Niseko Grand Hirafu vs Hakuba Happo-one
Niseko Grand Hirafu scores 6.8 vs 6.3 for Hakuba Happo-one. Snow: Niseko Grand Hirafu. Terrain: Hakuba Happo-one. Shorter queues: Hakuba Happo-one. Value: Hakuba Happo-one. Après: Niseko Grand Hirafu.
| 🇯🇵 Niseko Grand Hirafu | 🇯🇵 Hakuba Happo-one | |
|---|---|---|
| Snowlist score ⓘ | 6.8 | 6.3 |
| Snow /10 ⓘ | 7.7 | 6.7 |
| Terrain /10 ⓘ | 4.5 | 5.3 |
| Queues /10 ⓘ | 5.9 | 6.3 |
| Value /10 ⓘ | 7.6 | 9.5 |
| Altitude | 255–1200 m | 760–1831 m |
| Vertical | 945 m | 1071 m |
| Mapped pistes | 73 km (area) | 109.2 km |
| Advertised | 47 km (area) | 37 km |
| Avg snowfall | 10.2 m | 12.6 m |
| Powder days | 1 | 30 |
| Lifts mapped | 30 | 60 |
| Modern lifts | 50% | 35% |
| Typical wait | 3.2 min | 2.9 min |
| Day pass | ¥12,500 (€76) | ¥8,500 (€52) |
| Pass | Ikon | Epic |
| Ski-in/out places | 8 | 1 |
| Bars | 16 | 6 |
| Airport | CTS · 135 min | NRT · 270 min |
| Season | Nov 29 to May 5 | Nov 29 to May 5 |
What the scores mean
Snowlist score is one number out of 10 for the whole resort. It mixes seven sub-scores: snow 25%, terrain 25%, queues 15%, lifts 10%, value 10%, access 10%, après 5%. Then it is spread on a bell curve, so 6.5 is a normal good resort, 8 or more is rare and under 5 means real trade-offs. It is not a star rating: a 7 here is better than most.
- Snow: average snowfall over the last three winters at mid-mountain, plus top altitude, minus a penalty for a warm village.
- Terrain: piste km we measured on OpenStreetMap (not the brochure) and vertical drop.
- Queues: our predicted average wait across the season. 10 = you barely queue.
- Value: what you get (snow, terrain, lifts) per euro of day pass, ranked against every resort.