Goryu is one of the
Hakuba ski resorts and it shares a common lift pass and is interconnected at the top with the Hakuba 47 Ski Resort. The Hakuba Goryu Ski Resort and
Hakuba 47 are good to visit as a day trip from other areas of Hakuba, or there’s a village at Goryu offering a peaceful and family friendly option for a Hakuba holiday.
The mountain views are pretty special and the nearby Goryu-dake (Mt Goryu) is named after dragons and/or diamonds that can be seen up on the mountain, but possibly only by tired skiers whose goggles are fogged up a little?!
Pros and Cons of Goryu
Pros
- In combination with Hakuba 47, Goryu offers decent sized terrain and a variety of slopes.
- Goryu Ski Resort itself is very good for beginners and intermediates.
- Goryu is rather family friendly with kids play areas, child care facilities, and group ski and snowboard lessons in English.
- Goryu is westernised enough to make a holiday straightforward for English speaking guests, yet it hasn’t lost the essence of Japan.
Cons
- If staying at Goryu, it’s easy enough to use the buses to get to Happo One ski resort, but more difficult to travel to the other resorts (relative to other Hakuba accommodation bases such as Wadano, Happo and Echoland).
- The prohibition of off-piste skiing and snowboarding in most areas can be rather restrictive for powder hounds.
Pro or Con Depending on your Perspective
- Goryu is a nice spot to stay if you’re happy with a quiet village with minimal nightlife, restaurant options, or shops.
Hakuba Goryu Ski and Snowboard Terrain
Goryu Ski Resort is a little larger than neighbouring
Hakuba 47 but it’s still modest in size with only 16 courses and 13 lifts (including a gondola and 3 quad chairs). The elevation is from 950 to 1,676 metres, with 726 metres of vertical drop.
The official trail stats are 35% beginner, 40% intermediate, and 25% advanced. As is often the case, the statistics don’t quite reflect reality because the advanced terrain is a little overestimated - Goryu only has three advanced runs.
In a small attempt to be savvy to their best asset, the powder, Hakuba Goryu has opened up a small “Open Tree Zone” where tree skiing is permitted. It’s delightfully steep and the trees are perfectly spaced, but there’s only enough room for about half a dozen fresh tracks. Elsewhere, off-piste skiing at Goryu is prohibited and whilst very tempting, riding under the gondola is really frowned upon. There is also some tasty sidecountry, but you’ll probably need to appear invisible or risk losing your lift pass. Goryu also has some great backcountry access above the resort.
See the
Goryu skiing page for more information.
Where is the Hakuba Goryu Ski Resort?
The Goryu Ski Resort is located 6km southwest of the Hakuba train station and the Goryu Toomi base, the main area of the ski resort, is about 1km from the Kamishiro train station on the JR Oito local line. The Iimori base of Goryu is another north by road. There are shuttles connecting Goryu with Hakuba 47, and buses to/from other Hakuba hubs such as Happo, Echoland and Wadano.
See our
getting to Hakuba page for information on the location of
Hakuba Japan and for options to travel there, and the
Goryu travel page for more on getting around.
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Goryu Accommodation
There is a lovely forested village near the Goryu Toomi base (Kamishiro) which has several hotels, lots of pensions, lodges, and various options for self-contained accommodation. There are a few ski-in ski-out properties, but most
Goryu accommodation requires a short walk to the lifts, or some lodges provide morning shuttles.
There is also a small amount of accommodation near the Iimori base.
You can search for availability and more information on the
Hakuba Goryu Accommodation listings page.
Goryu Ski Rentals & Snowboard Hire
A good pick for a Goryu ski rental /snowboard shop is
Central Snowsports which is located opposite Escal Plaza. Central Snowsports also offer a guest shuttle whereby they pick you up and drop you off to your accommodation. Central Snowsports have standard snowboard and ski rentals and clothing (pants, jackets, helmets) as well as high performance equipment and fat skis. In addition, they have backcountry ski touring rentals, skins, collapsible poles, snowshoes and packs with avalanche beacon, shovel and probe. You can
pre-book your gear here.
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Other Ski Resort Facilities
Most of the other ski resort amenities are located at the two base areas, with Toomi and the associated Escal Plaza being the larger of the base areas. The Escal Plaza is very well developed and has information booths with English speaking staff, multiple nap areas (so you can do as the Japanese do), a Burton retail store, and a ski pro shop with skis, boots and clothing.
There is no shortage of places to eat on-mountain with izakayas and eateries flanking the Toomi slope, cafeterias at the base areas, the 360 cafeteria up the top of the mountain, a Subway, and an ice cream shop (I never understood why the Japanese love ice-cream in winter?!).
Hakuba Snowsports School provide ski lessons for kids (5 and up) and adults, and snowboard lessons for ages 7 and up, for novice through to advanced levels. Private and group lessons are conducted in English. The group lesson meeting point is located at the Iimori base and it’s possible to ski down a beginner run from the Toomi side (where most of the accommodation is), but complete novices may want to catch a shuttle bus to Iimori.
There is a 7-Eleven out on the main highway about 1.5km from the central village where you can get supplies and use an international ATM.
Kids Facilities
Goryu offers day care for kids aged 1-5, but not from 12-1pm when parents have to pick up the kids for lunch (so no heading over to Happo One for a ski!). The staff are fully qualified but they do not speak fluent English.
Kids Wonderland, a snow park, is a fenced off area out the front of Escal Plaza. There are lots of sleds, buckets and other play equipment for free use.
Goryu Restaurants
There is no main street with a concentration of restaurants and bars, so you have to wander around the village to find evening dining opportunities. Even then, there are probably only several Goryu restaurants or bars (and they may or may not be open). It can only be assumed that the Japanese visitors have dinner at their hotel or pension.
Jankenpon and Canada-Tei are both cheap and cheerful Goryu restaurants, serving up simple Japanese fare.
Aqua Alpine has a lovely bar with comfie couches, an open fireplace, and lots of wines. They even have a Steve Bradbury wine where they’ve just put a label on some Australian wine. Actually the place feels like little Australia! In addition to some nice bar snacks, there is also a more formal restaurant.
Base Hakuba serves up burgers, fries and parmies (also very Australian) in a very casual (aka sterile) environment. The food is good and ideal if you’re just looking for a feed without any atmosphere.