Shiga Kogen Japan

Shiga Kogen is located within the Joshinetsu National Park, in the Shimotakai district of the northern Nagano Prefecture.  A 30 minute bus or car ride will take you from the city centre of Yamanouchi up the mountain to the ski slopes and numerous resorts available.

I stayed at the Sun Route Shiga Kogen ski resort with two friends during March 2011. There are many ski resorts available in the heart of Shiga Kogen all of which are located within walking distance of the many ski lifts available.

The view from the Sun Route Hotel Shiga Kogen, Japan

The Sun Route Ski Resort provided us with decent hospitality during our stay. They have ski and snowboard hire facilities, a restaurant and the usual selection of vending machines available 24 hours a day. There are many similar resorts within a small area in Shiga Kogen and immediately you can sense that they are a result of the tourism boom that was the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.

Our room at the Shiga Kogen Ski Resort, Japan

Despite the fantastic snow we were treated to during our stay, Shiga Kogen was actually very quiet, and this was especially evident at night time. There were only a handful of tourists like us enjoying excellent conditions which was very surprising at the time. 

There are obviously pro's and con's regarding a quiet ski resort depending on what your looking to get out of your holiday experience. For me I was there to experience as much snow as possible and therefore didn't really mind the fact that Shiga Kogan was quiet during the time we were there.

The low crowd numbers combined with a huge selection of lifts and gondola's actually gave us great runs up and down the mountain with little to no lift lines during the entire week.

The view from one of the many ski lifts, Shiga Kogen, Japan

We had amazing snow conditions during our 6 day stay. Fresh snow fall the night of our arrival ensured fresh powder was available for the first venture out onto the mountain. The green (beginner) runs were surprisingly long and provided a great range of sharp turns to manoeuvre and awesome opportunities to attempt some wall rides through the fresh powder.

Trying not to fall, really really hard

The beauty about Shiga Kogen is the vast amount of ski runs that are all really accessible. There is a large network of lifts and gondola's which when navigated with a resort map ensure you can explore a range of different runs in the same day.

We took on mainly beginner and intermediate runs, as the beginner runs were generally the longest this meant we tended to stick to a selection of our favourite lifts. 

The intermediate runs are similar to the beginner runs but are usually much steeper which means you get a faster run but obviously a shorter time between lift rides which isn't always ideal. We managed to avoid most of the black runs which for a novice riders usually end in a heavy stack. After a few days boarding we all established a pretty solid base and started to get a bit over confident...

Matty B landing an ollie over a gap, photo courtesy of Nike 6.0 Snowboarding

If you look closely you can see the crack through the board...

So Shiga Kogen had provided us with awesome snow, great long runs and Asahi vending machines, everywhere. But thats not all this place was famous for. We had heard a few whispers about the Jigokudani snow monkey park a short shuttle bus ride from the Sun Route Hotel and during an RDO (Quake/Tsunami induced) we decided to check it out...

1.6 icy KM to the Snow Monkey's

I wouldn't recommend coming all the way to Shiga Kogen, Japan just for the snow monkey's but if your in the area and have a spare day away from the slopes its probably worth checking out. Admission is 500 yen which is a small price to pay to see little balls of fluff eat tiny grains and fight each other all day. Perhaps the larger price to pay is the giant walk you have to take along an icy path to get there. 

Slippery path to the almighty snow monkey's

Make sure you come prepared by packing a decent pair of hiking/snow shoes with plenty of grip and a decent camera to capture all of the play fighting and grain eating....

Snow Monkey's looking for grains, grains and more grains

More grains please... 

In addition to the Snow Monkey's you get to take in some seriously good scenery at the same time, take a look below...

Looking out at some of the many snow runs Shiga Kogen, Japan

A view from the base of the mountain Shiga Kogen, Japan

Another view of the mountain passes with more snow runs in the distance Shiga Kogen, Japan

To summarise, Shiga Kogen really is a must for snowboarders or skiers of any ability as it provides some of the best powder in the world. The scenery is beautiful and provides an awesome back drop to what has to be considered one of the best/most enjoyable ski resorts on the planet. I for one will definitely be back for more powder as soon as possible.