Lifts & Terrain
Hakuba Ski and Snowboard Terrain The alpine scenery at
Hakuba is amazing with rugged peaks over 3,000m. However don’t be fooled by photos of the amazing mountains and the terrain you’ll be hoping to ski, as the terrain accessible via the lifts is only one third of the vertical of these mountains.
The Happo One ski resort is fairly large with a lot of vertical and it will challenge everyone from first timers to advanced riders.
Adjacent to Happo One, but not connected, is the combined Hakuba 47/Goryu Toomi ski area. This ski resort also has challenging runs, and because it faces northwest it receives high quality powder. Hakuba 47 has terrain more suitable for advanced riders with steep long fast runs and an excellent terrain park and half-pipe. The terrain at Goryu Toomi is mainly beginner and intermediate, with long wide trails and gentle slopes.
Iwatake is well suited to the beginner or intermediate and freestylers who like to play in the terrain park and half pipes. Similarly, Tsugaike is ideal for beginners and intermediates.
Hakuba Lifts The lifts and the gondolas are generally quite slow, and the resorts can be subject to windy conditions, so dress very warmly.
Lift Tickets The Hakuba Valley Ski Pass allows access to many of the resorts: Happo-One, Hakuba 47 / Goryu, Iwatake, Tsugaike, Sanosaka, Highland, and Minegatta.
When you book your accommodation you can get a discount on the pass: 1 Day Pass = ¥4,200; 2 day pass = ¥8,000; 3 day pass = ¥11,700 (2008-09 rates). The lift tickets are electronic chips and have a ¥1,000 refundable deposit associated with them.
Ticket prices for individual resorts vary a little, but are similar to the Hakuba Valley pass or slightly more expensive. If you’re buying tickets as you go, budget accordingly because they don’t accept credit cards. Yes it’s very hard to believe that they only accept cash!
Hakuba Snow and Weather Conditions Hakuba is renowned for great powder with 10 metres of snowfall annually. We witnessed the joy of Hakuba powder on our last morning, but unfortunately for the rest of our stay there was a heatwave with temperatures around 11 degrees plus in the village. This produced some incredibly sloppy conditions on the bottom half of the mountain.
Hakuba has a tendency to be windy, and in these conditions, many lifts will be placed on wind hold.
For the Beginner There are lots of wide easy runs located at each of the resorts accessible from the base. The Goryu Toomi area is good for beginners, and the lower slopes serviced by the Toomi 1st and 2nd chairlifts are ideal. Those wanting to progress a little can catch the Goryu Express Gondola, and then take the long winding green trail down to the base of Hakuba 47.
At Happo-One there are various trails on the lower section of the mountain. There’s a great long run from the top of the Adam gondola (or gondora as the Japanese like to spell it) that snakes down to the Sakka area.
Hakuba Snowboarding and Skiing Terrain Both Happo-One and Hakuba 47/Goryu are incredibly well suited to the intermediate skier or snowboarder, with many long perfectly groomed runs and fantastic fall-line.
For the Family/Kids The bigger resorts like Happo-One and Hakuba 47/Goryu have children specific areas with magic carpets and roped off areas to keep the kids away from the 'hoons'. There are also blow up animals and other fun things for the children to play with.
Parks & Pipes There are many half-pipes and terrain parks to play in. Tsugiake has a great board park, and there’s the Big Snow Park at Hakuba 47 which is located on the left hand side of the gondola. It’s Big by name and Big by nature, as the rails, jumps and boxes are all huge and very challenging.
Advanced Skiing There are some fabulously steep groomed runs at both Happo-One and Hakuba 47.
The Champion Expert course at Goryu possibly doesn’t warrant the double diamond status, although we’ve seen it covered in bullet-proof ice with spectacular bumps, and it was probably worthy of triple black diamond status. I don’t think anyone could seriously have enjoyed that run?
Another run that is typically covered in really large moguls is the double black R-3 course at Hakuba 47. The Japanese locals love their bumps and they’ll put you to shame. Don’t be fooled by their fluoro 80s outfits and their old straight skis – many of the Japanese are absolute legends on the bumps and are a great advertisement for Glucosamine, the arthritis wonder-herb.
At Happo a good advanced run is a fast race on the Olympic course.
For the Powderhound Tree skiing and out-of-bounds skiing is prohibited at Happo and Hakuba 47/Goryu, and is policed heavily including the use of CCTV cameras. Further discouragement occurs through the display of laminated fliers in the gondolas which outline the extravagant costs of any rescue required out-of-bounds, which of course will be the responsibility of the injured skier.
At Happo-One there are a few small areas for off-piste skiing that get tracked out very quickly, and there’s a ridge which is “slightly” out-of-bounds that you’ll be able to access from behind the Virgin Café. The out-of-bounds terrain out the back at the top of Happo-One appears very tempting, but not at all advised. A friend skied down there after she lost her glove which was blown away in the wind (no really, it wasn’t just an excuse made up for the patrollers), and was terrified by all the avalanche slips. She finally skied out to a faraway valley which required a 45 minute hitchhike back to the resort.
At Hakuba 47/Goryu there aren’t any areas for off-piste skiing and this may lead to immense frustration. Unfortunately many of the trees are deciduous, so unless you have a white outfit, you won’t be able to hide during a “naughty” run.
If you’re really frustrated by the policy for off-piste skiing and don’t mind a bit of hiking, we’d strongly recommend a backcountry tour with
Evergreen.
If you want to play in the powder before it gets ripped up, the other option is the “first tracks guiding” through Evergreen, and also through the lift company at Hakuba/Goryu for ¥3,500 (including breakfast).