Skiing - Hakuba vs Yazawa

hi there,

I have tried to search for forums / youtube vids comparing the different Japanese ski fields but could not find much.

I am looking to do about 3 days skiing in mid Jan 2018. I will be traveling along, in my late 40s, haven't skiid in 25 years and would probably class my level as somewhere in between beginner to intermediate.

I don't want to travel to far north as I will have just come off a 10 day cycling tour and want something with easy access and relatively quick from tokyo i.e nagone or niigata areas,

Can anyone suggest which fields might best suit me? i would be interested in hearing any comparisons / differences, especially with respect to:

- quality / number of runs suitable for my level
- popularity in terms of crowds
- vibe of town / nightlife
- anything else that might be useful for evaluating :)

cheers!

I think Hakuba is a better choice between those options. I went to Gala Yuzawa last month and it was pretty crowded because it is close to Tokyo and the train station and ski resort ticketing/rental are in the same building which I found very convenient. I have been to Happo One and Iwatake in Hakuba and it isn't as crowded because there are many different resorts in the area. I saw a lot more skiers than snowboarders. I think both resorts have various levels of difficulty on the ski runs.

I can't comment on nightlife since I didn't stay overnight in Yuzawa. I did stay overnight in Hakuba, but stayed in my hotel.

My favorite resort is Shiga Kogen in Nagano. It is the largest ski resort in Japan.

thx Mike! i will look into the resorts you mentioned :)