Snow Season Japan

HAKUBA GORYU and HAKUBA 47:

Only 5 mins walk from the lodge, Hakuba’s two most modern resorts are seamlessly linked together, with high speed quad lifts and gondolas. Both resorts have a good mix of wide open slopes and steeper challenging runs, with plenty of hits and natural features. The pistes are well groomed and really fun, and with regular snowfalls there is always lots of powder too. All around there are stunning view of the Japanese Alps and access to incredible backcountry for those with suitable knowledge and experience. Hakuba 47 boasts the best park in the valley, located at the top of the gondola. The park crew keep it’s superpipe, kickers ranging from 2m to 20m and rail features, well maintained. On the lower slopes of Goryu there are two smaller beginner parks. Goryu also offering night skiing open 7 days a week and an impressive range of facilities and restaurants in its modern base building. From Japanese cuisine to Subway and Haagen-Daz, there’s plenty of choose from!

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HAPPO ONE:

Host to the Downhill and Super G ski races in the 1998 Nagano Olympics, Happo is the biggest resort in the valley. Happo is a real alpine mountain, with great freeriding and plenty of fun natural hits and powder! From the top there are amazing views of the North Japan Alps and access to a huge amount of backcountry – which you can explore on our included full day tour with qualified guides. Happo also has a well-shaped park, run by High Cascade Japan, open to skiers and snowboarders from late January onwards with frequent fun slopestyle competitions and events. With endless beginner areas and steeper long challenging runs, Happo has something for everyone. It is a great place to head on a powder day, since the entire upper half the mountain is usually left ungroomed. The off piste riding is amazing, with wide open powder fields dotted with sparkling silver birch tress.

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YANABA:

Overlooking the beautiful Lake Aokiko on the outskirts of Hakuba, Yanaba is a local favourite for uncrowded park shredding and night time jib action. It is a small park resort with fun features, including a halfpipe. With awesome views of the North Japan Alps over the lake, easy access and cheap tickets (only 1000 Yen for a day or night ticket), it’s the perfect place for learning those 270-ons or a laid back park session with friends. It is the only resort offering night park riding in the area, and located only 10 minutes away with it’s own train station, a visit to Yanaba can be easily combined with a days riding elsewhere.

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IWATAKE:

Iwatake is on a volcano-like hill sitting in front of the Japanese Alps, making it perfect for taking photos of the surrounding breathtaking scenery and Hakuba’s big alpine peaks. It’s a great beginner and intermediate hill, with the unique feature that you can ski down in all directions from the summit. Advanced skiers and riders will also find it fun to explore as the powder lasts longer here and there is some good tree skiing to be found. At the top of the gondola there is also a good well spaced beginner / intermediate terrain park with plenty of features.

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TSUGAIKE:

About a 20 min shuttle bus ride away, Tsugaike is located in Otari, the next village over from Hakuba. At the mountain’s base you’ll find a village of shops, bars, restaurants and onsens. Some of the valley’s best beginner terrain can be found on the lower slopes, which are wide and open, serviced by countless lifts.

Take the longest gondola ride in the valley and hop off at the mid station or the top to find long slopes and excellent inbound powder and tree riding. Tsugaike also has two parks, one located at the summit and one lower down. In March the resort extends it’s boundaries with a cable car giving skiers and snowboarders access beyond the summit into patrolled powder fields. Backcountry access into the stunning National Park area offers endless options for those with suitable knowledge and experience.

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There are a further 7 mountain resorts – Kashimayari, Aokiko, Sanosaka, Hakuba Highland, Minekata, Norikura and Cortina – lining the length of the Hakuba valley, so there is plenty to explore during your season trip. Day tickets are cheap, ranging from 3000-5000 Yen and our Snow Season Japan Info pack provides all the information you’ll need to easily access these mountains.