Ryuoo

The best way to do Ryuoo is to stay in the onsen towns below. Shibu Onsen is the postcard version: narrow stone lanes, wooden ryokan and nine public baths that guests can hop between in a yukata. Kanaguya is the most famous inn here, a dramatic multi-storey wooden building with a lot of history. Kokuya is a more polished option known for its food and baths. Both give you the full ryokan experience: big dinners, early breakfasts and baths before bed. Our guide to what a ryokan is explains how it works if you have never stayed in one.

Yudanaka Onsen, next door, is the more practical choice. It is the end of the Nagaden line, so getting there by train is easy, and there are more shops and restaurants. Aburaya Tosen is a comfortable onsen inn and a good base. Both towns are also the gateway to the snow monkey park, which makes a great rest-day trip.

At the ski area itself, SORA Glamping Resort offers a more unusual stay right on the mountain, ideal if you want to be first in the ropeway line. For tight budgets, Nagano City business hotels like Hotel Metropolitan Nagano work if you have a car, but you lose the onsen evenings that make Ryuoo special.

The summit area is where you will want to spend your time on a good day. From the top of the ropeway at 1,770 m, the upper chairs take you up to 1,930 m and the Kiotoshi Bowl. The two marked bowl runs are each well over a kilometre long and are as steep as it gets here, with a maximum pitch of 36 degrees. There are also two marked tree runs, a Kiotoshi Bowl Tree Run for advanced riders and an easier Summit Tree Run, which is the reason to come on a storm day. The high top keeps the snow colder and lighter than the base, and the trees help with visibility when the bowl goes flat.

The lower mountain is a different place. Below the ropeway base station, Base, Red, Mid, Green and Blue are short runs of a few hundred metres, mostly beginner and intermediate, with the Red the steepest. Course 6-A is the long, gentle beginner route of about 1.4 km, and the resort claims a top-to-bottom ride of about 6 km if you link everything together.

The ropeway is both the strength and the bottleneck of the mountain. A full cabin drops more than a hundred people at the top at once, and after a storm the obvious lines in the bowl get tracked within a couple of rotations. The trick is to ride the first cabin, ski the bowl immediately, then lap the summit chairs and stay up high rather than riding all the way down. When the next big wave of people arrives, head into the trees or the less obvious bowl run, where the snow stays soft longer.

Warm spells hit the bottom first. The lower slopes can be heavy and wet while the summit is still cold and dry, so on marginal days stay up high and just ride down to the base at the end of the day.

There is no official gate system, and the out-of-bounds rules are strict: patrol may take your pass if you duck the rope. The surrounding terrain is real mountain terrain with avalanche risk. If you want to go beyond the marked trees, hire a local guide and bring proper equipment. Our backcountry and sidecountry guide covers how to do it safely in Japan.

Fly into Tokyo (Haneda or Narita) and take the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Nagano, which takes about an hour and a half. From Nagano Station, the Nagaden line runs to Yudanaka in about 45 minutes on the limited express. Ryuoo is a short taxi or bus ride from Yudanaka or Shibu.

If you are driving, allow about 45 minutes from Nagano City, more in a storm. The Shinshu-Nakano exit on the Joshinetsu Expressway is the closest. Winter tyres are essential, and carry chains in heavy snow. Our winter car hire and driving guide covers the rules and the rental gotchas.

Storm mornings are the time to leave early. The road up to the base gets busy once the day-trippers arrive, and the ropeway queue is shortest before the sightseeing buses turn up.

Ryuoo suits intermediate to advanced riders who want real vertical, a good storm-day mountain and an onsen town to come home to. If you like to plan your day around ropeway timing and are happy to work for fresh snow, it rewards you.

Families also do fine on the lower mountain, with kids' space in THE BASE building, a snowboard debut area with free helmet loans and gentle beginner runs. Night skiing on the Base course makes it easy to squeeze in extra time on the snow.

You may feel limited if you want lots of fast chairs, a big interconnected network or a lively ski village. The lower runs are short, and if your crew are beginners who only want gentle groomers, you will spend a lot of time on the same couple of slopes. If that sounds like you, Shiga Kogen up the road has far more of everything.

The on-mountain food has had a real upgrade. Spirits Grill, beside the Base lift, does burgers made with Shinshu game meat, breakfast and a bar in the evening. Tonton Tonton near the ropeway base serves freshly made onigiri with around 27 fillings and big bowls of pork miso soup, which is perfect on a cold day. Go Go Curry serves Kanazawa-style curry in the Bus Information Center, and there is a crepe stand there too. At the top of the ropeway, the SORA terrace cafe has sofas, a fireplace and great views, but expect to share it with sightseers.

For dinner, the onsen towns are the place to be. Yudanaka and Shibu have small izakaya, ramen shops and soba restaurants, and many ryokan include a big multi-course dinner. Nagano soba and oyaki (stuffed dumplings) are local favourites.

Apres here is all about the onsen. Soak, eat, then sleep. If you want bars and nightlife, you are better off in Nozawa Onsen or the Hakuba Valley.

• Lift hours: Day skiing runs 8:15am to 5pm. Night skiing runs 5pm to 8pm on the Base course, with the Mid course added on Saturdays. There is no night skiing on Sundays, Mondays or the last day of a long weekend.
• Tickets: Tickets are cheaper on weekdays and in the early and late season. A refundable IC card deposit is added to day tickets.
• Ropeway: SORA terrace attracts lots of sightseers. Ride early to beat the crowds.
• Out of bounds: There is no gate system. Stay inside the ropes or go with a guide.
• Weather: The summit stays cold and dry long after the base has warmed up. On poor visibility days, the tree runs are the best option.
• Onsen: Follow the rules in the shared baths, and note that some places still do not allow tattoos. Our onsen etiquette guide covers the basics.

Nearby resorts worth pairing

Shiga Kogen is the obvious partner, much bigger and higher, with a huge interconnected network. Nozawa Onsen offers long runs and a lively village. Madarao is great for trees on a storm day, and Yomase Onsen is a quieter alternative close by. Ryuoo also fits neatly into our Nagano Alps road trip from the Hakuba Valley to Shiga Kogen.