Keeping its powder dry
Japan Airlines flies from Sydney to Tokyo daily. The Shinkansen train from Tokyo leaves for Nagano every hour.
March 8, 2009
A snowboarder hits the trail at Hakuba.
Photo: John Borthwick/Lonely PlanetRachael Oakes-Ash bypasses the tourist traps and heeds the call of Hakuba’s magic mountains.
It’s 2am and I can’t get into my lodgings. The temperature is minus 10 degrees and there’s six feet of snow banked up outside, so it won’t be long until hypothermia sets in. Not that I’ll feel it – one too many sakes at The Pub, a famed Hakuba spot, has given me the illusion of warmth.What I do know is that Yamizake San, the owner of the pension I am staying at, is sound asleep and the front door is locked.
This is just one of many obstacles experienced when visiting Japan; the cultural divide makes travel here so challenging and exciting. I know to take off my shoes and store them before entering the hostel. I know never to pour my own sake or cross my chopsticks on my bowl. But I didn’t know about the curfew or the security code required to open the door late at night.
Perhaps that’s what Yamizake San was saying when he pointed to the door as I left earlier. I just nodded and smiled. It has got me around the rest of Japan; now it’s got me locked out. That’s the thing about Hakuba, on Japan’s main island of Honshu. It may have hosted events at the 1998 Winter Olympics but one gets the feeling it hasn’t seen too many foreigners since – not when you compare it to Hokkaido’s Niseko, which is Nis Vegas for Aussies. You won’t find the homogenised Western tourism of Niseko in Hakuba Valley. Not yet, anyway.
From Tokyo, Hakuba is a 90-minute Shinkansen (Bullet Train) ride to Nagano Station and an hour-long shuttle transfer downtown. This 30-kilometre valley, deep in the alps, is home to 10 resorts for all standards of skier and boarder and boasts some of the country’s most challenging back-country terrain, with steep pitches and deep powder.
The main resorts of Happo One, Goryu Toomi and Hakuba 47 are the most popular and accessible from town.
Happo One is famous for Austrian ski legend Herman Maier’s spectacular crash at 70 kilometres-an-hour in the Olympics. Lucky to survive, he came back days later to win gold. Tourists can now pretend to be elite athletes and slalom down the Kurobishi Olympic Downhill run.
It may not get the 14 metres of snow that Hokkaido claims but it does get an average of 11 metres and, once you start talking more than 10 metres, who’s counting? Lift tickets are 4600 yen (about $70). Happo Village and the forest of Wadano sit at the base of Happo One ski resort and are the most popular destinations for lodging. There’s a mix of international and Japanese-style accommodation. A handful of Canadians and Australians have set up shop in the past few years and run pubs and bars. Don’t miss the Mominoki Pub, built in a wooded lane.
Echoland is more developed, with shops, dining and late-night entertainment, but it doesn’t have the same accessibility to the slopes. You’ll find the private booths of Izakaya-style dining at Hie Restaurant, on the main strip. It’s casual dining on tatami mats from low-seated tables and the food is some of the best in Hakuba.
The area close to Hakuba station has cheap, hearty dining options, including Gravity Worx for Western-style fare and the Emu for Okonomiyaki savoury pancakes cooked on the grill in front of you (highly addictive at less than $10). If you can find Mon Pigeon bakery in the back streets of Hakuba, you’re in for a treat. It’s a French patisserie owned by a Japanese family with a cafe out the back filled with lounge dogs, so called because that’s all they do – lie around and eat titbits from diners.
But back to the skiing. Goryu and Hakuba 47 ski areas attract a younger crowd with the best terrain parks in the region and a plethora of ski-in, ski-out bars, including a yurt and a cafe filled with European sports cars.
Iwatake ski field is for beginners and families, while Cortina sits at the end of the valley and receives seriously magic snowfall. Most folk don’t make the trek so tracks are fresh all day.
The Japanese are obsessed with groomed runs and technical perfection; not all skiers have discovered the joy of powder skiing in Hakuba – yet. Powder stashes still exist after lunchtime; if you want deep powder and are prepared to work for it, you can hike out the back of Happo One. The trek to the peak takes more than two hours and there are no sherpas to carry your skis. However, Dave Enright leads a band of certified guides. You’ll find them at the Evergreen Outdoor Centre, behind the Mominoki Hotel.
The beauty of Japan is not just the foreign customs – it’s the people. The hearts of the Hakuba locals are as big as the Japan Alps that guard this valley. Just remember to note the security code before you go outside.
TRIP NOTES
Getting there
Japan Airlines flies from Sydney to Tokyo daily. The Shinkansen train from Tokyo leaves for Nagano every hour. See jal.com.
Staying there
Try La Neige, for a Japanese perception of a French boutique hotel, see laneige-honkan.com/en/index.html.
The Whitehorse Lodge is good,see whitehorse-hakuba.com.
Mominoki Hotel has natural hot springs, see mominokihotel.com.
Penke Panke has budget-style pension accommodation, see penkepanke.com.
For large families the self contained Hakuba Creek House is perfect: English speaking management and you get the keys and a car thrown in. creekhouse-hakuba.com
When to go
December to May. (Good in Summer too)
Further information
See hakubatourism.com.
and daughter Noriko conveyed the decision in a Friday meeting with immigration authorities, their lawyer, Shogo Watanabe, said.
