REPORT

Now that it’s late February, the cold temperatures are no longer as persistent as they were in January. The roads at the foot of the mountain were frozen solid yesterday morning, turned wet as they melted before drying during the warmth of the day, and were clear of snow and ice for my drive this morning. I spoke with a skier (pictured) who showed off some impressive turns against the backdrop of the mild, overcast sky, and told me, “I love your site! I bought a season ticket to Happo with the intention of competing in the Riesen Slalom Competition this season. My race is tomorrow, but I’m skiing today while checking the course.”
[Panorama Course]

It was ideal, firmly-groomed powder snow conditions on the Panorama Course! The first half of the course along the Kokusai 3 Pair was topped with manmade snow that changed the feel at times, but I was able to set and maintain edge control and ski at speed from top to bottom. Since today was a national holiday and due to the restrictions on the Riesen Slalom Course, the Panorama Course was busy right from the beginning of the day.
[Panorama Course]

The moderately-packed, groomed powder snow along the Kurobishi 2 Quad offered the smoothest turns first this morning. I had a brief conversation with a pair from Chiba Prefecture (pictured), who told me, “We love your site! We’ve seen you out on the slopes a few times, but haven’t had a chance to talk to you, so it’s nice to finally do so.” The southern route of Usagidaira had a firm, groomed powder snow surface.
[Kurobishi Slope]

The 77th Riesen Slalom Competition, a legendary local event held on Riesen (pictured), has begun! Due to the huge number of entries and the wide age range of competitors, the races will be held over two days from today to tomorrow, and the competition is subdivided into categories ranging from junior high school students to 80 years and older. I was impressed by the performance of the athletes in the first wave of competition; the men’s 80 year old + and the 3 women’s 60 year old + categories.
[Riesen Slalom Course]

　　
[Happo-One Opening Information for 2/23 (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. 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