Hakuba Now: Friday 8th January 2016
- Jan 8, 2016
- 5 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Hakuba region of Nagano
New snowfall at base 2cm
Snowfall at base this season 82cm
Posted on Friday 8th January 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Hakuba Now report can be found here.
Snow was falling yesterday and really coming down up on the slopes in some area - at least at times. I'm not usually into white-out situations myself, but it was great to experience them up at 47 yesterday afternoon. It apparently eased off up there later in the day with not much more overnight.
So what was the haul? Let's see what the resorts are officially reporting, this is the information as available (which is unfortunately sometimes reported in a 'less than clear' and consistent fashion):
Hakuba 47 - 15cm on upper slopes during the day, an additional 10-15cm overnight and 1cm at base overnight.
Hakuba Goryu - 10cm on upper slopes and 5cm on lower slopes
Happo-one - 20cm yesterday, reporting 5cm more this morning
Hakuba Cortina - 20-30cm of fresh snowfall
So generally it looks like there'll be a decent fresh layer up there this morning from yesterday. No doubt if you are actually in Hakuba at the moment you'll already be up there by the time this gets posted. (Hope you have a good morning).
It is fantastic to see fresh snow of course and be able to play in some fresh. And something of a relief as well, though of course we really need much more as it is not enough to transform the (mostly) limited opening status of resorts. The main change I can notice this morning is that Hakuba Cortina have their Number 1, 5 and 6 lifts moving once again along with a few more courses opening.
What we need is that regular, consistent, prolonged, full-on snowstorm feel - something that has been lacking this season so far. (And I don't just mean in Hakuba but in many regions of Honshu). So with that in mind let's have a look at how the forecast is shaping up.
Looking good for more snow later on today, on and off tomorrow with perhaps some sunshine mixed in there and then more snow is due on Sunday and Monday. Temperatures don't look likely to be getting too low which is perhaps a point of concern, but let's ignore that and remain cautiously very optimistic about the upcoming snowfall. :)
Monday is a holiday in Japan so we are about to enter a three-day weekend. Traditionally this coming weekend is one of the most popular (read: rather busy!) weekends of the season, so do expect lots of people to be around especially with fresh snow on the menu. An early start is recommended.
Hakuba 47:
Hakuba 47 is reporting, er, varying amounts of fresh snowfall.
All courses apart from Route 7 officially open.
Tree Riding Zone not yet open for the season.
Official snow depth
Upper: 105cm
Base: 10cm
Hakuba Goryu:
Hakuba Goryu is reporting 5-10cm of new snowfall.
Panorama, Grand Prix, Super Course in upper area, 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 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: 30cm
Hakuba Happo-one:
Hakuba Happo-one is reporting 5cm of new snowfall this morning but was reporting 20cm yesterday during the day.
Usagidaira, Kurobishi, Panorama, Skyline, Kita One and Riesen Slalom areas are planned to be open with lower course areas still closed.
Take one of the Gondola, Kokusai Number 1 pair, Sakka Kitaone quad or Nakiyama Number 3 triple lifts to get back down to base.
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: 70cm
Nakiyama: 20cm
Sakka: 10cm
Hakuba Cortina:
Hakuba Cortina reporting 20cm of fresh snow and have their Number 1, 5 and 6 lifts moving once again.
Courses open - Ikenota, Ikenota Forest (upper), Mt Hieda Forest, Mt Hieda 1, Itadaira, Itadaira Forest, Giant, 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: 115cm
Base: 75cm
Tsugaike Kogen:
Large sections of Tsugaike Kogen are now at least part open.
Planned lifts:
7 lifts currently operating at Tsugaike Kogen.
Part of the upper area and part of the lower area of the resort is open - middle areas not open as we wait for more snow.
Use the Gondola to get back town from upper areas.
Official snow depth
Tsuga-no-mori: 123cm
Kane-no-naru-oka: 25cm
Hakuba Iwatake Snow Field:
Very limited area of the Mountain Side (East course) is currently open.
Planned lifts:
Noah Gondola
4Sen Line East
Line Lift
Official snow depth
Upper: 60cm
Lower: 10cm
Hakuba Norikura Onsen:
Official snow depth
40cm
3 lifts are operating and 3 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 (Number 2 quad used for connection).
Hakuba Now 2015-2016 season |
Data as of Friday 8th January 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 82cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 12 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 18cm 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.