About Hakuba Japan
The Hakuba valley is located deep within the Japanese Alps inside the Nagano Prefecture. The valley incorporates 10 ski resorts, over 200 runs, 139 lifts, huge towering peaks, a local village, ski /snowboard shops, a combination of traditional or western dining and Après entertainment. This is the heart and soul of snow sports in Japan and played host to many events during the 1998 winter Olympics including, downhill skiing, ski jumping and the super G.
The ski season runs from early December to late April each winter. Weather systems from Siberia travel south across the Sea of Japan, picking up moisture as they go. Once over Japan, these weather systems meet the warm systems moving northwards from the equator and the result is an epic release of snow virtually unmatched anywhere else in the world. The Hakuba valley receives on average, an astonishing 11m snowfall each winter and combines this with regular blue bird day’s right through the season.
From the southern end of the valley Sun Alpina incorporates 3 ski areas to the linked resorts of Hakuba 47, Goryu-Toomi and the Olympic ski resort of Happo-One, situated in the heart of Hakuba. To the northern end of the valley, Iwatake, Tsugaike, Norikura and Cortina resorts are all impressive and rate highly amongst skiers and boarders alike.There is a huge range of accommodation options in Hakuba. These include western style self contained log houses and condominiums, Japanese pensions, budget and boutique ski lodges, fine 5 star hotels and everything in between. Other facilities in the valley include a huge amount of traditional Japanese restaurants and Izakaya’s (Japanese pubs), a variety of international restaurants including French, Italian, Korean, Mexican and Thai. Numerous indoor and outdoor, public and private Onsens (Natural hot spring baths), ski/snowboard and gift shops, and many western style bars, pubs and nightclubs.
The Hakuba valley and ski resorts are becoming increasingly popular with international tourists. In 2008 the Warren Miller ski film crew visited the area shooting footage, World Snowboard Guide stopped by for some articles and journalists from ski and board magazines worldwide hit the local powder. This truly amazing area is a must visit destination for all skiers and snowboarders.