Aizu Kogen Takatsue 2014

Date of visit: March 1, 2014. Early morning to 4pm

Snow Conditions: Early morning corduroy, turning quickly to crust, them melting to slush later. The groomers did their very best with what snow they've had, but it wasn't Top Dog quality by a long shot.

Ability Level: Improving/Intermediate, free run

Set-up: K2 Raygun161 (All Mountain Rocker), centered weight and 15/-13 angles (goofy), highbacks at 12.

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I'll write a review proper if I can, but I'll just pop a few words and pictures here now.

Long story short, the resort itself is good, spacious, with a fun variety of runs and also off-piste paths. However, the snow is definitely sickly at the moment; the resort received a dusting at the end of the day, but I'm not sure it's sticking. Vegetation is starting to show. That said, on days where there is lots of pow, Takatsue can be great. I've been on a couple of pow days and it is beautiful. This year has been poor for snow. People are fewer than in other resorts, though. I prefer this, and had a good couple of runs on my own this morning.

Also, the lifts suck. As in, they tend to wipe people out frequently on the higher lifts because they go too fast or the ground isn't suitably cleared.

What I really loved were the top runs once the weather cleared up, and I could actually use my camera(phone) and the slush suited my stick more. As a relative newbie, riding a rocker on icy crusts when you can't break a carve is a pain. Literally. I just wish I could link the top runs with my favourite lower ones; flowing down a solid 5k run while being able to break into the trees and 180 off the banks would be amazing!

This is how bad the visibility was in the morning:
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