Hakuba Now: Monday 4th January 2016
- Jan 4, 2016
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Hakuba region of Nagano
New snowfall at base 0cm
Snowfall at base this season 76cm
Posted on Monday 4th January 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Hakuba Now report can be found here.
Morning from Hakuba where the weather is continuing to cause headaches.
Windy conditions messed about with resort operations again yesterday. Happo-one were able to part open again around lunchtime but there was also some lift disruption at 47/Goryu and over at Tsugaike.
And it was warm. Like 7C degrees warm at 1450m (according to Hakuba 47). I can't think of anything I want to say about that!
This morning, unfortunately, Happo-one is once again not able to open due to wind conditions. Lifts at Hakuba 47 are operating slower than usual and Hakuba Goryu are warning of the wind on mountain as well (though the lifts are currently moving). The top part of the Gondola at Tsugaike Kogen is not moving at the time of writing and neither are the top Tsuga Number 1 and 2 pair lifts... hopefully the wind might calm down during the day and stop being a problem.
This wind and the warmer temperatures really has people talking about spring, which in early January is just... very unsettling.
I sure don't want to be writing about these things and you certainly don't want to be reading about them either. But you want me to tell it like it is, so that's what I will continue doing. I just look forward to the day when everywhere can be open as normal and we can all go about our skiing and boarding with big smiles on our faces. (I think I said that before).
All that being said, there is of course fun to be had out there. Just more like spring time fun than mid-season!
When will we see things shape up? Let's take a look at the forecast.
I'm happy to report that there's positive stuff in there.
Tomorrow things should start getting colder and there might be some fresh snow. Thursday onwards is looking the most promising though with snow forecast each day through into and through the weekend.
Could we see big (good) changes by the weekend?
Hakuba 47:
Hakuba 47 is reporting 0cm of fresh snowfall.
All courses apart from Route 7 officially open.
Tree Riding Zone not yet open for the season.
Official snow depth
Upper: 95cm
Base: 10cm
Hakuba Goryu:
Hakuba Goryu is reporting 0cm of new snowfall.
Upper areas, the main Toomi course and the Soft Cream course in the Iimori area are planned to be open.
The upper-lower connecting Champion Dynamic and Woody courses are unfortunately closed again due to the snow conditions.
Planned lifts:
Telecabin Gondola
Alps Number 1 pair lift
Alps Number 2/4 pair lift
Alps Number 3 pair lift
Toomi Sky Four lift
Toomi Number 1 pair lift
Toomi Number 2 pair lift
Milky Four lift
Official snow depth
Alps: 125cm
Toomi: 40cm
Iimori: 35cm
Hakuba Happo-one:
Usagidaira, Kurobishi, Panorama, Skyline, Kita One and Riesen Slalom areas are planned to be open with lower course areas still closed.
However, this morning strong winds again mean that all lifts at Happo-one are on hold at the time of writing.
Planned lifts:
Adam Gondola
Alpen quad lift
Usagidaira pair lift
Happo Riesen quad
Nakiyama Number 3 triple
Kurobishi Number 2 quad lift
Kurobishi Number 3 pair lift
Skyline Number 2 pair lift
Kokusai Number 1 lift
Kokusai Number 3 lift
Panorama pair lift
Kita One quad lift
Kita One Number 3 pair lift
Official snow depth
Usagidaira: 65cm
Nakiyama: 10cm
Sakka: 5cm
Hakuba Cortina:
Hakuba Cortina reporting 0cm of fresh snow.
Courses open - Ikenota, Ikenota Forest (upper), Mt Hieda Forest, Mt Hieda 1 (lower), Itadaira, Itadaira Forest, Ipponmatsu.
Planned lifts:
Number 1 pair lift
Number 2 quad lift
Number 4 pair lift
Number 5 pair lift
Number 6 pair lift
Official snow depth
Top: 100cm
Base: 50cm
Tsugaike Kogen:
Large sections of Tsugaike Kogen are now at least part open.
Planned lifts:
Most lifts now operating at Tsugaike Kogen.
The top part of the Gondola and Tsuga Number 1 and 2 pair lifts are on hold early on due to strong winds.
Official snow depth
Tsuga-no-mori: 115cm
Kane-no-naru-oka: 30cm
Hakuba Iwatake Snow Field:
Limited areas of the Mountain Side (North and East courses) are currently open.
Planned lifts:
Noah Gondola
3Sen North
4Sen Line East
5Sen South
Line Lift
Official snow depth
Upper: 70cm
Lower: 20cm
Hakuba Norikura Onsen:
Official snow depth
40cm
5 lifts are operating and 6 courses are now open at Hakuba Norikura Onsen.
Kashimayari:
Planned lifts:
Kashimayari is part open.
Hakuba Sanosaka:
Part open with the Number 1 triple lift operating.
Hakuba Now 2015-2016 season |
Data as of Monday 4th January 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 76cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 10 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 15cm (4th December) November 2015 snowfall 10cm reported on 1 day December 2015 snowfall 54cm reported on 8 days January 2016 snowfall 12cm 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.