4 Best Sights in Hakuba, The Japan Alps and the North Chubu Coast

Hakuba itself is one of Japan's best ski destinations, famous for powder snow, clear weather, and miles of tracks. The Happo-one (one pronounced "oh-ney") resort is the best in town, and hosted several events for the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. Almost all the runs here are intermediate level, with the rest split between beginner and advanced, the latter including the two runs (Olympic I and Olympic II) that were used in 1998 for the men's and women's downhill events. Japan's first parallel jumping hills were also constructed here with critical points of 393 feet and 295 feet, and each has a scaffold structure for the in-run and landing slope. All runs deliver breathtaking views if the mist doesn't roll in.

Happo-one also has some great summer hiking, though the high elevation means that even in summer a sweater or light jacket may be needed. You can reach the hiking area via three connecting gondolas, collectively called the Happo Alpen Line (five minutes to Happo Gondola Station, then eight minutes to Usagidaira, then an additional 10 minutes by alpine lift). From here the jewel-like Happo Pond is a 6-km (4-mile) hike. For more-ambitious hikers, three more hours gets you to the top of Mt. Karamatsu-dake.

To get from the center of town to Happo-one, it's a five-minute, 3-km (2-mile) bus ride from Hakuba to Happo Information Center, and then a 15-minute walk through the resort of Swiss-like chalets and hotels to the gondola station. Facilities: 13 trails, 494 acres; 3,513-foot vertical drop; 22 lifts

Hiking at the bottom of Daisekkei (Big Snow) Gorge, which extends for 3½ km (2 miles), requires warm clothes even in midsummer, when temperatures can dip below freezing. More than 100 types of alpine flowers grace the nearby fields in summer. From the trailhead at Sarukura Village (reached by a 30-minute, ¥1,000 bus ride from Hakuba Station), the hike through the forest takes 1 hour 45 minutes. If you're lucky, you may spot a snow grouse, a protected species in Japan. For climbers who want to scale Mt. Shirouma, which takes six hours to the top (two huts are on the way for overnight stays), proper equipment is necessary.

This marshland, almost 6,000 feet above sea level, dazzles with a wide variety of rare alpine flora from early June to late October and is graced with gold and crimson leaves from September to October. It's a three-hour walk to take in the entire park. If the weather turns bad, there's always the climbing wall in the visitor center to try. The best way to get here is to take a bus (25 minutes) from Otari Station, two stops from Hakuba, and then a gondola up to the alpine park.

The trail from Sarukura to Yarigatake—a hike of four hours—leads to the area's highest outdoor hot spring, Yari Onsen. It's part of a lodge that also has camping grounds (with gear rentals), but you can payto use the onsen. The lodge is open from mid-July to the end of September. Sarukura is a 40-minute bus ride from Hakuba Station. Crampons can be rented in Hakuba Village.