Finding what we came for

With 100 kph winds forecast for Happo, we decided to take a chance on Cortina today. At the very least, we figured, we could eat pizza and enjoy the onsen. We hitched a ride with Patrick, filling the van with Tom, Jon, Katja, Dan and myself. Sure enough, we ate pizza, enjoyed the onsen and … skied lots of deep powder.

Tommy takes over camera duties for a couple of runs, and catches me in tele action

Today was the type of day we came to Japan to have. Tons of snow on every run. Seemingly every powderhound in Hakuba had the same plan as us (including Kate and Sarah, who we bumped into early in the day and later joined for some laps). Riding up the lift, we kept watching skiers and boarders bursting from the trees, spraying snow while yipping and whooping and garnering cheers from the lift. Plenty of competition for fresh lines, but we all found our share.

Jon hits a drop

 More fresh for me

  Jon looks for some more pow

 Found it

Tom, getting deep

Once the front and backsides of Cortina were tracked out, we moved inside for Part II: pizza. I was quite satisfied with my creation today. A light layer of teriyaki sauce on the bottom, then tomato sauce, slices of ham and pepperoni, lots of cheese, a bit of onion and more pepperoni, topped off with a thin layer of cheese. Deeeelicious.

Post-lunch brought two more runs, followed by the onsen. All in all, best day in Japan so far. 

 Tom, in there somewhere

Put on hold

The big storm never materialized, although enough snow did fall overnight to make for some sweet, powdery turns through our sidecountry stash in the woods at Happo One. Tom, Jon and I put in two runs, finding plenty of fresh snow between the trees. But after our second lap, the wind kicked up and the mountain closed its upper lifts, thus preventing us from accessing the woods. We took a long lunch to see if the wind would die down, but had no such luck. Back to the lodge we went for an afternoon of reading and napping.

To make matters worse, I forgot to reset the white balance on my camera after taking pictures inside last night. So despite blue skies today, we’re going with black and white photos, as the color of the shots was completely off. And even the black and white doesn’t have much pop to it in these pictures. I’m kicking myself. 

Waiting games

This morning brought the earliest start to a ski day that I can remember. With snow falling since yesterday afternoon, Tom and I woke in time to catch the 8:05 shuttle to the mountain, expecting to find deep Japow. Joined by Jon, a fellow lodger from Sweden, we were riding our first lift by 8:20. And for our ambition, we were rewarded with a few inches of fresh snow on top of crust.

View from the Hakuba Powder Lodging porch during a rare break in the clouds

Crust, because the weather went downhill after Saturday’s snow and sun at Cortina. Tom and I skipped skiing on Sunday and apparently missed nothing but treacherous winds (other lodgers reported crawling along ridges and being knocked over by gusts). Monday brought heavy rain that wiped out a good portion of the snowpack. Tuesday brought light snow, but not nearly enough to compensate for Monday’s damage. But we had our fun, skiing with Jouni and Katja from the lodge as well as Kate from New Zealand and Andy and Sarah from the U.K. Fake falls, skiing like gapers, Jouni skiing while juggling snowballs. I even switched gear with Andy to snowboard for half a run. We (Tom, Jouni, Katja and I) closed out the day while waiting for the shuttle by playing What Sport Am I, in which we pantomimed various sports.

Games have become rather popular here in Hakuba. On the drive to Cortina on Saturday, Kirsti introduced Tom and me to the “Who’s Touching Me?” game. Much less sketchy than it sounds. One person closes his/her eyes, waits for another person to touch him/her, and then has to guess who did the touching. Who’s Touching Me has since spawned Who’s Feeding Me and What’s Hitting Me. Yesterday also brought the Who Can Get the Most Lift Rides With a Girl game.

The games have kept us entertained during the dearth of prime skiing. Hence the hope for good snow today. Alas, no such luck. Now the optimism shifts to tomorrow. Snow came down steadily all day, particularly at the higher elevations. Each run we found deeper snow, although the combination of clouds and snow made for limited visibility in the alpine. Snow was sketchier in the lower elevations, with a strange layer of frozen slush beneath the fresh stuff. By our last run, however, enough snow had accumulated in the woods to leave us feeling encouraged for tomorrow. And so, the waiting continues.

Jon finds hope for Thursday

Snow!

Not a ton of snow, but enough to make for a good morning at Cortina. Alas, Brian had to leave Saturday morning and missed out on the goods.

Friday’s rain transformed into snow in the afternoon. Patrick, one of our lodge mates (and the man behind powdermania.com), said that if anywhere would get enough snow to cover up the crust, Cortina would be the place. Located at the north end of the Hakuba Valley, closest to the ocean, Cortina apparently tends to pick up the most snow. And in this case, Patrick’s prediction proved prophetic. He drove Tom and I, along with lodgers Lachlan, Kirsti and Katya, to Cortina. A relatively small resort (compared to Happo One, at least), Cortina held dozens of lines through widely-spaced trees. The new snow covered much of the crust, but not all. The typical run went powder turn, powder turn, crust, waist deep, crust, powder turn, knee deep, crust, pow turn, pow turn …. Despite the crust, the new snow felt good under the skis.

 Tom dropping off a Cortina ridge

 Patrick snapping photos of Kirsti

 Katya not hitting any crust

 Kirsti also avoids the crust

 As does Lachlan

By early afternoon the sun had baked the snow into mashed potatoes, so we left the slopes to take advantage of Cortina’s other offerings: 3,800 yen (about $45) buys not only a full-day lift ticket, but also includes 1,000 yen toward lunch in the resort hotel (where a make-your-own pizza costs 1,200 yen) and provides access to a slopeside onsen.

 Hotel at Cortina

Pizza at the hotel at Cortina 

A low-key afternoon back at Hakuba Powder Lodging followed the ski day, with a group dinner of grilled chicken and salad. Then, come evening, a bunch of people gathered for a ball hockey game in a nearby parking lot. 

Hakuba ball hockey game

Rain

The title pretty much says it all, although I could add, “fog.” 

Still, having not skied yesterday, and with a weekday pass that will keep me from riding the lifts the next two days, I felt like making some turns this morning. Tom and Brian came out for a few runs before heading into town (Brian leaves for home tomorrow, and wanted to grab a t-shirt). I made three more gondy laps and then came back to the lodge. Despite the unpleasant wetness, at least the rain and warm temps softened up the snow for some corn-like carving.

The forecast for next week looks a bit more promising, so we’re hopeful for a return to winter. 

Snow monkey movie

Made by Tom:


japanese snow monkeys from tom duggan on Vimeo.

Only in Japan

We opted to skip skiing today. But that’s okay, because instead we went to Jigokudani to see Japanese macaques, better known as … SNOW MONKEYS!! And they were awesome.

After a bus dropped us off near the entrance of Jigokudani Monkey Park, we followed a trail through the woods for nearly 2 kilometers until we reached the monkey onsen. The macaques ran all over the place, dashing up to people, fighting and playing with each other, roaming the hillsides and relaxing in their own onsen.

And that’s enough description. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.