Myoko Now: Monday 8th May 2023
- May 8, 2023
- 4 min read
Updated: Nov 6, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Myoko region of Niigata
New snowfall at base 0cm
Snowfall at base this season 1029cm
Posted on Monday 8th May 2023 This is an archived report. The latest Myoko Now report can be found here.
Time for the official close of the 2022-2023 ski season, with Lotte Arai finally closing down the last runs at the top of the mountain. Even there, we have some conflicting information on their website, because while they do say things end on May 7, they still have two lifts and two runs marked as operating (and this is on the Japanese-language site). Looks like it's info from a few days ago, so I think we can be sure that there's no official ski area operation going on. But thanks to them for making the most of the low season-end snow; I know there were events and ski school activities that could only be completed because Lotte Arai kept going.
So now it's waiting time again! There's still snow up on the high mountains, with green foliage now marching pretty much all the way up to the top of Mt. Myoko. Treeless, slightly higher Mt. Hiuchi to the northwest of Myoko is still shining and white; the famous Haneuma snow shape will soon appear on the north slopes of Mt. Myoko, as will the Chinese character for mountain (山, or yama) about to emerge right below the east summit of Mt. Myoko. There's some local details for you.
Thanks for coming by this year; let's hope for a little more snow next season, and look forward to seeing you sooner than we might think now!
Just for the record, here's the previously posted message (originally posted at the end of the main season):
It's been an unusual season in many ways. We did see the return of international tourism, not to pre-covid levels yet, but there a lot of people did come and visit, despite pretty high airfare and the inconvenience (for European travelers in particular) of much longer flights due to the situation in Eastern Europe. So thanks to them for coming to visit!
Pretty low snow levels in January meant it was a tough to get out in the backcountry. Just a note to future visitors: don't expect to be able to get out in the backcountry until maybe mid-January, even in a good snow year. There's no real Alpine terrain here, so you need a lot of snow to cover all the small trees, vines and stuff that make up our summer jungle (and this is true for many of Japan's great backcountry destinations). It's not a problem in the resorts, of course - but even for the resorts, think Christmas Day to really be sure the runs will be open and all the lifts running.
There's been more international investment in the area, too, with two of the resorts now owned by non-Japanese companies, although the actual running of the areas was still handled by the existing domestic teams. Let's see what develops in the coming seasons; the main thing is that things are changing, as always. Hopefully (as I've often mentioned this season) they will be more proactive in using their websites to get information out earlier. The city does have a page that collects information, too, but many people will go directly to the resort's page first (why look at everything if you want to get specific information?), so they really should update their own site first. But many don't. And that is the end of that rant for the season.
And there's still skiing available, and I think spring is a great time to get out and enjoy a good slide. White snow and new green leaves; suntans and cold beverages.....
Myoko Now 2022-2023 season |
Data as of Monday 8th May 2023 Total snowfall at base so far 1029cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 57 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 66cm (21st February) November 2022 snowfall 0cm December 2022 snowfall 134cm reported on 19 days January 2023 snowfall 491cm reported on 19 days February 2023 snowfall 371cm reported on 15 days March 2023 snowfall 25cm reported on 3 days April 2023 snowfall 8cm reported on 1 day |
All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Myoko. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report.