The article about LIVESTRONG Century Charity Ride which was held in September is now on Cycle Sports Magazine November Issue.

We had 17 riders and went around Mt. Norikura for Century Charity Ride. It was 140km route. These kinds of found raising events are not so familiar to Japanese though we would like to keep doing this evert.

This season Norikura Kogen Onsen Ski Resort will once again have a great terrain park located at the top of the Romance #1 lift with all freshly serviced boxes, rails, and a few new items that we will tell you about later. Staff are working hard to grind, weld and paint the items for the Main park.

Also, from this year Norikura Kogen has partnered with Michio Hashimoto and her famous “Indy Park” to create a second terrain park designed for kids and beginners that will be located next to the top of the main quad chair lift just down from Sanbondaki Rest House.

This month we had a great time riding in some of the best weather we have had all season. The morning was little cool but then the sun came out and warmed everything up to make for one of the best MTB tours this season. Thank you all for coming to NORTHSTAR for this last minute MTB tour, we really had a good time with you. Here are some photos form the ride, also if you want to see some of the movie clips that I took on with the advanced group please head over to our Facebook page.

As we rode today we could see how much the weather has changed and many of the Fall colors are out. Even though we still have about 3 weeks of MTB riding left this season my mind is starting to switch to Winter, Snow and Snowboarding. Actually our staff have been busy getting items ready for this years Snow Park in the Norikura Kogen Spa Resort. We hope you will come and enjoy the powder here at NORTHSTAR in Norikura Kogen.

This morning I woke to a crisp cool Fall morning here in Norikura Kogen. I didn’t know we had gotten any snow as my home is hidden from the mountain. As I walked to work Dan came out on the front steps with a huge smile on his face and was just looking behind me and saying “isn’t that great”. I was just wondering what he was talking about and then I turned around to see Norikura with a fresh layer of snow on it.

Having fresh snow on the mountain gets all of us excited about the winter season coming. Especially this year as the Norikura Kogen Onsen Ski Resort is planning to run from December 5th as long as they have enough snow. And this year it’s looking like we could get an early start.

Better get your gear out and get it waxed up!

We are so sorry for that we have not posted anything for a while. We have been doing busy though we have had lots of guests enjoyed good weather and good condition of Norikura. Colors of leaves are turning prettiest time and it would be a best season for MTB riding.

To tell the truth we had a full house group guest for this coming weekend but due to influenza, they needed to cancel. Then we offer following MTB tours. It is so sudden though the tour comes with the Hida Beef BBQ. Don’t miss this special offer!.

Fall MTB Ride

Tour A: From 9:30AM on Sat. Oct 10th to 12:00PM on Sun. Oct 11th.
Tour B: From 1:30PM on Sun Oct 11th to 3:30PM on Mon. Oct 12th

Fee: ¥17,000 (incl: 1.5 days of guiding, 1 night lodging with 2 meals, Hida-Beef BBQ)
Group Size: Up to 20 people.

Reservation: Please visit our Reservation Page
Contact: E-mail or Phone (0263.93.1688)

*Also the following weekend (Oct 17th to 18th) is available for 8 people. Please contact us.

We have been using Rocky Mountain Bicycles ”FLOW RAW” as our rental bikes the last three season. Since we are planning to replace them with new bike, this fall is our last season to ride them. There are some dings and a few scratches but they are still great bikes. This is a great chance for someone who is looking to start mountain biking to get a great deal on a real Canada built Mountain Bike.

Size 15″ for 155cm tall and up
16.5″ for 165cm tall and up
18″ for 175cm and up

*The retail was ¥123,900. The price will be adjusted based on the condition of each bike. The bikes are maintained by our bike staff and are in good running order. But we also recommend that you bring it to a pro bike shop to have it check out. We can hold a bike for you if your interested and then ship it to you be the end of October. Shipping will be about 3000 yen.

We have been working on getting a partnership with DAKINE worked out for a while now and today the product got here. Each of our main MTB guides YMKN, Seth, Dan and Brad each got a new Hydration pack, Jersey, Gloves and some other good stuff. We are stoked to be partnered with DAKINE who makes the best sports packs, bags, gloves and accessories that we know of. I personally use to work for them before I moved to Japan and have always believed in their products and they back their great gear with an amazing warranty. Please check them out if you need some bike or snowboard accessories.

Recently we had an amazing group of musicians come and stay with us at NORTHSTAR and play several concerts here at our lodge and also at the Norikura Visitors Center. They all play and or teach professionally in the US and they sounded amazing in the open air of Norikura. Here are a few photos from their concerts in Norikura.

Well we have been waiting for what seems like forever for Summer to get here and now that we finally have some Summer weather, it feels like fall is on the way. Wow, I never thought Summer could be so fast.

And now that we have had some good weather people are enjoying Mt. Biking, River Hiking and many more great outdoor activities you can do here in Norikura. Below you can see some photos from a recent River Hike and a guided Mt. Bike tour. We will be running the River Hike activity until the end of August and Mt. Biking until end of October, so please come enjoy the outdoors with us in Norikura.

In the green season at NORTHSTAR, we are doing a variety of activities such as mountain biking, climbing, hiking, each day. Patagonia’s Dispatch Pants can done everything. The nylon fabric stretches and is strong enough to not get worn out from riding a bike almost every day. They stay dry with little bit of rain and even if they are wet will dry while you are taking a break.

Even though they are a little bit expensive if you have a pair, you can do anything with them. Of corse you use a different pair of pants for each activities but these can go though from spring to fall. Seth and Ymkn have been using them and Ymkn has been using them over a year so the durability is proved. Please check them at your local Patagonia Store.