to check whether the taxi is the one we called, again, she was very reluctant to check! She finally checked after I requested her 3 times in Japanese!!! One thing worth to mention about this women is that she never wears any smile and never speaks in polite tone even she was speaking "Keigo". Also, she is definitely not enthusiastic about her work as she is never helpful to any of our requests.
Lastly, after we checked out, we returned to Tokyo. We got a call from the front desk of Prince hotel front desk telling us they forgot to charge us 2000Yen for the tax of the delivery service of 3 ski bags to Narita airport! The front desk staff who speaks fluent English called us 3 times to ask us to pay for the mistake they made. I was very unhappy about the 3 roaming phone calls as it definitely costed a lot more than 2000Yen, but still I am willing to pay for the difference and therefore I asked them to send an invoice with the explanation of charges to us. Eventually we did not get any emails from the Prince hotel, so we asked the staff in our Tokyo hotel (Ritz Carlton) to call the Prince Hotel to make sure that the bags are sent and the invoice is prepared for us to make payment. Eventually, the front desk said the hotel will bear the cost. However, it is still a very unpleasant experience for us.
Looking at my bills from Prince hotel per night, I am paying more or less the same rate as those top tier hotels in Tokyo. The experience that our family had is just one of the most dissatisfactory service of all the hotels I have stayed in Japan. The service level is not anywhere close to the Japanese minimum standard and also not to the other Prince hotels standard at all. Lucky that I speak and understand Japanese, otherwise, we probably got even worse service from them. We chose the Prince hotel for good experience in the past, but this time we are totally disappointed. I hope the hotel management can look into the problems. It is very unlikely we will choose this hotel again.
Written 23 February 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Shaun K
Sydney, Australia
Hi, can I buy lift passes in Sun Valley Ski Area? If yes, can I pay using a credit card in Sun Valley. Thanks!
Written 20 January 2020
Hi I have been to sun valley a few times there is a lift ticket office at the bottom of the giant chair. I am not sure if credit cards are accepted but they have been every where else.
Written 20 January 2020
Hi,
1. I have only skiied twice at beginner slopes at Hokkaido (Tomamu and Hirafu). May i know is there gentle beginner slopes at Shiga Kogen ?
2. Where should I go to rent gears at Shiga Kogen ?
Thank You
Written 15 October 2019
Shiga Kogen is a collection of 17 mountains.
For beginners I would suggest you stay at the Ichinose Mountain / Village.
This mountain has the biggest infrastructure and there are plenty of accommodation options. It has some excellent and large beginner slopes and also is easy access from Ichinose to other areas.
Written 24 October 2019
Hi, we are a couple booked to stay at Prince Hotel East, mid Feb next year. We are aware there are limited places for apres ski, as in none. Can anybody recommend places to go to mid arvo, early evening? Can we rent a car anywhere at any of the resorts? Is Okushiga far from Prince Hotel East, worth sniffing around or should we just stay in our room of an evening, get drunk & treat ourselves like amusement parks?
Written 30 August 2019
Hello, the Prince Hotel runs a shuttle bus to take guests into Inchinose in the evenings, first bus leaves at 5pm and last bus returns at 10.30.
East hotel does have a whiskey bar, there's a small Izakaya in South (food here was great) west has the onset, buffet and a crazy expensive Chinese restaurant.
The Prince shuttle bus was well patronised by the English speaking guests and there are a few small bars to enjoy in Ichinose.
The issue with a mid afternoon drink is that the lifts stop running at 4pm and the mythical Shiga Kogen busses are very infrequent and they stop at 5 potentially leaving you stranded.
All the mountain cafes sell beer and highballs/citrus premix.
Hotel Khuls is on the slopes at Ichinose Family and the restaurant at the top of the Gondola over that way is very cosy (there's also a coffee place selling Melbourne style coffee up there.)
Otherwise enjoy the skiing, stock up on beverages in the convenience store in Ichinose and chill.
Written 25 January 2020
Hi,
I'm planning a trip to Japan in the of the year. I would like to see snow monkey park, onsens and enjoy skiing at Shiga Kogen.
We never skiing in life. So we are going need lessons for beginners.
We are 5 people, 2 seniors and 3 young adults.
What is the best place to stay to visit Shiga Kogen Ski? I was wondering to stay at Yamanouchi and do a day trip to Shiga Kogen.
Is it one day worth trip? Or maybe 2?
Is there any spot (cooffee shop, restaurant) at Shiga Kogen Park for seniors who are not gonna skiing?
Written 7 June 2019
Hi Yamanouchi is a bit away from Shiga Kogen.
What I will suggest you it’s , to book a room at Okushiga Kogen Hotel, which will be pleasant for all of you guys. The ski station is just beside and you can rent the equipment inside the hotel too.
To learn skiing I will suggest you to ask for Robel Zemickael. He is the owner of the skiing school and he’s an Olympic champion. In less than 2 or 3 hours I was fine to ski by myself! Just ask the hotel or look for his school ( Shiga Kogen Ski aera)
To see the snow mountain monkeys, it’s very easy as you will need to take the same bus from the train station to go to the ski station and on his way to or back you can stop at the snow mountain leave your luggage and then go to see the monkeys which are incredibles!
Written 30 June 2019
Is there much here for non skiers? Is it possible to take the chairlift up and not ski? I’m looking to kill an hour or two after the snow monkeys before heading back to nagano
Written 3 February 2019
You can buy a single return ticket up the various gondolas to the top and have a walk around but it's quite away from the snow monkeys, about a 15-20 minute drive. There is also an old traditional village near the snow monkeys that you can go and check out - don't remember the name but should be easy to find on the internet.
Hope that helps
Written 4 February 2019
Hi,
We, family with 2 toddlers age 3&6 yers, will be travelling to Japan by early Dec and planning to visit Nagano area for the snow monkey resort, onsen & hoping to get snow sightseeing/ activity if we are lucky with the snow.
We are currently searching for a Snow resort which open by early Dec (our trip to Nagano will be 8-12 Dec). We are not planning to do ski but would love to get a cable car/ gondola for sightseeing or visit nice restaurant on top of mountain.
1) Will Shiga Kogen Snow Resort be open already on those dates? At the web they mention pre-open from Nov 18, just want to make sure.
2) If yes, can a non skiing tourists purchase cable car/ gondola ticket for highland sightseeing?
3) Is there any sledding/ kids snow park and can we also rent the sled?
4) How to access from Shibu Onsen?
5) Any recommended restaurants at the mountain?
Much appreciated for any feedback!
Written 7 August 2018
Hi, There are no guarantees when the snow will fall. It is likely that there will be some snow ar that time, prehaps hot enough for skiing, but enough for snow play. Where? Although Shiga Kogen is closest to the snow monkey park, it may not be the best place to access a mountain, as a non skiier. I would base in Nagano for a couple of days and do easy day trips to the Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park and to whichever ski area has early snow. I.e decide on the day. They are pretty much all an hour from Nagano. As for resorts around Nagano which allow non skier access by gondola, I suggest Nozawa Onsen and Happo One/Hakuba as they have more interesting villages. Once again, you can check this when you are there. You may also stay in either resort and you can arrange day tours from them to Jigokudani.
If you are staying at Shibu onsen, Shiga Kogen is only about 30-45min by bus but, while this is a vast resort (or network of resorts) I am unsure which areas/gondolas allow non-skiiers. I'm sure the people at Shibu Onsen can advise
Written 7 August 2018
We are staying in Yudanaka at the beginning of Feb to do some skiing in Shiga Kogen. Ideally we don’t want to carry our rental skis to and from Yudanaka every day on the shuttle bus to the snow. Is there somewhere near the Prince Hotel when we can store these at the end of every day?
Written 23 January 2018
hi caroline
yea, its a little painful to travel from yudanaka with rental skis everyday. I doubt there are storage areas for your equipment but I could suggest :
1) staying in Shiga itself
2) renting the equipment from the shops in Shiga - I presume they will allow you to keep the equipment at the shop.. I think the best located shop for you would be SNOWCAN at Ichinose Diamond. You can go on their website to check it out. Google snowcan shiga and you will find it
Hope that helps
Written 24 January 2018
Hi Jason, I saw your review on the Shiga kogen skii area. Your review was quite new. Did you go recently? How was the snow? I am planning to go this weekend and just want to make sure that the snow is thick enough.
Written 26 December 2017
Hi Ly
Just posted my review but was actually there in Jan 2017. I hear the snow is good right now but you could check on these 2 websites.. unfortunately trip advisor will not allow me to include the address. but if you search snow-forecast and snowjapan for shiga it gives you a pretty good idea of the conditions
Written 27 December 2017
HI, i will be staying for a night during first week dec. can anyone advise if the ski period will be open and if there will be snow?
Written 28 July 2017
Very unlikely. If you want to ski in December in Japan, best to go up to Hokkaido.
Written 29 July 2017
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