Hisashiburi! Did you miss us?  It’s that time of year again… the middle of January and we are just getting around to posting our first blog of the season!  But can you blame us for being a tad tardy?  Heaps of fresh snow with consistent cold temps has given us plenty of powder to play in.  Who wants to sit in front of the computer when you can be out enjoying what’s shaping up to be another fantastic winter season in Hakuba!?

Powder Slashin' Santas

Morino has also busy welcoming some new additions to the family!  Alana and Pat are our new in-house chefs cooking up a storm at Wadano and Morino Cafe and taking our Christmas dinner to another level.  Mathieu hails from tropical Reunion Island, but has enthusiastically taken to the snow… even the shoveling!  Michiko, our genki-est staff ever is back, and brought her friend Konomi to join in on the fun at the lodge.

Last, but certainly not least are two tiny additions:

Maika Joy Oldring born Sept 21st 2010

Hanna Abigael Dunn born Christmas Eve, 2010

Thanks to all of our awesome guests and staff for making yet another Morino Christmas to remember!  And to the rest of the Morino family out there… stay tuned for more blogs and photos to come!

Settin' up the Spread

Diggin Out'

Diggin' In

Santa's Little Helpers

Enjoying the feast

Eying the Desserts

A White Christmas!

The Christmas Crew

Maika's First Christmas

Crazy cool cookies

Dessert Delivery

Hakuba rode quite the weather roller-coaster today.   A sudden snowstorm plowed through what had once been a clear and warm spring day.   The sudden 4 degree drop in temps and onslaught of snowflakes stopped as suddenly as it started. Winter’s dying hiccup, perhaps?

I hit the slopes at Hakuba 47 to enjoy  the new dusting of  snow and found that I had just missed a huge slalom snowboard race.  The  mountain was packed full of sleek racers, hippie ski bums, and  wildly colorful park punks.  A huge snowboard demo kept everyone kitted up with fun new toys to try.  I was happy just to cruise a few groomers on what had turned out to be a glorious  spring afternoon and let myself be entertained by what the circus had brought to town.

A wide variety of demo boards to take up and try out.

Geared up to shred.

Tailgaiting Hakuba style! BBQ and beer in the 47 parking lot.

Sweet snow planks.

A splash of color

Apres Ski smiles. Morino guests enjoy a beer at the bottom of 47 after a most amusing day!

I couldn’t make it out today but Eric, our trusty Wadano lodge manager and faceless being (he’s very shy on the internet) took the camera out and did some easy lines off the back of Happo.It looks like spring kicked in from this afternoon and it will be sunny t-shirt days of park riding and corn backcountry lines until the end of the season in May.

Yari seen through Eric's skis

Eric in the upper bowl

Faceless being in the upper bowl

Lines from the day

I ventured out with my camera the other day to see what captured my imagination.  The winner was this lovely pond at the base of Wadano, the dock still covered in new snow.  It  was so pristine and calm that it almost made me want to jump in… almost.

Just a few quirky moments from this week on the mountain…

Why wouldn't you dress as a dragon to ski? Looks pretty toasty, actually!

A small snowman watches over the lunchtime crowd.

No Boozin' and Cruisin! Apparently drunken skiing happens enough that they have to tell guests not to partake? おもしろい！

Winter has caught a second wind and blessed us with yet another bluebird powder day!  We did more riding than taking pictures yesterday.  It was too epic to stop!

Matt takes off through the creamy snow!

The sun goes down on another fantastic day. Can't help but love it here!

Craig rides the powder wave. Good practice for surfing this summer!

]]> http://www.morinolodge.com/2010/03/legendary-march-11th-tsugaike/feed/ 0 http://www.morinolodge.com/2010/03/gifts-from-the-snow-gods/ http://www.morinolodge.com/2010/03/gifts-from-the-snow-gods/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:42:54 +0000 Jen http://www.morinolodge.com/?p=1428

Keigo opts for the more adventurous route...via river!

It’s been snowing hard here in Hakuba, and the Morino crew all got on the slopes early to enjoy some fresh lines.   The 25 new centimeters came in a little heavy, but still heaps of fun to ride!  Keigo and I took a detour that had us crossing a river a few times and trudging through thigh-deep snow for ages. Well, knee-deep snow to  you non-midget types.   I suppose  you have to sweat a little for your powder every once in a while.  Whatever it takes to keep the powder gods happy!

In the meantime, those dieties of frozen vapour  have us all looking skyward and returning those smiles.  The  snow is still coming down steadily, only lighter and fluffier now.  Another fresh 30 or 40 by tomorrow morning?  Fingers crossed.  I’m glad to see this season still has some goodies in store for us powder hounds.  Woo hoo!!!

March is here and the snow predictions for this week look sick!  Our home in Hakuba is as beautiful as ever with fresh snow on the ground and plenty  more  powder days to come!

The road into Hakuba

Blue skies and Pristine Powder. Aaaahhhh...

FANTASTIC SPRING SKIING IN HAKUBA!

Steep, deep powder, stunning sunny days AND great deals on the best lodging in town… what more could you ask for?  Hakuba has had an enormous snowfall this season and this spring will be as good as it gets: a huge base of snow, bluebird powder days, breathtaking views of the Japanese Alps, and virtually no lift lines!  With seven excellent resorts to at our doorstep, Hakuba easily accommodates all levels of skiers and snowboarders from gentle family slopes to epic backcountry chutes.  Come and see why its our favorite time of the season to live and ski in Hakuba!

And now the best news… book now for low season rates from March 1st!

Morino Lodge

Special March Rates:  from 5,000 yen pp per night including breakfast.

Wadano Lodge
Special March Rates: from 4,000 pp per night including breakfast.

* Discounts for kids 16 and under*            **Ask about renting out the entire lodge for big groups**

Morino Chalets Our 5 self-contained cottages are perfect for accommodating small groups and families.  Enjoy the privacy of your own cottage with all the support of Morino Lodge nearby!

From only 40,000¥ per night !

For more information please visit us online:

Morino Lodge Homepage: http:/ www.morinolodge.com

Send enquiries to:  info@morinolodge.com

We look forward to showing you all that Hakuba has to offer!