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HAKUBA SNOW FORECAST AND CONDITIONS
WHEN TO COME TO HAKUBA The season in Hakuba lasts from the beginning of December till the second week of May although four years ago we were riding bottomless powder for the whole of November. There are usually consistent powder conditions from mid December to mid March. On average it dumps 4 days out of every seven during this time meaning you rarely have to worry about icy runs and there’s always plenty of bottomless powder. WHY IT SNOWS SO MUCH The fantastic powder in Hakuba is a result of the great Siberian snow machine, the world’s largest example of lake-effect snow. Entrenched high pressure over Siberia and low pressure over the western pacific leads to a constant flow of super-cooled air which flows down over Japan. As the incredibly cold and dry air flows over the Japan Sea it picks up moisture until it becomes super-saturated. This air hits the mountain ranges of the Northern Alps and Hakuba is uplifted and unloads meters and meters of fresh light powder. These entrenched weather patterns last for weeks on end meaning constant falls. Occasional blobs of high pressure leave the Siberian high and pass over Japan giving a respite from the powder and bluebird days. The temperature at the top of the mountains usually hovers between -7 and -14 and the bottom between -7 and -2. This small range compared to high-altitude resorts preserves the powder for longer especially on north facing slopes. Season Snowfall at the Cortina and Tsugaike end of the valley which is closer to the Japan Sea averages 12-14m. Hakuba itself averages 10-12m. Check out other Hakuba snow forecasts: Snow-Forecast.com Hakuba Snow Japan Hakuba Now
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THE RESORTS
HAPPO ONE Lifts 33 Runs 30% Beginner 50% Intermediate 20% Expert Longest run 8km Steepest run 38 Elevation base 760m Top 1831m Night skiing Yes Happo Website From the lodge a 5-minute walk or a 1-minute free shuttle bus. Beginners Beginners can start in either the Sakka area to the right of the photo, the Shirakaba area in the middle or the Nakiyama area to the@left. The Sakka area is close to the lodge and offers runs through stands of cedar with a roped off nursery area for kids to practice safely under supervision. The Shirakaba and Nakiyama areas also offer a variety of runs with cafes surrounding the base to enjoy a coffee or a beer. Once beginners have cut their teeth in these areas they can progress higher up the mountain to the intermediate areas above the kokusai lift and return at the end of the day down the variety of long snaking cat-track trails. Intermediates Intermediates are spoiled for choice with plenty of wide cruisers that seem to go on and one. Particular picks are Skyline and the runs down from the Riesen quad lift. Experts There are great opportunities for experts at Happo. First of all after the frequent dumps of powder only the middle part of the runs on the lower half of the mountain are groomed and almost the entire upper mountain are ungroomed leaving plenty of easily accessible powder to play in. The mountain adopts a ski at your own risk policy so the off-piste areas in the trees are also great after a dump. Expert skiers can see how their times compare to the greats by hitting the Olympic downhill and Super G course, both thigh burners that start near the top and end over 1km below. Mogul skiers can test their mettle in the Kurobishi area at the […]
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HAKUBA LIFT TICKET
The Hakuba Valley has taken a big step forward with its new Hakuba Lift Ticket system. You can now purchase an All-Valley Discount lift Ticket that joins together all 11 of Hakuba Valley`s ski resorts….creating Japan’s biggest & best snow resort. The new automated Hakuba Lift ticket & gate system means you only need one ticket for your entire stay adding a lot of convenience & value to your Hakuba experience. Of course the ticket includes Hakuba Happo-One, the nearest mountain to us, as well Hakuba Goryu, Hakuba47, Hakuba Iwatake, Tsugaike Kogen, Hakuba Norikura Onsen, Cortina and others… all perennial favorites! They can be used at multiple resorts on the same day & also mean you never have to line up to purchase tickets at the resorts. These can be arranged through us & it`s a good idea to order in advance as they are more difficult to get once here.…rates are as follows, with a ‘child’ being considered as age 6 to 12. 13 and older are classed as adults and under 6 are free. 1 Day (Adult / Child) – 6200 / 3500 yen (Valid for 1 day) 2 Day (Adult / Child) – 10800 / 6200 yen (Valid for 2 out of 3 days) 3 Day (Adult / Child) – 16200 / 9300 yen (Valid for 3 out of 5 days) 4 Day (Adult / Child) – 21500 / 12300 yen (Valid for 4 out of 7 days) 5 Day (Adult / Child) – 26900 / 15400 yen (Valid for 5 out of 9 days) 6 Day (Adult / Child) – 32300 / 18500 yen (Valid for 6 out of 10 days) 7 Day (Adult / Child) – 37700 / 21500 yen (Valid for 7 out of 11 days) All-Valley Season Pass (Adult / Child) – 130,000 / 70,000 yen
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RENTALS AND LESSONS
RENTALS We recommend Central snow sports for all your ski rental needs. They have great gear at competitive prices and fantastic service. They will pick you up at your accommodation, bring you down to the shop, fit you out and then bring you back to the lodge or you can go straight out skiing and they’ll bring back your shoes to your accommodation. You can book in gear on arrival or to avoid disappointment they have an online booking system. BUYING GEAR IN JAPAN For those looking to buy gear in Japan, there are some surprisingly good deals to be found, especially as the season progresses. In fact, by late January prices have fallen significantly and by March are approaching half-price. For those of you from the Southern-hemisphere, this means you can buy stuff that hasn’t even been released in Australia or N.Z. yet at big discounts!! There are a few good shops here in Hakuba and if your itinerary takes you through Tokyo, a visit to Ochanomizu is a must. A short walk from Ochanomizu station (on the Sobu line) is a kilometer long street lined with nothing but ski and snowboard shops often with great deals……a skier or snowboarder’s bargain wonderland! LESSONS & GUIDING SERVICES There are a handful of different places offering lessons and guiding services in Hakuba. For our guests skiing at Happo we recommend Evergreen Outdoor Center. They’re about a 4 minute walk from us (in the Mominoki Hotel complex) and have quality services in English and Japanese and a whole range of stuff for kids! We can help you organize your lessons once at the lodge, however, Evergreen is very popular and we strongly advise booking in advance. Evergreen also offers an excellent Backcountry guiding service. This is a great way to get in some pristine powder and immerse yourselves in the full beauty […]
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BACKCOUNTRY
The Backcountry in Hakuba is endless and is probably the reason why I ended falling in love with Hakuba. From cruisy long faces peppered with perfectly spaced glades of birch to big open alpine bowls. Narrow steep chutes with over a km of vertical to endless rolling natural fun parks with cornice drops, cliffs, natural half-pipes, rollers and hits galore. Alaskan style faces with steep spines to long cruisy valleys with frozen waterfalls. All of it buried in deep powder and lightly populated by Kamoshika or Japanese Serow (medium sized animals that resemble the cross between an antelope a deer and a pig – seriously!!). The best thing about all of this backcountry is that most of it lies directly off the lift or only a short hike away. The snow pack is also conducive to relatively safe backcountry being deep and having a low temperature gradient through the snow pack. There is depth hoar to worry about but as it rarely gets extremely cold (below -20) it’s nowhere near as much of a worry as in continental ski areas such as the European Alps or Colorado or Alberta. Wind is also a factor with windslab generally in crossloaded ridges and south east faces in the alpine. Generally though the regime is one of rapid stabilising after a storm but you need to know what to look out for because the generally good conditions are punctuated occasionally be very dangerous spells that can catch the uneducated out. Of course if you want to head into the backcountry you must always have at least a beacon, a shovel and a probe and also ride with friends who have these essential items and are experienced too. We can point you in the right direction as we have extensive experience riding backcountry in […]
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BEGINNERS AND INTERMEDIATES
Beginners are well catered for in Hakuba. The Sakka area of Happo is a short walk from the lodge and provides a perfect place to learn. There is also a roped off kiddies fun area where kids can safely toboggan or ride inner tubes. All the mountains in Hakuba have beginner areas. Tsugaike has a huge beginner’s area of long wide runs. Iwatake is mostly a beginners and intermediate mountain, Happo Sakka is 4 minutes walk from the Lodge, Goryu has a beautiful beginners run at the top of the mountain with stunning 360degree panoramic views. Aokiko has beautiful beginners runs leading down through forest to a lake and finally Hakuba highland and Minekata are almost exclusively beginners resorts and as they lie across the valley from the main peaks have incredible views. Intermediates have 12 mountains to choose from with every kind of run imaginable from long wide rolling reds with over a kilometer of vertical that start in the high alpine to steep mogul fields to intimate winding runs through the forest. A lot of the resorts only groom half the run after the frequent dumps of snow leaving powder at the sides to practice your snorkeling technique!
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FREESTYLE
Hakuba has some great parks. The best is right next to us at Happo, but there are also great parks at Hakuba 47, Tsugaike and Yanaba. Happo High Cascade Park High cascade website This is a great park located on the Kita-One section of the mountain above Sakka. With it’s own dedicated lift and High cascade cafe, the atmosphere is great and the views are the best on Happo. The park prides itself on it’s safety record. The features on offer include a Ufo box, two twelve metre kickers, two 15 metre kickers, a few 6 metre kickers and a hip, There are also a selection of boxes and rails, including batteship rail and a variety of straight rails. Hakuba 47 Park Hakuba 47 park website The 47 pipe is quite nice and gets better every year but the range of jumps is superb including usually a 12m kicker, a couple of 8m kickers, a spine, some tabletops, and an assortment of smaller jumps for learners. And for the jibbers, you’re well catered to with a variety of rails and boxes (straight, kinked, rainbow, s-shaped, you name it!). Tsugaike park Tsugaike park website This is the highest park in Hakuba at over 1600m. This ensures you can ride it until Golden week in May. Theres 12m, 7m, 6m and 5m kickers; rainbow box, 6m narrow box, 6m staright rail, front-sidebank, backside bank and a knoll. The views of the northern alps are stunning from up here! Yanaba Yanaba park website Yanaba is down at the south end of the Hakuba valley overlooking Aokiko lake and the northern Alps. The whole ski resort is one big park and they have the widest selection of jumps, hits and rails in the valley including Two 8m kickers,front side hip, […]
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ZENKOJI TEMPLE
Zenkoji temple is the most important pilgrimage site in central Honshu. It houses the first image of Buddha to reach Japan in the 7th century and has a 1400year history. The building itself is huge and has the largest thatched roof in Japan. Under the temple is a pitch black maze visitors can enter that offers the way to nirvana for those who navigate its passageway and find the key.