REPORT

Tsugaike Mountain Resort opened for the winter season today, 12/11 (Sun.), at 8:00 in the morning. As in previous years, the first run to open to skiers and boarders is the area along the Han-no-ki High Speed Pair Lift. (*It is necessary to take the gondola both to and from the top to access the run.) The falling snow was being blown at my back by the north wind, but gradually weakened as the day went on.
[Han-no-ki]

The well-groomed, underlying base was a mix of natural and man-made snow, and was on the hard side. However, things balanced out nicely overall thanks to the 8cm of light, fresh snow on top, making it possible to comfortably carve fresh tracks. As time went by and more skiers and boarders started to pass through, the base began to soften up further.
[Han-no-ki]

I spoke with a couple of people from Matsumoto who said, “We love your site! Yesterday we took our first runs of the season at Hakuba Goryu. We came here assuming there would be some fresh snow at Tsugaike today, and we were right! We feel pretty lucky to have a powder day today.” I appreciated all the other greetings I received from the weekend crowd as I was out working on my report this morning.
[Han-no-ki]

Three restaurants are currently open within the resort: BURGER KING (pictured, 10:00 to 15:00), which opened yesterday, and is located at the gondola mid-station, JACKY’S Kitchen (11:00 to 14:00) located near the summit, and “TSUGABASE” (11:00 to 17:00) in front of the gondola base station. In addition, a bio-toilet trailer house has been newly installed this season in front of the Han-no-ki No. 3 quad lift.
[Yuki-no-hiroba・BURGER KING]

　　
[Tsugaike Kogen Opening Information for 12/11 (Sun.)]
Open Course(s) … The area alongside the Han-no-ki High Speed Pair Lift
Open Lifts … Gondola (8:00〜16:00), Han-no-ki High Speed Pair (〜15:30)
Fees … Early Season 1-Day Ticket Adults JPY4,300, Elementary School Students JPY2,700 (until 12/16)
　
＊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