December 31, 2014
Dr Gordon Caldwell
from
United Kingdom
Suginohara only has 5 lifts, but the main gondala is about 2.7 Km long and there are two modern 4 man chairs each 1.7 Km. These open up long intermediate runs, with plenty of runs through the trees. There is a well maintained park area on the extreme left. Views are quite spectacular. From top to bottom is an unbroken 8.5 Km run dropping about 1000 meters. The short 2 man chair back to the gondola must be one of the slowest in the world. Free shuttle bus from and to Myoko Kogen Yodel Information Centre. Good day out. The 5 consecutive hours lift ticket looks good value. If line for tickets is long ski down to gondola station and buy ticket there.
Suginohara holds the record for length of top-bottom skiing in Japan. It has a wide variety of terrain and good powder snow for much of the season. The attached village - Suginosawa does not offer much in the way of nightlife though. Nonetheless there are some excellent packages on offer - even - mid-season. For more information check
http://www.myoko-nojiri.com/ski.htm (English)