Lee Lyon

With the incredible amounts of snow that the Alps have received this year, it is no surprise that lines which are rarely filled in have become skiable. It is even less … Read More

This is Takume Oike’s edit for 2011, filmed and produced by Mighty Jamming. Oike-san lives in Hakuba, but this segment was shot last winter in various spots on Hokkaido. Oike drops … Read More

In Japan, vending machines are everywhere. The majority of them sell simple things like soda, coffee, or beer. However, some offer much, much more. Here is a list of the … Read More

Nimbus Independent’s Niseko segment from En Route might be the best Japan footage of all time. Its a couple years old, but they just reposted it. This one has it … Read More

Zach Paley has been taking some great photos this winter in Hakuba. Today was another productive one, with some quality shots at at Cortina Resort. This gallery gives an inside … Read More

Last Monday and Tuesday (Feb 6 and 7) brought a larger rain event to Hakuba for the first time this season. The rain was followed by a few days of … Read More

 Daisuke Honda (?) putting forth a strong effort on Kaerazu. Every good ski resort has one zone or line that is plain view, and everyone dreams about riding. For Happo-One, … Read More

One of the more satisfying trends in the ski and snowboard industry in recent years has been the growth of local, boutique ski manufacturers. These brands allow you to support … Read More

Somewhere between Tokyo and the Sea of Japan lies a land of virgin pillows the likes of which only a select few have laid eyes upon. These lines are tucked … Read More

It is hard to think about rain while it is currently puking snow outside. However, it looks like we can expect temperatures to rise over the next couple of days, … Read More

Cortina is probably Hakuba’s worst kept secret. It gets more snow than anywhere else in the valley, it has fantastic tree skiing, and it is the only resort around where … Read More

There is a lot of talk so far this season about how it compares to past winters. There are surprising number of complaints that this must be a low snow … Read More

Traveling Japan: How to Get to Hakuba Flying to Tokyo The International Airport (where you want to fly to) in Tokyo is Narita (NRT). Most people have worked out there … Read More

Two male Japanese skiers were involved in an avalanche in the Goryu ski resort sidecountry on Saturday, January 28. One of them was caught in the avalanche and killed. Evergreen … Read More

A good two feet plus of fresh snow fell last night at Happo. Thats after a couple feet the day before, and a couple feet the day before that, and … Read More

For the past few days, Hakuba has been thrust back into the center of a storm, and there is no end in sight. Zach Paley has taken a collection of … Read More

There was plenty of snow wherever you were skiing in the Hakuba area today. Unfortunately, all that snow has fallen on top of crusts on all aspects at and below … Read More

Take a look at Ian Millar’s article on Salomon Freeski TV in Hakuba. The Salomon crew spent the past couple weeks in Hakuba working on a new episode for Freeski … Read More

The Hakuba Powder Lodge is the place to stay for freeskiers in Hakuba, Japan. If you don’t believe me, take a look at the quiver here: There are only 16 … Read More

After a few days of high pressure in Hakuba, we now return you to your previously scheduled programming: Japow! It looks like we’ll be having a bit of wet and … Read More

High pressure, stable snow, and low winds over the past few days have made for perfect conditions to get after some bigger lines. With this in mind, we made plans … Read More

As promised, photos and videos from yesterday. Our objective on the day was not quite filled in enough to be skiable yet, but we made the best of it and … Read More

Conditions have been perfect the past couple of days for getting after bigger lines in Hakuba. Blue skies, minimal winds, stable snow, reasonably cold temps (for high pressure, by Hakuba … Read More

Onsen are Japanese bath houses heated by natural hot springs. Onsen and hot springs are everywhere in Japan – the positive that goes with having so many earthquakes. Japanese Onsen … Read More

In the past few years, Fins have been flocking to Hakuba like Salmon of Capistrano. If you haven’t seen Fins in action yet; they ski hard, drink hard, and generally … Read More

Here in Hakuba, many of our backcountry runs require river crossings at the bottom. Usually, slides will bury rivers in enough places that you can ski straight across. Because of … Read More