Grandee Hatoriko, Fukushima, 2013.12.30

We had planned to go to Grandeco for the first outing of the season, but the weather forecast was looking way too blustery there. Grandee Hatoriko looked more reasonable, so off we went, for the first time in almost 4 years (http://www.snowjapan...shima-201019-10).

Heading into the tunnel that separates Ibaraki and Tochigi on the Kita Kanto Expressway, still Autumn colors in Ibaraki:


Emerging into Tochigi, winter in the distance:


Shirakawa is the first exit off the Tohoku Expressway after the Tochigi/Fukushima border. From Shirakawa, you can see Mt. Jeans (center), and if you look closely, Nasu Onsen Family Ski Area (center left):


Just to the right of Mt. Jeans are the remains of the former Akazurayama/Shirakawa Kogen ski area (the border between Tochigi and Fukushima prefectures goes right between the defunct ski area and Mt. Jeans):



Grandee Hatoriko is about a 45 minute drive from the expressway. Coming into view:


The base area:



The weather was a good call. Sunny all morning, good visibility:


Snow was packed powder, nice and dry, with side stashes.


The lake in the distance is Hatoriko:


To the left of that is Hatoriko Kogen, a highland populated with hotels and besso (kind of like neighboring Nasu, I guess):


Looking further left, the windfarm atop Aizununobikiyama can be seen, which lies about halfway between Grandee Hatoriko and Lake Inawashiro:


Some more photos:










The kid was trying out a new snowboard.
As before, when the kid was still a skier, the favorite course was the Border Valley course, a natural halfpipe:




(To be continued.)