Resorts

Hakuba is situated in the heart of the Japan Alps, the alpine scenery is truly spectacular, with the mountains towering up to 3000 meters.

Hakuba was one of the major hosts of 1998 Winter Olympic Games of which Happo-One hosted the mens and womens downhill, giant slalom and ski jumping events. Happo-One is a large-scale resort with a total of 33 lifts, the mountain itself caters more towards intermediate to advanced skiers and boarders as it offers some very challenging terrain with more than 1000 meters of vertical skiing.. Other than Happo-One the valley is home to 7 other great resorts, Hakuba 47, Goryu Toomi, Iwatake, Tsugaike, Sun Alpina , Norikura and Cortina. Combined these separate ski areas have 139 lifts and a huge variety of terrain to satisfy all types of skiers and snowboarders.

Skiing & Snowboarding

All mountains allow skiing and snowboarding on all slopes.

Night Skiing

Night skiing is available at four of the resorts in Hakuba, usually from the end of December to the end of March. Courses are fairly limited in Hakuba compared to Niseko, the latter offering superb night skiing in the world's largest night skiing area.

Lifts

There are 7 ski resorts in the Hakuba valley and 3 interlinked resorts in Niseko. All resorts operate a main Gondola lift that is fully enclosed, seating between 6 and 10 people, providing access to the main slopes. Express quad lifts are also common, and provide fast access to runs. Double chairs are widely utilised, especially for providing access to the more advanced slopes. Most resorts are operating new and modern lift facilities, supported by professional grooming and snowmaking services.

Lift Tickets

All of the ski resorts in the Hakuba Valley and Niseko use an electronic lift pass system. The pass is a re-programmable computer chip encased in a small plastic covering. Placed into customer's ski clothing or gloves, it allows guests to pass through the electronic gates at each lift. When a lift pass is purchased, or a lift exchange pass redeemed, a 1000 yen deposit is required. The 1000 yen is refunded when the pass is put into an automatic exchange machine located near the ticket selling booths.

Ski Rentals and Ski Lessons

Most hotels have a limited stock of mid range ski and snowboard rental equipment. For the latest range of performance equipment and full range of sizes the specialist ski rentals shops offer a far superior service. The largest ski and snowboard boot sizes available in Japan for rental are 32cm or US 13.

English language ski and snowboard instruction can be organized for customers. Lessons that are taught in English must be pre-booked as private lessons. Group lessons are also available but are not given in English, they are only taught in Japanese.

On Mountain Restaurants

There are ample rest stations on the mountains where food can be purchased, although it is mostly of the fast-food variety. Meals such as fried rice, noodles, and curry are well priced, and are usually large and filling. Beer and other alcoholic beverages are widely available.