Hakuba 47 Skiing & Snowboarding Terrain

Get on that white horse and ride 'til you get your powder fix!

In isolation, the Hakuba 47 Ski Resort is a reasonably small ski area with only 8 courses and 5 lifts, although it has a decent vertical drop of 794 metres (820-1,614m). The Hakuba 47 skiing terrain ratings reflect that there isn’t much variety for any ability level. Of course, Hakuba 47 is inter-connected with Goryu Ski Resort which provides more terrain. The exception to this is when the winds are ferocious or there are white-out conditions, and then inter-connections can close. And if lifts go on wind-hold at Hakuba 47 then the terrain size really shrinks.

Lifts

Hakuba 47 Ski Resort has 6 lifts which incorporates 1 gondola, 1 express quad chair lift, a fast pair lift and 3 slow pair lifts, however most days there are really only 4 lifts. Two of the chairs run parallel to each other, and Line D lift only operates when it’s particularly busy or the gondola is on wind-hold.

The lift layout has a little clunkiness to it. For example, the main intermediate run entails the necessity to ride the gondola plus a lift, and this can get rather tedious. The gondola doesn’t run the full vertical of the resort, which is probably a good thing otherwise the gondola wouldn’t run on windy days.

Crowds at Hakuba 47

Other than Happo One, Hakuba 47 and Goryu are probably the most popular of the Hakuba ski resorts, in part because they are dual ski resorts, and because there are lots of buses to cater for the many international visitors in Echoland. It’s also rather popular on weekends with the Japanese visitors and lift queues can develop, especially at the terrain park.

Lift Tickets

Lift tickets for Hakuba 47 also provide access to Goryu Ski Resort. The price of lift passes is somewhat expensive for Japan, but incredibly cheap on an international scale.

Lift passes bought on the day for just Hakuba 47/Goryu are cheaper than the Hakuba Valley pass, and many hotels and pensions provide discounted lift passes which makes it even cheaper (although you may have to pay cash for it). The advantages of the Hakuba Valley pass are that some of the buses to the ski resort are free, you can ski at multiple Hakuba ski areas each day (e.g. if the weather closes a key lift at one resort), and multi-day passes save the hassle of lining up to buy a ticket at the window.

Kids under 6 years of age ski for free at Hakuba 47/Goryu.

Hakuba 47 is accessible off the Epic Pass – see the Hakuba skiing page for more information.

Hakuba 47 Snow

The snow god (Puki Yuki) sends down plenty of manna from heaven (12+ metres on average per season). Whilst this central part of Hakuba Valley doesn’t tend to get as much snowfall as the more northern Hakuba ski resorts in typical storm patterns, the snow volumes are still very respectable. Hakuba 47 has the added bonus of having largely north to northeast facing slopes, so the snow generally stays in divine condition. And whilst not as high as Happo One Ski Resort, the top elevation is still very good and conducive to maintaining nice snow quality.

Hakuba 47 Skiing for the Beginner

Hakuba 47 Ski Resort is not the best Hakuba ski resort for beginners, with only a little bit of green terrain. Serviced by the quad chair is a green run that gets some scary bottlenecks. Route 7 funnels down into a narrow trail that switchbacks it way down the hill, so timid beginners may want to download the gondola to avoid this.

For the Intermediate

Intermediates don’t have a huge amount of variety. There is a short run adjacent to the terrain park, another short-ish red run, and then a long steep run that heads down to the base. It’s a ripper of a run, but naturally it’s not quite so exciting when you’ve already done in 20 times.

Terrain Parks & Pipe

The terrain park at 47 is not particularly large but it’s the best terrain park in Hakuba. The park has some big kickers and rails, and usually there is a half pipe set up but not necessarily well done. It’s located close to the lifts so it’s great for big show ponies.

Advanced Skiing On-Piste

Hakuba 47 has one black piste and a double black run whereby the expert rating is not really that warranted. The run only hits a maximum of 32 degrees, and the real challenge only comes from the size of the moguls.

Off Piste Skiing Hakuba 47

Previously very conservative, Hakuba 47 has become rather progressive for a Honshu ski resort. Once upon a time, the patrollers were incredibly uptight and there were hundreds of signs to indicate that powder fun is prohibited. You could only ride the deciduous trees on low vis days.

Now tree skiing at Hakuba 47 is permitted, albeit with some provisos. Hakuba 47 Ski Resort has several small “Open Tree Zones” where it’s a free for all with respect to tree skiing. These zones are not far from the piste and are relatively easy, so they’re ideal for powder puppies experimenting in the powder. However fresh powder doesn’t last long in these areas, which makes it a little more challenging.

Some of the best tree areas require membership of the “Tree Riding Zone”. In order to gain membership you have to watch a YouTube safety video that is painfully slow and focuses on safety when exiting onto the piste and doesn’t cover pertinent points like riding with a tree buddy or avalanche safety. You don’t even have to wear an avalanche beacon (let alone know how to use it). You then need to rock up to the Hakuba 47 School Center, pay a small fee, sign a form, and then get a membership card and an arm band. Thankfully they’ve got rid of those stupid looking bibs and thankfully the membership lasts for the whole season. The registration hours to get a membership are well after the lifts open, so don’t turn up for a once-off powder chasing experience because by the time you get an armband the powder will be tracked out.

Complaints aside, the terrain in these small gated member zones is mighty nice and includes some steeps and even little features to launch off. Freshies are also a fraction easier to come by. It seems that the resort has undertaken a little glading, although in some spots the trees are nicely tight.

Sidecountry

Hakuba 47 and Goryu have some very tasty sidecountry zones but it’s expressly forbidden (and can be avalanche prone) so you’ll need to be super invisible and careful. Ski patrol have a very low tolerance for riding outside the designated tree areas and will happily pull your pass (even though it’s outside the resort boundaries).