REPORT

The rain that had been falling overnight in front of JR Hakuba Station turned to snow around 6 a.m. Arriving at Iwatake, I was greeted by three snowboarders from Tokyo (pictured), who told me, “We love your site! We’re riding at Iwatake yesterday and today, and we’re so happy it snowed. Tomorrow we’re going to Goryu47.” The bottom half of the South Slope had a hard packed groomed surface topped with around 8cm of new snow, and multiple areas with thin snow cover were marked with poles.
[South Slope]

On the groomed East Slope (pictured), which also had a hard, wet snow surface, I enjoyed turns through the 8 to 10cm of heavy fresh snow. The fog was continually thinning and thickening, but when visibility cleared, it opened up beautiful views of the trees and slopes covered in pure white.
[East Slope]

VIEW C (pictured) was a popular choice, with people droppin in one after another onto the groomed, hard packed wet snow surface topped with 6 to 8cm of heavy new snow. The snow got heavier the further down I skied, but my skis continued to slide well. In other news, the audiovisual DJ event “Hakuba Winter Sessions by Harmony & LiQUiD” that had been scheduled for today was unfortunately canceled. *The next event is scheduled for 1/10 (Wed.).
[VIEW C]

The Sunny Valley Course (pictured), which reopened on New Year’s Day, was groomed except for the south facing middle part of the course where there was less snow. There too the hard, groomed surface had around 5 to 8cm of heavy new snow. Except for the middle section where the thinning snow revealed areas of bushes and dirt, the conditions were better than I expected.
[Sunny Valley Course]
　　
＊We would like to express our deepest sympathy to the victims of the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake.

　
[Hakuba Iwatake Snow Field Availability Information on 1/4 (Thu.)]
*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!
　　
*Request for the original data of our photographs
　

reported by Snownavi