Another Day another 50cm of fresh pow!!  

Hisashiburi! Did you miss us?  It’s that time of year again… the middle of January and we are just getting around to posting our first blog of the season!  But can you blame us for being a tad tardy?  Heaps of fresh snow with consistent cold temps has given us plenty of powder to play in.  Who wants to sit in front of the computer when you can be out enjoying what’s shaping up to be another fantastic winter season in Hakuba!? Morino has also busy welcoming some new additions to the family!  Alana and Pat are our new in-house chefs cooking up a storm at Wadano and Morino Cafe and taking our Christmas dinner to another level.  Mathieu hails from tropical Reunion Island, but has enthusiastically taken to the snow… even the shoveling!  Michiko, our genki-est staff ever is back, and brought her friend Konomi to join in on the fun at the lodge. Last, but certainly not least are two tiny additions: Maika Joy Oldring born Sept 21st 2010 Hanna Abigael Dunn born Christmas Eve, 2010 Thanks to all of our awesome guests and staff for making yet another Morino Christmas to remember!  And to the rest of the Morino family out there… stay tuned for more blogs and photos to come!  

At the beginning of May, the  Golden week holidays herald the arrival of cherry blossom season in Hakuba.  Every year the Salt road festival celebrates the ancient salt road that passes through Otari, Hakuba and Omachi. The Salt road runs from Itoigawa on the Japan sea all the way inland to Shiojiri near Matsumoto. Until roads were developed salt was ferried by oxen and human from the sea to the interior and sold at markets. The biggest market was in Shiojiri near Matsumoto. Shiojiri literally means “salty arse”! The most intact stretch runs through from Otari to Hakuba and we joined thousands of others on the 3rd for the walk of 10kms. The old road winds through beautiful countryside and clusters of thatched farmhouses. Along the way local people sing folk songs, play taiko (Japanese drumming) and hand out free refreshments of tea and local sukemono (pickles). The old village of Chikuni at the half way point houses the salt road museum where you can see the history of the salt road and “Pay a toll” to the tollbooth staff for passage by getting your map stamped. Everyone dresses in traditional costumes and you get a real feel for what it was like 100’s of years ago on the salt road.

Another great day out for the summer season. 10 mates + go-kart track = ridiculous good times! 10 of us headed down to Ikeda where they have a professional quality go-kart track.  9000yen per person gets you a practice session, Qualifying with computerised lap times, a semi-final race, final race and podium medal ceremony with champagne! This is about as much fun as you can have with 10 mates and half a day to kill! Charles from Vendimia won in a dashing display of driving prowess. We’ll definitely be back!

Today is Earth day a time to celebrate our wonderful planet – A day started in the 70’s to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment and nature gave a helping hand for what felt like the first day of Spring. The local area Earth day is down in the “big smoke” of Omachi about 30 clicks down the road from Hakuba. Omachi’s Earth day has been going from strength to strength and this year was another great event with live bands and local NPO group stands, sustainable development projects and organic food stands. The event feels a lot more authentic than the much larger commercial Tokyo Earth day helped somewhat by the large hippy and back to nature communities in Miasa and Yasaka.  

The Lodge was turned into an open air theatre and BBQ area last night for the High cascade Super Park BBQ party. The riders managed to get a fairly early night which couldn’t be said for some of the other partygoers. After a quick Morino heli scout of the back range for future lines the riders started strutting their stuff on the jumps. 13 year old Kadono Yuki was really impressive. Possibly a new Japanese Shaun white in the making. He’s already up there at the top professional level in Japan and he’s still got the best years ahead of him – One to watch. 36 year old Veteran rider Yoshino Michihiko was going huge on the hip, using the whole length of the hip and almost going into orbit. Towards the end multiple riders were hitting the jumps in tandem and the last run was a free for all with all riders going in unison. Thanks to Happo Kaihatsu, Igari-san & the High cascade team and all the riders who came together to make it a great event!

Arrived in style by heli today for day two of the High cascade super park session.Definitely the fastest I’ve ever made it from the Lodge to the top of Sakka! The combination of a complete lack of wind, faster snow conditions on the run-ups and the Heli shooting meant all the riders were really pushing it on the Jumps. Takumi Ikegami was busting some perfect methods on the hip whilst red bull rider Shinji Okada was doing some epic spin twists on the 25m kicker  

The High cascade Super Park session got off to a roaring start in the Morino lodge lounge last night. A chance for the production teams Indres formation, Bravoski, First children and Seven Samurai and the riders to get to know each other! Surprisingly, after all the late night shenanigans, everyone managed to make it out the door the next morning. 15cms of fresh overnight (not bad for mid April!) and the sun was starting to poke out. Today would be a great day to hit the High cascade super park! The riders took a while to get warmed up but by the afternoon there were some spectacular aerobatic displays. Tomorrow is set to be another stunning spring day for the scheduled heli filming session.