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