Yuzawa Now: Thursday 16th April 2026
- Apr 16
- 3 min read
Updated: 10 hours ago
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata
New snowfall at base 0cm
Snowfall at base this seas 917cm
Posted on Thursday 16th April 2026 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here.
Well, the big news from yesterday afternoon was that GALA Yuzawa made their announcement: Friday 17th April (tomorrow) will be their last day for skiing and snowboarding. I thought they might be able to reach this coming weekend, and I'm sure they wanted to, but unfortunately there's just not enough snow to work with. Some rain yesterday surely didn't help. Tomorrow may be over two and a half weeks earlier than the planned closing date of 6th May, but considering the circumstances they did well to remain open until now.
Gala does intend to remain open until 6th May for some activities (snow enjoyment park, snow mobile, snow buggy, etc), but from Saturday the ski lift will not be moving and there won't be any skiing or snowboarding.
That all means that from Saturday the only skiing and snowboarding in the region will be at Kagura ski area.
It is a cloudy start to the day (not raining) and it looks like visibility at both the open ski areas is poor early on. But it is expected to improve though not warm up too much today. It might even feel a bit chilly up on the slopes.
Tomorrow should be fine, warm and sunny.
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GALA Yuzawa
Official snow depth (reported by ski area):
40cm
Notes:
Lifts operating: Gondola and Barouche quad lift.
Courses open: Entertainment and Gigi.
Tomorrow (Friday 17th April) is the last day of the season for skiing and snowboarding.
GALA will remain open until 6th May for sightseeing/basic snow activities, but not for skiing or snowboarding.
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Kagura
Official snow depth:
Top: 220cm
Base: 120cm
Notes:
Lifts: 12 of 17 lifts remain open with both Mitsumata Ropeway and Tashiro Ropeway bases open.
Courses open: 26 of 30, according to the website this morning.
The Tashiro Area (and Tashiro Ropeway) plans to be open until 7th May.
The Kagura Area (via Mitsumata Ropeway) plans to be open until Sunday 17th May.
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All other ski areas in the Yuzawa and Minamiuonuma region have now closed.
Yuzawa Now2025-2026 season |
Data as of Thursday 16th April 2026 Total snowfall at base so far 917cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 52 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 68cm (on 25th January) November 2025 snowfall 12cm reported on 1 day December 2025 snowfall 144cm reported on 9 days January 2026 snowfall 595cm reported on 23 days February 2026 snowfall 132cm reported on 13 days March 2026 snowfall 34cm reported on 6 days April 2026 snowfall 0cm |
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.