Cost: 6,900 円 and includes equipment rental. You will need to pay for all train and bus transportation that we will take. There is a free pass available that will make the trip less expensive from Tobu Railways.
Meeting Time and Place: 10:15 AM at Tobu Nikko Station in front of the ticket gates. Tickets by regular Rapid train cost 1,450 each way, or there is an express train that runs as well. From Tobu Nikko we will take a bus to the start of our trip. The 4,400 yen free pass available from Tobu will include the charge for the bus as well as round trip train transportation, and this works out cheaper than buying tickets individually.
Things you should bring: Warm clothes including gloves and extra socks. You should dress in layers because you will become hot while snowshoeing, but get cold when we are taking a break. Ski wear, or rain wear, day pack, 1 liter of water, and lunch. You should wear hiking boots and gaitors(spacks). Boots, spacks/gaitors, are available for rent for an extra charge, (around 500 yen each).
Detailed Description of Trip:
10:15 a.m. Meet in front of the Ticket gate in Tobu Nikko Station. You will meet the guide(s) and then will go together to the bus terminal.
10:30 a.m. Take the bus to the lodge where we will pick up our skis. After trying on the boots we will have a basic lesson of how to use snowshoes.
Afternoon. We will snowshoe along the trails in the sen-jo-ga (戦場ヶ原) hara area between Nantai San and Shirane San. We plan to see the Yudaki water fall as well as Yunoko lake. We will have lunch along the trail. The guide will bring a matt that we can share to sit on to stay dry, and will also provide hot cocoa and coffee. If anyone wants to visit Yumoto Onsen, we will be near it so it is no problem.