Able Hakuba Goryu and Hakuba47 Mountain Resort are two linked ski areas at Kamishiro in Hakuba Village, Nagano Prefecture, among the ten resorts of the Hakuba Valley. They share a lift ticket, except for night skiing, and you can ski from one to the other from the top. Goryu runs from 750 metres to 1,676 metres, 926 metres (3,038 feet) of vertical, with 15 courses on 120 hectares, a gondola and 11 chairlifts. Hakuba47 runs from 820 to 1,614 metres, with 8 courses on 32 hectares, a gondola and 6 chairlifts, and its longest course is 6.4 km. Together that’s 152 hectares, about 376 acres, 23 courses and 19 lifts.
Goryu has three areas. Alps Daira is at the top, reached by the eight-seat Telecabin gondola from Toomi, a 2 km ride of about 8 minutes. Toomi and Iimori, lower down, suit beginners and families. Alps Daira can open from mid-November, snow permitting, and stays open until the end of Golden Week in early May; all courses are usually open by mid-December. Goryu runs night skiing every day from late December to March, the only Hakuba resort that does.
Both cams are at Alps Daira, at 1,515 metres near the top of the Telecabin, one looking north and one looking west. They show the snow, cloud and wind up high and the view of the Northern Alps. Neither shows the base, so check the road and the car park before you go. Hakuba47 has no live cams of its own.
Goryu’s base, Escal Plaza, has a 900-space car park in front of the gondola station. From the Nagano Expressway, leave at Azumino IC and head north to Hakuba; from the Joshinetsu Expressway, leave at Nagano IC and head west; from the Hokuriku Expressway, leave at Itoigawa IC and head south. Each exit is about an hour from Hakuba. Goryu puts the drive from Tokyo at about 4 hours.
By train, the Hokuriku Shinkansen runs from Tokyo to Nagano in about 88 minutes, and the bus from Nagano Station to Escal Plaza takes about 1 hour 15 minutes. The nearest station is Kamishiro, on the JR Oito Line, with a free shuttle in winter. From Narita Airport (NRT), direct buses run to Hakuba.
Goryu says winter tires or chains are essential from late November to about the end of March. Nagano Prefecture requires tire chains or winter tires on snowy or icy roads, with a fine of up to 50,000 yen.
Hakuba Goryu and Hakuba47 are on the Epic Pass and the Epic Local Pass, with 5 consecutive days at Hakuba Valley’s ten resorts and no restricted dates. They aren’t on the Ikon or Indy Pass.