Happo-one / ◎340cm / Snow Clouds2021.Jan.11
In the midst of the third major cold wave of the season, another heavy snowfall brought significant new accumulations overnight and into the morning. Despite the lingering winter clouds, the sky seemed to be brightening, so I headed further up to the resort’s apex after getting off the gondola. From the Riesen Grat course a break in the clouds revealed a “sun pillar” (pictured) similar to the one I was able to see from Goryu yesterday.
[Grat Quad]
The gentle slope atop the first half of the Riesen Grat course was covered in around 15cm of fresh, fluffy snow, while the steeper second half had roughly 25cm. I ran into the manager of THE NORTH FACE GRAVITY HAKUBA, who gleefully exclaimed, “The conditions are amazing today!” The sentiment was obviously shared by the procession of other skiers and boarders hollering with joy and bombing down the slope.
[Riesen Grat Course]
The Tenbo Course powder area, located next to the Usagidaira slope, also had between 20 to 25cm of new, soft snow which was enough to cover over the tracks from the previous day. Though the surface below was uneven in places, it was soft and enabled carefree, consistent turns without the fear of catching an edge. The Usagidaira and Panorama courses were in very good condition; tightly groomed with 2 to 3cm of new snow.
[Tenbo Course]
A group from Hyogo Prefecture (pictured) kindly said, “We check your site all the time! It’s an awesome day!” In other news, the TOYO TIRES FREERIDE HAKUBA 2021 is scheduled to take place between 1/12 (Mon.) and 1/15 (Fri.). The event itself will be held on a single day with favorable conditions sometime during that period. Hopeful spectators can watch the athletes drop into and ride through the competition area (Kuzure-sawa) from the Riesen Grat course.
[Riesen Grat Course]
[Availability Information for Jan. 11]
* All Areas Available !
* Available Lifts … Gondola (8:00 a.m.–), totally 15 lifts
* Lift Price … Adult: JPY5,500, Child under 12: JPY3,200, Senior : JPY5,000
*Request for the original data of our photographs
