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Vintage Hakuba – Jan 5th – Jan7th
Haven’t posted for a few days but what a few days its been. The 5th was deep all over the mountains with the runs from the day before sporting bottomless powder again the next morning. Cortina was closed due to too much snow but opened its top lift for the 6th with 55cm of fresh lying in wait. The sun obliged with a bluebird day. Last night we got another 20-30cm at the snowy end of the valley on top of the settled metre or so from the last few days. The combination of the settled fast and springy underlayer with 30cm of fresh on top was just perfect. Here’s a brief video montage of the last few days. Hakuba – Jan5th-7th from morinolodge on Vimeo.
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Grab your snorkel!
Major dumpage going on in Hakuba right now. Started in the morning and there was another 40cm in the trees by the afternoon and its been coming down all day since then. Tomorrow is going to be very deep! Here’s some footage from today. Untitled from morinolodge on Vimeo.
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Another Bluebird day – Jan 3rd
Another 40cm overnight followed by a bluebird day. The New year hordes were out today and the forest turned into a mogul field by lunch! Not before Morino and Wadano guests David, Paul and Rich had staked their turns. Something I hadn’t noticed when filming – If you look carefully in the last sequence with Paul riding, in the foreground there’s an arctic hare running up the mountainside. Untitled from morinolodge on Vimeo.
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New year Cortina trees
Well there’s been a lot of snow since the last post and Cortina is almost at the 3m base mark. Another 30cm last night and a Morino staff and Guest trip to Cortina was in order. The right side of the bowl was still very bushy with less bush on the left side. The backside was wide and open. The next dump should flatten the remaining bushes down and open up the frontside more. Sun tomorrow, followed by more snow on the 1st, sun on the 2nd and possible dumpage from the 3rd to the 5th. Happy new year!!
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Whiteout at Happo
Intrepid staff members Pat and Alanna braved the whiteout conditions at Happo to bring you the good news – It’s dumped! 15cm at the lodge translated into 30-40cm at the top. little snowmen every day in the forecast for the next week and a possible Hakuba megadump on the cards for the 23rd. Looks like the season is really getting under way
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Windy day at Goryu
A bit more fresh snow last night – maybe 10cm at the bottom and 20cm up top to add to the dusting we had the day before. Goryu are reporting 45cm base up top and temperatures of -4C The Morino & Wadano crew headed up to check it out. The wind had picked up since the morning and was whipping across Alpsdaira leading to slow lifts and line-ups but the snow was powdery and the views were good. The bottom of Goryu had maybe 15cm so a way to go before the lower runs are open but the 16th/17th/18th is looking very promising for decent snowfall in the valley.
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The 2012 Season has started!
The Hakuba 2012 season has officially started!! Hakuba 47 and Goryu decided yesterday afternoon to open today for the 2012 season. I arrived at Goryu to find all 3 car parks completely full. Obviously the word had got out. The Weather couldn’t have been better with stunning views once up on top. The base was about 50cm with the runs packed powder and the sides sported 20cm of nice powder with the temperatures staying below zero all morning. All the locals were out in force and everyone was enjoying the stunning opening day! After a fine morning of snowboarding and drinking coffee in the panorama cafe, It was time for the after party. Liberty skis had their 2012 season opening party with free BBQ, beers, local hip hop dancing team and prize draw.The lucky winner got a pair of 2012 Liberty powder skis. Thanks to Joe and Tomoko for the good times! Here’s to a fantastic 2012 winter season!
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Snow alert!
Snow flurries have been spotted in the Hakuba region. Wax your skis and boards! Hakuba 47 showing some extremely white slopes especially at the top. A view of Happo. The system coming though on Thursday may lay enough snow on the upper slopes for some early season turns. Both Happo and 47 are on standby for opening operations so we’ll keep you posted.