How do skiers use their Hakuba Valley All-Mountain Season Pass (hereafter referred to as the Valley Pass)? Gomi Hidetoshi, a company employee living in Yokohama who enjoys mountain skiing, has been enjoying skiing at ski resorts with his now-grown children for the past year or two. Let's take a glimpse into Gomi's winter lifestyle with his Valley Pass, which takes him from Hokkaido to the Hakuba area (hereafter referred to as Hakuba). Click here .
Until my children are old enough to ski, mountain skiing is my main focus
Gomi Hidetoshi is originally from Chino City, Nagano Prefecture, and currently lives in Yokohama City. He started skiing seriously in high school, and even worked part-time at a ski resort during his university years. He gradually became interested in alpine snowboarding, and eventually became so addicted that he traveled to New Zealand
After entering the workforce, he only had about 10 days of skiing per season, but a trip to Arai in 2006 was a turning point. There, he discovered the power of fresh snow and deep snow, and shifted from alpine boarding to freestyle boarding. For a while, he enjoyed the powder at the ski resort, but gradually his eyes turned to the mountains behind. As he changed his style to mountain boarding, he didn't know about splitboards at the time, so he was captivated by the dynamic nature of skiing during a guided tour of Blue Cliff in Hokkaido, and returned to skiing
From then on, he became completely absorbed in mountain skiing, spending his days repeatedly going on hard mountain trips
He continued skiing in the same way even after his children were born, but as they started skiing at the age of three and improved day by day, and when they started elementary school and could ski together, he began to prioritize time with his children, which passes in the blink of an eye, and now he spends less time skiing in the mountains and more time skiing with his children
Adults received volleyball tickets, and children mainly spent the 2022-2023 season on the NSD Kids Program
"In the 2022-2023 season, I skied 55 days. 26 days were mountain skiing and 29 days at the ski resort. Of those, 31 days were skiing with my son and 24 days were free skiing. As I'm an office worker, my routine is to go to the mountains in various places from my home in Yokohama almost every weekend. I have paid vacation and winter holidays, so I can apply for weekday days off in advance, but in recent years, due to work commitments, it's been difficult to take time off at the last minute
I started using the volleyball pass from the 2022-2023 season. One of the reasons was because of the NSD kids' program (free entry to 10 ski resorts for elementary school students and younger). In addition to being able to ski at three ski resorts - Kashimayari, Happo, and Tsugaike - I also purchased a children's season pass for Goryu 47. This essentially meant I had the opportunity to ski at half the ski resorts in the Hakuba area, and the 2022-2023 season was the first year that I skied with my kids more often than I skied alone
When his children were small, Gomi often enjoyed mountain skiing with his friends. In Hakuba, he repeatedly went on risky but fulfilling mountain hikes such as Junction Peak on Shakushidake and Fukiya
He used to ski mainly in the mountains of Nagano Prefecture with friends he met from all over the country at the guide club, but once he started skiing with his children, he gradually shifted his focus to safe and fun skiing. He says that the increase in ski resorts that have made progress in developing and opening up new snow areas has had a big impact on him
However, this doesn't mean that he has completely stopped going to the mountains, so the volleyball ticket suited Gomi's desire to ski with his children and spend his free time on powder snow at ski resorts or in the backcountry
The reason why the Hakuba mountains are better than the nearby mountains is because of the expressway!
Commuting from Yokohama to Hakuba every week is a long distance and takes time. NSD's kids' programs also have several other locations outside of Hakuba, and there are surely many other options for skiing in the Kanto region.
So why did Gomi choose the Hakuba area as his home mountain?
"I don't like the Kan'etsu Expressway on weekends. It's incredibly crowded. Even at 5am, traffic jams start from Nerima, and it's even worse on the way home. My home is in Yokohama, so if I go to the Hakuba area via the Chuo Expressway, it's farther than going to Gunma or Yuzawa, but it doesn't take much longer. There are also a number of other factors, such as the clientele at ski resorts not matching my preferences, people concentrating at one ski resort, or it being difficult to find good snow
On the other hand, once you get to Hakuba, there are 10 ski resorts to choose from, so you can easily get to the mountains if you want to. The slopes alone are enough to satisfy you, and I like the atmosphere, with many foreign visitors.
Also, many of my friends who go into the mountains with me live in the Kansai and Chukyo areas, so Hakuba, which is halfway between me and the Kanto area, is just convenient.
While based in Hakuba, where the snow quality is good, the slopes are varied, and it's easy to gather friends, Gomi believes in assessing the conditions of the ski resorts and mountains and moving around swiftly. He
checks the weather forecast and information posted on social media, and if it's clearly snowing in the Myoko area, he'll head to Charmant or Arai, and if it's better inland, he'll head to Madarao or Nozawa Onsen, and even if he's in Hakuba, he'll move around swiftly and keep these areas within day trip range. He doesn't want to be tied down by a volleyball pass and miss out on places he should be going.
But even so, if it's snowing or snowing, he chooses Hakuba without hesitation. Considering the variety of options within the area, the altitude of each ski resort, and the snow quality, Hakuba wins out.
"The appeal is in the runs, which are so good you wouldn't believe they're inside a ski resort. For example, the line that connects Kurobishi in Happo to Skyline. It's a distance and elevation difference that you can't easily find at other ski resorts. Even ungroomed runs like Omusubi aren't much different from backcountry slopes. But, after the first hour or two of skiing, you're already satisfied."
After I got the volleyball ticket, all thoughts of profit and loss disappeared from my head
During the season, Gomi tries not to miss the best opportunity to play despite the limited number of days off. From that perspective, the volleyball ticket, which offers an excellent balance of early bird discounts and excellent utility, was a perfect fit for his style.
What are his impressions after using the volleyball ticket for one season?
"If you have a one-day pass, if you don't ski for half a day from the morning, you feel like you've wasted your time. But having a volleyball pass has freed me from that kind of commitment. Even on rainy days, I can just go up to the ski resort, ski one or two runs, and if I don't like it, I can just come back down to the base. If I'm having fun, I just keep skiing. There's no need to think about the pros and cons, and I can act according to my mood at the time, so it's stress-free
Another big advantage is that, as is often the case, if the ski resort is closed due to wind or only the lower lifts are operating and no refunds are given, you can move to a different ski resort without hesitation. You can also move easily in search of good conditions or fresh snow to ski on
Although we don't want to say it too loudly, being able to ski before or after going to the mountains is also a big attraction. As a skier, you can't miss the powder on the slopes first thing in the morning or the perfectly groomed, packed slopes
Another thing is a small thing, but not having to line up at the lift ticket counter every time is a big deal. In other prefectures, there have been times when there were huge lines when using the service and I couldn't buy a ticket even after waiting an hour, so it was very helpful not to have to go through that again. Taking all of this into consideration, I think the price is fair for the satisfaction with the skiing experience."
He runs the NSD Kids Program, and says that when he skis with his kids, he often uses 47. It's easy to see why
"47 is very convenient as it has close access to the gondola from the parking lot. My child is at the age where he wants to try skiing in the park, so the environment is well-equipped, and it's connected to Goryu at the top, so there are many places to ski
Even on rainy days, my kids sometimes insist on going to the park in the morning, but when I'm with them I try to do as much as possible to accommodate their requests. However, there have been a few times when the conditions have been so good that I've casually suggested they go over to Route 2 or 3, and we've ended up skiing in the powder
We also went to Tsugaike a lot. DBD has a large area, so there are many places where powder remains. If it was snowing in Otari, we would cut 47 and go to another place. I think the combination of the volleyball ticket and the NSD Kids Program made it possible for adults and children to move around together depending on the conditions
But even if you have a volleyball ticket, if it's raining or the conditions are good in the Shinetsu or Myoko area rather than Hakuba, you won't hesitate to go and ski, even if you have children."
Create a place where you can go without hesitation
Gomi has been spending the season relying on a volleyball ticket and other passes. In the 2022-2023 season, he got his first volleyball ticket, so has there been any change since then?
"To be honest, I haven't experienced any major changes, like getting better at skiing, changing my way of thinking, or going to Hakuba to ski more often than before. But I think the biggest thing is that I've been able to create a place where I can go skiing without any worries
If you stay at a specific ski resort, you'll end up skiing only there. But Hakuba Valley is large from north to south, and there are 10 ski resorts, so you have plenty of options. There are plenty of destinations and the season is long, so you'll never get bored."
As a result of the dramatic increase in the number of times we skied together, my third-grader was able to ski almost anywhere in the powder at the ski resort, and in the 2022-2023 season he even ventured into the backcountry and conquered the slopes of Kanayamazawa on Mt. Hakuba. By gaining experience skiing in many different places, children with high learning abilities will improve rapidly
"There are volleyball tickets for children, but considering the number of times they can go, the price makes it a bit of a hassle, so I personally would be happy if there was a volleyball ticket for parents and children."
Gomi says. Hakuba Valley has a variety of ski resorts that can be enjoyed by children of all levels. Gomi and his family plan to visit the Hakuba area again this winter