Dunga 1 Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 Hit up happo, got the legs working with some long runs top to bottom of Risen right the way down into Nakyama. Forgot how massive this resort is. We progress across the resort from left to right, encountering some craters for moguls in both the Olympic courses. (What is with the Japanese and their obsession with moguls?) We decided to have lunch up usagidaira terrace. Tasty katsu curry for lunch , which we then watched 100s of people line up for a photo with the icey pole cartoon character. Such a strange phenomenon. I looked at the area next to the alpen quad an thought it looked mighty fine with plenty of powder on offer only to realise very quickly that there were moguls hidden under the powder and hence why no one had hit it up! We didn't quite make it across to skyline on the first day and now I'm kicking myself that we didn't as I found out a day or two afterwards. 23rd of January. This time we found bountiful powder over next to skyline on the ridge there. Still wasn't tracked out until 2pm. The ridge along the side of the resort there is magic, beautiful views and tonnes of powder to be had, nice little area to play in. Then hit up the other side of the lift where there was more powder as well. The snow quality being so high up was superb. Went for a run through the tree run area, it's not a spaced out as I would have liked compared to Cortina, Iwatake or Niseko. Later on I took the biggest stack of the trip. Hit some chopped ice at speed at the bottom of the Sakka area. Still a good day all round. Also saw some Swiss and Dutch crew hitting up the off pist ridge on skiers left of happo. Such an awesome looking area. They had the set of full gear (avi beacons, lungs, ABS, shovels etc) and could ski. Overall experience of Happo. Last time I visited happo I was less than impressed with big lines and icy runs, but I now think that was a poor day. I would defineatly hit up happo again as there is some hidden gems up in them hills! Link to post Share on other sites
Dunga 1 Posted February 13, 2013 Author Share Posted February 13, 2013 Actually the more I think about Happo the more I think of it like Disney land. Don't get sucked into the "popular" areas and you will avoid the lines for the lifts. Link to post Share on other sites
panhead_pete 27 Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 Those Happo Moguls are the size of VW beetles some day. And the views can be glorious! Glad you had a good time Dunga. Link to post Share on other sites
Dunga 1 Posted February 14, 2013 Author Share Posted February 14, 2013 Those Happo Moguls are the size of VW beetles some day. And the views can be glorious! Glad you had a good time Dunga. The views were amazing, it truly is a resort that is worthy of the international stage. It's not on the scale of whistler or chamonix, but they would be more like if hakuba had all its runs on one mountain. Link to post Share on other sites
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