Hachimantai Panorama Resort delivers family first fun

snow action team 25.05.2019

Hachimantai Panorama Resort could be your perfect next place in Japan if you want quality surroundings, exceptional cuisine, and great onsen (both on site and up the road on the amazing 1968 bus ride). Especially if you prefer not to compete with hordes of fellow guests.

Kids skidoos at Hachimantai Panorama Resort — Wooo now that’s real fun – way better than small screen addictions! © Hachimantai Panorama Resort

The skiing, right out front from the Hachimantai Mountain Hotel & Spa is 100% easy beginner and intermediate terrain, laid out over a few long runs ideal to get your act together on.

Or to get your kid’s act together on, especially little ones. Start them in perfect safety here.

One 2 kilometre long hooded express quad runs top-to-bottom, with a choice of gentle runs up to 2.7km in length back to the base.

kids ski lesson at Hachimantai Panorama Resort — The terrain and empty slopes are ideal for getting kids started © Hachimantai Panorama Resort

Surprise surprise it was snowing again when we arrived late morning. The runs were all almost empty, apart from a few local school kids.

Absolutely no one was using the beginner carpet lift, which also lifts you up to the level of the quad chair base.

Obviously this is not one of those secret stash / J-secret type powder places, but it sure snows a lot here too. Already 10cm of fresh powder had collected on top of the otherwise immaculate grooming, and it kept snowing. Along the sides of the runs there was boot deep snow, and the easy gradients make it easy for powder novices to get the feel for skiing it.

But for the real powder here just grab the free shuttle bus around to Shimokura.

Hachimantai Panorama Resort is the cruisy, family and beginner part of the Hachi equation.

If you have little kids you can put them in the kid’s programs for the morning while you chase the powder and catch up in the afternoon back at Panorama.

They go the extra yard for the kids, including a safari park of life size animal figures scattered around the lower slopes.

Offering an entirely self-contained, uncrowded experience it’s very safe.

The Beginner Park accessed by the carpet lift is only ¥1,000 for elementary school kids or ¥500 for infants 4 and over.

They have a full range of full on fun activities including tubing, sledging, banana boats and snowmobiles.