Central Odyssey Tour
The ultimate pilgrimage to the
Aizu Region &
Gunma Prefecture to satisfy your appetite for powder, Japanese cuisine & genuine Japanese culture, far away from the sheep that go to the mainstream ski resorts. Gunma Prefecture is the new frontier of powder gem ski resorts in Japan.
The Central Odyssey Tour is the ultimate pilgrimage to satisfy your appetite for powder, Japanese cuisine and genuine Japanese culture, far away from the sheep that go to the mainstream ski resorts. The Central Odyssey heads to the Aizu Region and the Gunma Prefecture, which is the new frontline of powder gem ski resorts in Japan.
After a warm up night in a more western style hotel, you’ll then get your Japanese on by staying in two Japanese hotels where you can have an onsen and feast on a range of local cuisine. You can also stay in a tatami room (washitsu) and sleep on futons on the floor if you want the full cultural immersion.
What’s typical of most of the ski resorts visited in Gunma and Aizu, is that there are very few westerners or others chasing the powder, so fresh lines are easy to come by if you know where to look, which of course the guides do. Many of the ski resorts are small and don’t have enough terrain to keep powder hounds salivating for more than a day or two, which is what makes them perfect to include on an odyssey.
Being able to sample multiple ski resorts is one of the major benefits of the Central Odyssey Tour, and the guides keep it rather flexible. Off-piste riding may be considered a little wayward at some of these small ski resorts, but with discretion and leadership from your guide, you’ll be rewarded with abundant freshies in the trees.
Each tour runs for one week with a Saturday departure. The tour starts and finishes at a train station so you can easily get to and from Tokyo or your next destination.
Areas and Resorts Visited
One of the base areas is in Urabandai, which is close to a few of the best
Aizu ski resorts.
The other base area is in the village of Katashina in
Gunma Prefecture, which is close to a number of great little ski areas, including a couple of our new favourite powder gems.
Powder Recon has been ideally named because the guides have spent a lot of time doing reconnaissance work to scope out the best powder spots in Honshu to take you to.
Ability Level
The Central Odyssey Tour is ideal for advanced to expert off-piste skiers and snowboarders. If there is a slight divergence in ability levels, the guides try to divvy the group into two to match riders by speed and terrain preferences. You should be competent riding in the trees, and snowboarders should be able to read the terrain and maintain speed on traverses.
The terrain is mostly lift accessed off-piste and sidecountry, but if you have touring gear bring it along and the guide will take you on an exploration to push out a little from the ski areas to find even better snow. You don’t need to be an experienced tourer, but just have a sense of adventure and willingness to put a little work into sourcing the primo snow.
Groups and Guides
There will be either 1 or 2 guides depending on the size of the group, however the guide to client ratio will not exceed 1:5. The head guide is an experienced snowboarder (16 seasons in Japan at over 200 resorts), certified instructor with off piste/back country knowledge of the ski areas, and avalanche qualified.
Transportation
Transport for the tour will be provided in private 4WD vans. The tour will incorporate a bit of driving, but your guides do it all for you, so you can just sit back and relax.