Able Hakuba Goryu Ski Resort opened on Saturday, November 30th. The North Face/Genten Stick Rider and Hakuba resident Kazushige Fujita reports on the first day, which was blessed with more snow than expected
November 30th (Saturday) 8:00 AM -2°C Snow accumulation on the summit was 50cm overnight and 2-3cm during the day
Last year, Hakuba Goryu opened on November 30th. This year, it seemed like it wouldn't be possible to open in November. But that feeling was blown away overnight.
"Hey, maybe it'll open tomorrow?"
When we woke up on the morning of the 29th, we were greeted by a winter landscape all around. I'm sure every Hakuba villager thought the same thing as they watched the snow fall steadily, with about 20cm of it falling on their cars.
With that in mind, we gathered information on ski resorts in the Hakuba area. The people working at the ski resorts must have been busy dealing with the endless stream of notifications.
Then, on the afternoon of the 29th, three ski resorts—Goryu, Happo, and Tsugaike—announced their opening on the 30th. Hakuba was suddenly filled with energy, as if the excitement of a few days before was a lie. Also, in Hakuba, the ski resorts compete to see who can open first, and this year, Tsugaike came out on top.
Tsugaike opened at 8:00, Goryu at 10:00, and Happo at 11:00. Some skilled skiers even timed their schedules to ski all of them.
So, just like last year, the Hakuba area successfully opened on the last day of November.
On opening day, every ski resort was bustling with people, as if they had been waiting for the opening day.
Snow, then a blast, then snow. I was awakened by the snow that had fallen, about 50cm deep
At Hakuba Goryu, the panoramic course on the Alps Daira slope, located at the end of the gondola, opens. This is a regular feature every year, and the number of courses gradually increases as the snowfall increases.
Incidentally, on December 1st, the second day of opening, one course of Hakuba 47, which connects to the top, will also open.
Another friendly initiative at Goryu is the traditional "free curry" event held on the first weekend after opening. At the gondola mountaintop restaurant "Alps360," you can eat as much curry as you want for free.
"Curry at Goryu for lunch," says
many Hakuba Valley season pass holders, who travel all the way from neighboring slopes just to enjoy it.
As the 10am rolls around, the queue for the gondolas begins to grow. There are fewer people than expected, around 200 people. This is probably because Happo and Tsugaike are also open. Even down below, people are excited to see the snow up to their knees. They chat with each other after a long time, and the time they spend waiting for the gondolas flies by. This time of year in particular is packed with locals and snow enthusiasts, and you can really feel the deep connections between the community. It's also a moment when you really feel that snow supports the region.
Incidentally, the person at the front of the queue had been waiting since 5:30am. He was also at the front of the queue last year, so he's a real snow enthusiast.
At the end of the gondola ride, we found soft powder snow, a stark contrast to the wet snow below. The snow, which even our boards could glide over, instantly got us excited. The Panorama Course had packed snow covering about 40m in the middle, which is about half the width of the course, and the untouched areas to the side were covered in about 80cm of powder. Everyone hurried to catch the next lift
However, just as we got safely on the lift, trouble occurred. We
were so excited that we didn't notice, or rather, we were just pretending not to notice, but the occasional strong winds stopped the lift, and when we turned around, we saw a long line of people waiting for the lift.
We made it to the top, almost getting blown away with our boards,
"We'll be suspending service for a while! (tears)
." Everyone thought, "Eh!", but this wasn't anyone's fault, and it was a nice way to feel the power of nature, so it wasn't so bad. That's all we could think.
Still, we decided we could make one run! We changed our mindset and continued riding.
"Ah! That feels great!" we high-fived.
Everyone was excited, saying "This is it!" as they felt the sensation for the first time in six months.
And because they were so excited, they weren't dissatisfied with the suspension of service. On the contrary, they seemed to be having fun and chatting away.
Everyone ate curry, hiked up, and skied. Hiking up is usually prohibited, but on this particular day, even the patrols couldn't stop them. The sight of over 100 people hiking up and having fun was overflowing with everyone's love for the sport
The wind died down around 1pm and the resort reopened. Some people couldn't wait any longer and headed home, so everyone enjoyed a comfortable ride.
Despite some natural troubles, Hakuba Goryu was filled with smiles from start to finish. The signal for the start of the long winter that will last until Golden Week has sounded.
Opening Movie
■Information
Able Hakuba Goryu Ski Resort
22184-10 Kamishiro, Hakuba-mura, Kitaazumi-gun, Nagano Prefecture 399-9211
Official website: https://www.hakubaescal.com/winter/
Official social media: Instagram | Facebook | X | Youtube