Gala Yuzawa, Japan

Introduction

Gala Yuzawa is a well oiled but convenient money extracting machine for Tokyoites, which makes for around 90% of its visitors. The resort is owned by the JR-Group (the Japan Railway Group) and it takes 77 minutes on the bullet train from the main station in Tokyo direct to the resort’s own train station which is a few miles from the town of Echigo Yuzawa.

You can turn up here with nothing but your credit card, hire absolutely everything, go snowboarding, take a spa, have a sleep and jump on the train back to Tokyo.

The resort is linked to Ishiuchi (better) and Yuzawa Kogen (tiny) making it a one of the bigger areas in Japan. However it links to Yuzawa Kogen via the Southern area of Gala which was closed all 2007/8 season, but still accessible via shuttle bus.

To access the slopes you need to take a gondola from the base, seriously called Cowabunga, up to 800m where the area starts. The ride in the gondola really wets the appetite as you survey the amazing terrain beneath you; it’s perfectly designed for freeriding. However it slowly dawns on you that there are no tracks anywhere to be seen, and sure enough this is strictly out of bounds. The disappointment continues when you see the area you can explore, it’s a mix of short mostly flat runs and badly placed lifts that ensures you’ll spend most of time skating and wondering what would happen if you did drop under the gondola.

There is a small terrain park and a halfpipe but it’s really beginners and day trippers who will get the most out of it. Intermediate and advanced boarders should head straight to Ishiuchi which offers a much larger area and excellent parks & pipes.

Off the slopes Yuzawa is an excellent traditional Japanese town and offers a good array of accommodation, restaurant and a few drinking spots and is an ideal base for visiting the 16 resorts within a 45 minute bus ride.
 

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Resort Statistics

Resort Type:  Alpine
Winter: December - May
Summer: None

Lifts

Total Lifts: 11
Cable cars: 1
Gondolas: 1
Chair lifts: 8
Max people per hour: 19,284
Board Leashes required: No

Mountain

Total pistes/trails: 15
Total ride area: 126acres
Longest run: (1.6km)

Top lift: 1181m
Vertical drop: 381m
First lift: 800m

Piste suitability

Green runs: 35%
Red runs: 45%
Black runs: 20%

Lift Passes

Lift Passes:  1 Day Pass: ¥4,300
2 Day Pass: ¥6,900
Lift times:[No information]

Snowfall

Average annual snowfall: 11metres
Artificial snowmaking coverage: 0%

Facilities

Night Riding: :  No
Snowboard Schools: Group lessons from ¥3,000 for 2hours.
Snowboard Hire: Adults from ¥3,000 per day.

Heliboarding: :  Not available
Snowmobiles: Not available

Further information

www.galaresort.jp/winter/english/

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Summary
Convenient day trip from Tokyo but not a serious consideration for anyone except total beginners. There are much better resorts in the area

ON THE SLOPES Disapointing

OFF THE SLOPES Great traditional town

MONEY WISE Lots of things to take your last Yen, but prices comparable with most resorts

Terrain & parks

Halfpipe: Yes - 1
Terrain park: Yes - 1
Backcountry/off-piste:none
Tree runs:some

Image Gallery
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Highslide JS
Terrain park top section
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Main base area
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Terrain park lower section
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Pipe cutting
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Out of bounds
Highslide JS
Powder day
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 »» Featured Blog
Japan 2008
“Yazawa Day #2”
Mon 25 Feb 2008 by Steve Dowle
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