muikabochi 208 Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 I was looking at the Hakuba webcams and see the lower slopes of Happo/Iwatake are starting to get quite bare. So how does 47 manage to keep open so long? Does it spread it around on that lower slope of something, or just end up being a really thin strip? This afternoon: Another interesting observation..... there's much more snow around town and lower slopes in Yuzawa than over there in Hakuba by the looks. Lots of rice fields around Yuzawa still have 1m or so, more in places. So much so that Kandatsu are going to open for Golden Week. How high is Hakuba, about 750m? Yuzawa is at less than 400m. Link to post Share on other sites
TJ OZ 0 Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Northely aspect, grooming, snow making, good snow year. I was up there yesterday and as you can see there is still snow to the sides at 47. There is not a dirt patch on any run on Goryu and 47 at the moment and still top to bottom at both resorts. A great job done by the resort management companies. Park is in excellent shape too. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted April 15, 2011 Author Share Posted April 15, 2011 Thanks. So Happo just rubbish at resort management then? Link to post Share on other sites
joshnii 2 Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Interesting to see Yuzawa have much more snow. Go Niigata! Link to post Share on other sites
@tokyo 14 Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Are they Spiderman gloves?! Link to post Share on other sites
TJ OZ 0 Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Originally Posted By: muikabochi Thanks. So Happo just rubbish at resort management then? Happo could definately have it openend to the bottom atm if the planned it better. Coming from Oz we know how to farm snow into solid ice. I think it is more of a cost cutting measure. The skier numbers here do not warrant spending the money on grooming and then also having the lifts open to those areas. It is better to concentrate the smaller numbers to a smaller area which is probably practical resort management. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted April 15, 2011 Author Share Posted April 15, 2011 I see, interesting. Thanks! I'm still pretty shocked that Gala Yuzawa gave up, or should I just say closed up, so quickly. There must be tons up there. Closing on 24th March was cutting a full 7+ weeks off their season. I suppose there might even be a chance of a surprise 'we're opening again' announcement. Though not heard any rumours. Link to post Share on other sites
TJ OZ 0 Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Originally Posted By: @tokyo Are they Spiderman gloves?! Didn't even notice but the product placement is good in that pic. The Spyder gloves have done well over the last 2 seasons but they will retire in a few weeks. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted April 16, 2011 Share Posted April 16, 2011 I was surprised about that as well Muika. Gala would probably have been Tokyo peeps "bugger it lets go riding" resort as its shink in and out. People not wanting to travel far in a car in case of quakes may have been tempted by the ease of access that Gala provides Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted April 16, 2011 Author Share Posted April 16, 2011 For sure. Got a few Yuzawa pics will get them up now... give me 15. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted April 16, 2011 Author Share Posted April 16, 2011 Here's some from Yuzawa yesterday Ishiuchi Maruyama NASPA Nunoba Joetsu Kokusai Link to post Share on other sites
rider69 18 Posted April 16, 2011 Share Posted April 16, 2011 Yuzawa gets a much wetter snow than hakuba which means less air and a much more solid snowpack. Happo faces east and gets baked for hours so the lower slopes just go away. Also they stop worrying about the lower slopes. The North faces of happo at the same elevations as 47 are holding over 1 meter of snow. You will be able to ski aspects of Happo until may even june. 47 faces pure north and will hold snow for a long time. Iwatake has no snowmaking but the north slopes are holding snow. It doesnt matter cause it is closed. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted April 16, 2011 Author Share Posted April 16, 2011 Originally Posted By: rider69 Yuzawa gets a much wetter snow than hakuba which means less air and a much more solid snowpack. More snow then. Link to post Share on other sites
snowdude 44 Posted April 16, 2011 Share Posted April 16, 2011 Yes Niigata gets more snow, like rider69 said, because Nagano tends to be colder than Niigata so the snow is drier there as a result the amount of snow fall and accumalated snow is no as much as Niigata. Niigata also has one more mountain range between them and Nagano, which helps with trapping the snow clouds more so than Nagano side. When I went to Hakuba in Feb, although there was a lot of snow around there certainly was no where as much as Niigata. Northern Gunma is the same, in winter when ever I passed through the 10k tunnel between Gunma and Niigata, it was like a different world, coming out Niigata side from Gunma. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted April 16, 2011 Share Posted April 16, 2011 Yeah that Gunma-Niigata tunnel amazes me every time. Actually I was surprised to to see the Yuzawa area get much more snow than the Hakuba resorts, seems like I never really hear anyone official trumpeting Yuzawa's cause. Of course its usually where I go because of Shinkansen access, but the resorts there really do give you fantastic powder days Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted April 16, 2011 Author Share Posted April 16, 2011 I'm always surprised the other way... never seems to be much in Minakami when I go over there. When I have been to Hakuba or Nozawa or Shiga Kogen etc, I always notice that.... we have more! Link to post Share on other sites
rider69 18 Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 The snow walls do not indicate snowfall. Snow walls are generally man made, depending on how the snow removal has to be done in an area. nozawa onsen has big snow walls mainly because it has nowhere to put the snow. Hakuba has wide open areas to throw the snow into. Also the drier the snow the easy it is on the snow machine. A machine throwing low dense water snow can really throw the snow far. The snow that falls in Yuzawa is more like Sierra cement. Not exactly nice looking snow for sliding. Hakuba tends to get good early season snowfalls when compared to other resorts in the general area. The interior range sucks in lots of storms. The Hakuba valley average is somewhere between 10 to 14 meters of snow fall depending on the location. Japan has gone down the road of snowfall many times in the end this wont win the resorts or areas any new customers. The resorts have to offer some type of modern vacation much like Niseko does. Daycare, Play areas, options other than snow sliding and warm places to stay with bare modern facilities at least. An unheated hallway is not enticing to guests. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted April 18, 2011 Author Share Posted April 18, 2011 Here we go. It isn't a competition you know! You can play with numbers or words however you want, but you just end up sounding silly. Anyone visiting both towns on the same day on most days of a season will be able to observe more snow in Yuzawa than Hakuba. (In places where it is untouched and natural). By simply using the their eyes. Link to post Share on other sites
sanjo 2 Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 What a load of bollocks. Sierra cement? Obviously never been to Kagura or indeed anywhere in Yuzawa on a decent day. Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 'rider69' will defend Hakuba's pride with his life! According to JMA: First column = year Second column = snowfall Third column = depth of snow ---- Hakuba 1990 446 74 1991 860 166 1992 556 76 1993 719 60 1994 763 116 1995 639 109 1996 834 149 1997 610 132 1998 593 94 1999 539 75 2000 702 116 2001 700 124 2002 740 136 2003 794 103 2004 692 108 2005 712 153 2006 783 147 2007 321 42 2008 808 121 2009 552 50 2010 795 103 Average snowfall: 707.9cm Average depth in town: 112.7cm Yuzawa 1990 798 185 1991 1024 206 1992 1014 166 1993 1238 190 1994 1170 195 1995 1309 227 1996 1568 282 1997 958 200 1998 870 140 1999 1121 225 2000 1255 234 2001 1378 236 2002 1130 187 ] 2003 1063 181 2004 969 154 2005 1384 329 2006 1597 358 2007 614 74 2008 1212 228 2009 820 121 2010 926 229 Average snowfall: 1170.9cm Average depth in town: 208.0cm -- I'm sure we will be told that these facts are useless though and look forward to hearing why Link to post Share on other sites
iiyamadude 6 Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Originally Posted By: rider69 nozawa onsen has big snow walls mainly because it has nowhere to put the snow. Nozawa never has walls as high as Yuzawa. The reason being that not as much snow fall there. Link to post Share on other sites
rider69 18 Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 I lived in Gunma numata. I have been to most places except kagura. I stand by sierra cement. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted April 18, 2011 Author Share Posted April 18, 2011 Numata and Yuzawa are worlds apart. Even Yuzawa and Minakami are, and Numata is even further to the south. Anyone who knows the region would know that. Sierra cement. Funny. The photo you posted earlier in this thread I see was from 25th February. There was no new snow for about 9 days up until that photo, it was that really warm snowless patch we all had, including Hakuba. Is there a point? Originally Posted By: rider69 Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Originally Posted By: rider69 I lived in Gunma numata. I have been to most places except kagura. I stand by sierra cement. Doesn't matter anyway. 'rider69' even knows about places that he has never been to, like Niseko! Truly all-knowing. Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Originally Posted By: rider69 I stand by sierra cement. Is this you? Link to post Share on other sites
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