Good morning from Hakuba.

It's 10:30am and you are reading a re-write of the report I initially wrote an hour ago.

After an initial delay due to wind the Happo-one gondola started moving at around 9:15am, but it was not to last. The windy conditions mean that unfortunately Happo-one has made the decision to close. This was the last day of the season, so that means that their season has now ended. And as Happo-one was the last ski area to remain open, that means that all ski areas in the Hakuba region are now closed.

The 2020-2021 season has ended.

The earlier drizzle has passed and there's increasing blue sky now. I have updated the photos and info below.

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Last season was one of various drama. There were ongoing worries about snow and then worries about that new virus thing that had appeared.

2020-2021 has been another season of drama.

I have been somewhat relieved to be able to report that the snow situation has been much better. Ski areas were able to be fully open and there have been some excellent conditions. There has, of course, been ups and downs. Such details can be found in my daily reporting.

If you are new to these reports, I think it is important to be clear on one thing. My observed snowfall each morning comes to you from base... not the top of the mountain. That is consistent through each season. It is also consistent with all the other Now reports on SnowJapan. (Having said that, making comparisons between different reports is very much not recommended - there’s so much more to the big picture than just base snowfall numbers…)

The numbers in the following data box are total snowfall numbers announced by the ski areas themselves and simply reported by me. These numbers are from their top areas. Some numbers later in the season do not seem to have been reported. I recommend looking at them as being an ‘about’ guide. As you can see, the five ski areas in the list have this season reported between 832cm and 1083cm of snowfall:

Unfortunately, the shadow of covid-19 continues to loom over us all. It has made this last year a (very) difficult one for so many people and businesses. Let us hope that everyone makes it through these bumpy times and that the situation - both here in Japan and elsewhere - will be brighter as we get to the other side of the summer.

As much as people are waiting to be able to once again visit Japan and Hakuba, the locals are also eagerly waiting them with welcoming smiles.

Fairly soon please.

Thanks for reading the reports.

I will be back later in the year as the 2021-2022 season approaches.


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End of season general message from SnowJapan
This message is being posted on all of the Now daily reports

First of all, we hope that you and yours are keeping well.

What another strange season 2020-2021 has been.

In terms of snow and conditions, the story of the season can be found in the respective reports. Each region had its own story, of course, but it was certainly great to be able to get back to reporting some heavy snowfall this time round. Spring did once again seem to arrive earlier than we would like, but those fortunate enough to be able to enjoy the snow were able to experience some very fine conditions.

Challenges

Ski areas around Japan made various efforts to deal with the covid-19 situation and while there were some changes to operations here and there, most were able to open for the season. Some ski areas and regions have been affected more than others, but it’s probably safe to say that is has been a challenging period for pretty much everyone involved. In particular, destinations that have enjoyed a lot of foreign visitors in recent years have probably felt a big shock.

Perhaps inevitably, there has been a generally more subdued atmosphere and feel to the season.

Decisions

We made a few decisions before the winter started.

Unfortunately, it was getting obvious that international travel restrictions would be preventing people from entering Japan over the 2020-2021 season. And it was clearly going to be a great disappointment to many.

Even so, we wanted to keep SnowJapan updated as close to normal as possible. We asked our reporters to mention ‘the news’ when it seemed appropriate, but not to dwell on it too much. After all, people are not coming to SnowJapan to read about covid every day. We hope we got that difficult balance right.

Daily reports and updates are an important part of the site. They are popular with people while they are visiting Japan, but people also read our archive reports to see how previous seasons turned out and to make comparisons. Indeed, this last season we have noticed that a lot of you have been following from overseas – even if you weren’t able to come and enjoy the snow in person.

We would like to say a big public thank you to the reporters who did another fine job covering the 2020-2021 winter season on SnowJapan, in some challenging circumstances. Thanks to those efforts, we have another full season of data to add to our records.

Hopefully that information will continue to be of value to people making plans for a future visit to Japan.

Questions

The world knows much more about covid-19 in May 2021 than it did in April 2020, but in some ways we end this season with some of the same questions we were asking last year…

Everyone wants to know what the situation will be in six months’ time. There’s definitely brighter wider news and reasons to be positive, but big questions remain on how ‘open’ Japan might be for overseas visitors by the time the snow starts falling again.

No-one knows, of course.

Like last year, all we can do is try to keep a positive mindset and hope that progress will be made, and that overseas friends will be able to visit once again.

Looking Ahead

Whatever happens regarding the international travel situation, SnowJapan plans to be here reporting the 2021-2022 winter season.

2020-2021 might now be over, but as usual we are busy working on various stuff for the future. We’ll let you know what we’re up to later in the year.

In the meantime, if you are interested in old ski areas from the past around Japan, the SnowJapanHistory (www.snowjapanhistory.com) website will continue to be updated regularly. Over there you can find details on over 160 ski areas, including at least one that closed back in the 1960s (!)

Anyway, that’s it for now. Thanks for reading and your support. If you want to get in touch, as always you can contact us using this form.

Wherever you are in the world, stay safe… and we’ll see you later in the year.

(Hopefully with good news!)


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Photos (below):

- Hakuba 47
- Hakuba Happo-one
- Hakuba Goryu