Nozawa town has one of the ski resorts that was a major player in the Nagano Winter Olympics. The town still seems to be buzzing about it's involvement, with references to the olympics everywhere.　
 
I was only able to ski there for 2 days in late winter, however they were the best two days of skiing in my whole life. They had a great base, the snow was dry and powdery and they had a great range of challenging terrain. I must admit the weather was on our side with the snow that particular weekend. But the set up of the resort was really impressive, regardless of the snow quality and as I mentioned, lots of variety - moguls, loads of black runs, well groomed piste, snow park, half pipe, trees, etc...
 
Plus, because of them having been one of the host resorts for the Olympics the facilities are very good. Loads of lifts and gondalas, restaurants, etc...
 
The town is also famous for it's onsen. It has over 50 onsen in the town, most of which are free for the public to use. The ones that we went to were pretty small and the facilities were VERY rustic, but it was a really interesting experience.
 
Cost:

Day lift pass = 4,600yen
 

 
Getting there from Niigata:
 
Train - Take the Shinkansen (or local trains if you are keen) to Nagano. Then take the Iiyama Line to Iiyama or to Togari Nozawa Onsen (1 hour) and from there take a bus or taxi to Nozawa Onsen.
 
Car - This is perhaps the cheapest way to go! We took the express-way from Niigata towards Naoetsu (the Hokuriku Expressway) then changed to the Joshinetsu expressway just before or after Naoestu. We got off the express way at Toyama Iiyama IC and then took route 117 to Nozawa. The express way cost about 3500yen.
 

 
Places to stay:
 
There seemed to be plenty of places to stay in Nozawa, with a few budget options around.
 
We managed to find an internet cafe at a nearby town, about 10-15min drive away. 
 

 
Useful Websites:
 
Official Nozawa Homepage
 
Snow Japan - Nozawa page