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There's a few problems that make this something with no easy answer. Each resort is taking their numbers from a different place, so there is and never going to be consistency. One of the reasons why at some places you get 0cm increase in the official snow depth when there was 40cm overnight is probably because that new 40cm made the number more realistic. I went to Naeba once when they were claiming 220cm. Ridiculous. Even at the tho there wasn't anywhere near that. The next few days they got 20cm then 35cm of snow, but the snow depth didn't change. The numbers should on the whole just be taken with a handful of salt.

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Originally Posted By: sanjo
Yes I always find it amusing how Kagura can get 50cm of new snow and their snow depth doesn't increase.

It's like Matt's 40cm + 40cm over the last week. That equals 80cm right? Sure hasn't been anything like reflected in the snow depths. (Not a rag at you Matt, just an example).


It rained heavily between those two 40cm dumps so that probably cancelled them out...
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Originally Posted By: Jynxx
Just in general sucks. So you want to complain about it but don't want to blow the whistle.
in Japanese, yu-jyu-fudan... You know if some of the resorts change they can advertise themselves as " We don't lie about our snow depth" If you like that place you are doing everyone a favor. Sorry, no offense IMO
cheers


A friend of mine used to work at a resort in Niigata. After a few beers he basically told me a few years ago that they need to push the boundaries of the truth so to speak depending on the situation regarding snow depth. For example. They'll craftily not mention rain when it's raining, you know - ignore it. Wait until it stops. They'll be extremely quick to report 20cm of new snow when it actually snows. They'll be slow to decrease the snow depth when there ain't any new snow even in a long while. But find it difficult to increase it after a period of no snow and it does snow (mainly because it is actually catching up to 'the truth' where it wasn't). They'll not say there's 'too much' snow as per the other year when (some silly) people were worried about there being too much. Some travel companies are the same. Bottom line is they want and need people to go there, it's their business, so they're often not likely to say anything less than positive. Unfortunate but ultimately true. And it's not just one or two resorts. My friend told me that his guys want to tell it straight out, even the bad stuff, but at times if they did they would basically lose out to places that are offering 'saiko (the best) conditions' (whether they are or not). If anyone denies this goes on they are either naive or one of the people who have vested interest themselves.

You might think that if they 'lied', people would be angry and don't go. But they do and people still go right?

Just one example that i can clearly remember. The other week, Yokoteyama in Shiga Kogen was boasting "saiko no condition". This was on a day which had been preceeded by warm temperatures for over a week and one day or rain and no snow. I was not there, but I would imagine that conditions could have been considerably better than they were.

It's why I take the official numbers with a pinch of salt.
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I don't know much about the snow depths at Nozawa (since I'm always at the base center) but it's usually just taken from specific points and broadcast onto the TV channels. It's usually a modest reading since, as stated before, the Yamabiko reading is taken at the top of Uenodaira.

 

Edit: for me, snowdepth is "when the snow reaches my knees on the way home from a night out... it's time to go skiing" razz

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Originally Posted By: Ryoma
for me, snowdepth is "when the snow reaches my knees on the way home from a night out... it's time to go skiing" razz


For me, snow depth is "when there isn't any grass and mud showing at the base of the mountain, it's time to go skiing."

However, it really is more like "when I'm at the ski field, and there is some snow on the ground, it's time to think seriously about skiing." - product of my experiences in Spring in Aus when ANY snow is good to go skiing, and if it happens to snow while you are there, you're in bonus territory.

You people who live at resorts have been spoiled! violin
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I have definitely been very spoiled and usually wouldn't consider heading up the mountain unless there's at least boot deep powder. The other week though I had a mate over from Aus and there was a day that I normally would never have considered skiing but I went up because he was only here for a week. Although most of the mountain was hard packed and icy we ended up finding some great little pockets and I ended up having a really fun day. Made me start to reconsider how picky I should be.

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Hey, it's a feeling thang ... I like to call it flow sports.

There used to be a place called Urasa, famous for it's shitty snow and hard core ski school.

They use to advertise their shitty snow, "If you can ski well at our school, you will ski like an expert anywhere else.." I say fu(k that.. Weather is important. Snow matters.

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There still is a place called Urasa, in Minamiuonuma about 10-15 minutes up the road from where I live. The ski school has been famous for one of the places to get the famous badge test. I have never heard it was because they were advertising their shitty snow ( lol ) more to do with the instructors who were based there and how strict they were.

 

Not this year but usually the snow even up there is really good in peak season. I am fairly sure though that this season they will be having a fair number of shitty snow days!

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