Winter Trip: Part 1 (Hakuba)

Japan Alps, viewed from Nagano on a clear day

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out my winter vacation plans this year; I looked at traveling to Thailand and Vietnam, but eventually settled on staying in Japan. I made plans to snowboard in Hakuba, go sightseeing in Nagano, and celebrate New Years Eve in Tokyo. 

The first part of my trip was in Hakuba, a ski resort town located in the Kitazumi District of Nagano Prefecture. Surrounded by the Japan Alps, it’s one of the top destinations for skiing and snowboarding in the country. The area features numerous ski resorts, including those used in the 1998 Winter Olympic Games. I left Aomori late Christmas night and took a couple long bus rides before arriving the following afternoon. I showered, ate dinner, and got to bed early for a good night rest at a small hostel (review here) near the mountains.

Day 1 (Happo One)

Left: first day on the slopes; Right: third day morning photos

On my first day of snowboarding, I decided to check out the biggest and most famous resort in Hakuba, called Happo One. I walked there right as it was opening and jumped on a chair lift. As it ascended upward, the snow conditions looked decent and visibility was good. But halfway up, the mountain became engulfed in thick, blizzardy cloud. 

Riding up the same lift, visibility changed quickly 

Terrible visibility. Annoying, but nothing I hadn’t experienced before. I hopped off the first lift and took another higher up the mountain. That turned out to be a bad decision—once off the lift I peered down the mountain and realized that I had no sense of orientation. The conditions alone wouldn't have been an issue, as long as I was familiar with the mountain (which clearly I wasn't). Nevertheless, I started to descend below the chair lift lines since it was the only reference point I had. Little did I know, I was heading directly towards mogul death trap from hell. Suddenly I hit one without warning and slammed my wrist into the ground awkwardly. I heard a "pop" and felt immediate pain but luckily no bones were sticking out so I figured I was okay. More than anything, I was ticked off that it happened on the very first run but I was too stubborn to quit boarding and waste a day getting it checked out. So I just avoided that area of the mountain and kept going the rest of the day...

The weather cleared up by late afternoon

Happo One is a very large resort. There are over a dozen courses and I believe it boasts the highest elevation of resorts in the area. Yet I honestly found it to be overrated. I went on every course but felt they were generally boring. Since so many people were there, the fresh snowfall from the prior night was quickly flattened to hard icy stuff on most of the runs. There were moguls everywhere, but no jumps nor any terrain to really play around on. I'm not trying to bash the place; I imagine it's fun for skiers and certain individuals. Also, my opinion is obviously biased since I hurt my wrist and rode in poor weather conditions there. Ultimately, I'm glad I went for the experience. It's not necessarily a bad resort, just not very fun for me personally.

Anyway, in the last hour before the resort closed, the pain in my wrist was getting unbearable so left for the local clinic. I waited for an hour, got an x-ray, then saw the doctor for all of 1 minute. He said nothing was broken and nothing was dislocated, but "something" was injured. The nurse wrapped my arm up in a splint and I received pain killers. The doctor told me to rest my arm until I returned to Aomori and then see my local doctor to get it further examined. In my mind this was good enough to keep boarding for the next two days. I did get my wrist re-examined in Aomori just a day before writing this post. The doctor said there aren't any major problems and it should be completely healed in two weeks.

No fractures or dislocations (good thing I drink a lot of milk!)

Day 2 (Goryu & Hakuba 47)

Left: Goryu; Right: Hakuba 47

On my second day of boarding, I went to two joined resorts called Goryu and Hakuba 47, which are located just south of Happo One. From what I heard, Goryu was first built and operated independently. Hakuba 47 was built later, and the two resorts teamed up offering access to both resorts with a single lift ticket (nice deal!). Each resorts' trails are separated but can be accessed from a central point at the top of the mountain.

I really liked this place because the terrain was diverse and it felt much more snowboarder-friendly. There was a compact but fun terrain park with a good halfpipe, three medium-sized kickers, one large kicker, and a few rails. A lift operates specifically for this area too, which is nice. Besides the terrain park, there were also a few areas where I found some fun little rollers and jumps. Considering my wrist injury, I stayed away from the kickers but still had fun on the halfpipe and smaller jumps. On the top half of the mountain, I was able to find some powder sections, even in the afternoon. The bottom half of Goryu was packed with beginners flopping all over the place, but as long as I stayed away from that area, I was really happy with these resorts.

Originally I had planned to go out somewhere that night since it was Saturday. I thought it would be nice to get dinner and check out a bar or two for a drink. I changed my plan though, and determined it would be better to rest my arm and take it easy for the night.

Day 3 (Iwatake)

At Iwatake on my final day, lucky to have great weather

Unlike my first two days in Hakuba, I hadn't previously made plans to go to any one particular resort. However, I heard about Iwatake from another guest at the hostel one night earlier. Out of curiosity, I looked it up online. It was described as small and compact with spectacular views of the Japan Alps. Since the weather reports indicated clear skies, it sounded like the perfect way to close out my snowboard trip.

The instant I woke up next morning, I scattered to the nearest window and cheerfully smiled. The weather looked awesome, finally! I captured a few photos of Happo One then grabbed the first shuttle bus to the resort. Upon arrival, a long line had formed behind the ticket windows. It wasn't easy waiting in line while looking up at the fresh snow and blue skies above, but before too long I was on the gondola scooting up the mountain. I didn't experience any problems with long lines for the rest of the day though, since I mostly avoided the gondola and used lifts instead.

I really enjoyed Iwatake. It's a bit smaller than the other resorts, but well laid out. It doesn't have super long runs, but many are nice and wide. Park management caters powerhounds really well; most runs are only groomed in the center while leaving plenty of space on either side untouched. Additionally, there are a few sections that are left completely ungroomed. This includes a really fun little expert course on the backside of the mountain that had excellent powder on the day I was there. This side of the mountain, has some pretty expansive areas of powder to ride--relatively short but wide enough to stay decent all morning. Lastly, I found a few decently-sized rollers with a great, fast approach. I had a blast flying down the mountain and getting some nice air on these during the day.

There's also something to be said about the mountain atmosphere. I loved the small-mountain culture present, with very friendly staff and a pretty good group of fellow skiers/snowboarders. I'm sure the weather made a big difference, but I was able to meet a lot of very friendly people here.

Perfect day at Iwatake

The snow conditions at Iwatake were very good all morning. However, most of the powder was all gone by lunchtime. I also had to get my deposit (for electronic lift lift) back from Goryu/Hakuba 47. Thus, I actually ended the day at Hakuba 47. I got there with about two hours left before closing and hit the halfpipe a few times and snuck in a few extra runs as the sun set below behind the mountainous landscape. I rushed back to the hostel, quickly packed my things, and hopped on a bus to Nagano. What started off as a pretty bad experience in Hakuba, thankfully ended very well.