Photo/ Takahashi Tonko
How do skiers use their Hakuba Valley All Mountain Season Pass (hereafter referred to as the "Valley Pass")?
Let's take a look at the winter lifestyle of 20-year-old snowboarder Shuzaburo Otsubo, who has spent a lot of time living overseas due to his parents' work. Skier Hideaki Gomi's version is here .
He got hooked on snowboarding in Calgary, Canada
Shuzaburo Otsubo is a 20-year-old university student living in Tokyo. He is a professional snowboarder who was promoted to professional status in 2019 after placing third in the JSBA points rankings. He spends the snowless seasons in Tokyo, and when it does snow, he relocates to Hakuba and enjoys skiing in the Hakuba Valley
His father's work took him to many countries around the world during his childhood. He spent time in Malaysia, Azerbaijan, the United States, and Canada, but he fell in love with snowboarding in Calgary, Canada, the site of the Olympic Games. With a half-pipe large enough to host the World Cup and big air competitions, Calgary was surrounded by serious snowboarders.
So influenced by this, when his father was later transferred to Russia, he returned to Japan with his mother and dedicated himself to snowboarding. He based himself at Osaka KINGS, where he honed his skills under the tutelage of coach Keiji Okamoto, who was based in Hakuba.
I started using the volleyball ticket from the 2022-2023 season
"At the foot of Mt. Goryu, there was a shared house called "BASE GORYU" run by Keiji. It was my base during the season since I was in high school. At first, I would walk about 15 minutes to the ski resort and ski at Goryu and Yonnana (Hakuba 47, hereafter referred to as 47) every day. Since the park was my main focus, I skied the park at 47 for three seasons.
In fact, 47 was all I needed. I was in that environment and thought that I would be happy if I could do jumps and jibs, haha.
Then, when I participated in and won the JFO (JAPAN FREERIDE OPEN: a freeride competition organized by riders) held at Hakunori (Hakuba Norikura Onsen Ski Resort) and Cortina (Hakuba Cortina) in the 2021-2022 season, I decided that I wanted to try my hand at freeriding. Keiji also told me that I should ski on a variety of mountains.
However, the only ticket available at the time was Goryu 47, so after doing some research I found out that there were volleyball tickets available, and I bought my first volleyball ticket in the 2022-2023 season.
Otsubo started using the valley pass from the 2022-2023 season. Once the season begins, he skis at various ski resorts in Hakuba Valley, free to ski anywhere in the mountains without being tied to a specific park until mid-January, and from February onwards he travels all over the country to take part in slopestyle and big air competitions. When he returns to Hakuba between competitions, he mainly skis at the parks, which is his usual flow for the season
"Until now, I would buy a one-day pass to go to ski resorts other than Goryu 47, but that would cost money.
The valley pass is a lot of money for a student like me, but it means I won't have to worry about money when skiing at Hakuba Valley during the season, so I decided to go without hesitation.
During the season, if there was a competition coming up, I would mainly go to Park 47, but at the beginning of the season I would check the weather forecast to see where it was likely to snow or where it was already snowing, and then ski from morning until night. I often went to Parks like Happo and Cortina, as well as Goryu 47
I also make videos after winter ends as part of a season edit, so being able to shoot powder, freeriding, parks, and more in one area increases the variety of footage I can get.
In particular, I often go to parks in Iwatake and Happo, in addition to 47. Unlike 47, those parks have a mix of terrain, so it's not only fun to ski there, but the images change, so there are also great benefits to filming there.
It's also great that you can easily participate in the big kicker event "Hammerbanger" that takes place at the top of Tsugaike in the spring.
There are also many events at each ski resort in the spring, so it's also helpful that you don't have to worry about lift ticket costs. Parks change with the seasons, just like powder, so it's great to be able to adapt to that. The items change, the scale gets bigger, and at terrain parks, the situation changes all the time depending on when you go.
You can adapt to those changes in both powder and parks without hesitation, and above all, having a wide range of options is a major benefit I felt after having a volleyball ticket."
You'll never get bored of skiing at the ski resorts and mountains of Hakuba Valley
Otsubo travels all over the country to compete in slopestyle and big air competitions. In the 2022-2023 season, he spent a total of about two weeks visiting Alts Bandai in Fukushima Prefecture, Palcol Tsumagoi in Gunma Prefecture, X-JAM Takaifuji in Nagano Prefecture, Washigatake in Gifu Prefecture, and Niseko Hanazono in Hokkaido.
However, since competitions are his main focus, he isn't able to fully enjoy these ski resorts. In fact, the more he skis in other areas, the more he appreciates the beauty of Hakuba Valley, where he usually skis.
"I go to each ski resort for a competition, so I don't ski everywhere, but I inevitably get bored. Basically, I practice for the competition in the morning and then ski free in the afternoon. That means that most of the good spots are already skied and it's a mess. I ski in good powder spots in the morning, and then in the afternoon I feel like going to a different ski resort
There are limits to what one ski resort can do, so when you think about it, the volleyball ticket system is a really great idea, and when you go to other areas, you really feel that."
We asked Otsubo about the best day of the 2022-2023 season for having a volleyball ticket
"It was the beginning of February when we went ski-hopping to three ski resorts: Happo, Cortina, and Tsugaike. The weather forecast was cloudy, but it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day.
So that day we headed out from Happo into the backcountry and skied down the south face with a friend. We had actually intended to stop at that one run, but there were no people around and the conditions were so good that we decided to go for another run and dropped off.
After that, we drove to Cortina, the northernmost point. There were a few lines, but even though it wasn't early in the morning, there was still plenty of powder left. We found some good lines while traversing and were completely absorbed in skiing until after 1pm
The last stop was Tsugaike. DBD (TSUGAIKE DOUBLE BLACK DIAMOND) is a vast area, so there were many areas that were not visited by people, so I went there to ski. The day I realized it was already 4pm was the best day I had skiing in Hakuba last season
I also bought a season pass for the 2022-2023 Goryu night skiing season, so I really feel like I was skiing from morning until night, not just on this day."
By skating in various places, I improved my skills and made more connections with people
Otsubo has been making full use of the volleyball ticket, but what changes has happened to her since she got it?
"The thing that struck me the most was that when I looked back at the footage of the freeride competitions, my riding had become more stable. At JFO, there aren't many opportunities to ride in powder conditions, and the slopes at the competitions are pretty bumpy because everyone else is skiing on them.
When I looked at the footage from the 2021-2022 season, I thought I was carving, but I ended up doing slide turns and couldn't stop.
By the 2022-2023 season, I was able to make some pretty neat carving turns. Using a longer board to increase stability on rough slopes was also effective, but I hadn't thought of that until I'd been skiing in a variety of places
I think that being able to ski with the whole mountain in mind has helped me grow, as I've been able to enjoy not only the park but also powder and freeride, and I've also had more people ski with me. Among them were many people who brought me new inspiration, such as those who guided me around the mountain and took videos and photos
After all, if you keep skiing in the same place, it can get a bit monotonous and the excitement fades. It's great that I've been able to make so many connections within the Hakuba area."
While focusing on achieving success in slopestyle and big air competitions, Otsubo also enjoys powder and freeride, which has resulted in him improving his snowboarding skills overall and broadening his enjoyment of the sport.
By skiing all over the Hakuba area, he has also broadened the scope of the videos he creates, so it's all good news. Otsubo will be based in Hakuba this winter as well. Of course, he also plans to get his hands on a volleyball ticket for the 2023-2024 season.