Information about Skiing in Japan

 

Nagano | Best Ski resort for beginner

Recommended ski resorts for beginner in Nagano

The recommended ski resorts for beginners and kids in Nagano Prefecture are picked up and introduced. Nagano is located in the central part of Japan and has the biggest numbers of ski resorts in Japan. During the visiting ski resort to make this web site, we also check the slopes for beginner and facilities by ourselves. Only by visiting the web site of each resort and checking the resort data, it is difficult to know whether beginner and child can really enjoy with peace. We believe our tips can be referred for your ski trip in Japan. For more detailed information, please visit introduction of each ski resort from the link.

Resort Region Recommended points
Tsugaike Kogen Hakuba The most pupular resort for beginner in Hakuba area. The major slope has the width of 1,200m.
Hakuba Cortina Hakuba The terrain is enclosed within a single bowl and base area has ski-in ski-out nice hotel.
Hakuba Goryu Hakuba One of the pupular resorts in Hakuba. The beginner slope on the mountain top is attractive.
Nozawa Onsen Nozawa/Togari Uenotaira slope located at altitude of 1,220m - 1,410m is very atractive. Kid's park is for free.
Togari Onsen Nozawa/Togari It has a well-earned reputation for facilities for kids. Indoor rest area for kids is also available.

Tsugaike Kogen (Hakuba Region)

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Tsugaike kongen ski resort is a large-scale ski resort which is located in Otari village, 7km north of Hakuba. It has 156 ha terrain, 20 lifts and spread across 904 meters of elevation(800-1,704m) . Since the lower part of the mountain consists of the gigantic beginners slope, it acquires the reputation as "Qween of beginner's slope". Officially 50% of the slopes of Tsugaike are dedicated to beginners. The main wide lower areas of Tsugaike are particularly suited to beginners, such as Kane-no-naru-oka slope which has more than 1200m width and Karamatsu slope which has a super gentle slope with 1200m length.

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Furthermore even beginner can enjoy near the peak by taking gondola, since there is a beginner slope near the gondola peak station. After enjoying this slope, beginners can down by gondola in peace. At the base near the "Kane-no-naru-oka" there is a kid's park with magic carpet and free indoor play area.

Hakuba Cortina(Hakuba,Otari)

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Hakuba Cortina ski resort is located in Otari village, 10 km north of Hakuba. Being located in the northern part of Hakuba region, it receives relatively more and better snow than other resorts in the area. It offers a variety of beginner slopes. Out of the 16 courses, there are five beginner courses and two intermediate courses. The recommended courses for beginners are the Hiedayama forest slope and the Ikenoda slope, with a combined length of nearly 3500 m. From the Hiedayama forest course, one can enjoy panoramic mountain views and the beautiful forest ambience, while the Ikenoda slope is a wide and gentle course in front of the hotel and ski center.

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In front of the main slope, a western style ski-in,ski-out hotel—"Hotel Green Plaza Hakuba," offers comfortable rooms and access to Onsen (hot springs).

Hakuba Goryu(Hakuba)

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ABLE Hakuba GORYU is located in Hakuba village in the northern part of Nagano Prefecture. Goryu is a medium-large scale resort which has 16 courses, a vertical drop of 926m (750m -1,676m), and longest distance of 5,000m.The Alps-daira zone is the upper part of the resort accessible by gondola with attractive beginner and intermediate course. In this zone you can enjoy majestic views of big mountains and dry powder snow, SInce it has gentle slopes, even beginners can enjoy the beautiful experience. After that beginners can go down by the gondola. At the base area such as Toomi-area and Iimori-area there are also wide, gentle slopes for beginner. Hakuba Goryu is interconnected with Hakuba 47 and beginner can visit there via beginner slopes.

Nozawa Onsen(Nozawa,Togari)

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Nozawa Onsen is located in the northeast region of Nagano Prefecture in Honshu (main land), close to the border with Niigata Prefecture. It is the 4th largest ski resort in Japan, which has 20 lifts, 36 courses, an area of 297 ha. Nozawa Onsen offers a plenty of slopes ideal for beginners, and most of them are really wide and gentle. The most recommended point is that there are gentle slopes running through the mountain top area. For example, major beginner slope Uenotaira is located at altitude of 1,220m - 1,410m. Because of the high elevation, the snow quality is much better than base area. These terrains are very wide and gentle, beginners can fully enjoy the powder snow and the panoramic view.After skiing beginner can head down via forest trail. Alternatively, skier can take the gondola to go down to the base of the mountain.

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Hikage slope is the main base area which has a lot of functions for the kids such as "kids park", "day care service", "children rest area", etc.

Togari Onsen(Nozawa,Togari)

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Togari Onsen ski resort is located in the northeast region of Nagano Prefecture, to the west of Nozawa Onsen. It is the medium sized ski resort , which has 7 lifts, 18 courses, an area of 130ha. The size of Area is almost same as Hakuba Goryu/47. It is the 6th largest in Nagano Prefecture. Togari offers a variety of slopes for all level skiers from beginner to expert. Especially it is famous for good beginner slopes and facilities for kids. It gains acclaim for good quality facilities for kids. There are two base areas Pegasus and Orion and both of them have kids-area and indoor Kid's area. Kids area is for free!