Snowriders Australia is a news media webiste for skiing and snowboarding enthusiasts
Lets face it, 2020 was a year to forget. But if memory serves correct, the first couple of months were pretty good! Rewind to January 2020. A time when Snowriders Australia subscribers joined Glenn and Hamish for a hosted trip discovering the Nagano/Niigata area based in Madarao. For those that don't know, Madarao (pronounced "Mada-raall") …
Continue reading "Madarao – the hidden gateway to Nagano & Niigata"
Active Life Japan, an Australian /New Zealand managed business, has entered into an agreement to purchase Palcall Tsumagoi Ski Resort, in the Karuizawa area, Japan. Active Life announced that they are proud to add Palcall to their growing list of properties, which includes three major hotels in the nearby resort of Madarao. Palcall is located …
Continue reading "Aussie / Kiwi managed business acquires Japanese resort"
If you're traveling to Japan's main island this Christmas, get your snow dancing shoes on and start busting out your best moves! That's the message from snow-industry managers all over Honshu, who are presently sweating on the snow Gods to deliver a season starting dump! A quick review of the long term snow-fall statistics, compiled …
Continue reading "Japan is off to a very slow start, but rest assured – snow is coming!"
If you've never skied or snowboarded in Japan, then you are doing yourself a serious dis-service. With some of the most consistent and best snow conditions in the world, Japan is a veritable mecca for the full range of sliders, from beginners to snow-addicted powder hounds. However, Japan is not Perisher in Australia, nor is …
Continue reading "10 mistakes foreign skiers and snowboards make in Japan"
International travel for the uninitiated can be a bit scary at the best of times. Throw in a couple of connecting flights, some trains and a bus, and it is enough to send even the most seasoned traveler catatonic! However, fear not: travel in Japan is easy. Signposts are in English, the Japanese staff are …
Continue reading "How to get from Tokyo to Nagano (and Iiyama): a beginners guide"
Skiing and snowboarding in Japan is the hottest winter sports ticket in the world at the moment, and why wouldn’t it be: it consistently records the lightest and driest snow on earth, and it falls in quantities that’ll make your head spin – every time! If like many Aussies, you punctuate or even book-end you …
Continue reading "Three really cool things to do in Tokyo on your way home from the snow"
Nagano! Everyone's heard of Nagano, right? It's home to Shiga Kogen, Nozawa Onsen, Myoko and of course, Hakuba. But would it surprise you if we told you the region is home to literally dozens of resorts, most of which you've never heard of? For example, if we mentioned Seki Onsen, Lotte Arai, Kita Shinsu, X-Jam …
Every year hordes of people write to us asking for insights or an 'insiders' guide to the Japanese resorts of Hokkaido and Honshu. While we've visited our fair share of the Japanese resorts, our time in these beautiful places is often too short. So although we've had a taste of what these resorts have to …
Continue reading "Nozawa Onsen: from the inside looking out"
Our legion of followers have been very busy recently, traveling the world, experiencing some of the best snow on offer.  Here, guest reporter, Hamish Macphee, gives us the low down on his first trip to Japan, taking in the popular resort of Hakuba and up-and-coming ski area, Madarao (or MadaPOW as it's known affectionately). Madarao …
Continue reading "First time JaPOW: the only question is Hakuba or Madarao? Why not both?"
Bogan, n. An unfashionable, uncouth, or unsophisticated person, esp. regarded as being of low social status (Oxford English Dictionary). Ok, so maybe 'bogan' is a bit strong. But with increasing levels of ill-feeling toward Australians abroad, and a noticeable increase in the Aussie 'bogan' element in some of the Japanese ski fields, we thought we'd …
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