Hakuba Now: Friday 5th December 2025
- Dec 5, 2025
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Hakuba region of Nagano
New snowfall at base 20cm
Snowfall at base this season 39cm
Posted on Friday 5th December 2025 This is an archived report. The latest Hakuba Now report can be found here.
Hello from Hakuba.
It's all go here today! In a good way.
Snow is coming down nicely now and we should have it for the day. Sun is forecast over the weekend. Should be fun!
Tsugaike reporting 40cm of snowfall since yesterday and has of course been open for a few days already.
After suddenly opening yesterday mid-morning, ABLE Hakuba Goryu opened from 8:15am this morning.
Hakuba Happo-one plans to open from 11am this morning.
Hakuba 47 will also open from around noon today - and offering a fair amount of terrain, as well.
Official information is still rather scattered, and so I've decided not to post a list (it might be out of date / incorrect as soon as it is posted). The full details of operations will be in the report very soon.
Anyway, exciting times, once again. Let's hope we have another great start to the ski season.
For the moment, though, I have a few personal thoughts that are a bit less exciting...
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Yesterday morning, Hakuba Goryu ski area suddenly announced that it would open at 10:30am (yesterday morning). The top Panorama course did indeed open, via the gondola and serviced by the Alps Number 1 lift.
Great and exciting news, of course!
Traditionally, ski areas have offered some cheap tickets early on when operations are limited. They often pitch it as a 'thank you', to celebrate opening.
But to ‘celebrate’ what the ski area is calling a ‘special season’ (55th anniversary), rather than making some kind of attractive price for a very limited opening, they are actually asking people to pay 8,500 yen.
*** checking details ***
• One 850m long ski run (and with natural snow)
• Open from 10:30am until 3:45pm
• For 8,500 yen
I can’t not comment on this. When I first saw it, I thought it was a joke. Sadly, it’s not. I am still struggling for words (that I can say in public), but this just seems so very... out of touch. I’m confident that any Japanese person seeing that price will be surprised and shocked - and perhaps have a few other feelings, too. I know all the arguments about foreign visitors thinking Japanese ski areas are relatively cheap, but it’s as if some popular ski areas are now completely ignoring the local domestic market - and slapping them in the face if they turn up.
I can’t help but think that is not a good/wise idea.
And don’t get me started on their charge for night skiing this season - 6,500 yen.
As a quick comparison, I have just had a look back at my guidebook from the 2022-2023 season. A full 1-day lift ticket in peak season at Hakuba Goryu three years ago was 5,500 yen, and a night skiing ticket was 2,700 yen.
It’s really no wonder there are increasingly loud disgruntled voices within Japan about how everything ‘inbound’ is pushing up prices and making life more difficult for locals. While the political rhetoric that has surfaced this year saddens and disappoints me on many levels, I can sometimes see where the feelings are coming from.
I spent much of yesterday wondering if I’m over-reacting, but some chats with some Japanese friends (here in Hakuba and beyond), suggested I’m not.
Sorry for the early season rant, but it felt necessary.
Back to being excited.
(I should mention that a 500 yen deposit is apparently included in the charges).
Hakuba Now2025-2026 season |
Data as Friday 5th December 2025 Total snowfall at base so far 39cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 3 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 20cm (on 5th December) November 2025 snowfall 2cm reported on 1 day December 2025 snowfall 37cm reported on 2 days |
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.