Yuzawa Now: Friday 14th December 2018
- Dec 14, 2018
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 25, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata
New snowfall at base 14cm
Snowfall at base this season 41cm
Posted on Friday 14th December 2018 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here.
4PM UPDATE
It's still snowing. :)
Everyone is happy about that, but resort types are running around frantically gearing up for their season debuts!
Resorts that have announced that they will be open tomorrow morning (Saturday 15th December):
- GALA Yuzawa (Melody and Entertainment courses in the Central Area)
- Yuzawa Kogen (Ropeway, Cosmos lift, Summit panorama lift)
- Kandatsu Kogen (details unconfirmed)
- Joetsu Kokusai (4 lifts - Nagamine quad, Panorama quad and two pairs)
And of course...
- Kagura should be 'fully' open (with the Tashiro Ropeway opening)
- More of Naeba will be opening
Resorts that are on stand-by, but whether they will or not tomorrow is still unconfirmed:
- Iwappara
- Yuzawa Nakazato
- Yuzawa Park
- Maiko Snow Resort
There's going to be a lot of information to gather and put together for the report tomorrow morning... sorry if it is a bit late!
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Original report from this morning
Morning from Yuzawa.
Better news this morning!
First of all, it's snowing and coming in nicely from the north. And I am measuring a decent chunk on the ground too and counting with snow forecast for the day.
Kagura are reporting 20-30cm of fresh snowfall and they are opening Giant and Technical courses today. They are saying that their top Kagura Number 5 pair lift will open from 1st January 2019. From tomorrow the Tashiro Ropeway will also be open. From what I can see they seem to be saying that 'all areas' will be skiable from tomorrow so hopefully they can make that happen.
Whether other resorts can part open from tomorrow -- well, there is no news early on today, but we will check and update this report later this afternoon and let you know any news.
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Kagura lifts and courses:
- Mitsumata Ropeway
- Mitsumata Number 1 high speed lift
- Mitsumata Number 2 romance lift
- Kagura Gondola
- Kagura Number 1 high speed lift
- Kagura Number 4 romance lift
* Kagura main course
* Giant
* Technical
* Gondola course
* Gondola line
* Family course
Naeba lifts and courses:
- Number 5 high speed lift
- Number 4 romance lift
* Number 5 course (900m long and 30m wide by base)
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Other planned resort opening dates (subject to change)
Friday 21st December 2018
- Ishiuchi Maruyama
- Muikamachi Hakkaisan
- NASPA Ski Garden
Saturday 22nd December 2018
- Chateau Shiozawa
- Ipponsugi
- Nakazato Snow Wood
Sunday 23rd December 2018
- Hakkai Sanroku
- Itsukamachi
Friday 28th December 2018
- Ishiuchi Hanaoka
Saturday 29th November 2018
- Mt Granview
Yuzawa Now 2018-2019 season |
Data as of Friday 14th December 2018 Total snowfall at base so far 41cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 5 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 14cm (9th and 14th December) November 2018 snowfall 2cm reported on 1 day December 2018 snowfall 39cm reported on 4 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.