We visited on a delightfully snowy weekday when nearby Tenjin was closed due to the snowstorm. Whilst it was snowing and blowing at Hodaigi, all the lifts were running so it was an ideal storm skiing spot, and the hooded quad chair was a godsend.

We were at Hodaigi with Tenjin Guides and it was nice to have Kieren show us his favourite stashes for a powder day. We mostly lapped sidecountry runs and had deep fresh lines on each run. The trees were pitchy in places, and the like the front country the trees had vines in places which occasionally would hook someone up. Like a lot of Japan sidecountry, the egress took a little while but it was worth it for all the fresh Gunma powder (Gun powder).

Other than lots of beginners having lessons, there weren’t too many people at Hodaigi and competition for fresh tracks was low.

See our Hodaigi overview for our thoughts on the pros and cons and also see how we compare it on the Honshu ski resorts ratings.
See our video here

Houdaigi is another one of those Japan ski resorts that looks a bit lame on paper but has a lot more to offer in reality. We visited Houdaigi (aka “Who’s Ya Doggie?”) because the conditions weren’t on at nearby Tenjindaira. They probably weren’t ideal at Houdaigi either because an uncharacteristic warm spell had hit the region, but it was nice to check out the terrain.

Many of the characteristics of the terrain were pretty standard for a Japanese ski resort, such as the size of the ski area and its suitability for beginners, however what was rather surprising was the pitch. The intermediate and black runs had some decent gradient (by Japanese standards) and the tree runs were rather steep and technical.

The jury is still out on whether Hodaigi receives enough snowfall to be considered a great “powder hound destination” because the big Mt Tanigawa may block some of its snow, however Houdaigi is definitely worth hitting up when big snow storms close Tanigawadake Tenjindaira.
See our video here