I stayed here for one night during my ski trip, and it was a wonderful experience. The place is very quiet, clean, and comfortable — perfect for relaxing after a long day on the slopes.
Chris, the staff member, speaks excellent English and is incredibly friendly and helpful. He went out of his way to make sure everything was smooth and comfortable for my stay.
One of the biggest conveniences was the complimentary pick-up and drop-off service to the train station. It saved me a lot of time and hassle compared to waiting for the bus, which made the trip much easier.
I would definitely recommend this place to anyone visiting for a ski trip!
Fantastic and gigantic ski resort you can experience in Japan. We went during the early opening season of this year, so it wasn’t too crowded. Very impressed with so diverse ski routes you can take and by their scale. We did a one day trip, but I’d definitely recommend staying for a longer period to fully experience all the trails. You can basically travel to different trails even if you enter from a different entrance point. The snow wasn’t in the best shape by the time we went, but I can imagine it’ll get much nicer during the peak season.
Before going, I was most afraid of the question: will there be enough bus seats from the Echigo Yuzawa station? I did look into the bus timetable, but I wasn’t sure if everyone could actually take the bus.
Answer in short: most likely yes. There was a looong queue for the bus that I was 100% sure that everyone cannot get in. But guess what, they somehow notice this and bring additional bus (or buses? I could only track 1 more) to carry all passengers. After skiing, the bus even arrived 1 hour before the scheduled timetable, which I suspect it’s to transport as many passengers they can. Hopefully this release your stress in terms of transportation!
Honestly not the greatest resort. There is a lot of traversing style of lifts and virtually no maps or signage. When we were there Despite plenty of snow half the mountain was closed due to “visibility” which meant most people crowded onto a few chairlifts. The weather for most of the day was clear so I didn’t understand the lack of open mountain Like many places in Japan runs are short. The only redeeming is that you can easily ski through the trees.
There is a lot of snow and the snow quality is good due to the high altitude. Depending on the climate of the year, there is still snow in May, so skiing and snowboarding can still be enjoyed. The resort is connected to other nearby ski resorts, and you can cross the mountain to access other ski resorts by paying a connecting gondola fee. There is a wide variety of courses that can be enjoyed by everyone from beginners to advanced skiers.
Best resort I've visited on Honshu yet! Plenty of back country, both accessible from the lifts and via a hike. Good rental options. Plenty of pistes for beginners. Good parks by Japanese standards. Don't bother with Gala or Naeba which are both more crowded and are lower altitude so have worse snow.
