Hakuba Now: Wednesday 2nd January 2019
- Jan 2, 2019
- 4 min read
Updated: Nov 18, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Hakuba region of Nagano
New snowfall at base 16cm
Snowfall at base this season 128cm
Posted on Wednesday 2nd January 2019 This is an archived report. The latest Hakuba Now report can be found here.
Enjoy your New Years Day? I was out at 47 with a group of folk from Australia and New Zealand in the afternoon. Light snow with a little wind and while there wasn't a fresh layer for the new year it was keeping cold and we enjoyed some good conditions.
And this morning I have news of a fresh layer on the mountain. First up, this is how much snowfall the ski resorts around the valley are reporting:
Hakuba Goryu: 10-15cm (base-top)
Hakuba 47: about 25cm (top)
Hakuba Cortina: 10cm (base-top)
Hakuba Happo-one 20cm (Adam gondola top)
Hakuba Iwatake: 10cm (base-top)
So there is some nice fresh powder to enjoy this morning. We might get some more during the day today and tomorrow with clearer skies currently forecast for Friday with a return to snow again by Saturday. That sounds like a decent weather pattern to me.
I think I'm going to check out Happo today.
Oh yes, now that ski resorts are mostly or fully open I have tried to simplify the resort-specific information (below). I have also added night time operation information at the bottom of the report. Let's nighta!
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Hakuba Happo-one
Official snow depth:
- Kurobishi: 160cm
- Usagidaira: 125cm
- Nakiyama: 45cm
Notes:
- All course areas open apart from Riesen Grat, Urakuro, Omusubi and Nakiyama Wall
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Hakuba Goryu
Official snow depth:
- Top: 165cm
- Toomi: 75cm
- Iimori: 50cm
Notes:
- All course areas open apart from Adventure
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Hakuba 47
Official snow depth:
- Top: 150cm
- Base: 45cm
Notes:
- All courses areas open
- Freedom and Tree Riding Zones not yet open
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Tsugaike Kogen
Official snow depth:
- Tsuga-no-mori: 160cm
- Han-no-ki: 150cm
- Maruyama: 60cm
- Shirakaba: 100cm
- Champion: 100cm
- Oya-no-hara: 80cm
- Kane-no-naru-oka: 60cm
Notes:
- All courses areas open apart from part of Kane-no-naru-oka Number 2
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Hakuba Cortina
Official snow depth:
- Top: 160cm
- Base: 105cm
Notes:
- All courses areas open apart from Itadaira Ridge
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Hakuba Iwatake Snow Field
Official snow depth:
- Mountain Side: 110cm
- Village Side: 40cm
Notes:
- The South, View C, North, East and View D courses on Mountain Side are open
- Part of the Sunny Valley, by1 and by2 courses on the Village Side are open
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Hakuba Norikura Onsen
Official snow depth:
- 170cm
Notes:
- Almost all courses areas are open
- All lifts apart from Number 7 are operating
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Hakuba Valley Kashimayari
Official snow depth:
- 80cm
Notes:
- All courses areas are now open
- All lifts apart from Number 8 are operating
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Hakuba Sanosaka
Official snow depth:
- Top: 50cm
- Base: 20cm
Notes:
- All lifts are operating
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Night time skiing (nighta) at resorts in the region - weather & conditions permitting
The below 'nighta' information will not be updated every day - please check with resorts if you plan to go!
Hakuba Happo-one
Daily from 5:00pm until 9:00pm in the Nakiyama base area (Nakiyama Number 2 pair lift)
Adults - 2,000 yen; children - 1,200 yen
Hakuba Goryu
Daily from 6:00pm until 9:30pm in the Toomi area until 31st March
The Sky Four quad operates daily; the Number 2 pair mostly on Saturdays and holidays
Adults - 2,000 yen; children - 1,000 yen
Hakuba Cortina
Daily from 5:00pm until 8:00pm (until 9:00pm on Saturdays and certain holidays)
Adults - 1,500 yen; children - 1,000 yen
Tsugaike Kogen
Kane-no-naru-oka area from 6:00pm until 8:50pm on 1st, 5th, 12th 13th January
Karamatsu Shirakaba area from 6:00pm until 9:00pm on 1st, 5th, 6th, 12th, 13th, 19th, 26th January; 9th, 10th, 16th February; 2nd March
Adults - 2,200 yen; children - 1,700 yen
Hakuba Now 2018-2019 season |
Data as of Wednesday 2nd January 2019 Total snowfall at base so far 128cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 13 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 16cm (28th, 29th December and 2nd January) November 2018 snowfall 0cm December 2018 snowfall 112cm reported on 12 days January 2019 snowfall 16cm reported on 1 day |
All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Hakuba. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report.