Yuzawa Now: Saturday 17th December 2016
- Dec 17, 2016
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata
New snowfall at base 20cm
Snowfall at base this season 105cm
Posted on Saturday 17th December 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here.
Yesterday we enjoyed more snowfall through most of the day - there were a few small patches of blue sky in the afternoon from time to time but overnight the snow was falling again and outside SJHQ in Minamiuonuma there's 18cm of fresh since the last report. 20cm on the ground in Yuzawa. Nice.
Maiko Snow Resort are reporting up to 25cm of fresh snow while Kagura are reporting up to 20cm.
We have done really well since last weekend and happily it means that the resorts who were planning on opening from today are able to. I have done my best to update the individual resort information below with all of the latest that is available.
Looking beyond today, there is more sunshine on the forecast for the coming week than snow and it does look like it is gradually going to be warming up a bit. Not what we want to hear but hopefully it'll peak out late week and we can be back to snow in time for Christmas. In the meantime the snow we have now should keep us going.
It's still snowing now so fingers crossed we'll get a decent amount more today before it eases off... though it isn't that cold this morning and actually forecast for temperatures to rise a bit later - watch out for the chance of it being too warm for snow and dreaded rain falling later on. Hopefully not!
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Resort-specific info as of Saturday 17th December 2016
GALA Yuzawa
GALA Yuzawa is open from this morning. The Central and North areas are open:
Central Area - Melody, Edelweiss, Entertainment, Gigi, Grenoble courses and the sledging area
North Area - Broadway and Swan courses
Official snow depth: 120cm
Iwappara
Iwappara is part open from today.
The Number 2 and Number 3 pair lifts as well as the Chuo and Summit quad lifts are operating.
Official snow depth: 60cm
Joetsu Kokusai
Joetsu Kokusai is part open from today with 11 lifts operating and 12 courses open.
Official snow depth: 70cm
Kagura
All areas of Kagura are now open. The top Kagura Number 5 pair lift and course will open from 1st January 2017.
The resort is reporting 5-20m of fresh snow.
Official snow depth:
Kagura - 150cm
Mitsumata - 110cm
Tashiro - 130cm
Kandatsu Kogen
After the special 'pre-open' yesterday, Kandatsu Kogen is now officially open for the season.
Official snow depth: 85cm
Naeba
The Prince Number 2 Gondola, Takenokodaira pair, Number 5 high speed lift, Number 3 and Number 4 romance pair lifts are operating.
Official snow depth: 70cm
Maiko Snow Resort
The Gondola and Okusoeji quad and pair lifts are operating as well as the Maiko Center quad lift (on the Maiko side).
Official snow depth:
Upper - 120cm
Base - 50cm
Muikamachi Hakkaisan
Hakkaisan is part open from today.
The Ropeway and Number 1 and 3 romance pair lifts are operating.
Official snow depth: 80cm
Yuzawa Kogen
Yuzawa Kogen is part open from today.
The Ropeway, Cosmos pair lift, Summit pair lift and Nunoba pair lift are operating.
Official snow depth:
Top - 100cm
Base - 45cm
Yuzawa Park
It seems Yuzawa Park actually part opened yesterday and today the Number 1 and Number 7 lifts are operating.
Yuzawa Nakazato
Yuzawa Nakazato is part open from today.
The Number 1 high speed lift, Number 2 and Number 3 romance pair lifts are operating.
Official snow depth: 50cm
Other nearby resorts now at least part open:
Ludens Yuzawa
Muica Snow Resort
Nakazato Snow Wood
Planned opening dates for other resorts in Yuzawa Town and Minamiuonuma City (by date):
Wednesday 21st December:
Ishiuchi Maruyama
Thursday 22nd December:
NASPA Ski Garden
Friday 23rd December:
Chateau Shiozawa
Ipponsugi
Itsukamachi
Saturday 24th December:
Hakkai Sanroku
Mt Granview
Wednesday 28th December:
Ishiuchi Hanaoka
Yuzawa Now 2016-2017 season |
Data as of Saturday 17th December 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 105cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 9 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 26cm (11th December) November 2016 snowfall 2cm reported on 1 day December 2016 snowfall 103cm reported on 8 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.