REPORT

It’s one thing if this were a weekend—but this was a January weekday, usually the quietest time of the season. Yet, even with the -10 °C temperatures, dry snow, and occasional strong gusts of winds combining to make it a brutally cold morning, the lift line for the No. 10 Pair stretched nearly all the way back to the No. 9 Pair unloading area. I spoke with two guests at the very front of the line for the No. 10 Pair (pictured) who told me, “We always read your reports! We work at a lodge nearby and snowboard in our time off. Getting a day like this on our day off feels lucky.”
[Sky View Slope]

Dropping into the vast, untouched expanse of the Sky View Slope, I was met by a deep blanket of 40 to 45 cm of fluffy new snow. Huge plumes of snow erupted into the sky everywhere around me, mixing with the cheers echoing across the slope. While the underlying terrain was moderately firm, I was able to ski top to bottom with almost no bottoming out at all.
[Sky View Slope]

Even with this many people and this much energy in the air, Sky View is so expansive that there was still plenty of powder to go around, run after run. On top of that, a short hike from the No. 10 Pair unloading area up the Mt. Hieda Ridge Course gives access to the ski-at-your-own-risk area on the west side of Sky View (pictured), where even more powder awaits. In this area, you can enjoy big, open turns through the wide upper section, then weave your way downhill in a slalom through the trees below.
[Self-Responsibility Area]

Rewinding back to the start of the morning, the Kamoshika Course (pictured) was groomed with a moderately soft powder base and lightly topped with fresh snow, creating fast and smoothly conditions right from the start. Grooming had been completed early on the Highway Course, and on the skier’s right side of the upper portion of the run, 15 to 20 cm of light new snow delivered a fun, bite-sized powder run.
[Kamoshika Course]

　
[Hakuba Norikura Onsen Details on 1/30 (Fri.)]
*Fully OPEN!
*Operating Lifts … No.1 Pair (8:30～) and totally 9 lifts
*Fees … 1-Day Pass Adult JPY6,200, 6 to 12 y/o JPY3,500, Pre-schooler FREE

*Print and get a great deal! Discount Coupon!
Paper Coupon → Adult 1 Day Ticket + JPY1,500 Meal vouchers or store coupons = JPY8,700 → JPY7,500!
Paper Coupon → Child 1 Day Ticket + JPY1,500 Meal vouchers or store coupons = JPY6,000 → JPY4,800!

*Request for the original data of our photographs
　
reported by Snownavi