First Tracks At Cortina / Norikura

Ski in- ski out, amazingly helpful staff, clean, quiet

Not many options for restaurants… but the shuttle service was great

The location to the slopes is great and spacey room.

The noise. You can hear all the residents walk by your room.

Perfect location for riding at cortina. The staff is welcoming and helpful. Rooms were clean. Drying room was well set up. The shower rooms were clean and not often busy. Breakfast was filling.

A 3 cup coffee pot and 1 toaster for 15-20 people. Every morning was a race or a wait for both. There aren't a ton of food options around; Would be nice to have access to a fridge/ microwave.

Authentic old lodge with a great atmosphere. Loved our stay and would definitely return. Don’t want to say too much because we’d love to keep this gem to ourselves! 😁

Awesome and awesome

Tea and coffee in the evening

Great spot mere steps from Norikura lifts. Great gear drying room on the basement floor. The room had a double bed and a twin and lots of room on tatami mats for our gear. Very low-key and quiet vibe despite many other ski groups staying in the other rooms. Never a line to use the sinks to brush teeth or to use the shared toilet/bathing facilities. Breakfast was always ready nice and early and they have a 5-liter kettle with hot water for coffee and tea available throughout the day. Staff were all English speakers and were very helpful with arranging rides and letting us know about the lay of the land at check-in. Really close to the Hakuba bus route stop connecting to all the other stops on the Hakuba Valley system. Our friends were over at Cortina so it allowed any non skiers in the group easy access during operating hours to visit one side or the other without needing the ski lift. We also tried walking one night from Cortina after hours when there were no cabs or ubers available and were blessed with a lift by some friendly Aussies who work at a nearby lodge who saw my son stick his thumb out. The whole area has a cool laid laid-back hardcore old school skier scene with only 1 or 2 bars/restaurants nearby. The same folks run Endless bar down the end of the road as first tracks and have 2 for 1 happy hour specials and really good wagyu burgers and a pool table with a projection screen showing big mountain skiing and boarding videos as well as board games and card games to borrow. The blower tits deep pow on the mountains was awesome! So much terrain!

Wish they had black cat luggage pickup on site as we had to arrange for a taxi to head over to hotel green plaza at Cortina to get our ski gear shipped out to our next spot in Myoko which forced us to cut our last ski day short to be ready for shipping deadline. The snow removal at the back entrance to the drying room could use a little improvement as the snow and ice interferes with the sliding glass doors opening and closing properly. A minor inconvenience. Norikura lifts could use an overhaul. Getting to the number 10 lift is only possible by going to the top of Cortina first after going up a series of very slow lifts. The detachable quad at Cortina is quick but doesn't go all the way to the top. It bottlenecks at a slow double which made for excruciatingly long lines and mayhem on our first bluebird pow day.

Location,quiet , comfortable and clean,free breakky a bonus

Thin walls