REPORT

Yesterday, the first day of the major cold wave, the Alpen Quad, Kurobishi 2 Quad, Skyline 2 Pair, and Grat Quad were unfortunately closed the entire day. However, with the snowstorm that began two nights ago finally dying down, the gondola began operation this morning on time at 8:00 a.m. Not surprisingly, I noticed skier after skier dropping into the steep, ungroomed slopes on the upper portion of the ski resort, specifically, the areas alongside the Kurobishi 3 Pair (pictured) and Alpen Quad.
[Kurobishi Slope]

I expected endless amounts of fresh powder, but only found between 10 to 30cm along the Kurobishi 3 Pair, and the hard, underlying base was even fully exposed in some places. A patrolman I met afterward told me, “A good portion of the fresh snowfall from yesterday was unfortunately blown away by the wind. Omusubi was pretty good today, though.”
[Kurobishi Slope]

The ungroomed area below the lift line on the Skyline Course (pictured) also had only about 5 cm of fresh snow, which was a bit disappointing. However, the amount of new snow increased as I descended, and by the end of the run, I was rewarded with 20-25 cm of fluffy powder. The groomed part of the Skyline Course was in great condition for skiing, with 3 to 5 cm of fresh snow on top of the moderately firm, groomed powder snow surface.
[Skyline Course]

The excellent conditions continued on the Kitaone forest road course and Sakka Slope (pictured), where there was 2 to 3 cm of new dry snow topping off the moderately firm, groomed powder snow surface! The heavy snowfall greatly improved the condition of the slopes on the lower part of the resort, and even the Shirakaba Slope was groomed widely. Across the upper portion of the resort, the dry falling snow was being carried by a weak northern wind, and only light flurries of snow were observed on the lower portion of the mountain, where there was almost no wind.
[Sakka Slope]

　　
[Happo-One Opening Information for 1/26 (Thu.)]
*All courses are available!
*Available Lifts … Gondola (8:00 a.m.-), totally 17 lifts
*Fees … Adult JPY6,500, 6-17 y/o JPY3,200, Over 65 y/o JPY5,800 (Until Mar. 19)

*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