Hakuba Goryu: the family-friendly Hakuba resort linked to Hakuba 47

Hakuba's reputation is queues, crowded Echoland bars and a scrum at Happo. Goryu, linked with Hakuba 47 next door, is the same valley without any of that. Of the Hakuba resorts, Goryu is the one that suits families. On a February weekday you can walk straight onto its gondola at eleven in the morning while Happo's car park is probably full and the base is crowded.

What makes it more than a nursery slope is the size behind it. The gondola takes eight minutes, a short chair gets you to the top, and from there it is 926 metres of vertical to the base, one of the biggest drops in Japan. Most Japanese learner resorts give you 300 metres and a slow double chair. Here a strong skier can put in a proper day while the beginners in the group have theirs.

The mountain

Goryu and Hakuba 47 run as one area of 24 courses, more green and red than black, with a handful, Grand Prix, Technical, Champion Expert, left ungroomed or half-groomed and worth heading straight for after a fall of snow. The beginner ground is the Toomi zone at the base: it fills up, but the pistes are wide enough to thread through to the gondola. Goryu also has the first conveyor-belt lift loading in Hakuba, which takes the fear out of the chairs for anyone learning.

The best in-bounds tree skiing is up top, in the Alps-Daira zone on the Goryu side: three marked tree areas and three ungroomed pitches, with the ground out to skiers' left of the Alps 4th Chair the quiet corner that holds fresh lines into the morning.

Past the ropes is tightly controlled. There is a single backcountry gate, at the top of the Alps 4th Chair, and a beacon, shovel and probe are required to use it.

Night skiing

Goryu runs the only night skiing in Hakuba Valley that is open every evening through peak season. It is on green runs, freshly groomed each afternoon, recently extended along the Iimori 6th Pair lift. Not exciting terrain, but a real option if you land late or want to add a couple of hours after dinner.

Snow

Hakuba Valley is one of the more snow-sure corners of Japan. Cortina, further north and closer to the sea, takes the most; Goryu is usually just behind, on 11 to 13 metres a season, and Goryu and 47 often lead the valley for base depth. From late December to mid-February it snows five or more days a week, with light winds, and keeps going into March. Hakuba 47 faces north and holds its snow later in the season. January into early February is the storm run; late February and March trade some of the snow for sun and firmer, friendlier conditions for beginners.

Getting there

There is no Shinkansen into Hakuba. The route is the Shinkansen to Nagano, around 90 minutes from Tokyo, then a bus, 90 minutes to two hours on to Goryu. Driving is about four hours from central Tokyo; an Omachi base to the south shaves off roughly 30 minutes. Winter tyres and all-wheel drive either way. Parking at Goryu is easy, which is not true of Happo.

Where to stay

Hotels and lodges sit around the Goryu base, with more in Iimori and Echoland a short drive or bus off. Omachi, half an hour south, is a working town that goes quiet in winter: cheaper rooms, its own restaurants and bars, and museums on the old Salt Road. Escal Plaza, the base building, is open around the clock and holds rental, retail, restaurants, an onsen, a creche and even nap rooms you can hire by the hour.

Rental, lessons and food

A rental set from Escal Plaza is ¥6,200 for an adult and ¥2,500 for an under-18, with Burton Step-Ons available. Two things you rarely see at a Japanese resort base: a Burton store, and an on-site repair shop, 500 Miles. Hakuba Snowsports School runs ability-graded group lessons, including a five-hour kids' day with lunch and supervision; there is also a Chinese-language school. For lunch, Restaurant Alps 360 at the top of the gondola has the view and the curry-and-katsu standards, and the base has noodle bars, cafes and a Subway.

The feel

Goryu is small and pitched at families, and what saves it from feeling like every other small beginner resort is Escal Plaza: the base building is genuinely modern, not a tired 1980s block. The crowd here is still mostly Japanese families rather than tour groups. It works as a base for a mixed group, as a day off the busier Hakuba resorts, and as somewhere a first-timer can learn without feeling in the way.

Need to know

Lift pass

¥9,000 online for a Goryu and 47 day, ¥9,500 at the gate, less off-peak. On the Hakuba Valley All-Mountain Pass and the Epic Pass (five consecutive days).

Getting there

Shinkansen Tokyo to Nagano, about 90 minutes, then 90 minutes to two hours by bus. Or about four hours' drive from Tokyo. Winter tyres and all-wheel drive.

Rental

Escal Plaza, ¥6,200 adult and ¥2,500 under-18 a day, Burton Step-Ons available. Repair shop on site.

Lessons

Hakuba Snowsports School, ability-graded groups, plus a Chinese-language school.

Night skiing

Green runs, every evening in peak season, the only such option in Hakuba Valley.