Facilities & Services
Nozawa Onsen Ski Resort Services & Facilities
The town of
Nozawa Onsen and the ski resort both have reasonably well developed services and facilities, many of which are centred around the Hikage gondola area. Some facilities are managed by the ski resort, yet most are owned by private operators.
Facilities for Children
Day care for 1-6 year old children is provided at the Yumin Day Nursery on the second floor of the Hikage Information Centre. The staff are well qualified but there is no guarantee that they’ll speak fluent English. The operating hours are 9-12 and 1-4pm so you have to pick up the kids for lunch time. Rates are pretty good and include morning and afternoon snacks: ¥4,000 full day (¥3,000 per day multiple days); ¥2,500 per half day; and ¥1,000 by the hour. The nursery only accommodates 20 children, so it’s wise to make a reservation.
Private babysitting is another option for day care or evening child minding. Most accommodations can arrange this. The cost is about ¥1,500 per hour for up to four children.
A small playground area, Nozawa Kids Park, is located at the Hikage base. Entry is free.
Ski Lessons
Nozawa Onsen Ski School has an information area at Hikage gondola and at the Nagasaka gondola. They have specific private programs for instruction in English with morning lessons for ¥18,000 for up to 3 people, or ¥20,000 for more than 4 people (2011 rates).
Nozawa also has some private operators that run ski and snowboard tuition. For example
Lodge Nagano has an in-house English speaking instructor.
Nozawa Onsen Ski Hire
Nozawa Onsen has several private operators providing ski hire and snowboard rental, so prices remain fairly competitive.
Pro Select is a good choice if you’re looking for performance or demo skis and they have a good range of fat skis. Pro Select also have standard ski sets and all mountain snowboards, and ski and board boots with sizes up to 33. They don’t have kids gear yet but this is planned for the 2011-12 season. All ski and snowboard equipment is fully serviced, tuned and waxed, and the staff speak English so it’s easy to communicate your needs. Pro Select is conveniently located about 50 metres from the Nagasaka gondola.
Tomy is also located near the Nagasaka gondola and has a good range of kids’ rental gear.
There are a few ski hire shops near the Hikage gondola as well as a couple of rental shops in the main street of Nozawa Onsen, but the latter rent out rear entry ski boots which screams volumes for how archaic the rental equipment is.
Lodge Nagano and Villa Nozawa Onsen have ski and snowboard rental equipment at very reasonable prices, and a few of the other accommodation places also offer ski hire.
Eating On Mountain
Blimey! At some stage Nozawa Onsen had a blow out of on-mountain eateries. There are 33 on-slope restaurants and all the ski areas at Nozawa Onsen have eateries so you’re never very far away from some sustenance. Many of the restaurants serve a range of typical Japanese ski resort food such as Katsudon (rice dish with pork cutlet), ramen, and donburi, as well as Nozawana (pickled leaf vegetable typical to Nozawa). A few of the restaurants have more international fare, with Mos Burgers near Hikage gondola being one example.
Thankfully some of the cafes are smoke-free but many of the eating areas have a disgustingly thick layer of smoke such that you can barely see what to order for lunch.
Like most places in Japan, it is very difficult to find good coffee in Nozawa Onsen. The only place to get a
real coffee is at Sassa Café, located at the top of the Challenge lift.
Banking Facilities
Thankfully Nozawa Onsen is not devoid of access to the all important yen. The centrally located post office has an ATM that accepts international debit cards.