Gala Yuzawa Ski Resort Guide

I went to Gala Yuzawa yesterday and had an awesome time. It was powder-tastic!! They had recieved up to 60cms the previous day and when I rolled into the area on the early morning Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo, it was still puking down. The upper slope of the central area was powder heaven, hardly anyone there and face shots at every turn. I don't know if I lucked out on the weather but the snow was as good as anywhere else I've been. For ease of access from Tokyo, its hard to beat this place, the resort has its own Shinkansen station built into the Base Station. Get on the train in Tokyo and 90 mins later you are slashing up the mountain!! Get off the train, go upstairs get your ticket, change clothes then get on the Gondola......its that easy. On the negative side, 1000 yen for a locker is a bit steep IMO and the same again for the onsen is also a bit much for what is a glorified bath. The runs are a little short and there are some weird flat run outs that are not good for me and my fellow snowboarders BUT the quality of the snow made these all insignificant. Yuzawa is a great area with a big choice of resorts all easily accessed from the Train Station in town....Kagura and Naeba are the heavyweights but the other smaller resorts are definitely worth a day's riding to check out.