Overall Rating

Madarao

Madarao4/515
Madarao4 out of 5 based on 15 reviews
  • Recommend
    93%
  • Would Revisit
    93%

Madarao - Reviews

Madarao - Reviews

Madarao Nagano Japan fab place

Jenny
09/03/2024
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Advanced
  • Rider Age
    51-70
  • Admin Rating
    3

Madarao Nagano Japan fab place

Jenny
09/03/2024
We skied in Mararao in the Nagano region of Japan the resort was small enough that we could get to know it over a few days and big enough to provide challenges for all 24 of us in the group.
We stayed at the main hotel which was well located and comfortable with a nice onsen.
Plenty of fun and tasty food offerings in the village at a reasonable price.
Would definitely go back again
See our video here

Mad powder

Nick
10/12/2023
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Intermediate
  • Rider Age
    36-50
  • Month Visited:
    February
  • Admin Rating
    1

Mad powder

Nick
10/12/2023
Not very crowded with great food options. Top spot in Japan
See our video here

Village Continues to Evolve

03/10/2023

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  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Expert
  • Rider Age
    N/A
  • Month Visited:
    February
  • Admin Rating
    5

Village Continues to Evolve

03/10/2023
Mister Daruma is a must do
We stayed at Silk in Madarao - dated but inexpensive
Amazing food at Mister Daruma
This 2023 visit in mid February was in stark contrast to previous trips where it had absolutely puked with snow in Madarao, hence our coining of the term “Madapow” back in 2014 (one of the elderly pension owners still calls me Mrs Madapow – cute!). Whilst Madarao is renowned for snow dumps of epic proportions, on this visit its low elevation played out and not even its favourable aspect could rescue the snow quality. The temperatures had warmed up in Nagano and Niigata, and only the higher slopes and backcountry at nearby ski resorts had any half decent snow. Waist deep powder at Madarao was not meant to be this time.

The Madarao village has continued to transform since we last stayed there. More westerners have bought up old pensions and renovated them, so whilst the average quality of Madarao accommodation has increased, the prices have gone up significantly. A huge pro of the inflow of international ownership is that the offerings for dining and drinking in the village has improved, so the evening’s entertainment no longer consists of sitting in the lobby of your hotel drinking beers from the vending machine. Chill served up some of the best gyoza we’ve ever had - kimchi, pork and cheese – yum! And a special mention goes to Mister Daruma for the impressive food and cocktails.

Whilst the village has developed, the ski area itself has not. The number of lifts has continued to shrink and there were many reports of the single chair lift not opening on weekdays, possibly due to Covid related staffing issues. Madarao now has new investors, and even though they specialise in real estate investment management, hopefully they will put some money into maintaining and enhancing the ski area and not just building condos, but that might just be wishful thinking.

You can see more on our thoughts on the pros and cons on the Madarao overview page and see how we compare it to other ski resorts on the Honshu ski resorts ratings.

See our video here

Fun Intermediate Riding

Johnson
01/08/2023
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Intermediate
  • Rider Age
    36-50
  • Month Visited:
    February
  • Admin Rating
    4

Fun Intermediate Riding

Johnson
01/08/2023
As three intermediate skiiers and boarders we had a great time at Madarao for five days.

By day five we'd got a bit bored, but for us battlers it was enough to keep us amused for that long. The trees are easy to get into and out of no matter your skill level. The powder days everything in bounds got tracked out pretty quickly but you could find little stashes if you hunted.

The majority of our time there we barely waited in any lines, especially in Tangram. That's a massive difference compared to our other week in Nozawa where you were often in a line.

The nightlife is pretty much limited to one fun bar full of Aussies and there are a few other spots for food but we mainly cooked at our accom. We got food from the supermarket in Iiyama as there's just a small store in Madarao itself
See our video here

Madapow Madawow!

26/05/2018

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  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Expert
  • Rider Age
    36-50
  • Month Visited:
    December
  • Admin Rating
    5

Madapow Madawow!

26/05/2018
Powder hound heaven
Storm riding at Madapow
More Madawow
Had to be careful not to lose the ski poles
Yes that's our car - took a while to dig out!
The Powderhounds coined the term "Mad-a-Pow" some years ago when we first caught a bad case of Mad Pow disease, and on our visit in the 2017-2018 season it lived up to the hype of its slogan. The pow was absolutely mad! It snowed 1.5 metres in 2 days, so if you have a look at the video it’s no great surprise that the face shots just kept coming thick and fast and the GoPro was often caked in powder! To some it seems like a sin to say this, but there was almost too much snow.

The powder was soooo deep on that first day at Madarao that it was initially difficult to find slopes that were steep enough to maintain momentum, but it was oh sooo worth the effort. By day 2, the snow had consolidated a little whilst still being deep, so the tree skiing was divine. Day 3 was absolute bliss.

A major plus of the big snowstorm was that barely anyone was out there making the most of it. We scored line after line of fresh powder. It was peak season but where was everyone? This was surprising considering that on our previous visit (see previous review) we’d noticed the powder chasing crowds were increasing.

Not much has changed with the Madarao ski area since our last visit. They’ve perhaps gladed a couple more trees (and opened up another tree area at Tangram) but none of the lifts have been upgraded.

The village is starting to change a little, and a dozen or so properties have recently been purchased by foreigners (some of the Japanese pension owners are in their 80s). This has the benefit of adding a couple of dining and drinks establishments, but if the foreign ownership grows any further, the village may outgrow the capacity of the ski area.

See the Madarao Ski Resort page for our thoughts on the pros and cons of Madarao and see our Japanese ski resort ratings to see how it fares against other Japanese ski resorts.
See our video here

Developing fast

Regan
20/03/2018
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Advanced
  • Rider Age
    36-50
  • Month Visited:
    January
  • Admin Rating
    3

Developing fast

Regan
20/03/2018
Been 2 years in a row now. The resort is growing in popularity and there is now a lot of new accommodation options that include bathrooms. Nightlife has also improved with 4 or 5 new bars and restaurants in 2017-18 season.

Skiing is amazing. I've been skiing in Japan for 15 years and this place is so much fun. The patrolled tree runs and crazy good. The resort doesn't look that big on paper but with a combined ticket for Tangram you can easily spend 4-5 days here and not be bored.

The resort is still primarily Japanese with a few white faces scattered around but that is changing as Madarao gets discovered.
See our video here

madarao/tangram

mr lee
11/03/2018
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Snowboarder
  • Rider Level
    Advanced
  • Rider Age
    36-50
  • Month Visited:
    January
  • Admin Rating
    2

madarao/tangram

mr lee
11/03/2018
I had a day at madarao/tangram a couple days after a dump of snow.all the gladed areas were heavily tracked but we still found some stashes in the trees and what i found was good fun. pistes were mostly well groomed but I wasnt there for piste runs. lifts were the usual standard Japanese but there were no queues apart from the pizza box single which was only a 2 min wait. off piste/ sidecountry will be awesome with fresh snow and the resort are happy for you to ride the trees in certain areas marked on the map.
a great little resort which would be awesome with a foot of fresh but you would struggle to fill in more than a couple days without any fresh snow. buses run from other resorts like akakura onsen so worth a day visit at least if youre in the area
See our video here

Madarao 2018

Ashleigh
13/01/2018
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Snowboarder
  • Rider Level
    Advanced
  • Rider Age
    18-35
  • Month Visited:
    January
  • Admin Rating
    3

Madarao 2018

Ashleigh
13/01/2018
Visited Madarao second week of Jan 2018 - unfortunately we had 12mm of rain on our first day. The resulting snow base was is pretty bad condition and even after 10cm fresh snow the conditions remained less than impressive. Very slow lifts. The resort itself is small and best suited for beginner / intermediates. We found it a little tedious after 4 days. Lots of sunny days with warm freeze-thaw conditions. Very few people on the hill.
The village itself is very small, few good places to eat dinner but no nightlife.
We stayed at the Mon Aile hotel - very dated, small rooms and poor breakfast offerings given the peice.
Locals very friendly. Lots of Aussies and Kiwis around.
See our video here

Gaining Popularity

POWDERHOUNDS.COM
31/07/2016
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Expert
  • Rider Age
    36-50
  • Month Visited:
    January
  • Admin Rating
    5

Gaining Popularity

POWDERHOUNDS.COM
31/07/2016
Sidecountry fun
When we last visited Madarao we tipped that it would grow in its popularity with westerners and we weren’t wrong. The most obvious change is the number of day trippers arriving at Madarao/Tangram to chase the powder; mostly with tour groups from Myoko Kogen and Yudanaka. So whilst it’s reasonably easy to find fresh powder at Tangram due to the partial ban on off-piste skiing, at Madarao the competition for the untouched powder has continued to grow, thanks in part due to their liberal approach to tree skiing. It’s not only the off-piste where the powder disappears reasonably quickly, but also the sidecountry and the backcountry. But of course it’s all relative. Compared to USA, Europe or Australia, the powder at Madarao still lasts a while and they continue to glade more areas each season, opening up more skiable tree terrain.

For multi-day visitors to Madarao, things haven’t changed too much and it doesn’t feel over-run with gaijin. Particularly for those who stay in one of the inexpensive pensions that are owned and hosted by the locals, you can still experience quintessential Japanese culture and affability.

For more on the pros and cons see the Madarao overview page, and also see the Japan ski resorts ratings to see how the resort compares against others in the land of the rising sun.
See our video here

Nice little mountain with some strange bits

WSS
19/02/2016
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Snowboarder
  • Rider Level
    Advanced
  • Rider Age
    51-70
  • Month Visited:
    February
  • Admin Rating
    4

Nice little mountain with some strange bits

WSS
19/02/2016
This was our first visit to Madarao and found it to be a nice but strange little mountain. If you are an advanced skier, maybe 2 ~ 3 days and then done. If you are a boarder, maybe 3 or 4 but depending on what you like to do and snow conditions.

We went during a holiday week plus Chinese New Year so it was packed with Japanese university students (mostly beginner boarders) and lots of foreigners. Our week was 90% boarders. As well, this has not been a good season for snowfall so that puts a damper on things. But mid week we got 35cm overnight with some drift area over 50cm, so that was definitely the highlight.

The top half of the mountain is not groomed so, moguls galore, which is fun for skiers but not necessarily fun for boarders, unless that is your thing. I don't understand this policy considering 90% of the people are boarders then they should groom from top to bottom. I guess this is one way to .... "enlarge" the mountain because yes, it can be fun to come down the soft pack moguls and it does give you a nice workout otherwise the runs will be just too boring.

The bottom half is pretty much full of learners so going up the lift is like watch a comedy show because the university students were pretty brave and enjoyed the wipe outs and face plants.

The lifts... well, aside from the 2 Quads, the others are... slooooooow.... I guess this is so you don't get a massive hit to the back of your knees when getting on.... The single lift, #13, is pretty cool, slow but cute.

Now, when it dumps, it is a lot of fun! But then all the locals come out from nowhere and the place is tracked pretty quickly, even the tree runs. There are quite a few tree runs, especially from lift #13 take a right and the left quad, take a left on exit. And you don't need a guide or anything, pretty much you can see where to go. But you can get a guide for the back side of the mountain and I was told it is quite fun and challenging, but be sure to wait for a nice snow fall first. The powder is a bit heavier than what you get up in Hokkaido, but fun when it dumps.

As for food.... I am sorry to report, compared to some other Japan ski resorts, the mountain restaurants here are a bit lacking.

For place to stay, there is the main hotel of course but that's not our thing. Fujio Pension is an excellent pension with great service! There are a few restaurants and Rudolf and Jazzy are both quite good but aside from that.... You can always drive to Iiyama which is 20 minutes down the hill by car or Nozawa Onsen which is another 20 minutes further.

If you are a beginner and together with family, this is a prefect place. Very relaxed.
If you are intermediate and with family and like to explore some tree runs, then this is also a good place.
If you come with the guys and like to bomb down the hill, going for steep and deep and chutes jumps and trees and all that stuff, this place can be fun... especially when it dumps... but one or two days and you're done, unless you get a guide and go off piste to the back side of the mountain.
See our video here
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