REPORT

It was an extremely cold morning as I arrived at the Champion parking lot at around 7:00 a.m. As the wind was blowing hard and whipping up snow, and the outside thermometer was showing -13°C, I honestly didn’t feel like going outside to report on the slopes. I chatted with a man from Kanagawa Prefecture (pictured, right), who told me, “I came here last night in blizzard conditions, and it was crazy. It looks like more of the same today.”
[Champion]

One of the lift operators told us that the strong winds had caused the Champion Quad to shut down automatically and that it may not be able to operate today. Upon hearing this, those in line for the lift (myself included) hurried en masse toward the Han-no-ki No. 1 Quad. In contrast to the busy Maruyama and Han-no-ki Slopes, where people seemed to be the most concentrated, Kanenaru (pictured) was nice and quiet, with about 10 cm of fresh snow on top of a moderately soft groomed snow surface.
[Kane-no-naru-oka]

I ended up hearing from a snowboarder from Hakuba Village that the Champion Quad started running around 9:30. He said that there was almost too much snow but that the feeling of floating on fresh powder was well worth it. On the Maruyama Slope (pictured), there was 5 to 10 cm of light new snowfall covering the soft, groomed areas and 30 to 40 cm of fluffy fresh snow in the ungroomed areas.
[Maruyama]

I spoke with a snowboarder from Kanagawa Prefecture (pictured) who was out for a husband and wife trip. They told me, “We love your site. The gondola doesn’t seem like it’s going to operate today, does it? We came out yesterday and are staying at Heartland. It’s a nice and comfortable place to stay, and it’s our standard choice for accommodation in Tsugaike. It is especially good for a powder day like today because you can go right to the slopes.” Earlier I mentioned that it was cold, and in fact the below-freezing temperatures, cold wind, and densely falling snow made me lose feeling in my fingertips.
[Shirakaba]

　　
[Tsugaike Kogen Opening Information for 1/25 (Wsd.)]
*Almost all course are Open (*Except Tsuga-no-mori, rindo, Umanose)
*Available Lifts … Gondola (8:00 a.m.–), totally 8 lifts
*Fees … Adult JPY5,900, 6-12 y/o JPY3,500, Over 60 y/o JPY4,300 (Until 3/12)
　
＊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!
　
*Click here to purchase photos found in this report

reported by Snownavi