Yuzawa Now: Monday 15th December 2014
- Dec 15, 2014
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata
New snowfall at base 100cm
Snowfall at base this season 295cm
Posted on Monday 15th December 2014 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here.
It hasn't stopped snowing since yesterday.
It's relentless!
It's one of those times when numbers are difficult to be accurate with and in a way kind of meaningless. I think yesterday morning in my report I actually under-reported - there was more like 70cm on the ground once I got a measure on it.
Then mid-day I moved another fresh 30cm from the same place.
Then in the evening I moved another 40cm.
And this morning, there was another 30-40cm.
That's all fresh snowfall.
So adding all of that up, it comes to 170-180cm! And a full 1m since yesterday.
There's a piece of unused level land next to where I am here and the snow on that land is now getting on for 2m.
I was just looking back at reports from previous seasons (you can do that too using the links at the bottom of this page) - in recent years we have never had so much snow at this early stage in the season.
I think what has surprised so many locals here is how we have only really had 2 snow 'events' down to town level - basically last weekend and the weekend that has just finished - yet here we are with nearly 2m of snow piled up on the ground around town. All a bit overwhelming really, though of course exciting at the same time.
As you might expect, it has been causing transportation issues as everyone tries to cope with it all. The Joetsu Shinkansen was actually stopped for a while yesterday as there was a power cut, though I'm not sure if that was related to the weather conditions somehow or not.
OK so let's get onto resort stuff.
This morning Iwappara are suddenly up to a snow depth of 170cm. (Compare with Christmas Day last year when that number was at 105cm). They don't seem to be opening any more lifts though with the two lifts that have been open so far remaining open.
Kagura are reporting 40-50cm of new snow overnight, but there's the snow that fell during the day as well which is surely not included in that.
Maiko Snow Resort now have a snow depth of 190cm and new snowfall of 60cm.
It doesn't look like there's much more open in terms of lifts and course though just yet. I imagine there's a lot of snow management to deal with at the moment, but lack of snow is not going to be an issue this December.
The snowfall may ease off a bit later today and tomorrow and warm up a little, but that next storm is still scheduled to be with us around Wednesday bringing with it lots more snow.
Oh yes one thing I haven't mentioned, the snow has been fabulously light. Once the storm passes and people can catch their breath, conditions should be amazing.
If you do get out there, take real care with all this fresh deep snow. Visibility is limited as well.
---
Resorts currently open:
Kagura - pretty much fully open
Naeba (part open)
Iwappara - part open, 2 central area lifts operating
Joetsu Kokusai - part open, 5 lifts operating
Maiko Snow Resort - part open, top Okusoeji area, Gondola and 2 Okusoeji lifts operating
---
Official snow depths:
Kagura:
200cm
Naeba:
100cm
Iwappara:
170cm
Maiko Snow Resort:
190cm
Joetsu Kokusai:
180cm
---
Planned opening dates for resorts in Yuzawa Town and Minamiuonuma City (by date):
Friday 19th December:
Ishiuchi Maruyama
Muikamachi Ski Resort
Yuzawa Nakazato
Yuzawa Kogen
Yuzawa Park
Saturday 20th December:
Chateau Shiozawa
GALA Yuzawa
Ipponsugi
Kandatsu Kogen
Ludens Yuzawa
Nakazato Snow Wood
Muimamachi Hakkaisan
NASPA Ski Garden
Yuzawa Kogen (Nunoba area)
Tuesday 23rd December:
Itsukamachi
Thursday 25th December:
Hakkaisanroku
Saturday 27th December:
Ishiuchi Hanaoka
Late December
Mt Granview
Yuzawa Now 2014-2015 season |
Data as of Monday 15th December 2014 Total snowfall at base so far 295cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 6 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 100cm (15th December) November 2014 snowfall 0cm December 2014 snowfall 295cm reported on 6 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.