Hakuba Weddings

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Hakuba Blog
Wedding in Hakuba

A beautiful day to get married in Hakuba.

During the season I usually see a few wedding parties up on the mountains here in Hakuba. What a wonderful way to exchange your marriage vows or even to renew them.

“I take you to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do we part: and to that I pledge you my faithfulness.  Unless it’s a powder day and then I’m outta here”.

The White Horse Hotels can help organise everything for your special day on the mountain.

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Hakuba Hotel Rooms

Posted on July 20, 2010 by Hakuba Blog
Arctic Guest room

The Arctic guest rooms are very spacious with lots of natural light.

There are many different options for accommodation here in Hakuba. This year the White Horse Group will be expanding to offer a number of different styles to suit everybody’s needs and budgets. The Arctic Hotel in Echoland offers a very Japanese style room and is similar to a traditional ryokan stay experience with a western twist. The guest rooms are quite large in comparison to most Japanese hotels as are the public areas including the restaurant and separate bar, drying room, games room and onsen style baths. The hotel has just 8 guest rooms so for the overall size of the building there is a feeling of space within. Arctic prides itself and is regarded as having the friendliest and most personable service in the Valley.

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Hakuba – Phone Home

Posted on July 12, 2010 by Hakuba Blog
Skype picture

Stay in touch with your loved ones while still enjoying your ski holiday in Hakuba

You have decided it is time to take that much deserved holiday in the snow. But what about the family and work commitments. Hakuba has a fibre optic internet network which means quick and easy connection to your loved ones and I’m sorry to say also to your dreaded work place. Lets face it, when you are on holidays the last thing you want to have to deal with is work issues. Put it this way though, your office can be situated in one of the most beautiful winter wonderlands in the world. A couple of hours getting first tracks and then back to the hotel to take a conference call before lunch. Not such a bad situation. We also find that many of our guests like to speak to their elderly parents or grandparents each week to make sure they are fine. We have introduced many of our guests to the SKYPE way of communications.  Join up to Skype and you can talk from computer to computer for free. Maybe granny doesn’t have a computer so the beauty of skype is that from our computer here you can call a land line, mobile or even text a message to your tech savvy mum for a very low cost. Maybe 3 cents a minute. We supply the computer, headsets and free internet use for our guests. So give it a go. Check out this link here. It will save you a fortune in long distance calls. If you want to test it out please feel free to contact me anytime on our skype line at whitehorsehakuba

I wish I was getting paid commission but no, just happy to pass on a great service.

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Hakuba snow season 2009-2010

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Hakuba Blog
Last day of the season 2010

Last day of the Hakuba resort skiing for the season. Thats 144 days. 333yen per day on a season ticket. Thats cheap

The snow season for 2009/10 has come and gone. Opening day was recorded here on my Hakuba Blog on the 16th of December  and finished up at the same resort, “Goryu”, on the 9th of May. It has been a fantastic season with plenty of snow and many epic powder days along with lots of bluebird days. I was able to get out on the mountain with many of our guests and show them some of my favourite spots. I notched up another resort, “Nozawa’, on my Snow CV and I dropped some new lines out in the back country. An injury to my ankle kept me out for a few weeks but overall for me personally it was another great season on the snow.  It started a little later than usual but as we all know what can happen in Hakuba, the snow gods pounded us with 2 meters of snow in a couple of days and then continued to pound us with a spectacular amounts over the next few weeks. Those lucky enough to be here to experience Hakuba at it’s best were astounded. Those of us who have been lucky enough to have made Hakuba our home just nod our heads, smile and announce, “that’s why we live here”.

I hope to see you all next season.

www.whitehorse-hakuba.com

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Sumo in Hakuba

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Hakuba Blog

Chanko Nabe with a couple of beers and/or sake. A great way to refuel for the next day on the slopes.

Sumo wrestling is something that everybody coming to Japan should experience. If your dates don’t match up with one of the big tournaments this time, don’t despair as this year you will be able to come and meet Tanimoto san in Hakuba. He is an ex sumo wrestler who has decided to set up a Chanko Nabe restaurant in the middle of Echoland. Chanko Nabe is the renowned food of the sumo and is basically a hot pot of beef, chicken, pork or fish and lots of fresh vegetables, tofu, egg, rice and noodles.
There are no rules for what goes into a nabe. Sukiyaki, the best-known hot pot, is made with beef and a sweetened soy sauce base, while lshikari nabe, consists of salmon and vegetables in a miso-kelp broth. Tanimoto san will be the chanko-ban (the person in charge of preparing the meals). There are no recipes, you just taste as you go along. I am looking forward to this one opening up. My problem is that I will have to try and walk past it everyday when I come home from the gym.

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Hakuba Dreams

Posted on July 5, 2010 by Hakuba Blog
Hakuba

Takehiro Sakamoto lauching himself through the trees.

Hakuba tree skiing is as good as anywhere in the world. I had the pleasure of joining the Warren Miller film crew a couple of years ago on the mountain while they were filming the “Children of the Winter”. They were staying at the Arctic White Horse Hotel so I was able to show them around Hakuba. It was a dream come true to be out on the mountain with the legendary movie makers.  Hakuba turned on the conditions for them, bringing in some deep dry powder straight out of Siberia and then clearing the sky for a bluebird day. Japans number 1 skiing personality, Takehiro Sakamoto and Olympic gold medalist Johnny Mosely showed me  a level of freeskiing that I had never witnessed before. I feel blessed that I was given this opportunity. Hakuba has been good to me.

Ski movies

The Warren Miller crew are still shooting most of their footage on film. In this picture they are off the back of Happo One.

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Hakuba. Snow parks in Japan

Posted on July 2, 2010 by Hakuba Blog
Hakuba 47

Yes he stomped it and smashed the rest of the park. Going big in Japan.

Late April and the snowpark atmosphere is great here in Hakuba. With plenty of snow, blue skies and a season of practice, the Hakuba 47 snow park is a great place to just sit and watch what the crew can do. Big jumps, spins, twists and somersaults,  rails and boxes. They are all out of my depth but a warm day chilling out and watching some of the crazy stuff people can do these days is brilliant.  The Park scene is becoming more and more popular here in Hakuba each year with all of the resorts improving their areas all of the time. For me, I might just sit back and watch them and wait for the powder.

http://www.whitehorse-hakuba.com

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Hakuba fresh tracks

Posted on June 30, 2010 by Hakuba Blog
Hakuba fresh tracks

Out of Bounds can sometimes be just too tempting for some.

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The White Horse Hotel in Echoland, Hakuba, Japan

Posted on June 29, 2010 by Hakuba Blog
Hakuba map

Echoland is the most popular area of Hakuba for apres ski activities

The White Horse Hotel is situated in the heart of Hakuba. Echoland is the main bar and restaurant area of Hakuba. It also has a number of retail outlets to buy some sourvenirs and is home to the popular snow wear shop called Garage 902. There is a gym, cafe, coin laundry, art gallery and onsen amongst the many different restaurants. Night time and Echoland is where you want to be for apres ski. Master Braster and Bar 902 are two of the most popular in town and QTips has the biggest club action during the winter season.

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Phoenix Wing Chalets, Hakuba

Posted on June 25, 2010 by Hakuba Blog
Phoenix Wing

Beautiful self contained chalets in Hakuba

The White Horse Property Group was established by myself to manage hotels in Hakuba. My passion for snow brought me here to Japan and I really enjoy having the chance to show others why Hakuba is a world class ski resort area. As the word gets out about our huge mountains and great powder we are constantly looking at other hotels and accommodation options to fit in with our customer requests. I am happy to announce that we have now linked in with the Phoenix Wing  to offer  fully self contained chalets for those who would like a bit of privacy within a very picturesque setting.  The chalets are a perfect retreat for families offering western beds for the parents and traditional futons for the children. Couples can enjoy a romantic getaway with their own fireplace and combined with a bottle of champagne and a romantic dinner served in your own dining room certainly makes a great way to cap off a brilliant day on the slopes. I have eaten at the restaurant and must say I was very impressed. I look forward to matching up some wines with the delicious menu items. Another tough job but someone has to do it. Contact me here for further information on yet another great place to stay in Hakuba.

Main Building

The main building with reception, restaurant and bar

Phoenix Wing

Snow Town Japan

Stay in Hakuba

Green season in Hakuba

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