REPORT

Today’s report is a two-day summary covering both yesterday and today. After our last report, the rain that began in the afternoon of 2/19 (Mon.), subsided briefly on the morning of 2/20 (Tue.), before picking back up again in the afternoon and continuing until the morning of 2/21 (Wed.). It was raining lightly yesterday morning after the ski resort opened (pictured), and while there was almost no wind up top, fog was rolling in and out over the slopes.
[Usagidaira Slope]

The 78th Annual Riesen Slalom Competition was scheduled to be held yesterday and today, but due to the sudden drop in temperatures that began last night, the Riesen Quad was frozen over and there was no way to operate it. No backup course was able to be prepared, so today, the second day of the competition was called off. Yesterday, I caught up with six participants (pictured) from Mie, Ibaraki, Chiba, and Saitama prefectures, who told me, “We love your site! We’ll do our best to take first, even though it’s raining!” (Their bibs were soaking wet.)
[Usagidaira Slope]

On the first day of the competition, which had a total of 329 male and female entries, men’s group 7 (80+) began at 9:00, followed by women’s group 3 (60+), men’s group 6 (70-79), women’s group 2 (40-59), women’s group 1 (junior high to 39), men’s group 5 (60-69), and finally the open class (junior high school boys to 59 years old). The groomed surface had a top layer of loose granular snow that had soaked up moisture and become somewhat slushy, but my edges dug deep, and my skis ran well.
[Riesen Slalom Course]

Due to the aforementioned issue of the lifts freezing because of the rain followed by sudden cold, only three slopes (Nakiyama, Shirakaba, and Sakka) could be skied even in the afternoon. On days like this, it’s not a bad idea to head to Happo no Yu (pictured), a hot spring facility equipped with indoor and outdoor baths. The highly alkaline hot spring water gushing from deep underground is Japan’s only naturally hydrogenated hot spring with a pH of over 11.
[Happo no Yu]

　　
[Happo-One Details on 2/22 (Thu.)]
All courses are OPEN (Except for Omusubi, Usuba Cat Track、Nakiyama Wall、Upper Kitaone、Kitaone New C)
*Available Lifts … Gondola (8:00 a.m.-) and totally 17 lifts
*Fees … 1 Day Ticket Adult JPY7,200, 6-17 y/o JPY3,600, Over 65 y/o JPY7,000 (Until 3/10)
　
*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