Shiga Kogen Ichinose Diamond Video Reviews: Slopes & Mountain

Veteran entertainer Akira Shimizu, 67, skis Ichinose Family with an old friend, films a ramen stop and chats about the old days; the auto-captions are badly garbled. It is set at Ichinose Family, not Diamond, and names no run.

A family's 14-day Shiga Kogen trip distilled into planning advice: how the five areas differ, three lodging tiers with prices, and where to ski by level. Ichinose gets jaw-dropping summit views, decent beginner and intermediate variety, short runs, dry consistent snow, and weekend crowds.

Two days at Shiga Kogen from an English-language travel couple: Nagano bus in, a hotel at the base of the lifts, riding across the interconnected areas to Okushiga, a shuttle to Kumanoyu, and the verdict that the snow exceeded expectations and the resort is too big for two days.

A tour-operator overview of where to ski in Shiga Kogen by area: Yakebitai's gondolas and Olympic runs, Okushiga's off-piste and terrain park, the Higashitateyama-Ichinose-Terakoya middle with unroped tree runs and a 6 km longest run, and Yokoteyama's summit bakery.

A practical Shiga Kogen guide from a Singaporean couple based in Ichinose: the Nagano bus (lane 23, about 2,300 yen), why Ichinose is the best base for hotels and restaurants, dining reservations, lift-pass tips, Japanese-only maps with tiny fonts, and infrequent buses.

Taiwanese travel vlog (English captions) of a three-day Shiga Kogen trip based at an Ichinose hotel next door to Ichinose Diamond: getting there from Nagano, hotel meals, a Yokoteyama summit day, and a note that the Diamond restaurant serves Taiwanese-style braised-pork ramen.

A 20-minute Shiga Kogen trip film from a travel-vlog couple, cut entirely to music with no spoken narration (the captions are only song fragments). Scenic skiing and travel footage across the resort; nothing about any specific area or run can be taken from the audio.

A tour-operator's where-to-stay guide for Shiga Kogen: the three Prince Hotel wings at Yakebitai, Chalet Shiga at Ichinose for the most restaurants and bars, and the Okushiga Kogen and Grand Phenix hotels for luxury. Promotional, lodging-only; no skiing detail.

A Japanese ski-school channel's on-snow meet starts at Ichinose Family and works across Takamagahara, Higashitateyama, Terakoya and the Kumanoyu bus to Yokoteyama and Shibu Pass. Ichinose Diamond is only pointed out across the valley as 'tomorrow's' area.

An English resort guide to all of Shiga Kogen: layout, who each area suits, lifts, access and lodging. Ichinose Family's front slope and 'Diamond' are listed among the gentle greens for first-timers, and Ichinose and Takamagahara are called a good base for beginners and families.

A solo snowboarder's two-day Shiga Kogen diary from an affordable old inn in Ichinose with the lift right outside: 3,000-yen bus from Nagano, a two-day all-mountain pass, a first day covering about a third of the resort out to Okushiga, a pricey izakaya dinner, then a long bus trip to Yokoteyama's bakery.

The same hobbyist's January 2021 attempt at Ichinose Family's hardest run, the ungroomed 30-degree Perfecter course, with chatter about which of the two entries is steeper. Family, not Diamond; the Diamond areas are not mentioned.

A 71-second short: day 17 of a five-week Japan trip, bus from Shibu Onsen to Shiga Kogen, rental gear, a first-ever one-day ski lesson with a Scottish instructor, mostly at the bottom of the slopes practising wedges and stops, then sore ankles and a hotel view.

Music-only April 2024 footage of a 51-year-old beginner on the Ichinose slopes in spring slush. The transcript is song lyrics; the description says the Ichinose slope is challenging for a beginner and the plentiful snow had turned slushy. No narration, no run named.

A 2015 club ski clip at Ichinose Diamond (7 February, sunny, minus 12 C per the description) set to music, with no speech in the captions. Period footage of the Diamond slope on a cold clear day; no run named.

An American skier's plan to ski all 18 Shiga Kogen areas in one day collapses: warm wind and rain put every lift on hold at Sun Valley, the parking lot is a sheet of ice, and the video turns into a drive to the Niigata coast tasting convenience-store energy drinks and snacks.

A 72-second mogul-challenge clip: because Shiga Kogen had so much snow there were no bumps, so the group built their own mogul line at Ichinose Diamond and filmed a rider on it. The narration says only that the hand-made moguls skied surprisingly well.

A 32-second Okushigakogen powder clip from 27 February 2023 by Powder Banzai Japan. Two spoken lines ('here we go', 'last line that one'). Okushiga, not Ichinose Diamond; nothing about this resort.

A 2-minute January 2021 clip from a Japanese outdoor hobbyist: standing at the top of the Ichinose Diamond slope on a bluebird weekday, he calls it probably a beginner course, skis straight down toward the Family side and finishes by the Diamond pair lift. Quiet slopes.

A 141-second music-only run of Ichinose Family's 1,000 m advanced main face, top to bottom in one go, from a Japanese hobbyist. Family, not Diamond; the captions carry no speech.

A 76-second clip from March 2022: on a clear day the skier drops from the top of Ichinose Diamond straight down to the Ichinose Family side in one go, calling it a pretty good slope and a side of the resort he rarely visits. Spring sun, firm groomed snow, no narration beyond that.

A 34-second Powder Banzai Japan clip at Ichinose on 21 February 2023: one rider follows another down a line, 'nice line, that's good'. No area within Ichinose, lift or run is identified; powder footage only.

A Filipino couple's day trip from Nagano City: a first-ever ski day at Ichinose with rental gear from the Ichinose Diamond shop and a private lesson. Costs, train-and-bus logistics, what a beginner actually learns in an afternoon, and advice to book a lesson and watch the last bus.

Music-only footage dated 3 January 2023 at Ichinose Yamanokami, the small area above Diamond. The auto-captions contain no speech. Neighbouring area, no narration, no run named.

A 99-second fresh-powder run at Ichinose Diamond set to a rap track; the captions are only the song's lyrics. The description mentions dashing to an izakaya at the Yakebitai No. 2 gondola base afterwards. Visual powder footage only; no run is named or described.

A text-to-speech reading of the Japanese Wikipedia article on Ichinose Diamond ski area: location in Yamanouchi, the official Ichinose-Yamanokami pairing, links to Yamanokami at the top and Family via the overpass, Saturday night skiing, and its 'quiet, individual' character.