REPORT

Early in the morning, the road information sign near the Kamishiro 7-Eleven on Route 148 was showing a temperature of -14°C! I had to drive carefully since the snow that had softened up during the day yesterday had completely refrozen, making shaded areas, curves, bridges, and other spots extremely slippery. The morning saw slightly overcast skies, and the trees on the Mountain Side of the resort were caked in rime ice (pictured).
[South Slope]

The South Slope (pictured) and East Slope (3rd photo) were beautifully groomed, and the snow surface was perfectly packed powder snow! I noticed a number of people skiing fast laps on 5sen South in the morning. The ungroomed areas on the sides of the slopes were covered with approximately 10 cm of fluffy new snow.
[South Slope]

I spoke briefly with two people from Tokyo, who told me, “We love your site! My friend (pictured, right) hasn’t snowboarded in 2 years. I’m really glad we got great weather!” As I later skied down towards the resort base, I encountered a hard-packed, groomed snow surface composed of a mix of powder and wet snow on the Sunny Valley Course.
[East Slope]

On the Village Side’s Kamoshika Course (pictured), the final day of competition in the alpine speed events for the 50th Annual ALL Japan Student Ski Competition was underway. As the women’s Super-G kicked off, I heard spectators loudly cheering on the athletes. The demonstration skiing competition will be held from 2/26 (Sun.) to 3/3 (Fri.), while the technical alpine competition is set to take place from 3/12 (Sun.) to 3/17 (Fri.).
[Kamoshika]

　　
[Hakuba Iwatake Snow Field Availability Information on 2/22 (Wed.)]
*All courses are available. (*Except for North)
*Available Lifts … Gondola (8:00-), totally 8 lifts
*Fees … Adult JPY4,800, Over 60 y/o JPY4,500, Over 70 y/o JPY4,200, 6-12 y/o JPY3,000 (Until 3/19) *A preschooler will be free per adult.
　
＊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