There were some good things about Tengendai and some bad, with a stark contrast between the two. We’ll give Tengendai some “sandwich feedback”.

The Good:
- Pretty much no one was there (even on the nice weather day) except for a group of school kids and they were pretty cute and giggly.
- The top is at high elevation which was partly why we picked it, because an uncharacteristic warm spell had hit Honshu. It was raining at the Aizu ski resorts on our first day, yet snowing at the top of Tengendai (just).

The Bad:
- The top zone is mostly very flat and there’s barely enough pitch to go powder skiing. This was exacerbated by the heavy powder on the first day.
- The music blaring from the speakers was torturous. This is common to many Japanese ski resorts but it seemed worse, possibly because the lifts were soooo slow and there was no one there actually listening to the music.
- Due to the warm temperatures, the snow in the lower zone was rotten.

The Great:
- The terrain in the lower zone serviced by the cable car was fantastic: diverse terrain; diverse trees; and steep (too steep in parts). We’d love to come back and check it out further when the temperatures are cold.
- Staying at Nishiya Ryokan in Shirabu Onsen was amazing. We’ve stayed in plenty of ryokan but this would be the best! You know that when they have to leave all the taps running to stop the pipes from freezing that it’s a historic hotel. It was delightfully traditional, the onsen superbly rustic, and the host was very friendly.
See our video here