Hi I have been to sun valley a few times there is a lift ticket office at the bottom of the giant chair. I am not sure if credit cards are accepted but they have been every where else.

Shiga Kogen is a collection of 17 mountains. For beginners I would suggest you stay at the Ichinose Mountain / Village. This mountain has the biggest infrastructure and there are plenty of accommodation options. It has some excellent and large beginner slopes and also is easy access from Ichinose to other areas.

Hello, the Prince Hotel runs a shuttle bus to take guests into Inchinose in the evenings, first bus leaves at 5pm and last bus returns at 10.30. East hotel does have a whiskey bar, there's a small Izakaya in South (food here was great) west has the onset, buffet and a crazy expensive Chinese restaurant. The Prince shuttle bus was well patronised by the English speaking guests and there are a few small bars to enjoy in Ichinose. The issue with a mid afternoon drink is that the lifts stop running at 4pm and the mythical Shiga Kogen busses are very infrequent and they stop at 5 potentially leaving you stranded. All the mountain cafes sell beer and highballs/citrus premix. Hotel Khuls is on the slopes at Ichinose Family and the restaurant at the top of the Gondola over that way is very cosy (there's also a coffee place selling Melbourne style coffee up there.) Otherwise enjoy the skiing, stock up on beverages in the convenience store in Ichinose and chill.

Hi Yamanouchi is a bit away from Shiga Kogen. What I will suggest you it’s , to book a room at Okushiga Kogen Hotel, which will be pleasant for all of you guys. The ski station is just beside and you can rent the equipment inside the hotel too. To learn skiing I will suggest you to ask for Robel Zemickael. He is the owner of the skiing school and he’s an Olympic champion. In less than 2 or 3 hours I was fine to ski by myself! Just ask the hotel or look for his school ( Shiga Kogen Ski aera) To see the snow mountain monkeys, it’s very easy as you will need to take the same bus from the train station to go to the ski station and on his way to or back you can stop at the snow mountain leave your luggage and then go to see the monkeys which are incredibles!

You can buy a single return ticket up the various gondolas to the top and have a walk around but it's quite away from the snow monkeys, about a 15-20 minute drive. There is also an old traditional village near the snow monkeys that you can go and check out - don't remember the name but should be easy to find on the internet. Hope that helps

Hi, There are no guarantees when the snow will fall. It is likely that there will be some snow ar that time, prehaps hot enough for skiing, but enough for snow play. Where? Although Shiga Kogen is closest to the snow monkey park, it may not be the best place to access a mountain, as a non skiier. I would base in Nagano for a couple of days and do easy day trips to the Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park and to whichever ski area has early snow. I.e decide on the day. They are pretty much all an hour from Nagano. As for resorts around Nagano which allow non skier access by gondola, I suggest Nozawa Onsen and Happo One/Hakuba as they have more interesting villages. Once again, you can check this when you are there. You may also stay in either resort and you can arrange day tours from them to Jigokudani. If you are staying at Shibu onsen, Shiga Kogen is only about 30-45min by bus but, while this is a vast resort (or network of resorts) I am unsure which areas/gondolas allow non-skiiers. I'm sure the people at Shibu Onsen can advise

hi caroline yea, its a little painful to travel from yudanaka with rental skis everyday. I doubt there are storage areas for your equipment but I could suggest : 1) staying in Shiga itself 2) renting the equipment from the shops in Shiga - I presume they will allow you to keep the equipment at the shop.. I think the best located shop for you would be SNOWCAN at Ichinose Diamond. You can go on their website to check it out. Google snowcan shiga and you will find it Hope that helps

Hi Ly Just posted my review but was actually there in Jan 2017. I hear the snow is good right now but you could check on these 2 websites.. unfortunately trip advisor will not allow me to include the address. but if you search snow-forecast and snowjapan for shiga it gives you a pretty good idea of the conditions

Very unlikely. If you want to ski in December in Japan, best to go up to Hokkaido.