REPORT

Just when it seemed that old man winter had gone for good, he came back in earnest! This morning I spoke with a group of four visitors from Tokyo, Kanagawa, and Hakuba (pictured), who told me, “We love your site. This is our ‘winter is back’ pose. We’re going to keep quiet, because we’re afraid our photo won’t get published if we say more. Today we’re planning on heading to ura-Cortina.” It was blizzard-like conditions this morning, with dry snow falling vigorously and being blown about by the strong north wind.
[Ikenota Slope]

The 1st and 6th Pairs started moving at the scheduled time of 8:30 a.m., but the 2nd Quad, which provides access to the top of the ski resort, remained stationary. Even still, most of the visitors straight away joined the line for the 2nd Quad in the expectation that it would open. A family from Tokyo told me, “The new snow is amazing. We’re hoping to go up and be among the first to ski the untouched snow on the Ikenota Slope.”
[Ikenota Slope]

I took the 2nd Quad, which started moving at 9:20, to the 4th Pair. The Hiedayama Forest Course had a moderately firm powder snow (!) surface topped with around 20 cm of fresh snow, which I used to access the entrance to the Itadaira Course (pictured). There I found 25 to 30 cm of fresh, fluffy snow waiting for me! The fantastic feeling and floating sensation of skiing on fresh powder brought cheers from people throughout the resort.
[Itadaira Course]

For whatever reason, the wind was stronger this morning on the Ikenota Slope than on the upper portion of the resort. The gusting headwinds were so strong that they almost pushed me back (pictured). In either case, it was good skiing conditions on the Ikenota Slope, which had about 10 cm of fresh snow on top of a moderately tight groomed powder snow base.
[Ikenota Slope]

*The 5th Pair and 3rd Quad were closed all day due to strong winds.

　　
[Hakuba Cortina Availability Information on 2/27 (Tue.)]
*All courses are available (Except for Snake, Kamoshika, Itadaira one, Hiedayama C2, Rabbit, Giant)
*Available Lifts … No.2 Quad (8:30-) and totally 4 lifts
*Fees … Adult JPY5,200, 6-12 y/o JPY3,500, Over 60 y/o JPY4,500
　
*Print and get a great deal! Discount Coupon!
Paper Coupon → Adult 1 Day Ticket + JPY1,000 Meal Ticket = JPY7,400 → JPY6,200!
Paper Coupon → Child 1 Day Ticket + JPY1,000 Meal Ticket = JPY5,000 → JPY4,300!

*Request for the original data of our photographs
　　
　　
reported by Snownavi