I FINALLY went up to Hakuba to check things out last weekend. I'd only been there once before during a bad early-season so my impression wasn't that great. This time was better. Much better.

I got a ride up with Ewok2, who had heaps of good stories (he he) and stayed at Hakuba Powder Lodge for more good stories and great hospitality The SJ crew didn't really make it up but I did bump into AK77 and EBC! I had always liked EBC's enthusiasm on the forum. She was a little more mellow in person though. I don't think she said "YEAH BABY!!!" even once.

And on to the mountain.

With only two days I figured I'd chill out around the resort and try to get a feel for things for future trips. -A bit of reconnaissance, basically. Being a tourist of course, I needed a guide. I was really happy to ski with this crew the first morning:

We carved lots of fun turns and had a beer with lunch outside. Then in the afternoon Yamashiro-san took me into the semi-off-piste dam area, which was a nice treat. The top section was nice and soft with a good pitch. Closer to the dams though, the snowpack was cracking and sliding. Getting out was kind of interesting. After that I checked out the soft spring bumps and some of the trees. I love a nice warm spring day but I couldn't stop thinking how awsome the place would be in powder.

The next day I had planned on getting in more vertical and skiing a little harder - maybe blowing my legs out on the bumps but it didn't quite work out that way. At the top lift I bumped into some Aussies who were also staying at FTs place. They were going for a hike and took me along too. Ryan knew the place well and the crew was tight, but I think I might have shown them a couple of tricks too.

We dropped into a nice friendly bowl and traversed over to the ridge.


And then we dropped down the ridge and into the valley. The snow was great up top, but the valley was slushy and the snowpack above was cracking and sliding to the valley floor. Not a great spot for a picnic.


That's about it. To sum up, Happo's a good hill with a lot of variety and you don't have to go far to find a few steeps and lots of trees. More importantly, a little further the backcountry is absolutely expansive and beautiful with heaps of steeps. More importantly still, the people I met were great!! Those guys have a really nice lifestyle up there. I'm sure a lot of them get in at least 20 or 30 days a season and I hope they enjoy each one as much as I enjoyed my first two days this season.

Good to meet you Ger next time tell me you are coming and ill try to arrange some gear!

I will

it was so nice meeting you ger =),
very x2 glad that you came up all the way and had a good time in hakuba
how many Aquarius did you have on the way back?
might have got dehydrated a little on sunday ...

Yea, I drank enough Aquarius to fill a bathtub

Is that 2nd pic the same one that FT posted earlier on in the season? looks the same to me.
Good to hear you had a good one Ger, maybe next year I'll get up for a couple of days.

waai beaver we will do jumping session and will see who can go higher and have nice landin without fallin...

let me check i might have a nice photo of ger skiing,
surprised that he is a mogul man

haha....I reckon you'll win hands down, you couldn't fit the Japan Times under my huge "airs" but I am gaining in confidence...now landing is lesson 2!!!!

lesson 3!!!

when i jump, i think i stop breathing, just for one or two seconds..

Different pic. Could be the same area. Don't know FTs pic.
I'm sure you guys will be jumping James Clavell in no time.

are you coming back up this weekend ger?

No, won't be able to make it up that way again for a little while. Hey, I forgot to ask you when the Nankai earthquake would be

machigae mashita!
what i meant was to hold my breath for one or two seconds.
"stop breathing" means something else i think..

I didnt head into that area untill 2 weeks ago.

I thought it looked like one you posted before...but it was a while back and I can't remember the details!!

Nah

ha ha YEEEEEEOW BABY!

BCS, were you at Iwatake yesterday. I thought I saw you and called out to you, but you didn t hear me. My sore throat didn t help much either.

people: yamashiro-san, ger, and risa
mountains: yari, shakushi, and shirouma (i think..)

Good pic, Ewok. I see that your alvatar is back too.
(Hey, your alvatar just disappeared again on my screan. Funny that. Everyone else's is up. Hmm... I guess Ewoks are shy.)