If you are talking about the place in Minakami I have heard great stuff about the BC there.  I haven't looked at the topo but I have also heard that the place is full of terrain traps.  I know ninjaman has skied it before probably some others on here too.  Minakami is so close to Tokyo so its a great spot for day trips, I really love that area summer and winter.

yes, it's relatively close to tokyo...two hours w/ train transfer in mid-winter. can also drive right up to the tram. they re-did  the tram a few years ago, so the new one is smooth.　you might have had trouble finding the website b/c it's called the Tanigawa-dake Ropeway. http://www.tanigawadake-rw.com/

as far a bc terrain goes, it's one of the few resorts in japan where they actually hand out a map with avalanche terrain hazards on it. the terrain just outside of the resort is gnarly. the tram takes you up to 1500m, and there are three more four small lifts on top of that. but go on a powder weekday when all the tokyo suits are working and you get powder turns all day. (shh!)

from july hiking. that's cugehock on top of the Torano-Mimi summit, north/northwest of the lifts.

that said, tenjin consistently gets the top 2 or 3 spot in japan for most snow accumulation.i plan on noboarding there in december.

http://watchizu.gsi.go.jp/watchizu.aspx?b=364901&l=1385658

hattori hanzo, u shouldn't just indoboard

I'm gonna try noboarding this year.

I am going to try no-skiing. I am going to take the bindings off my skis and tie a rope to each tip.  Then I am going to RIP the 10 degree powder runs at 2km/h and fall off every few metres.

maybe you should also try no-drinking.

maybe you should try shutting the fuck up

was that from me to you?

The snow fall isnt as much as they say. I lived in the area before and when it is big it is off the hook. When the season is shit it has nothing. Narrower valleys than even hakuba

that looks pretty dam good, assuming the snow is there. thanks for that.

Hey everyone! Just found this Forum by chance from TGR..Looks great! Nice seeing you today at Emu Db - talking about those lines down Tengu is really getting me pumped for the season!

About Tenjin. Only been there once, about 4 years ago in March. Hakuba only had 15cm overnight and Tenjin got 40 so jumped in the van with a few mates an set off from Hakuba for a two day trip.

The best area we found is the north facing bowl in the valley on the right side of the photo above. You come off the top lift ski down that red run abit and then hike up for 30seconds or so and then you can drop straight away or slide along the ridge running parallel with the gondola and drop in anywhere you want down to the opposite (north) side. You end up (fairly soon unfortunately) in a broad valley which you follow round to the green run under the ropeway. This finally ends up at the bottom of the ropeway which you take up again.

There was some nice pitch on some of the runs with some really nice cliff drops but not as steep as Hakuba or as long even. There looked like some much gnarlier terrain further along the ridge towards Tanigawadake which looked to be a 2 or three hour hike away.

Apparantly the year we went, they were only allowing people to use the gondola/ropeway once a day up and once a day down to stop people bombing down the back and taking the gondola back up but we just hussled through so maybe they were just scoping us out before going in for the kill... Not sure what the score is with that now...

Anyway, worth the trip but not a patch on Hakuba.

Hey M, yeah, chatting lines at Emu today got me warmed up. Came home to sort all my gear out for winter - its everwhere, can't even find both gloves.

Limiting the number of times you can use a lift each day is a uniquely Japanese way of controlling how much fun people have on a mountain. I thought I'd heard it all. Go Tenjin.

I'm not good with words - is this the area you were referring to? Thanks!

db ... Some of my gear is at your place too. I think its all in that navy blue burton board bag???

NPM - Yes it is.

kingofmyrrh wrote:

I'm not good with words - is this the area you were referring to? Thanks!

No. The other side of the same ridge in the shade(on the very right hand side in this pic), although earlier on in the season that south facing side would also be good probably.

We did it in mid March so the south side was thoroughly zapped by the sun.

Actually the other slope in the shade looks good from this angle too!(on the left hand side)

Montoya has done quite a bit of touring in the area. If someone can drag him out of his hole maybe he can enlighten us. Gunma has some nice long steep lines but again they all canyon out. Ive done a tour from Kawaba to another resort in the area. Real lazy like as I was with my Kendo teacher. But we saw at least 10 lines down some super nice looking chutes and steep ridges. Would have to get a topo map of the area to point it out. When Tsu gets back into town ill try to get him onto that. PS Tsu has access to some of the best maps in Japan!

I am the Topo map pusher.

PS: sorry for not coming up in Hakks with ya tonight FT, I would love to have a few biers, but I was extremely tired.

I'm boarding with him tomorrow, so I'll badger him to get his extensive experience on here.