35 replies to this topic

[Gary]

They are not directly connected, but right next to each other on the opposite side of the same ridge. There is a bus connecting the two, and its not so far, but it takes about 60 minutes in the winter conditions.
Lift ticket for Nekoma is a bit cheaper at 4000 yen and if you buy from a local conbini, you get a 500 yen lunch ticket. I think the parking was free, too.
You cant see much in my picture, but hopefully you can just make out the open, empty space with few tracks in the powder, and the tempting trees in the background. I didnt go in there as it seemed a bit flat at the bottom and I didnt fancy getting stuck!

[Metabo Oyaji]

I think your photo captures it very well, actually!
Looks a lot like how I remember it, but with much more powder...

[muikabochi]

Thanks!
Must try those places out.

[Metabo Oyaji]

Say Gary, just curious, where/how/what time did you get delayed by snow?

I'm heading up into the region this weekend, and Fuyu Shogun
is being shown riding a snowboard on the weather forecast...

[Gary]

It was a bit of an unusual day in that the snow had come right across to the Pacifc coast - even had a cm or two in Tsukuba. Headed up the Joban expressway which was clear and then on to the Ban-Etsu expressway which was pretty clear but there had been about 10 cms snowfall in many areas. We changed to snow chains as we got off the expressway at Inawashiro and from there it took an hour or so as we had to go slow on the snowy roads - the back end of the car spun out 180 degrees at one point! We had to turn around and put one of the snow chains back on! Another car coming the opposite way did exactly the same at the same spot! Coming back was worse - it had snowed all day and we had to keep the snow chains on until 3/4 way down the Ban-Etsu - took a long time and couldnt really get the foot down until back on the Joban. It wasnt traffic that delayed us, just the snow on the roads meant we had to slow down an awful lot. We would've been a lot faster with snow tires and 4 wheel drive.
Looks like this weekend could be similar conditions with heavy snow forecast even pushing across to the pacific coast side - allow some extra time for snow on the road. If you just have snow chains on the front tires, then be extra careful about back wheels slipping out on corners!

[Metabo Oyaji]

Thanks for the info. So it wasn't just the local roads, but also the expressway on the way back that was slow.

I have snow tires, so hope that will be enough.

[muikabochi]

Alts is on my list for this season.

--

Not many clear bluebird days at all this season so far.

[Gary]

Looks like things might settle down a bit next week - high pressure moving in.

[Metabo Oyaji]

Some pics from rare moments of clear weather in a mostly snowy and low-visibility weekend.

Adatara-san, seen from afar. Adatara Kogen ski area is on the opposite side of the right-hand side ridge:


Lake Inawashiro seen from the top of the #3 quad at Gran Deco:


Urabandai Nekoma ski area seen from the top of the #3 quad at Gran Deco:

[brit-gob]

Urabandai is the one over the hill from Alts right?

You been to Alts much Metabo?

[Metabo Oyaji]

Urabandai Nekoma is the one across the ridge from ALTS.
The overlapping names are kind of confusing, but if you go around Bandai-san clockwise from ALTS, you will hit in order:

--Urabandai Nekoma (or just Nekoma)
--Urabandai
--Family Snow Park Bandai x2 (formerly Bandai Kokusai)
--Inawashiro Minero
--Inawashiro Chuo (physically linked to Minero and with a joint ticket available)
--Inawashiro Resort (no connection to the above two)
--ALTS Bandai (owned by the same company as Nekoma and with a joint ticket available, but not physically linked)

But I haven't been to ALTS yet.

[brit-gob]

Thanks Metabo.
A fair few over there hey.

[charlotte]

My friends are planning a trip to Alts a bit later in this month so I hope to get there.

Have you been there Metabo, Gary, fukdane?

[Metabo Oyaji]

Not me, but believe Gary, fukdane and Tubby Beaver at least, have.

[Gary]

Ive done a couple of trips to Alts - I went once in the spring a few years ago and once last season. Its a pretty decent sized resort and they have a good park if you're into that kind of thing. Its big enough that you probably won't ski all of it in one day unless you really try. Its one of the bigger resorts in the area so its quite popular - might be a bit busy on weekends but nothing to worry about. I think they charge 1000 yen for parking. You can get a 300 yen discount ticket for lunch if you buy from a combini nearby. If you are staying more than 1 day its also worth checking out Urabandai Nekoma on the other side of the mountain.

[TubbyBeaverinho]

Yeah i went up a few years ago in March. I enjoyed it but it hadn't snowed for a bit, think it would be pretty good after a decent dump. Like Gary says if you love park, then you'll love Alts, if not then hope for a bit of snowfall