REPORT

In spring, it’s not uncommon to have three days of cold followed by four days of warm weather. Well, after a warm weekend, we’re once again back in cold mode! Due to blizzard-like conditions, the Alpen Quad and lifts above the Skyline 2 Pair were out of service. I spoke with a skier from Hyogo Prefecture (pictured), who was the first skier on the Riesen Slalom Course, who remarked, “I love your site! The conditions are better than I expected.”
[Riesen Slalom Course]

According to the weather forecast, the coldest temperatures and most significant snowfall will come around 3/20 (Wed.) to 3/21 (Thu.). I honestly wasn’t expecting much at all this morning, but the snow that was falling was nice and dry. I was able to get some good speed on the Panorama Course (pictured) and Riesen (first photo), which had 3 to 5 cm of light, fresh snow on top of well-packed, groomed granular snow surfaces.
[Panorama Course]

The Central Course (pictured) had hard-packed medium to large-sized moguls covered in 2 to 3 cm of slightly damp fresh snow. A resort staff member whom I spoke with mentioned, “The winds have been really strong recently, and sometime between 3/15 (Fri.) to 3/16 (Sat.), the Olympic starting hut next to the Kurobishi 3 Pair landing area was blown away.”
[Central Course]

I was able to repeat controlled, comfortable turns even on the Shirakaba Slope (pictured), where there was about 1 cm of fresh snow on top of a moderately tight, groomed granular snow base. Although there were areas where the ground was exposed on the sides of the course and under the lift lines, I was surprised to see just how much more snow there is this year than at the same time last year. (Things have really turned around since the low snowfall in December and January.)
[Shirakaba Slope]

　　
[Happo-One Details on 3/18 (Mon.)]
All courses are OPEN (Except for Tenbo, Kitaone New)
*Available Lifts … Gondola (8:00 a.m.-) and totally 15 lifts
*Fees … 3/11- Spring Discount Adult JPY5,500, Over 65 y/o JPY4,950, 6-17 y/o JPY2,500
　
*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