Hakuba

This year I'm back in Japan for another three months to enjoy JaPow to the full. I arrived in Hakuba on December 13th, which is rather early for skiing in Japan. The snowy season usually doesn't start until January, although it often snows properly around mid-December and the season begins.

The last 12 days of my Japan powder trip offered almost the entire spectrum on my freeride day rating scale: From a solid 9 out of a possible 10 points down to 2. Fortunately, I spent this day in the cozy lodge writing this report. I will stay in Hakuba for a few more days and conclude my photo reportage with this 8th part. At the moment, the conditions are simply howling or just good enough to do one or two descents a day, but I'd rather leave the camera at home.

Lots of sun, lots of fresh snow and great adventures in the backcountry. In part 4 of Patrick Fux's powder report from Hakuba and the surrounding area, you can see that even in the powder paradise of Hakuba, the sun can shine in high winter, only to soon give way to the next snow clouds.

Nick Kowal is the owner of the Hakuba Powder Lodge. In a short interview I asked Nick a few questions about life in Japan, his dreams, a year after Fukushima and more.

Last Monday, the chapter on how easy snow can be was rewritten, so to speak: Another day in Furano and knee-deep powder snow at its very best. The whole day alone in the ski resorts and no one to help track the fresh snow, that was quite a lot of work, but we enjoyed it immensely. The ski patrol didn't seem to take such a strict view of the whole thing and let us get on with it.

As already mentioned, the cat and mouse game with the Ski-Patrol has become more difficult – and the cat has actually won again. The spoilsports from the Ski Patrol are now hiding and waiting for hours for mice if they have to. Very annoying as I can no longer ski in an entire ski area and I particularly like the forest runs there. According to unofficial sources, a previously liberal area even wants to ban and strictly control everything off-piste from next season. In many places in Japan, the people in charge simply don't understand what we freeriders want?

All was still right with the world on Monday. Perfect weather and great snow for two runs far away from the pistes. The weather forecast was very unfavorable, so we had to hurry. By midday, the powder fun was over and 35 mm (= 37 liters / sqm) of rain in 24 hours was the result of a warm front. Snow was already falling again on Wednesday, but unfortunately it got very cold first and so everything was frozen solid.

A storm was forecast for Monday night, which should have ended our boredom. Unfortunately, once again nothing came of it. Far too warm and only 1 cm of fresh snow - and windy to boot. This would be the fifth day without skiing and somehow it feels more like spring than winter outside. The forecasts from Wednesday onwards are still excellent, so we'll just have to be patient for a few more days. The weather service is talking about a storm of the decade. But it's going to feel like a long time: if you're not much of a piste skier, you won't have much to do here in Hakuba when it gets warm.

Hakuba has many beautiful sides and unfortunately also a few dark sides: A glance at the globe shows that southern Spain is at the same latitude as Hakuba, so it is not surprising that the sun is already quite strong in January. Many a European has wondered how impressive a Japanese sunburn can be in January. As soon as we see the blue sky here, the southern slopes are usually already unrideable, as the snow is literally baked by the sun.

Fortunately, there was no rain and the week started with a forecast of 1 cm of fresh snow overnight. The joy of waking up to 50 cm of fresh snow was immense. The day could easily be described as heliskiing for the price of a day ticket, although it would be more accurate to say heliskiing-for-the-price-of-two-day-tickets.

At the beginning of the week, I was still a little skeptical as the weather forecast was anything but rosy, i.e. snowy. With one eye on the precipitation radar, it took a few early morning online studies to decide where to go. The differences in terms of fresh snow and weather were pretty extreme, even in this relatively small region.

It was that time again a week ago. The last working day for the next three months. The most beautiful time of the year has begun and with it another snow adventure in Japan. I will be traveling in Japan until the beginning of March, mainly in Hakuba but also in regions such as Myoko, Nagano and the northern island of Niseko. The weather and especially the annual rain will determine when and where we will be.