Actually, heres a quick run down in pure numbers (and sentences) of the good... and the wastes of time in shiga kogen based entirely on one and a half days (well, really two but half of it was whiteout) of riding it.
Yakebitaiyama (yakebi, okushiga, ichi diamond): 6/10 as a stand alone resort. It has great lines, some really fun little tree'd up ridge lines to get lost in, and would definitely kill a day or so without much bother. But even compared to goryu, it feels a bit short and uninspiring. Top to bottom in about 7-10 minutes without too much variation. Lots of big wide runs, a few steeps, and a couple of paths, but nowt all that amazing in itself unless you leave the groomers (where it then starts getting a bit more interesting).
It would definitely be MUCH better if theyd just open up the entire bloody mountain to us yobos, but what can you do? A bit of management and you could have a nice advanced valley/tree run between the two by the looks of it, not to mention a few clean faces lurking round the back if my view from terakoya was anything to go by which would definitely help liven up the feel of the place and make it feel a bit more varied (a few less ropes might be nice too). The groomers are a bit bleh, but in a normal powder drop (i arrived at the end of the powder in er, february) im pretty sure theyd be nice and lively. 10/10 though as part of shiga kogen since it pretty much pays for the ticket on its own.
Ichinose Mammoth Area (Ichinose family, tannenomori, takamagahara): If this was just one mountain it'd be somewhere in the region of 3/10. Definitely not worth the trip on its own. The two bigger areas (takamagahara and ichinose) were both surprisingly weak comprsing of a few (realistically) red runs going straight to the bottom. Aside the monkeys at the base of takamagahara theres nothing really worth bringing up about either of them in truth.
Surprisingly though, the one place i really liked was the tiny little spot between them at tannenomori. I mean its nothing special. Its relatively flat, pretty much green runs all the way, but its just those trees dotted all over it (as you might expect) that made it quite a gentle and peaceful vibe for a nice little cruise.
Its also nice crossing between the three resorts through the trees i guess. But overall the one redeeming fact about this area is that its absolutely central to EVERYTHING else. Its the little hook up area so only for that does it get a 7/10 if youre hitting the entire resort (for riding though id honestly go somewhere else if i was pushed for time).
Terakoya: I could have added this into either the previous section or the next one, but i felt it needed its own little part. It's tiny and almost doesn't warrant a mention were it not for the following: the powder on the side facing okushiga is STUNNINGLY good, in fact its the highest quality snow i found in the entire resort; the area is genuinely atmospheric and almost feels like a little plateau cut off from the rest of the mountain; and its surprisingly quiet and a lot of fun for an afternoon with very little defined boundaries between the piste and the offpiste. It definitely doesn't hold up on its own just because its three lifts all arriving in roughly the same spot (not much downhill so to speak) so there's really no point in scoring it (as if there's a point of scoring any of these places on their own mind you :?). But as a fun little calm and tranquil break with your head in the clouds this place was simply fantastic. Lots of powder, and some fun little tree lines gave it just that little something else. 9/10 then in the context of the whole resort.
Olympic Course Area (higashitateyama, nishidateyama, bunadaira and giant):Definitely a fantastic fun area of shiga kogen. Probably somewhere in the region 6/10 on its own (though combined with the rest of the mountain (terakoya and the ichinose side) - 8/10).
The ride here is pretty gnarly, with some great charging terrain. Hitting the course top to bottom, i defy anyone to do it without speed checking those paths that cut across it. You will be flying. The olympic course was without a doubt my favourite on piste run in the entire resort, and was arguably the only groomer i hit more than once (indeed i hit it several times, and tried again the next day in a whiteout (twice) because i enjoyed it so much. The line is meant for opening up and ripping, and well thats what i like to do so it suited me down to the ground. Hell, i even enjoyed the mogul minefields scattered about it.
Nishidateyama would have also been on a par were it not for that gigantic mogul field at the very top. Its a pity because that steep would definitely kick start a fantastic little bomber run. As it is, you either track the mellower skiers right side, or accept that about 1/3rd of the run is going to be slow and a bit annoying by ducking in and out of the trees or running those moguls. That being said though, some great fast terrain and big open lines really let you throw caution to the wind and just charge that hill so you can't complain too much because of a few moguls. Definitely a nice complement to the longer olympic course.
Finally theres Giant. On the first day i thought "oh its just a red run big wide ice wall"... and really my opinion hasnt changed. But on the second day i noticed this little pow field just to the right side as you come up on the lift. Indeed, it was whiteout, the second day was sucking, and i was just about to call it a day when i noticed it. Two hours later i was riding the last lift before they shut it down. Good fun. We are really just talking a powder stash here rather than anything technically difficult, so dont misunderstand. But it was fun and capped a kind of okay day. I really mention it just because it added an extra little dimension to giant that makes it worth having a trek up there if riding a dull, wide, straight, relatively steepish standard red run ice wall isn't entirely your cup of tea.
Overall i didnt really explore all that much in the trees in either of these areas but their piste managed to hold my attention, so its a definite must do part of the mountain and as such has to be 10/10 as part of the whole area.
Hasuike/sun valley area: Sorry dudes, i didnt hit this (well aside the very very convenient information center/bus stop back to yudanaka). Even when faced with a choice of hitting this or going home, i was getting the bus home. I saw it coming past on the bus and it looked pretty much featureless, short and a gigantic waste of time. This was confirmed chatting to a dude at the info centre at the end of the first day. I might as well throw in kidoike into the mix as another place that i didnt bother getting off the bus to go see.
So that leaves one more area:
Yokoteyama (shibutoge, yokote, kumanoyu):What the hell can i say about this area? I spent the morning up here on my second day and ill be honest, even though shibutoge was the wilds of shigakogen (a storm was raging up there) and even though the snow monsters were stunning, and even though the powder seemed to be everywhere, i couldnt see 5 feet in front of me, and it genuinely felt pretty damn small. If it was easier to access, maybe it might be worth the trek, but that bus ride out there is pretty hefty, and the return buses as i found out, arent exactly regular. So er, not entirely worth the effort just for a bit of pow. So how about the rest of the mountain?
kumanoyu: skip that, I couldnt ride it.
So that leaves yokote itself. Well first things first, the bottom half of yokote utterly blows being INCREDIBLY flat and open. So with shibutoge, thats about 2/3rds covered, what about that last third? Well again, most of that is skier only (theres a green path they let snowboarders on but the red and black runs had those big green flags saying no snowboarders) and though i could have probably ridden it being that it was a quiet low visibility weekday, but in truth it didnt look any more appealing than 100 other piste runs, so why bother pissing people off for the sake of it? Let the skiers have their runs! Instead i played under the lifts and had a blast.
The powder was nice, the lines were fresh, and the terrain was bouncy like every good lift run should be. It made that side of the mountain pretty fun if im honest and almost worth the bus ride.
Overall though, since the bus stops at suzurikawa, and the lifts are slooooooooooooow getting you to the top, and since about 80% of the area worth riding is skier only, honestly unless its a relatively clear day and i can catch a nice view from the top (and happen to have my own wheels) its pretty unlikely id be back there. From a pure snowboarding point of view this place really is bakabeyond and on its own anyway as its completely cut off from the rest of the resort. And as such its getting a 4/10 (and 2 of those points were for the lift run).
Oh, saying that though, because theyve closed Maeyama it looks like a nice place for some fresh lines if you know where to cut across. I dont, so it kinda sucks seeing this empty face with only one little adventurous line riding through it, but yeah, at least theres one place for some fresh lines for the truly adventurous out there.
Overall and why i cant quite decide about shiga kogenRight, off the bat Shiga kogen kicks the living crap out of Happo1, suginohara, or nozawa. Its got LOADS and LOADS to do. You will NEVER be bored if youre there for a week or so. Theres lots of little places to explore and theres just so many ways that you can instantly change the vibe of your ride. So if youre comparing it to a single resort then honestly its oranges and apples here. Nothing comes close to being as interesting or as fun to just dot about and hit up new lines.
Any resort that can give you a bombing run like the olympic course alongside tree runs like you can ninja at yakebi, alongside little fun powder lands like you get at shibutoge and terakoya has to have a bucket load going for it. And recall that this is off one and a half days of exploring. Theres likely STACKS more to discover, not to mention all the little family areas dotted about the three mountains. All in all the place is genuinely incredible, and that one side of it is really well linked up just makes the ticket price phenomenally good value. Naturally if you ski, its even BETTER. But i dont so blow it out you ass two plankers.
So yeah, comparing shiga to nozawa or to happo or to suginohara it comes out on top by quite some way.
Compared on the other hand to Myoko or Hakuba and it starts to feel less incredible. And heres my issue. I cant honestly decide if this is a fair comparison given that shiga has gone to some obvious lengths to unite the three mountains through its transport system and lift/run placements as well as offering a ticket that lets you ride the whole lot of it. It feels like im being unrealistic and unnecessarily harsh on it simply because when i think of myoko in the same sense i think of suginohara, akakan, ikenotaira, and akakura onsen (and maybe even seki). Likewise when i think of hakuba i think of goryu/47, happo, iwatake, tsugaike, and cortina. In that context theres honestly no reason on earth id rather ride shiga kogen than ride those areas (well, aside the longer season maybe).
But then i think about akakan and akakura onsen and realise that these places are idiots unto themselves. If two resorts sitting right next to each other and indeed with paths crossing in and out of one another cant even offer a ticket that lets you ride them both without having to buy some BS myoko big four pass or whatever it is, then how can i legitimately and fairly compare shiga kogen to this ridiculous farce?
Hell, has hakuba even got a ticket yet where you can go to a different resort anytime, or are they still doing that 1 day pass premium crap? Can you buy the myoko all mountain pass without having to go to akakura to do it yet? Hows about the buses since they would have to take the strain of a lack of lift connections? Myoko to my knowledge has 1 bus to suginohara a DAY. ONE BUS! This comparison is seeming more ludicrous by the second.
Shiga (and hell, we might as well also mention Niseko), really do show how it should be done, and its a complete joke that the rest of them are yet to even try and find a way of catching up.
I'm genuinely quite torn and cant tell how i should judge this place if I'm honest. On the one hand, its miles ahead of almost every resort out there simply in terms of scale, but then again its some pretty soft terrain that i probably wouldn't go out of my way to ride. Indeed, echoing the point above on day 1 i genuinely thought if i come back to live in nagano im buying my season pass for here. But by day 2 i realised id rather just have the myoko big 4 pass in all sincerity. Its horizontally epic, but vertically it definitely feels a bit small potatoes. Its better for sheer variety and having entire areas with their own unique feeling (whereas in most resorts these would just be single runs). But then again, the terrain objectively feels kinda short, mellow, and often a bit on the dull side...
Its a bit of a conundrum for me if im honest.
I want to say its amazing, because it honestly is. But then again, it also isn't being that the terrain feels a little less interesting than even the lines from the top of goryu to the base of 47 (and thats hardly hakuba's crown jewel right there! Thats just one good run in amongst a whole area filled with good runs).
If i was to judge shiga as 19 individual resorts and compare it to hakubas 6 or 7 and myokos 6, well its not holding up and so it shouldnt. The terrain around hakuba is some of the very best in Japan, and the powder as well as the vibes of each of the different resorts around myoko is phenomenal. But genuinely this feels completely off base. Shiga links everything beautifully and goes out of its way to make sure you can get where you need to go, so in effect its ONE RESORT (well, maybe two) and as such should be judged accordingly. And if thats the case, this place is HUGE and off the hook! Its worth a LOT of your time and you need to get your ass here pretty much!
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