Australian Snowboarder Magazine 2009 #2 - Nozawa & Shiga Kogen

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In mid-February our group assembled in the Nagano region of Japan, located on the main island just a few short hours by train from Narita Airport. Joining this mission were Nick Gregory, Mitch Allan, Nate Johnstone, Kieran McLaughlin and our trusty Japanese connection, Shinji Hirose from IXSM Travel. First stop on our week-long journey would be the traditional resort town of Nozawa Onsen.
   As the name suggests, Nozawa Onsen is famous throughout the land for its natural hot spring baths, locally termed onsens. Culturally you won’t find a more authentic Japanese experience than what is on offer at Nozawa. With a history dating back 1,000 years, parts of this age-old town are complete with narrow cobblestone streets, giving the village that untouched traditional Japanese feel. Anyone can enjoy, free of charge, any of the 13 public onsens, all of which derive from a unique source offering a variety of different mineral baths. Definitely a must do for any visitor to the region.
   As a ski resort Nozawa Onsen has developed over the past 80 years into one of the most expansive in the country and was actually the first resort in Japan to install ski lifts in 1924. It even played host to the Biathlon during the Nagano Olympics.
   Home for the next four nights was to be the Ryokan Sakaya, one of the finest hotels in the village, decked out with its own private onsen. Our crew was bunkered up together in a ryokan-style room, complete with

floor mats to sleep on. Here under this very roof over the course of the next four days each man would be pushed to the brink of insanity.
   Our first morning of riding was unseasonably hot, a little too warm perhaps, and given the fact that the Nagano region was gripped by its driest winter in 100 years the snow pack really wasn’t the best. Despite it being some time between snowfalls the cover was soft underfoot although quickly growing stickier by the minute. As we explored the mountain we uncovered some awesome terrain and some of the steepest in-bound runs you’ll find in Japan. On a powder day riding here would definitely be amazing. We mentally kept notes of a few features to return to, as forecasts were calling for fresh snow overnight.
   We awoke the next morning to the sound of rain, not exactly a pleasant noise in any snow resort. Trying to stay positive we assured ourselves that it might not be raining up the top of the mountain, invisible from our hotel window as it was socked in with fog. Allowing the conditions time to improve, we headed up late in the morning only to confirm our worst fears. We all felt like we were towing an anchor as we tried to enjoy a couple of quick laps of the pipe and park. The snow was that sticky and slow one struggled to maintain enough speed to clear the small but fun jumps.
   And so it began; each new morning brought with it the
same bad news. Groundhog day had somehow made its way to Japan. With the mountain off limits our attention turned to the village

as we pillaged its many restaurants and stores. By the end of our stay in Nozawa we would know our way around the streets better than our ability to navigate the mountain. Mitch and Nick had grown obsessed with the TV show Gossip Girl and would spend their time locked into the computer screen as they streamed each episode, finishing a whole season in a matter of days. The episode sign-off catch phrase of “X O, X O” slowly drove the rest of us that little bit more mental, but like obsessed schoolgirls, Mitch and Nick would launch straight into a new episode.
   Life wasn’t much different for the rest of us as we all slipped into some form of virtual entertainment, patiently trying to wait out the weather. With the rain not letting up, lunch and dinner soon became the highlight of our day, allowing us to test out some new culinary treat in the village. Mitch got locked into a cat and mouse game with the local crepe maker, as the vendor rarely would open his doors. The menu proudly displayed across the crepe shop’s front window taunted him endlessly as each new trip to the village brought nothing but disappointment for Mitch’s taste buds until our very last day in town.
    By the third day panic had set in. What if the weather doesn’t clear the whole trip? How on earth are we meant to fill an article with no photos? What the fuck are we going to do? Motivation within the group had hit an all-timelow.

Three days of non-stop rain had certainly drenched whatever fire there once was in everyone’s bellies. Luckily for us Shinji had a plan.
   Our next stop on this magical mystery tour was the resort of Shiga Kogen, located a lot higher in elevation than Nozawa. The following day we were scheduled to do the drive over to our new surrounds. Shinji suggested that if the weather was crappy again we check out early and pay a visit to a small resort named Takaifuji along the way. Some of his local pro shedding buddies gave us the word that Takaifuji has a solid halfpipe and a couple of decent jumps in the park. Things were looking up.
   Sure enough we again woke to the similar pattern of rain and quickly gathered our belongings. Along the drive Nick spotted a dam wall complete with landing that for made for the perfect method launcher. We quickly set up, Nick nailed the shot and we were back on the road, everyone a little relieved to finally have a shot in the bag. The rest of the boys kept their eyes strongly peeled for anything else along the
way. There was no missing the turnoff to Takaifuji as it was brightly emblazoned with some classic Japanese engrish signage proclaiming that the HAR FPIPE was this way.
   By now the rain had cleared and there was even the odd
window of sunlight shining through the grey. Excited at the prospect of riding some quality pipe the mood soon soured once Shinji translated the bad news. The pipe was closed for maintenance as there was a competition scheduled for the day after.

Fuck! What luck. Nevertheless, we headed out to check out what the park had to offer.
   Not exactly the most well groomed and shaped park, Takaifuji did have a decent three-jump line complete with some fun jibs at the bottom. While it was entertaining enough to ride it didn’t really have much potential photo wise (check out the video for yourself). The boys were all stoked just to be back on board again and had themselves a backflip, frontflip, backside rodeo showdown. We had only two hours to ride as we were scheduled to visit the Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park located at the bottom of the hill to Shiga Kogen.
   Any visit to Nagano would not be complete without checking out the wondrous creatures that are the snow monkeys. Considered a pest by the local villagers, one can lose hours of your time just watching these critters go about their daily business. From bathing in the hot springs to going nuts over their daily feed this is one show that is not to be missed. Nate and Kieran got a little to close for comfort with one of the scarier bigger monkeys who hissed at their cameras and took a swipe at them, making for a good cue to exit stage right.
   The drive up the hill to Shiga Kogen wasn’t looking promising. The snow looked wet, and the mountain covered in fog, but at least we were heading in an upwards direction. Shinji assured us the snow quality would be better here as it wouldn’t be as rain affected. I had faith.
   As a host of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympic Giant Slalom, there is no denying that Shiga Kogen is a worldclass ski resort. Consisting of 21 ski fields and about 70 lifts, gondolas, ropeways and tows, Shiga Kogen is by far the largest ski resort in Japan.
   With a resort this size it goes without saying that there are runs for every ability level and riding style. One lift ticket allows you to ride on all of the 71 lifts, gondolas

and ropeways. Owing to this multi-purpose ticket, you can take the Shiga Kogen shuttle buses running between the interconnected slopes as well.
   As I pulled back the curtains on the first day of our luxurious room at the Chalet Shiga, I was again confronted with a familiar sight of grey skies. This time around though it wasn’t raining, and the snow actually looked quite firm for a change. With the pressure on, we quickly devoured breakfast and jumped on the nearest chair to begin exploration. With 71 lifts on offer and only two days to explore, we studied the trail map as closely as possible to try and figure out what areas had the most potential. Serviced by its two main gondolas, the Yakebitaiyama Ski Area was definitely looking the goods.
   We spent the day exploring and taking mental notes. Unlike many Japanese resorts the mountain has quite a steep pitch to the incline. Almost immediately we stumbled across some decent-looking rock drops and plenty of funlooking natural hits. This place would be insane in powder. The snow had a degree of softness to it and wasn’t as hard pack as we first thought. All we needed now was some light. We rounded out our afternoon doing some park laps, which included a very shreddable spine session. By the time we retired back to the hotel real Japanese snowflakes had begun to fall, about freaking time too.
   Our last real day of riding broke to reveal perfect bluebird conditions. Finally some luck was going our way. While it was dumping quite heavily when we went to bed, our hopes of a 20cm powder day looked more like 5cm. Like a well-oiled machine everyone knew what was expected of them.
Shovels were packed, bindings tightened and attitudes adjusted as it was time to get to work.

Postcards From THE EDGE OF INSANITY

First spot we hit was a decent-looking rock drop right under the gondola, with both Kieran and Nate nailing some shots. We then moved proceedings on to a gap to tree bonk jump on the other side of the valley. By now the sun was in full force and had really softened the snow.
   The jump came together in no time and Nate was the first to step up and hit it. Spinning a planed frontside 360 soon became an over rotated 540 as Nate was propelled back off the tree. Kieran was next to drop, believing more speed was the key with the same trick. Once deflected his front three almost became a front seven. Watching quietly in the wings Mitch had been taking notes and opted for a slower poppier approach on a shifted backside 360, tapping the tree with his tail and retaining enough control to land. Kieran stepped back up to the plate again getting bucked quite heavily off the tree, but landing on his feet at 540 only to fly out of control and wrap himself around a tree in the run out. Fortunately Kieran managed to twist his body around so that his board took the full brunt of the collision, walking away a little shaken but not stirred. Nate wanted to give it another shot and did exactly the same things as Kieran before him, except that his hip connected with the tree, letting out an excruciating groan on impact. Instantly winded and unable to breathe, our initial thoughts were that Nate had perhaps broken his ribs. Minutes later he was back on his feet nursing a very swollen and bruised hip but otherwise ok. Watching this all unfold beneath him, Mitch wisely decided to pull the pin on the jump and we headed off to lunch.
    After lunch we decided to head a valley over to check out a massive cliff line we had scoped in the Okushigakogen Ski Area. This face looked like something out of Jackson Hole, with plenty of jagged rocks and long drops. While the snow wasn't perfect for landing something this big, it was well worth a peek.
   Accessing this valley was a short hike/skate around from the top gondola. Along the trail we encountered a sign that strangely stated “NO SNOWBOARDS ALLOWED ”. Surely that can't be right we thought, this isn't the 1980s. Looking around we noticed we were a minority among the two planks. The temptation was too much to resist as this was easily the most promising terrain we had seen all trip and time was against as dark clouds were already beginning to congregate above.
   We threw caution to the wind, quickly strapped in and headed

off in what we thought was the direction of the terrain we had scoped beforehand. Coming to the top of the cliff band we realised we had totally misjudged its location, and looking down at the 60-foot drop to flat it was certainly unmakeable. Further over on the ridgeline was looking the goods, although to access it properly we would have to drop in from the top again. Safe in the knowledge that we could always jump on a shuttle bus if rejected at the gondola entrance, we figured it couldn't hurt to try.
   As soon as we unstrapped a friendly old man bearing a sign approached us. Word had spread quickly about our infiltration of the Okushigakogen perimeter. Our lack of Japanese made it pointless to even begin arguing, and the guy was so friendly and polite in his demeanor we just shrugged our shoulders and headed for the bus stop. From a different vantage point we spotted another new cliff band right under the gondola we had just been rejected from, thus rubbing further salt into the wounds. Why this area was off limits to snowboarders still remains a mystery. As we waited for the shuttle bus we watched a new storm front roll in. We had no doubt the new day would bring more bad weather and our small window of opportunity had just passed us by. While this hadn't been the most productive trip to Japan I have ever been on, it was certainly one I would never forget. Two days later after we had left Nagano it received a solid 30cm dump of snow. Always the way isn't it?