Kurodake dates for 2019
Hey all. Kurodake have updated their website and posted their dates for 2019. For those who aren’t familiar, Kurodake closes for “maintenance” during January and normally reopens progressively in February (the main gondola usually opens at the start of Feb, and the pair lift opens about 2 weeks later).
Not this year. They’re closing on the 4th of January, and reopening the gondola on the 15th of March. The pair lift reopens on the 29th of March.
I’ll be chasing this up with some friends who work there to see if there’s any more to the story. But it certainly sounds like bad news for this season.
Kurodake dates for 2017
Kurodake have posted their opening dates for 2017.
The gondola and lift will close on the 4th of January.
The gondola re-opens on the 27th of January (the top lift will still be closed, so you'll have to buy single-ride tickets for the gondola).
The lift re-opens on the 17th of February.
There's already 2m of snow under the lift, and there have been some slides in the steeper terrain, so hopefully the gullies will fill in nicely down low for later in the season.
See you out there!
Kurodake dates for 2016
Kurodake's opening and closing dates for the season are up on their website. It's already open (with about a metre and a half under the chairlift).
The whole place closes down from January 4th to 28th. The gondola re-opens on the 29th of Jan, but the chairlift will still be closed until the the 18th of Feb. You can still lap the gondola while the chairlift is closed, but you'll have to pay ¥1,100 per ride.
All day tickets (¥3,800) and good times resume on the 19th of Feb. See you then!
Resort Write-Up: Kurodake
Normally in these resort write-ups there’s an attempt to keep a bit of professional distance. We try to be a bit objective and give you an honest assessment of a ski area’s strengths and weaknesses. Is it good in a storm? Do the lifts spin if it’s windy? Should you stay there or commute from somewhere else?
I’m not going to do that with Kurodake. I'll give you the facts as best I can, but since any chance of objectivity is hopelessly compromised by my experiences here, I'm also going to tell what I think about Kurodake and what it means to me as a skier.
The skiing:
Let’s start with the facts: Kurodake is a mountain in the Daisetsuzan Range near the onsen resort town of Sounkyo Gorge. The mountain is a rocky peak with steep skiable slopes on one side and huge bristling cliffs on the other.