Yuzawa Now: Friday 18th December 2020
- Dec 18, 2020
- 5 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata
New snowfall at base 38cm
Snowfall at base this seas 253cm
Posted on Friday 18th December 2020 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here.
Good morning from Yuzawa.
The snow continued yesterday and though it was not quite as heavy and persistent as it had been the previous few days, there's another measured 38cm to add to the report this morning.
The snow has eased off now and there are actually some clearer skies above us at the moment and some sunshine breaking through.
We are due more snow though from tonight, with potentially heavy snow again tomorrow and perhaps into Sunday.
Many locals are going to be taking the time today during this calmer weather to prepare for more incoming snow.
As of 5pm yesterday the official snow depth number being put out there by Yuzawa Town was 182cm, and that is apparently over 7 times normal for this time in the season. It is of course still very early season and usually around the middle of December the snow is either just about starting to fall or there isn't any yet, so the numbers will clearly vary greatly at this stage. Still, that is an impressive statistic.
(Remember, you can check out our own observed snowfall numbers from previous seasons in this report - see below and the Snowfall Analysis page. Been too busy to look but can imagine that those graphs look crazy!)
I can't recall a year when ski areas have been delaying their opening due to heavy snow, but that is what is happening this time round with a few of them.
Here's the latest ski area info as of this morning:
Kagura and GALA Yuzawa are part open.
Joetsu Kokusai is open from this morning. They have 5 lifts running with 8 courses open.
The Tashiro Area of Kagura was planning on being open from today, but the heavy snowfall has delayed that opening. No confirmed news beyond that just now.
Naeba is planning to open tomorrow. They will have lower areas open. There is of course enough snow on the upper mountain, but they are currently dealing with it.
After delaying opening (originally due today), Maiko Snow Resort and Ishiuchi Maruyama are both now planning to open from tomorrow.
There are a few other ski areas planning on opening tomorrow.
More ski area updates tomorrow.
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It was only after the report was posted yesterday that we heard the sad news from Kagura on Wednesday. A snowboarder lost their life up there after being buried in deep fresh snowfall.
Apparently the lady who lost her life yesterday was not 'out of bounds'; there was just so much snow with low visibility.
It might be easy for us all to get caught up in all of the excitement of heavy snowfall, but we need to remember to always be super extra careful in these conditions.
There has been some serious disruption to traffic over the last few days.
Trains have been affected and around 1000 vehicles have been stranded on the Kanetsu Expressway - apparently there was 16km of stationary vehicles either way starting around the Yuzawa and Shiozawa Ishiuchi exits, with some now stuck in the same place now for more than a day. Snow was falling through the day yesterday while the vehicles were stationary, so they were getting even more snowed-in making the situation even more difficult. The Self Defence Forces were called in to help check on drivers caught up in this awful situation and provide some water and food.
A section of Route 17 was also closed yesterday as snow was being cleared.
Authorities have been asking people to avoid travelling by car around Yuzawa and Minamiuonuma unless really necessary until the situation improves.
Please do check on the transport/traffic situation before coming.
Just a general comment: if you are driving and plan to be here when there is a chance of a snowstorm, please be sure to be prepared. That means having the right tyres, arriving in snow country with enough gasoline, some food and drink, and something to wipe and move snow from the car. All of these things are helpful if you find yourself stuck like all those folk affected at the moment.
What a week it has been.
Looking forward for everything to calm down so we can then perhaps turn thoughts more to fun snow stuff.
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GALA Yuzawa
Operating lifts:
- Diligence Gondola
- Sociable quad lift
- Phaeton pair lift
Courses open:
- Melody
- Entertainment
- GiGi
- Snow Enjoyment Park
Official snow depth:
- 230cm
Joetsu Kokusai
Open lifts & courses:
- 5 lifts and 8 courses
Official snow depth:
- 180cm
Kagura
Operating lifts:
- Mitsumata Ropeway
- Mitsumata Number 1 quad lift
- Mitsumata Number 2 romance pair lift
- Kagura Number 1 high speed life
- Kagura Gondola
Courses open:
- Kagura main course
- Gondola course
- Family course
- Gondola line course
Official snow depth:
- Top: 220cm
- Base: 140cm
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Unclear
- Kagura (via Tashiro)
Saturday 19th December 2020
- Ishiuchi Maruyama
- Kandatsu Snow Resort
- Maiko Snow Resort
- Naeba
- Nakazato Snow Wood
- Yuzawa Kogen
- Yuzawa Nakazato
Thursday 24th December 2020
- Iwappara
- NASPA Ski Garden
Friday 25th December 2020
- Ipponsugi
- Muica Snow Resort
- Muikamachi Hakkaisan
- Yuzawa Park
Saturday 26th December 2020
- Chateau Shiozawa
- Hakkai Sanroku
- Itsukamachi
Late December
- Mt Granview
Closed during the 2020-2021 winter season
- Ishiuchi Hanaoka
Yuzawa Now 2020-2021 season |
Data as of Friday 18th December 2020 Total snowfall at base so far 253cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 5 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 96cm (16th December) November 2020 snowfall 0cm December 2020 snowfall 253cm 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.