Justifying a full blown ski trip to Japan can be pretty difficult if you have young children. Are you really going to fly them all the way across the world just so they can pizza down greens while you shred the deep pow pow? Like any ski area, additional amenities may be the key to convincing your significant other or the children in general. “No, we don’t have to ski seven days straight. Look, they have a bowling alley/water park/trampolines/spa that we can do one or two days!
Hakuba Iwatake Ski Resort is, as the name suggests, known for its skiing in the Japanese Alps. It’s not huge, featuring just 26 trails and around 310 skiable acres, but its picturesque landscape creates the perfect scenery for intermediate skiers. It offers plenty of activities in the summer, too, with mountain biking, horseback riding, and, soon, an enormous swing.
Iwatake already has one picturesque swing, the Yoo-Hoo Swing seen in the video below. It sits at an altitude of 1,289 meters and costs ¥500 per ride, but it’s just 3.6 meters, and it doesn’t necessarily give that thrill energy many of us crave. To feed that hunger, the resort has the new Hakuba Giant Swing.
There isn’t much imagery available in relation to this swing, as is it isn’t set to open until next month, but the descriptions make it sound quite thrilling. The swing will cost ¥1,000 per ride (a little less than $7) and take customers 10 meters (32.8 feet) off the ground at its peak. Unlike the Yoo-Hoo swing, riders won’t have to push themselves to gain momentum on the giant swing, being pulled back prior to the start instead.
The swing is set to open on October 2nd and will remain so until November 12. Guests must be over 110 centimeters (3 feet 7.3 inches) and under 110 kilograms (242.5 pounds) to ride.
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Image Credit: The Asahi Shimbun Company via YouTube