Ski report from Hakuba Feb 11-12th 2011

[snowdude 44]

Ok well I went to Hakuba on Feb 11-12th with my wife, daughter and brother for 2 days of skiing.

It was our first time to Hakuba, and decided to go to 47 and Gyoru.

 

Anyway we started off Friday morning leaving our house with heavy snow falling, in fact the snow was actually settling on the motorway on the way up, but was surprised to see it fizzle out as we got to Matsumoto area, and although there of course was lots of snow in Hakuba, it was not not really snowing much at all.

We were there until Saturday night and must have had no more than a 1-2 cm the whole time. It did start to snow harder around 5pm onwards!

 

Having said that the snow on the mountain was good, plenty of powder, albiet chopped up, but as the temperature kept low, the whole time and except for a few breaks in the clouds Saturday, it remained overcast with light snow falling most of the time. The snow was good with no ice patches, except for one small patch I found where two courses cross!

 

We all felt that we liked 47 better than Gyoru although both had lots to offer.

I liked the way that both resorts are linked so that you could ski both resorts without having to actually move from one side to the other, you could just use the lifts / gondola.

Between the two resorts there was something for everyone, there was the 5 klm beginner course on 47 which my brother and wife liked as they are both beginners.

And althogh my daughter and I also tried out the 5K course we rather prefared the intermediate to expert courses, which offered a good challenge.

The nighta at Gyoru was fun, which my brother and I decided to do friday night. It was the one straight intermediate course that led down to the Escal plaza building.

 

What we all hated was the really crappy signposting or rather lack of. The resort provides plenty of nice maps in several languages, but didn't label the lifts up properly and once you exit the lifts and gondola stations at the various levels, you really are left guessing where exactly you are or should go. For me it was not so much of a problem, but for my brother it was as I had to make sure he didn't end up on a course that was too difficult for him.

 

I think to make the resort more user friendly for the lower level skiiers especially more better sign posting is needed.

 

We also felt that to much time was wasted changing lifts. Because the way it works at Hakuba, is that to get to the top you have to use more than one lift and Gondola, in order to reach the top.

So it was basically get one lift, ski down to the next lift, ski down again, get another lift.

If you used the gondola you still had to get other lifts too.

This layout we found to be very much a waste of time.

 

 

There are many courses at Hakuba, but I felt that many of the courses lacked a variation of terrain, maybe I was expecting more from a resort of this size, but I guess I was just thinking there should be a more varied terrain.

 

The lift lines where rather long on the lower course lifts, but not to bad for the Gondola and higher level course lifts.

 

There was a selection of different foods, such as mexican, pizza, the usual Japanese food, etc. There was also a Subway at Gyoru side, which was not open for the Nighta session though.

We were going to go for the pizza, but when we were told we need to wait 50 mins, we decided to give it a miss and went for some quicker options.

 

 

It was fun to ski at Hakuba, but the lift combinations and lack of sign posting took away some of the enjoyment from the resort.

Would I come to Hakuba again? Yes I would as I now know what to expect from Hakuba and despite the poor course / lift layout it is more than big enough to stop you getting bored too quickly.

 

 

Ok here are a few pics, as it was cloudy and snowy most of the time I didn't have the opportunity to take many nice photos!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More photos later, sorry computer is playing up

[muikabochi 208]

Thanks for that report snowdude!

 

I didn't notice signs, but I agree with some of the other things.

I was somehow expecting much more from Goryu, wasn't really impressed at all and I definitely enjoyed the 47 side more.

[panhead_pete 27]

47 sucks, you should never go there after lots of snow, same as Cortina. Both places should be avoided and left to the few foolhardy folks.

 

Thanks for the report. The only gripe I have with any of the resorts here are all the uphill sections between lifts and some of the FLAT cat tracks. Bulldozer hire isnt all that expensive

[Chriselle 158]

Nice report! I agree with pretty much all you said...Thus....I go to Goryu and 47 about once a season..BUT spend all the rest of my days at Happo. Try that one next time.

[rider69 18]

Japan has wind problems so it would be crazy to build one lift to the top at such a high resort. It wouldve been pretty busy over this long weekend for sure. One of the big problems with the hakuba resorts is that they are a combination of companies. Lifts were not designed to link up at all. Iimori's adventure course wasnt even cut until 47 put a lift in that could access it.

[muikabochi 208]

Problem I have with Happo is all those moguls!

Tons of them. When I have been anyway.