Yuzawa Now: Wednesday 11th January 2017
- Jan 11, 2017
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata
New snowfall at base 23cm
Snowfall at base this season 196cm
Posted on Wednesday 11th January 2017 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here.
Soon after posting the report yesterday, I was off out for a ski. By the time I was in the gondola at Maiko Snow Resort, I was really surprised at how clear it was turning out to be and also how much snow there was hanging on the trees. While there had been hardly any fresh snow on lower levels, it was different higher up with about 20cm of fresh and some really nice conditions to boot. By late morning there was hardly a cloud in the sky - it had turned into a beautiful morning. That wasn't something that the forecast said...
The contrast between the upper Okusoeji area of the resort (lots of nice fresh snow and it hanging on the trees) and the base (no fresh snow and it very thin on the ground) was quite stark. But it was certainly very good to see that fine conditions could be found - just need to go and seek them.
By mid afternoon the skies were mostly grey... and then later on it rained again.
I'm prepared to forget about that quickly though because this morning there's lovely fresh snow on the ground, it is snowing quite nicely, and it looks like we're in for a treat still through until at least early next week.
This morning there's nearly 25cm on the ground - in town areas. And here is what I can get from resorts:
Kagura: 20cm-30cm
Mitsumata: 30cm
Tashiro: 20cm
Maiko Snow Resort: 20cm-40cm
As I am writing this report and in the last few minutes it has actually just stopped snowing and I can even see a glimpse of some sky behind the fast-moving clouds... I think (hope) that it's just temporary and we should be back to the snow quickly. The forecast is for snow with particularly heavy snow from Friday through the weekend.
I sense this will be the real turning point of the season. In a good way. :)
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Resort-specific info as of Wednesday 11th January 2017
GALA Yuzawa
All three areas now open.
13 courses are open in total as well as the sledding area.
Official snow depth: 190cm
Ishiuchi Maruyama
Lifts from all three base areas are operating and most course areas are available.
Official snow depth: 100cm
Iwappara
Mostly open - just a few courses now not open. 6 lifts and 17 courses are available.
Official snow depth: 65cm
Joetsu Kokusai
17 lifts are operating and 17 courses are open.
Official snow depth: 60cm
Kagura
All areas of Kagura are open.
Official snow depth:
Kagura - 210cm
Mitsumata - 180cm
Tashiro - 160cm
Kandatsu Kogen
Kandatsu Kogen is now 'fully open'. (Note that Milky Way and Andromeda courses are open only on weekends and holidays).
Official snow depth: 150cm
Maiko Snow Resort
All lifts now operating as planned and most courses are available.
Official snow depth:
Upper - 160cm
Base - 30cm
Muikamachi Hakkaisan
All planned lifts are now operating and all main courses now open.
Note that the Number 2 lift and one course only operate on weekends and holidays.
Official snow depth: 120cm
Naeba
All lifts and areas now open. Please see Naeba Now report for more specific details.
Official snow depth: 130cm
NASPA Ski Garden
NASPA Ski Garden is open. All lifts are operating and all courses (apart from the mogul course) are open.
Official snow depth: 95cm
Yuzawa Kogen
All lifts operating and all courses open.
Official snow depth:
Top - 130cm
Base - 60cm
Yuzawa Park
Yuzawa Park is now fully open.
Official snow depth: 75cm
Yuzawa Nakazato
Yuzawa Nakazato is open with all lifts operating.
Official snow depth: 70cm
Yuzawa Now 2016-2017 season |
Data as of Wednesday 11th January 2017 Total snowfall at base so far 196cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 20 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 26cm (11th and 30th December) November 2016 snowfall 2cm reported on 1 day December 2016 snowfall 144cm reported on 14 days January 2017 snowfall 50cm reported on 5 days |
All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Yuzawa. 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.