Hakuba Now: Sunday 7th January 2024
- Jan 7, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 20, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Hakuba region of Nagano
New snowfall at base 1cm
Snowfall at base this season 129cm
Posted on Sunday 7th January 2024 This is an archived report. The latest Hakuba Now report can be found here.
Good morning and greetings from Hakuba.
It was a warmish day yesterday, again getting up to +9C in the village. Too warm. Stop it!
But, this morning there is fresh snowfall on the mountain. Here's what the ski areas are reporting this morning:
Happo: 5-10cm on upper areas
Hakuba 47: 10cm on upper areas
Hakuba Cortina: 5cm (base), 10cm (upper)
Hakuba Iwatake: 1-3cm
So, that's nice. Head up to find the funnest fun this morning.
I did have a dusting on my car very early this morning, so I feel I can add 1cm to the reports this morning. Perhaps my generosity there will encourage Nature to bring us more. (Yeah, I know...)
This morning higher areas are covered in cloud (fog?), though lower down it is quite bright and even a bit of blue sky and sunshine.
We are still told to expect snow later and overnight.
I have a friend down in western Japan and he says his local ski area is completely bare of snow. Like, none at all. Not even a bit. It sounds like a lot of Japan is experiencing low levels of snow so far this season, particularly on the main Honshu island. So, we should be thankful that we have so much open right now... even if it doesn't quite feel 'full on' yet.
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ABLE Hakuba Goryu
Operations (scheduled):
Most lifts and runs are now open, some Iimori runs closed.
Looks like the gondola is needed to get down from the top area once again.
Official snow depth:
Upper: 130cm
Toomi: 50cm
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Hakuba 47 Winter Sports Park
Operations (scheduled):
All scheduled lifts and runs are open
(The Line D lift usually only opens when the Gondola is not operating)
Tree Riding Zones will open at a later date
New snowfall (reported by ski area):
Top: 10cm
Base: 0cm
Official snow depth:
Upper: 130cm
Base: 35cm
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Hakuba Happo-one
Operations (scheduled):
Most lifts operating and a large part of the ski area is now open, but with restrictions
You need to get lifts back to base areas due to low snow cover
The top Grat quad lift is now operating but only for sightseeing and backcountry (the Riesen Grat run is not yet available)
New snowfall (reported by ski area):
Kurobishi: 10cm
Usagidaira: 7cm
Top of Riesen quad: 5cm
Official snow depth:
Kurobushi (1680m): 130cm
Usagidaira (1400m): 87cm
Nakiyama (800m): 15cm
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Hakuba Cortina
Official snow depth:
Upper: 105cm
Base: 50cm
New snowfall (reported by ski area):
Upper: 10cm
Base: 5cm
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Hakuba Iwatake Snow Field
Operations (scheduled):
5 lifts and 5 courses
Official snow depth:
Mountain Side: 80cm
Village Side: 40cm
New snowfall (reported by ski area):
Upper: 3cm
Base: 1cm
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Hakuba Norikura Onsen
Operations (scheduled):
7 lifts and 8 courses
Official snow depth:
65cm
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Tsugaike Mountain Resort
Operations:
11 lifts operating and mostly open
Official snow depth:
Upper: 130cm
Base: 15cm
Hakuba Now 2023-2024 season |
Data as Sunday 7th January 2024 Total snowfall at base so far 129cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 20 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 26cm (23rd December) November 2023 snowfall 28cm reported on 4 days December 2023 snowfall 93cm reported on 13 days January 2024 snowfall 8cm reported on 3 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.