You have decided it is time to take that much deserved holiday in the snow. But what about the family and work commitments. Hakuba has a fibre optic internet network which means quick and easy connection to your loved ones and I’m sorry to say also to your dreaded work place. Lets face it, when you are on holidays the last thing you want to have to deal with is work issues. Put it this way though, your office can be situated in one of the most beautiful winter wonderlands in the world. A couple of hours getting first tracks and then back to the hotel to take a conference call before lunch. Not such a bad situation. We also find that many of our guests like to speak to their elderly parents or grandparents each week to make sure they are fine. We have introduced many of our guests to the SKYPE way of communications.  Join up to Skype and you can talk from computer to computer for free. Maybe granny doesn’t have a computer so the beauty of skype is that from our computer here you can call a land line, mobile or even text a message to your tech savvy mum for a very low cost. Maybe 3 cents a minute. We supply the computer, headsets and free internet use for our guests. So give it a go. Check out this link here. It will save you a fortune in long distance calls. If you want to test it out please feel free to contact me anytime on our skype line at whitehorsehakuba

I wish I was getting paid commission but no, just happy to pass on a great service.

The snow season for 2009/10 has come and gone. Opening day was recorded here on my Hakuba Blog on the 16th of December  and finished up at the same resort, “Goryu”, on the 9th of May. It has been a fantastic season with plenty of snow and many epic powder days along with lots of bluebird days. I was able to get out on the mountain with many of our guests and show them some of my favourite spots. I notched up another resort, “Nozawa’, on my Snow CV and I dropped some new lines out in the back country. An injury to my ankle kept me out for a few weeks but overall for me personally it was another great season on the snow.  It started a little later than usual but as we all know what can happen in Hakuba, the snow gods pounded us with 2 meters of snow in a couple of days and then continued to pound us with a spectacular amounts over the next few weeks. Those lucky enough to be here to experience Hakuba at it’s best were astounded. Those of us who have been lucky enough to have made Hakuba our home just nod our heads, smile and announce, “that’s why we live here”.
I hope to see you all next season.

Sumo wrestling is something that everybody coming to Japan should experience. If your dates don’t match up with one of the big tournaments this time, don’t despair as this year you will be able to come and meet Tanimoto san in Hakuba. He is an ex sumo wrestler who has decided to set up a Chanko Nabe restaurant in the middle of Echoland. Chanko Nabe is the renowned food of the sumo and is basically a hot pot of beef, chicken, pork or fish and lots of fresh vegetables, tofu, egg, rice and noodles. There are no rules for what goes into a nabe. Sukiyaki, the best-known hot pot, is made with beef and a sweetened soy sauce base, while lshikari nabe, consists of salmon and vegetables in a miso-kelp broth. Tanimoto san will be the chanko-ban (the person in charge of preparing the meals). There are no recipes, you just taste as you go along. I am looking forward to this one opening up. My problem is that I will have to try and walk past it everyday when I come home from the gym.

Hakuba tree skiing is as good as anywhere in the world. I had the pleasure of joining the Warren Miller film crew a couple of years ago on the mountain while they were filming the “Children of the Winter”. They were staying at the Arctic White Horse Hotel so I was able to show them around Hakuba. It was a dream come true to be out on the mountain with the legendary movie makers.  Hakuba turned on the conditions for them, bringing in some deep dry powder straight out of Siberia and then clearing the sky for a bluebird day. Japans number 1 skiing personality, Takehiro Sakamoto and Olympic gold medalist Johnny Mosely showed me a level of freeskiing that I had never witnessed before. I feel blessed that I was given this opportunity. Hakuba has been good to me.

Late April and the snowpark atmosphere is great here in Hakuba. With plenty of snow, blue skies and a season of practice, the Hakuba 47 snow park is a great place to just sit and watch what the crew can do. Big jumps, spins, twists and somersaults,  rails and boxes. They are all out of my depth but a warm day chilling out and watching some of the crazy stuff people can do these days is brilliant.  The Park scene is becoming more and more popular here in Hakuba each year with all of the resorts improving their areas all of the time. For me, I might just sit back and watch them and wait for the powder.