So, Saturday morning we loaded up the van and Floyd, Anthony and I headed to the expressway on route to Takasu Snow Park in Gifu.
It is usually about 3 or 3.5 hours to get there from the Osaka but it started to snow just north of Osaka and added another hour and a half. We finally hit the mountain at about 10am rather than the 8am we were shooting for. But the saving grace was that all that extra time was extra snow on the mountain.
I am pretty sure that everybody and their sister was out on the mountain that day. It was cold, but not terribly so. The vents on my jacket and pants stayed open all day. The snow, however was primo.
Before I get too far into this, here is the link to the Japanese page, and here is the English page.
This Skijo is pretty close to the highway and if you have an ETC in your vehicle you can catch the closer exit at the service area, but the main exit takes you through town. Make sure you have good tires or chains for when the weather hits.
The parking area is fairly large, but even if you get stuck at the back, it is a moderate walk to the main building. Takasu has gone for an Italian feel for the building and for the cafe at the summit as well. Lots of yellow, red green and white.
The entrance from the lot will drop you into the changing area, store, lockers, changing rooms and rental areas. The restaurant is upstairs and the lift pass purchasing area is straight through the building. The store is a little small but you should be able to find a new version of whatever you happened to forget. They also have snacks and drinks, as well as the swag and omiyage that you find at most Japanese skijo.
If you are renting gear, the paperwork is pretty straight forward. The prices are pretty average, figure about 5000 yen for the board and boots and another 4000 yen if you need boarding clothes. The lift pass is also par for the course coming in below 5000 yen, BUT they have a coupon that can be found here for a decent discount during the week (3300 yen for the day) or a small discount and meal ticket for weekends and holidays.
Remember, you are charged 1000 yen for the lift pass deposit. At the end of the day, turn in the pass and get that 1000 yen back! They use the NFC passes here so keep the pass on your left side to easily get through the gates. [NFC are the passes that you get near the turnstile and the gate reads the pass when it gets close and lets you through].
On to the runs. Here is the map to follow along with.
The Gondola is a 14 person max and will take you right up to the summit. Beginners, don’t worry there is a nice little beginner path that runs all the way back down. Intermediate and advanced riders will have plenty to do. The main run is #4 on the map and is a nice little trip about halfway down to a quadlift (uncovered) and can easily be run all day. This is a pretty popular run with trees and a little powder on the sides and when it’s busy there are gophers popping up all over the course. [note: gophers are the boarders/skiers that fall or stop on the run.]
Japanese skijo can be pretty crowded. In general, I think Takasu is usually pretty average on the crowded count, but Saturday was really really crowded. A combination of Saturday, not too cold and fresh snow coming down all day kept the hills filled.
So #4 is a great warm up for me to get my legs back, but there are a couple other runs to get to. The Panorama course (#2) is a great run and moderately less busy than the Diamond (#4). Now, if you are looking for trees and powder, the edges of the Diamond are a good ride. If you are looking for some flat out powder steer down #3 until you pass the quadlift on that side and bare left just a little. Follow that down until the beginner run cuts out the the left (there is a big sign) then get ready to turn right. On the map it is marked as #11 and the ski school was using it for a slalom run. On Saturday it was pristine just before lunch (around 11a) and was waist deep pow all the way down to where it meets the green run at the bottom.
It is a little tense up top if you point straight down, but even if you take a fall, you are dealing with falling into pillows. (Of course, depending on the snow you have the day you go. Be careful the first time down so you can feel out the hill a bit.) You are going to want to save the last bit of the hill though. You’ll have to do a bit of a turn and burn because there is a significant flat spot that runs out to the lift. You are going to need a little speed to prevent a walk at the end.
Lunch and Food: I would say that the food is a step above most skijo. The old favorites are there, but they have a few items that rotate throughout the season. The cheapest thing meal on the menu is 1000 (good for the coupon). The average is around 1400-1500 yen for a pretty filling meal. The cafe up at the summit doesn’t take the meal coupons, but have some good calorie bursts that will help you get down the hill.
Overall, Takasu is a decent hill. Not cheap, but not expensive either. Lockers are available. There are a variety of runs and some hidden gems. At the same time, it can get crowded. Not bad for beginners, there are some good long easy runs for them to run on.