REPORT

Happy New Year to everyone! Thank you in advance for continuing to read our resort reports in the new year. Today I ran into a child who asked me to take a picture of them boarding (see photo). Their helmet was decked out with two traditional New Year’s symbols: a kite and a kagami mochi rice cake. This morning’s clear skies ushered in very cold temperatures early, but it was already warmer and more comfortable by the time the resort opened for business.
[East Slope]

About half of the total course width on the East Course (pictured) was groomed, with a fantastic, semi-firm powder snow surface that I was able to link controlled, comfortable turns on! The ungroomed area has shallow tracks and surface bumps, but the soft snow made it easy to ski. The top half of VIEW C had a well-packed groomed surface, while the last part was ungroomed, hard, and bumpy with noticeable areas of thin snow.
[East Slope]

The upper portion of the North Slope had a nice and firm groomed powder snow surface, while the bottom had a similarly firm, groomed wet snow surface. The course extending down to the base of the mountain, the Sunny Valley Course, was forced to closed on New Year’s Eve, but was able to reopen at 11:00 a.m. on New Year’s Day due to the cold temperatures and new snowfall.
[North Slope]

I had excellent views of the Hakuba Sanzan (pictured), the three Hakuba peaks, first thing this morning from HAKUBA MOUNTAIN HARBOR. An audiovisual DJ event, Hakuba Winter Sessions by Harmony & LiQUiD, is set to be held here on 1/4 (Thurs.) beginning at 3:00 p.m. (Starting at ¥4,000 yen, including the round trip ride on the gondola.).
[HAKUBA MOUNTAIN HARBOR]

　
[Hakuba Iwatake Snow Field Availability Information on 1/2 (Tue)]
*Available Courses … South, North, East, VIEW C, VIEW D, Sunnyvalley
*Available Lifts … Gondola (8:00-), 3-sen North, 4-sen East, VIEW 2, 5-sen South
*Fees … 1 Day Ticket … Adult Weekends & Holidays JPY5,200, Weekday JPY5,000, 6-12 y/o Weekend & Holidays JPY3,200, Weekday JPY3,000, 60-69 y/o JPY4,800, Over 70 y/o JPY4,600 *A preschooler will be free per adult.
　
＊Printable Rental Discount Coupons!
Carving Ski・Snowboard 1-Day Rental Set JPY3,000 / Outerwear JPY2,500!
Carving Ski・Snowboard High Performance Model Rental JPY500 OFF!
Kid’s Ski・Snowboard 1-Day Rental Set JPY2,500 / Outerwear JPY1,500!
　　
reported by Snownavi