Shiga Kogen Mountain Resort — Attraction in Yamanouchi

Relative to the region, this is a good ski resort and worth visiting. I strongly recommend staying for at least 2 full days in order to properly explore all the trails. You cannot ski the whole thing in a day, don't waste your time.

That being said, this mountain is infuriating to traverse. Unlike many ski mountains, this is an association of 5 different ski mountains, 1 of which is about 15min away (by car) from the rest. Each mountain is self-contained with the bare minimum effort spent in connecting them to form a single, cohesive experience. If you like waddling uphill in your skis or taking shuttles, then you've come to the right place. The Central area, which is the main feature, is a maze of trails and lifts leaving you puzzling over your map at every turn. Another annoying detail is there is no singular digital map available for the entire region, you've got to download the individual resort maps, which aren't very high resolution. They do provide a paper map of the whole region, but it's a cumbersome beast to wield. Last real gripe is that the lifts are old, slow, and uncomfortable. This whole place gives off the vibes that the last time it was infused with significant investment money was the 1998 Olympics.

I could gripe more, but in the end it was still fun. If you are driving, be warned, the road up the mountain is a beast! You need good tires and a set of chains ready to go. I'd even go as far to say that a 2WD car, even with snow tires and chains, might not make it in an...

El Niño hasn’t been kind to the Nagano area this winter, so I’m writing this report imagining better conditions and more snow than we got this year. If you are a beginning to intermediate skier, this collection of ski resorts is amazing! So many groomed runs to choose from. If you are an advanced skier, there aren’t many higher level groomed runs. With more snow, there may be ungroomed/tree runs to find, but I don’t know to what extent off-groomer use is permissible. If you are a higher intermediate to advanced skier, BRING YOUR OWN SETUP. The quality of the rental equipment was really bad, and obviously geared towards newer skiers. The boots had so much flex in them that it felt like I was wearing a touring boot in uphill mode. So I spent the day trying not to die and had to stop early because I had to overcompensate by tightening them to max, and my toes went numb. Giving 4 stars because it’s a great place with so many lifts! But the high cost of bad rental gear really affected my experience. So that’s something to be aware of and plan...

1/16今年一番の寒波到来！しすぎて、ほぼリフトは止まり、暴風、ホワイトアウトは危険と思い、山の駅で休みました。その日は滑ることができないまま終わり、翌日に期待し、まさかのピーカン！奥志賀高原から攻めました！ 日本一の広さのゲレンデはその名の通り、ただ全てのゲレンデ（18のゲレンデをまとめ志賀高原スキー場　リフト券で全て回れる）を制覇するにはリフトを経由ではなくバスに乗る必要があります。行ってみないと分からないことですね…。向かって左半分程はリフトで繋いで行けます。これだけでも十分か…。 非圧雪の熊落としは埋もれます。それ程長くないので一瞬で終わりますが、転けたらヤバイですね。初心者は止めておきましょう。その手前に非圧雪ゾーンあるので、そこで満喫が良いと思います。ただしあんまり左側を攻めないことですね。（危険） あとエキスパートコースは斜度30ほどで楽しめます。スキーヤーが楽しくカービングしてますね。私は真ん中から直滑降したらボードで72キロ出てました（笑） 長野のゲレンデはエッジに吸い付くようで滑りやすいですね。基本氷点下なので、雪が溶けなく積もるので低反発の布団のような柔らかさで良いです。 横手山の頂上に行けませんでしたが、絶景で晴れた日には富士山が見えるらしいです。残念です。 1日では語れないスケールの...