Interview Extract with Tom Collins

Q: There are over seven ski resorts in Hakuba Japan, do all of them have ski schools with English speaking instructors?
A: Nearly all of the ski resorts in Hakuba have ski and snowboarding lessons, but not always with native English speaking instructors. Several ski schools, like Hakuba 47, Hakuba Goryu-Toomi, and Hakuba Happo-one advertise that they have instructors who speak some English and sometimes this is the case, although they mostly cater to Japanese clients.
Q: So if I want an English ski school, where should I look in Hakuba Japan?
A: For certified, and qualified instructors in Hakuba Japan, go with Evergreen Outdoor Center.
Q: Where in Hakuba is Evergreen Outdoor Center?
A: Next to Happo-one ski resort in Wadano-mori. Many of the popular hotels and lodges are in Wadano-mori, like Mominoki, Morino Lodge, La Neige, Penke Panke, and Tokyu Hotel is next door as well.
Q: If I book ski lessons with Evergreen Outdoor Center, do I need to ski at Hakuba Happo-one?
A: No, Evergreen conducts ski lessons at Happo, Goryu, and Tsugaike.
Q: Can instructors of Evergreen Outdoor Center teach at other ski resort areas in Japan, such as Naeba, Minikami, Niigata ski resort areas, Yuzawa, or ski resort areas in Hokkaido like Furano, Niseko, etc.?
A: You could contact Evergreen about that, they do arrange for large school groups, or ski clubs to have English instructors anywhere you go in Japan, but I wouldn’t go to Yuzawa as it is flat and doesn’t get anything but wet heavy snow that becomes hard and crusty.
Q: I have heard of other ski resort areas in Nagano, like Shiga Kogen, or Nozawa Onsen, or the Monkey Onsen, how do they compare to Hakuba?
A: Actually, the “Monkey Onsen” is not a ski resort area in Japan, but rather a nice day trip– about one hour from Hakuba. How do the other ski resort areas of Nagano compare to Hakuba? Well, good question, I would suggest looking at pictures and comparing elevation, snow fall, density of snowpack, and aesthetics. The Hakuba mountain range, or the Japanese Alps, is nearly twice as high in elevation and gets a drier quality of snow. The season in Hakuba is also much longer than other Nagano, Gunma, and Niigata ski resort areas.
Q: So why do people go to other ski resort areas in Japan?
A: We aren’t sure why either. . . why do people eat unhealthy food? smoke? or play pachinko. . .there is really no way to account for different tastes. That isn’t to say Hakuba is the best ski resort area in Honshu, some people have different tastes. For example, many Japanese people like to be in crowded places, and Hakuba is not crowded. There was an ad campaign put out several years ago for a resort in Hawaii by Mariott Hotels, and the Japanese ad featured a beautiful beach packed with only Japanese people. At the same time, the ad was run in European countries and featured the same beach, but this time only one couple enjoying a sunset. Of course this is a crude generalization, but it seems to fit more than not. The point being, Hakuba is spread out over 20k or so, and while you could find a crowded place, it is easy to find yourself seemingly alone in endless mountain ridges.