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

While backcountry snowboarding in Japan, pro journalist Seth Lightcap made a simple mistake that nearly cost him his life. He was rushing to escape a bitter cold wind and decided … 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

Today started with a little sun, became overcast, and eventually started to snow; as the next low pressure system moves in. Hopefully there will be some significant accumulation tonight, although … Read More

Finally, a bluebird day! Today was the first time in awhile where we could see all the way into the high peaks of the Japanese Alps.   Although we could … Read More

Its a Marshmallow World here in Hakuba, with some of the better pillow lines coming into prime condition. The biggest ones still need a bit more snow, but overall things … Read More

Tuesday, January 10. After a few centimeters of snow yesterday in Hakuba, the clouds lifted and the sun came out to partially reveal the Japanese Alps.   Our group worked … Read More

The culture shock of visiting a place as foreign and different as Japan can be stressful. This guide won’t help with that, but it will help you ensure that you’re … Read More

Snow Forecast was calling for light snow all day today, with 1 cm falling in the morning, and 1 cm in the afternoon. Personally, I took the opportunity to sleep … Read More

Hakuba received about three feet of snow over a couple days this week. This gave us some killer tree skiing, but left us thirsty for some clear skies to get into … Read More

It seems that the Japan Avalanche Network noticed my complaints in the post on Backcountry Safety the other day (or maybe just a coincidence), because as of January 7, they … Read More

This video was shot TODAY in Nozawa Onsen, Japan. HOT DANG That Looks GOOD! Video by, Jeff Chim 50 faceshots. Here is a bit more about Nozawa Onsen, Japan. Japan … Read More

So, how do you get mountain weather forecasts in Japan? Unfortunately, there is no NOAA to provide detailed information here. In my experience and in my opinion, there are two … Read More