REPORT

The light rain falling at the base turned to snow as I rode the gondola toward the top, but the lower section of Usagidaira (pictured) was wrapped in dense fog. In terms of resort facilities, the USAGIDAIRA CAFE opened at the Usagidaira Terrace on 12/13 (Sat.), Pilar opened at the Alpen Quad top station on 12/15 (Mon.), and Pietre Preziose is scheduled to open in front of the gondola base station starting 12/20 (Sat.).
[Usagidaira Slope]

Climbing higher in elevation brought me above the clouds, and I overheard people nearby exclaim, “I didn’t expect we’d peak out above the clouds,” and “The sea of clouds is incredible!” On the south-side route at Usagidaira (pictured), the well-compacted powdery groomed surface had 1 to 2cm of light new snow on top toward the lower half, while the upper section appeared to have been either scoured by the wind or simply hadn’t picked up much accumulation.
[Usagidaira Slope]

On the groomed area along the Kurobishi Quad (pictured), the powder snow had set up just right, and was exceptionally easy to ski, with patches of new snow up to 2cm scattered across the surface. A skier I spoke with said, “I always follow your reports. I’m timing my runs for when the fog lifts a bit. The snow quality is excellent!”
[Kurobishi Slope]

Afterwards, fog repeatedly rolled in and out at both Kurobishi (pictured) and Usagidaira. On the ungroomed sections beside the Alpen Quad and the Kurobishi 3 Pair, there was around 3 to 5cm of light new snow. The Panorama Course had about 1cm of new snow, and was featured a firmly packed groomed powder surface (with a bit of wet-snow on only the very bottom section.)
[Kurobishi Slope]

　　
[Happo-One Details on 12/16 (Tue.)]
*Avaiiable Courses … Kurobishi, Usagidaira, Panorama, Upper portion of Panorama Cat Track
*Available Lifts … Gondola (8:00～), Panorama Pair, Kokusai 3 Pair, Alpen Quad, Kurobishi Quad
*Fees … Off peak 1-Day Pass Adult JPY5,000, 6 to 17 y/o JPY1,700, Over 65 y/o JPY4,600

*Request for the original data of our photographs

reported by Snownavi