Hi Melina,
Thanks again for the itinerary and info it was greatly appreciated.
If I could offer one bit of constructive criticism though.
The shuttle system seems to work best from narita-hakuba as our trip home involved shuttle-bus-train-train which as it looks simple on paper with ski gear and luggage (it’s very hard to travel light with ski gear), the trains dont really offer storage for gear as it’s only above head luggage mostly and when it doesnt fit you have to jam it in front of you (we were lucky with bullet train though as there was a spare seat in front of us but I noticed others having to sit in one carriage and leave there other luggage 3 carriages behind unattended). Also the train-train transfer is farely cumbersome too as there is a fair bit of walking involved.
I have travelled a fair bit abroad with backpack and all but you seem to pack differently with ski trips which leads too not walk friendly travel gear.
Reality is that a 5hr shuttle from narita is one journey as opposed to the other and I think it is a smoother transition.
In saying this it has not dejected one bit of my trip and the bullet train was superfun!!!
Thanks again melina and YOU WILL be contacted again.
Greg
Mar. 2011 Shinkansen Bullet Train, Skiing and Snow Boarding