Balance work and skiing! Live your daily life while staying in Minamiuonuma City, Niigata Prefecture

2024/01/16

Now that remote work and telecommuting have become commonplace and work styles have become more diverse, many people work without being restricted by location.
For those of us who love skiing, the ideal is to be as close to the snowy mountains as possible and to be able to immerse ourselves in skiing at any time.
There are many places across the country where your wishes can come true, but the Minamiuonuma City/Yuzawa Town area located on the southern side of Niigata Prefecture is easily accessible from the Kanto area and has constant snowfall, making it the perfect place to make your ideal life come true. It's one of the.

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Hotel on the slopes overlooking the city

Minamiuonuma City and Yuzawa Town are home to more than 15 ski resorts in this area alone, and the area receives up to 2 meters of snow every year. However, it boasts one of the most convenient transportation options, taking 70 minutes from Tokyo by Shinkansen and 2 hours by car on the expressway. It's easily accessible both by road and Shinkansen, so it's a luxurious environment that allows you to flexibly change your travel style depending on your time and amount of luggage.

Ishiuchi Maruyama Ski Resort in Minamiuonuma City is about 10 minutes by car from JR Echigo Yuzawa Station, a Shinkansen station. Conveniently located, just 5 minutes from the Kanetsu Expressway Shiozawa Ishiuchi IC. The slopes are unique in that there are many restaurants and lodges run by locals. With a wide variety of courses and night skiing available every day, it's a ski resort where you can ski all the time and never get bored.

So, I decided to experience how good it is to balance skiing and work in Minamiuonuma City, based on Ishiuchi Maruyama. If you have the chance, you'll want to stay at an accommodation unique to Ishiuchi Maruyama! So this time's accommodation was on top of a mountain. This hotel is located halfway up the ski resort.

The hotel is located on the slopes overlooking the city. Prices start from 13,000 yen per night, but there are plans that get cheaper if you stay for multiple nights. There is also entertainment such as tent sauna and mahjong.

The castle, Ishiuchi Ski Center , is located in a location that can only be reached by taking a lift (or gondola). To access it, you can take the Sunrise Express at the central exit and ski down a little, or you can take the sightseeing lifts 1 and 2 from the north exit and go down a little. That's how it is. As the name suggests, it's right in the middle of the ski resort.

Once the ski resort closes, there will be no way to access it, so you have to be careful, and you can't even go to a convenience store at night.
However, there are charms that more than make up for it, such as the feeling of having the ski resort to yourself late at night and the beautiful night view.
The advantage for ski enthusiasts is that it is a dream location where you can step outside and be on the slopes.
It's located halfway up the hill, so you can ski without having to take a lift. Therefore, fast track is guaranteed in the morning. His dream routine of skating first thing in the morning, doing desk work during the day, and skating again at night is easy. After concentrating on work, I take a break and go skiing. You can turn it on and off in 0 minutes (it takes just a few seconds to go down the entrance stairs) from the hotel to the slopes, making your life extremely efficient.

Equipped with high-speed Wi-Fi, you can get your work done. It's also nice that the rooms come with desks and chairs. Accommodations that have these two features in their private rooms are very considerate. The slopes spread out outside the window

A skilled ski resort with a spectacular view of the mountaintop and plenty of skiing experience

Ishiuchi Maruyama is a large ski resort with a total of 23 courses and 14 lifts. There is a great view overlooking the Uonuma Plain from the mountaintop, and a new terrace called ``The Veranda Ishiuchi Maruyama'' was built two years ago so that you can enjoy this view without having to slip.

Sunrise Express, a state-of-the-art lift and gondola running on the same overhead wire, is unique to Ishiuchi Maruyama.

My favorite routine during my stay is to ski the parallel course below from Ishiuchi Ski Center, where I am staying, first thing in the morning. Once you start skating from the hotel, the distance is about 1000m, which is just the right amount of time to get your feet used to it. After that, transfer to the Sunrise Lift and the Kanko Daisan High-Speed Lift to the Daimaruyama Slope. This is my favorite slope. The skiing distance is not that long at 500m, but the slope, which has a maximum slope of 30 degrees and is packed with snow, is perfect for carving.

A photo taken after skiing several slopes at Daimaruyama. Carving turns feel good

After 3-4 runs down Daimaruyama slope, we headed to the mountaintop slope.
This is a great place to overlook the Uonuma Plain. The steep slope, with a maximum slope of 35 degrees, stretches for 900m, making for plenty of sliding resistance. Normally, it would rain constantly on Ishiuchi Maruyama almost every day even in early January. However, due to the record-setting El Niño, we were not blessed with snowfall during our stay. If it snows, there are tree run courses and uncompacted snow slopes where you can fully enjoy the powder.

A slope at the top of the mountain where you can enjoy long runs. If it snows, you can also enjoy armpit pau. By the way, the top image of this article is a view looking down on the city at the foot from the mountaintop lift.

After skating for 2-3 hours in the morning, I return to the hotel and work.

I was told that I could work at a desk at the restaurant on the first floor of the Ishiuchi Ski Center, so I worked while drinking coffee, but I was always curious about what was going on behind me...

Omelet curry was my favorite dish, and it's a must-have for omelet rice and curry lovers.
This volume costs 1300 yen. You can also use the microwave, so if you're staying for a long time and want to save money on food, you can bring your own lunch or something you can easily cook.

We also carry a wide variety of local sake and beer.

If you concentrate on your work, it will be 5pm in no time. Night lights are on outside the hotel. Ishiuchi Maruyama is also popular for its wide range of ski runs for night skiing. We also participate in night skiing to take advantage of our convenient location, just 0 minutes' walk from the slopes.

You can enjoy a completely different atmosphere during night games than during the day.
The orange light illuminates the slope, making it easy to see changes in the slope. There are fewer people than during the day, making it easier to slip and waiting for the lift. The night view of Minamiuonuma city is also beautiful. You can enjoy the privacy of skiing as if you had reserved the entire slope for yourself. Being able to go skiing as soon as you think the conditions are good is unique to a hotel on a mountain.

Speaking of Ishiuchi Maruyama, there is a vast night game! Skating while admiring the night view of Uonuma Plain has a different appeal than during the day.

After completing my stay in Minamiuonuma, I realized that if the accommodation has an environment that allows for remote work (desk and Wi-Fi), it is possible to lead a full daily life even while staying at the ski resort. If you work in a way that allows you to manage your own work to some extent, regardless of where you work, it will be relatively easy to work. Since he can devote his time to skiing outside of work, his daily life is also very fulfilling. Best of all, I'm glad that I don't have to spend time traveling to the ski resort. After all, I want to do my work efficiently. The great thing about this is that by eliminating unproductive travel time, you can concentrate more on your work and hobbies.

The Minamiuonuma area is close to the Kanto region, so you can stay there for a short period of time.
Even if you have urgent business in Tokyo, you can travel there and back in half a day. I want it to be one of the options for each individual to achieve their ideal life.

Support is also available for people who want to do telework.

2nd Minamiuonuma City Telework/Workation Online Seminar (Sponsor: Minamiuonuma City)
Minamiuonuma City will hold an online seminar on telework/workation on Friday, January 19, 2024 from 20:00 to 21:00.
Those who participated in the online seminar will be selected by lottery to hold a local networking event on January 27-28 (Saturday and Sunday) and February 3-4 (Saturday and Sunday) where you can enjoy a backcountry tour. In particular, the local exchange event on February 3rd and 4th is a parent-child experience where you can leave your children with you and participate in the backcountry, or you can participate with your children. Details will be explained during the online seminar.
Click here to apply
using the Google form below.

Photos and text/Daigo Onozuka