The Cortina Hakuba ski resort sits below the treeline and is small to medium sized. The ski area has terrain for beginners and intermediates, although Hakuba Cortina is most renowned for having some of the steepest in-bounds terrain in the Hakuba Valley and for the liberal approach to off-piste and sidecountry skiing and snowboarding.

Cortina Japan is interconnected with Hakuba Norikura Ski Resort, which is a similar size and also great for powder hounds. Cortina lift #6 used to belong to Norikura and provide nice mellow intermediate terrain, as well as egress from some of the sidecountry without the need to have a joint Cortina Norikura lift pass. Other than this small “Norikura” area, all the Cortina terrain is contained within one basin that funnels down to mid-mountain lifts and then down the main beginner run to the hotel at the base. Many families find this terrain layout rather attractive because it’s reasonably easy to keep track of all family members.

The Cortina (Koruchina) Ski Resort courses (piste) are divided into five levels (beginner, advanced beginner, intermediate, advanced, and ultimate) with only 2 to 3 trails for each ability grouping, so for those who only want to ride on-piste, there’s a limited amount of variety. Conversely there’s decent variety for advanced skiers and snowboarders who venture off-piste and into the sidecountry and backcountry.

Crowds

The skier traffic at Cortina varies significantly. The piste areas can feel deserted on weekdays whilst there can be lots of Tokyo weekend warriors that descend on the hotel and resort. On big powder days, lots of powder punters from central Hakuba descend on the resort. It all comes down to relativities. The European freeriders think it’s not busy (because some of their resorts are like a feeding frenzy), whilst those of us used to the olden days of Japan skiing will find that the freshies disappear all too quickly on big powder days. Long lift queues develop at the base, and when there are delays in getting terrain open, there are long lines at the #4 and #5 lifts.

The best experience is probably on “little” powder days when the fresh tracks can last past lunchtime, especially in the sidecountry.

Lifts

Hakuba Cortina has 6 lifts; 2 quad chairs and 4 double chair lifts (the #7 that ran parallel to #6 has been retired). Only the main quad (no. 2) from the base area has any decent speed, whilst the others are slow and the doubles don’t have safety bars (which always seems weird in a country that’s anal about safety in other areas).

If you can’t get enough action during the day, there is also night skiing on a couple of the main trails on Saturday nights during January & February.

Lift Tickets

All lift passes for Cortina Ski Resort are also valid for the adjoining Hakuba Norikura Ski Resort. Lift pass types include single day, 4 hour passes, and single ride tickets for those just accessing the backcountry.

A lift pass at Cortina Hakuba is cheaper than the All-Mountain Hakuba Valley lift tickets, although the latter also covers the Hakuba Valley shuttle buses. Another advantage of a HV pass is that you won’t have to join the long queue to buy a ticket.

The Hakuba Valley ski resorts can also be accessed for 5 consecutive days using the Epic Pass (and Epic Local Pass and Epic Australia Pass). See the Hakuba skiing page for more information.

Cortina Hakuba Snow

The stats indicate that Cortina gets 12 metres of snow per season on average, however the locals’ perception is that Cortina gets so much more snow than the southern Hakuba ski resorts and that has certainly been our experience. Koruchina (Cortina) Ski Resort is the most northerly of the Hakuba ski areas and is the closest to the Sea of Japan, so Cortina gets more precipitation, particularly with storms that roll in from the north.

The Cortina snow quality is also sometimes better possibly because it picks up a bit more Chinese dust than those resorts further across the valley, with less inclination for rime which impacts on the stability and heaviness of the snow. The top elevation of Cortina is about 400 metres lower than Happo One and 250 and 200 metres lower than Goryu and Hakuba 47 respectively, yet any loss in snow quality due to altitude is probably made up for with better snow protection from the trees.

The aspect varies greatly across the resort. The trees to skiers right of the #4 lift are shady and are east to northeast facing. Coming around to lookers’ right of the ski area, some of the slopes are south facing and further around it swings to southwest. Similarly the #6 lift near Norikura has a SW aspect.

Cortina Skiing & Snowboarding for the Beginner

The main beginner run at Cortina travels down the guts of the resort and is beautifully manicured. Despite having to share the run with faster riders, it’s still a great place to learn because it’s super wide and a decent length, and being close to the hotel can also provide some comfort.

The official trail stats are 40% beginners but this is somewhat inflated, in part because the “advanced beginners” trails (what a ridiculous name for them!) are a little too pitchy for your average beginner. There are other “real” beginner trails, but these all entail access or egress via an "advanced beginner" trail.

Terrain Park

Terrain park dudes will not be well placed at Cortina ski resort due to the absence of a park or pipe, although there might be a small park set up over at Norikura.

Ski Cortina - Intermediates

The “advanced beginner” runs are the equivalent of most blue runs at other Japanese ski resorts and are ideal for low-end intermediates or very confident beginners. The Ipponmatsu Course that runs alongside the hotel is lots of fun, but the best experience is over at the former Norikura area on lift 6. Or just stay over at Norikura and enjoy cruising on near empty slopes.

For mid to strong intermediates, there are a few steep runs that are delightfully groomed.

Advanced Skiing – On-Piste

For lovers of speed, there are a couple of steep runs where you can fly and there are no “slow down” signs to inhibit your fun (well that I could see anyhow whilst my eyes were watering!). The black/ultimate courses are labelled for “experts onry”. I rove that “Ls” get exchanged for “Rs”! In any case, these runs aren’t rearry for experts onry because even though they’re steep, advanced riders should be able to manage the ungroomed runs, although this may be dependent on the size of any moguls on one of the Hiedayama courses when it hits 42 degrees.

Off-Piste Riding

Hakuba Cortina is one of the best Hakuba ski resorts for off-piste skiing and you don’t have to wear a camouflage outfit to ride the trees and you won’t risk losing your pass. The downside is that there can be more competition for freshies (but it’s all relative). It’s fantastic that the resort and patrollers have opened up the off-piste areas, with the exception of a couple of off-limits areas where it’s obvious to see why they don’t want you going there. The off-piste areas are aptly called “self-responsibility areas” and it wouldn’t hurt to don your avi gear.

The trees off to the skiers’ right of the no. 4 pair lift are divine. The trees are mature and perfectly spaced, the terrain is delightfully steep, and it’s north facing, so it’s not surprising that people tend to hit these trees first (not literally obviously!). Some of the trees that drop fall-line from the top tend to be a bit tighter and have a little bit of brush in the early season, but you’ll score higher on the freshy-ometer. Further around to skiers’ left you can also explore in the more south facing trees depending on how sunny it has been. We had fun skiing here with a Kamoshika (Japanese serow - looks a cross between a goat, deer and a wombat!). Apparently seeing a Kamoshika in the wild is lucky, and we certainly felt lucky being at Cortina!

Cortina Sidecountry & Backcountry

For the Hakuba Cortina sidecountry (ie slackcountry, easily accessed backcountry) areas, you should exit via the gates and undertake usual avi backcountry precautions.

The sidecountry out to the skiers’ right of the resort that runs down to Norikura is the most popular, in part because it’s steeper, offers longer vertical and the egress down to Norikura can be easy (depending on how far out of bounds you head). The downside is that the snow out there can be crunky on warm sunny days. The sidecountry off the no. 5 pair lift out to the skiers left is amazing because the snow conditions are better. You can get about 200 metres of vertical along ridges before traversing out across various gullies to a saddle, although snowboarders may have a tough time getting out if someone hasn’t seriously broken trail.

Cortina is a great resort for true backcountry too, and is better than the other Hakuba ski areas on low vis days. Not far from the Uchu gate is an old ski resort above the town of Otari, and there are also lots of other areas to play.