Yuzawa Now: Saturday 20th December 2025
- Dec 20, 2025
- 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 97cm
Posted on Saturday 20th December 2025 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here.
It's a fine morning and, of course, we expect fine weather over the weekend... featuring very mild conditions.
Some southerly wind is also forecast today, and hopefully that will not complicate matters.
GALA Yuzawa is open this morning with 4 runs available in the Central Area and 2 open in the Northern Area. Your reporter will not be there to enjoy them, but the webcams from GALA looks rather appealing at the start of the day.
Yuzawa Park is going ahead with the Number 7 lift, and Muikamachi Hakkaisan north of Yuzawa is also open.
Today also sees the Tashiro Ropeway and Tashiro Area of Kagura opening up for the season, along with Dragondola (connecting Tashiro and Naeba). Note that the connecting course between Tashiro and Kagura is not yet available. (That is scheduled to open from 27th December).
And a little more of Naeba, Kandatsu and Joetsu Kokusai are also available.
We have at least five other ski areas now on standby to open as soon as there is enough snow.
(The status of the small Nakazato Snow Wood is unclear early morning).
I think that's everything for now!
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GALA Yuzawa
Part open
Official snow depth (reported by ski area):
50cm
Lifts scheduled to be operating:
Central Area: Gondola, Barouche quad, Sociable quad, Phaeton pair, Coach pair
Northern Area: Victoria quad
Courses scheduled to be open:
Central Area: Melody, Entertainment, Gigi, Grenoble
Northern Area: Swan, Broadway
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Ishiuchi Maruyama
Part open
Lifts scheduled to be operating:
Sunrise Express gondola
Kita Maruyama Family pair lift
Green Lift
Courses scheduled to be open:
2 beginner runs
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Joetsu Kokusai
Part open
Official snow depth (reported by ski area):
35cm
Lifts scheduled to be operating:
7 lifts
Courses scheduled to be open:
5 courses
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Kagura
Mitsumata and Tashiro bases now open
Official snow depth:
Top: 110cm
Base: 60cm
Lifts scheduled to be operating:
11 of 18 lifts
Including the Mitsumata and Tashiro bases and Dragondola (connecting the Tashiro Area with Naeba)
Courses scheduled to be open:
20 of 30 courses
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Kandatsu Snow Resort
Part open
Lifts scheduled to be operating:
A Lift (pair)
B Lift (quad)
C Lift (quad)
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Muikamachi Hakkaisan
Part open
Official snow depth:
Top: 50cm
Base: 10cm
Lifts scheduled to be operating:
Ropeway
Number 3 pair
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Naeba
Part open
Official snow depth:
Top: 70cm
Base: 40cm
Lifts scheduled to be operating:
8 of 12
Including Dragondola connecting Naeba with the Tashiro Area of Kagura
Courses scheduled to be open:
18 of 24 courses
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Yuzawa Kogen
Part open
Official snow depth:
Top: 30cm
Lifts scheduled to be operating:
Yuzawa Kogen Ropeway
Cosmos pair lift
Summit panorama lift
Courses scheduled to be open:
Cosmos
Kisuge (upper)
Panorama
Aoikeshi (ungroomed)
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Yuzawa Park
Part open
Official snow depth:
Top: 20cm
Lifts scheduled to be operating:
Number 7 lift
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Here are the planned opening dates for ski areas around Yuzawa and Minamiuonuma.
All dates are subject to change and will depend on snowfall.
Delayed (and will open as soon as there is enough snow):
Ipponsugi Snow Park
Iwappara
Maiko Snow Resort
NASPA Ski Garden
Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Resort
Planned opening today but status unconfirmed early morning:
Nakazato Snow Wood
Wednesday 24th December 2025:
Muica Snow Resort
Thursday 25th December 2025:
Hakkai Sanroku
Chateau Shiozawa
Yuzawa Now2025-2026 season |
Data as of Saturday 20th December 2025 Total snowfall at base so far 97cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 7 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 21cm (on 12th December) November 2025 snowfall 12cm reported on 1 day December 2025 snowfall 85cm 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.