Gala Yuzawa
On Saturday I went snowboarding in Gala Yuzawa with a few friends. I had heard horror stories of 2 hour queues and packed pistes, but I never had to wait longer than a couple of minutes for a lift and the pistes were great.
We had the bonus of a beautiful sunny day, and of course there is plenty of snow: nearly 4 metres deep!
I’d definitely recommend heading up there. It’s 1.5hrs on the Joetsu Shinkansen from Tokyo or Ueno and Gala Yuzawa station is literally within the same building as the ski lifts.
A day trip (including train, lift pass and lunch) will only set you back 14,000Yen.
For more information, check out the official site and the latest conditions.
The Gala site also has a mobile phone version; go to http://www.gala.co.jp and choose your network.
Gala Yuzawa’s great – I’ve been there a few times. It’s also an option for people just visiting town or when you have guests, because they will rent you absolutely everything you need to ski, including a ski jacket and ski overalls and whatever.
Good point.
Plus the train + lift pass package gives you 20% off the price of renting the ski equipment, etc.
Wow… It’s very beautiful !
I should try Gala :)
Plus they have also got lots of foreign English speaking staff for those who cant speak Japanese.