Japan 2008

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Myoko-Kogen... What a find!

Posted Fri 07 Mar 2008 at 09:17GMT By  Keith Stubbs
Related pages: Japan  ::  Niigata

Hakuba done. Bring on Myoko.

After another epic breakfast all 5 of us squeezed in the car (kindly supplied by Mr Nagai of Nagano Tourism) and literally rammed our kit in the back. With absolutely no room for our rather large board bags, we left our decks fixed in the roof racks and managed to pawn off the extra bags to our new best friends Andy and Sarah - who kindly couriered them over in person that evening. What stars!

The usual 10 minute complications working out our Japanese GPS and we we’re off to Niigata. After 2 hours of the ‘iPod game’ we arrived in the most traditional Japanese ski town ever; Myoko-Kogen. With wide eyes and open mouths we drove through the main street – narrow, snow-covered, shop-lined and truly authentic. After the slightly ‘Aussiefied’ Hakuba, Myoko felt like the heart of Japan.

Our accommodation, the Akakura Hotel, felt a bit like a Japanese version of Faulty Towers. With 3 Onsens in the hotel and a double room each we began to feel a little spoilt. Then we met our tourist office liaisons Shirou and Amy – a local Japanese couple. Quickly dubbed by the girls “our mother in Japan”, Amy has to be the most amazing host I have ever met in my life! She spoke excellent English, had an infectious sense of humour, created an immediate raport with the whole team and, with Shirou-san’s local knowledge and networking, got us all the hook-ups we needed in no time at all.

We spent most of the first day at Seki Onsen – a tiny ski resort with good freeriding possibilities and north facing slopes. The girls went photographing in the pow, whilst the boys scouted all the terrain and finally moved on to another local resort, Myoko Akakura (the biggest in the area). This quickly became our mission for the next day.

The second day in Myoko saw us up early eager to track the freshly fallen snow. Andy and Sarah, now kidnapped completely by us, had arrived late the night before and were forced to stay for the shred action ahead. We split in to two groups and headed out… what a day! This resort just blew us away. Without a doubt, Akakura became the whole teams most favourite resort in Japan. The freeriding possibilities, along with the great snow, kept us in fits of over-excited hysterics, giggling like Japanese school girls, all day long. So many lines and so little time.

Andy Kelly laying over in the pow
Photo: Keith Stubbs

When the lifts closed we headed up further into the mountains to a village called Tsubame Onsen where we visited a traditional Japanese Ryokan (or small hotel) with an amazing

Onsen bath. The drive up had us entombed by these massive 5 meter plus snow banks – at least there was no chance of us sliding off the road. After about an hour of soaking we got to meet the Ryokan manager; an older man who looked like he was straight out one of those 70’s Shogan-like TV shows. Obviously very proud of his little treasure, Mr Miyazawa was keen to show us all around this secret gem and have his photo taken many times over.

We finished off this surreal day by heading to a local bar full of Japanese riders. A few drinks later and we we’re laughing with all the locals, taking photos and acting like silly westerners.

Bed time – out like a light.

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