Return of the pow

After a couple of mediocre ski days (dust on crust and ridiculously thick fog on Monday; high avy danger on Tuesday), we awoke Wednesday to more sun and low expectations. Took our time getting to Happo, and then once we were on the lift it started snowing. And then it started snowing harder. And harder. And even harder, to the point where a few runs and lift rides were in total whiteout. Tom, Jon, and Kate and I skied through the end of the day (with a bakery stop for lunch), lapping up the fresh snow in the trees.

Tom making the most of Wednesday's new snow (which, lower down, was not as deep as it looks here)

On Thursday, with high winds forecast for Happo, Tom and Jon and I took a chance on Cortina. Alas, with Patrick leaving the lodge on Wednesday morning to continue his ski season in British Columbia, we were left without a ride to the north end of the Hakuba Valley. So we took a train and a shuttle, and when we arrived at Cortina we found a reported 50 centimeters of fresh snow. It was at least that deep.

Jon, not finding any crust at Cortina

Great skiing in the morning, until the sun turned certain aspects into heavy mush. And then, just before lunch, my binding ripped out of my ski and bent in half. So I have no binding, and no ski. Fantastic. At least I had pizza and an onsen.

I'm none too happy about this

Fortunately, Nick of Hakuba Powder Lodging has a couple pairs of tele skis he never uses, so I can borrow those for the remainder of the trip. One is a pair of old fat skis, which could come in handy tomorrow, as snow is falling once again.

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

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