Hakuba, my maiden ski trip; a handy dandy guide for skiers in Happo

Why give ang baos when you can go skiing?

Sick of people asking us why we don't have kids during Chinese New Year. Skip.

Happo-one ski slope; golden hour view from my room

I was promised a ski trip a long time ago.

Like Aragon to the Army of the Dead, I hold my wife's oath fulfilled.
Unlike the Army of the Dead, she hasn't disappeared from my life since.

Being the peak season, flights to Hokkaido were exorbitant.
Settled for the Hakuba Valley instead, staying in Happo.

Bus stop at the airport, waiting for our transfer to Hakuba

Highlight reel!

Day 1
Having landed in Tokyo, we got on a bus and headed for Hakuba.

Snowball fight at one of the rest stops

Arrived in Happo at around 4.30 pm and checked in at Hotel Happokan, A hotel/inn near the town's bus terminal.

Best accomodation in Japan for me so far. Spacious room with a wonderful view (refer to above picture). Wonderful breakfast.

Japanese breakfast: rice, miso, grilled saba and scrambled eggs and ham

The dining room

Headed over to Woody's rental shop to get fitted for skis and boots.
Price was competitive and was well reviewed.

The problem with Hakuba is that it's a small town serving lots of tourists, and night time transport is almost non existent. Restaurants near the town centre tend to get quite crowded, especially for the good Japanese food.
There are burger bars which may be less crowded but... you're in Japan... why would you... how could you...

Had dinner at Maeda, a popular soba shop. Highly recommended.
Soba.
Good ramen is everywhere, but good soba you got to go to Japan
Cold soba with the dipping sauce, that's the stuff.

A glimpse where the magic happens

Day 2

Finally the slopes!

Went with Evergreen for my lessons on the slopes of Happo-one.

Ski lesson was inadequate. Instructor took us to a flat-ish area and we practiced the snow plow and rudimentary turning. Never brought us up the lift or down the slope.
At the end of it was told to go ahead and practice on the beginner slope later in the afternoon.

Hot chocolate break 

We were sorely unprepared for the slopes.

Like hatchlings stumbling out of the nest, we struggled off the ski lift.
Got so bad the guy in the lift control booth comes to greet us when he spots us.

First run, I just pointed my skis straight down as per the lessons on the flat ground. Bad idea.

The Danger Zone: anywhere downhill of me

Eventually got the hang of it though, after some falling.
Finally understood I should be skiing across the fall line to control my speed.
See, why weren't these things taught in the morning!

Respite from the midday sun 

setting sun

Dinner was at Ohyokkuri, serving various styles of Japanese food. Food is mostly nothing to write home about to be honest, but I will say their chicken broth is pretty good. Felt like it was the Western idea of what Japanese food/ restaurant is.

Day 3

Saw falling snow for the first time, and I lost my shit!
Living on the equator sucks!

just put on a jacket and ran out the hotel

Headed to Woody's to get our skis changed to snowboards. Went in expecting a 30 min turn around time that turned into an hour. A nightmare, extremely crowded, took so long before our bindings were fixed to the board, nearly missed out lesson

Evergreen was very understanding, got us an instructor for our snowboard lesson. Was just the two of us, so it became sort of a private lesson. So much better than the ski lesson. Instructor from Hong Kong, Eddy, actually brought us up the slopes. Much more confident after the lessons.

Some people learn faster than others

with a view like this, you can understand why Japanese water paintings look the way they do

Raining at night, we walked a kilometer in slush for dinner at Yamanami Hakuba Teppan Yaki. Had their wagyu dinner sets, worth it, price and the walk.

Day 4
Packed up and left for Tokyo, click here for more!

Nitty Gritty

From Narita to Hakuba
We opted for an Alpico direct bus from Narita to Happo-one Bus Terminal.
A comfortable 6 hour journey, with stops every approximately 2 hours for a 20-30 min break, seats with power sockets.
Rather pricey at 9500 yen. Leaving at around 11 we reached approximately 4.30.
You could get a JR pass and travel up to Nagano and take a bus transfer there to Hakuba, but you'd reach later and it's not really worth all the transfers.

Accomodation
Make sure you get an accommodation close to the shuttle bus stops. Highly recommend Hotel Happokan, reasonably priced, very good location from the town's bus terminal and shuttle buses. Breakfast is phenomenal.

Book direct for Hotel Happokan, don't go through Agoda or Expedia as breakfast will not be included due to the commission the hotel has to pay the websites and it's actually cheaper direct.

Travel within Hakuba
They have free shuttle buses that connect the 3 ski resorts around the area and buses within Happo. But they are quite infrequent, one every 30 mins, and there is hardly any alternatives. They also stop running around 5pm.

Tickets and Rental
I would recommend you check with your hotel if they offer cheaper lift passes. Hotel Happokan offered a 2 day pass at around 15% discount. They may have tie ups with some rental shops as well.

For equipment I went with Woody's after looking around for a bit online. They allow you to swap between ski and snowboard for free. But they do get abit crowded. Show them an online coupon for discounts (found on their website)

Ski lessons at Evergreen were 17000 yen for 2 half day lessons, you can mix and match ski and snowboarding lessons.

Happo-one Slopes
So adding this part as fair warning, the beginner slope seems to be pretty steep, alot steeper than what one would expect for a beginner, steeper than the other beginner slopes in the Happo Valley from what I later read. Can't comment on the rest of the slopes as I never left the Sakka slope.

Can be a tad intimidating compared to the slopes I see on youtube for beginners.


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