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.

A nice touring hike today despite mixed resort conditions. Hiked up the first peak and then dropped into a nice north facing sheltered chute then up the next peak and down through perfectly spaced trees.

Conditions were great in the chute as no sun had got in there!

Not so good conditions on the 2nd lower descent but the views made up for it.

Looking back at the chute on the first peak

The view over to the happo north faces

The rare sunny February conditions look set to continue so get out there and enjoy them!

Or do they exhibit fractally generated spacing by natural iterative processes that the brain is able to compute and predict…Something to ponder when hurtling through them.

Have you ever tried skiing through a plantation?

Here are some more pics of randomly spaced trees from the Finns.

Conditions have been great and another 40cm is coming tonight.

Hurtling through randomly spaced trees

If you had the Japanese pegged as quiet, polite and conservative, you would be right most of the time… but The Nozawa Onsen Fire Festival proves that when the Japanese let loose, they can out-wild anyone! Combine slippery snow with buckets of sake and an excuse to beat each other sense-less with fire and you have a recipe for a wild festival indeed.

The fire festival is one of the three most famous fire festivals in Japan, held every January 15th to pray for a plentiful harvest, health and good fortune in the coming year. The festival dates back to 1863, and though the location has changed, the festivities remain the same.

During this festival the twenty-five and forty-two year old men from the village play a very important role. An old belief in Japan dictates that, for men, these years are unlucky ages, and these men must construct the shaden (shrine) from beech wood that reaches a height of 18 meters.

Every year it takes 100 villagers to build the shrine. The trees are cut down in October and brought down from the mountain, through the village, on January 13th. After the shaden has been constructed, the priest from Kosuge shrine performs a ceremony to endow it with a God.
Along with the shaden there are an average of five tôrô (dedicatory lantern poles) erected every year. These poles are made by a family in the village to celebrate the birth of the first son. The tôrô are offered to the Gods in a prayer for health and good fortune.

The festivities begin with the lighting of the fire by the twenty-five and forty-two year old men. A small group of men carry a torch, which is lit by striking two stones together, from the Kôno residence to the festival grounds. The torch is used to start a bonfire from which the handmade torches, used to attack the shrine, are lit.

The festival centers around the shaden, where the fouty-two year olds sit on top and the twenty-five year olds stand guard at the base. Those who are 41 and 43 years old stand around the perimeter to protect the spectators. Torch bearing villagers of all ages attempt to break through the guards and light the shaden on fire. A dangerous and lively battle ensues. The defenders try to put out the fire by striking it with pine branches. The attack lasts for about one hour, after which the 42 year olds call an end to the ceremony and the shaden together with the tôrô are set on fire in an offering to the Gods.

Morino Lodge, Evo Gear and JustFares Combine Forces!

We are proud to announce that Morino Lodge has teamed up with Evo and Just Fares to give away the trip of a lifetime! You’ve seen the footage of the classic Japanese powder tree skiing right out our back door, you’ve dreamed about the delicious cuisine and nightlife Japan has to offer, you’ve fantasized about seeing those famous hot-tubbing monkeys ….and now’s your chance!

You (and a very lucky friend) could be flown to Japan where you’ll both be welcomed in our legendary lodge… But that’s just the beginning! A number of sponsors have stepped up to round out the trip to make it a once in a lifetime ordeal. If you ski or snowboard, Salomon Skis or Salomon Snowboards will hit you with a full gear setup. And don’t worry, Oakley had you covered for a free outwear setup and the best optics known to mankind. Dakine is throwing in luggage and Under Armour Mountain has your base layers worked out. Did we mention Bern Helmets is providing lids? You’ll be completely dialed to let loose for 5 days of incredible skiing and exploring everything that Hakuba, Japan has to offer. Oh yeah, and don’t worry about ground transportation. Covered. Plus you get $500 spending cash to cover your meals… does it get better?

Winner (and their best friend) will get:

* Round trip airfare to Japan from LA for two provided by JustFares.com
* 5 Nights of lodging for two including breakfast at the Morino Lodge
* 2 Outerwear kits provided by Oakley
* 2 Ski setups provided by Salomon Skis
or 2 snowboard setups provided by Salomon Snowboard * 2 Helmets provided by Bern Helmets
* Layers for 2 provided by Under Armour Mountain
* Round trip ground transportation from airport to Morino Lodge
* Spending money for meals ($500)
* Trip valued at: $7,000
* Travel dates: Jan 8, 2012 – April 7, 2012 (your choice within that window)

Could you be the lucky one?

CLICK HERE TO ENTER NOW

The Trip of a Lifetime!

Mathieu has a tough job at Morino Lodge: Trying to keep up with all the new snow!   Today the flying Frenchman decided to mix work with pleasure…

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 know Jen just posted for today but I had to post some more pics and vids from my camera cause it was such a cracker!

an almost festive atmosphere on the mountain and perfect snow – as the title says, as good as it gets and a fitting finale to a great season of powder. Get your t-shirts and sunnys out cause it’s Spring skiing from here on in!

Some more pics

I have to rank today’s endless powder-smashing as one of my best days on the mountain ever!  A beautiful sunny day, fresh pow as far as the eye could see, and great friends to enjoy it with.  We rode from the first lift until our powder legs simply gave out beneath us.  I felt like I had died and gone to heaven!  Now off to the onsen to bask in the glory of March’s last hoo-rah!

First lift... Release the powder hounds!

Eric is all smiles

Powder ain't just for people! Our second sighting of a Kamoshika today.

Fat fun freshies all day long. aaaaaaaaahhhh!

Today the morning started off almost bottomless and was dumping so hard it ended up bottomless by the end. Epic mid season-like conditions with deep dry powder and cold temps. Could have done with a face mask.

It was still nuking when we left at the end of the day and is forecast to snow until about 6am and then the sun’s supposed to come out so tomorrow is gonna be epic.

Heres a vid from this afternoon.