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Yuzawa Now: Thursday 21st December 2023

  • Dec 21, 2023
  • 3 min read

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata


New snowfall at base 12cm
Snowfall at base this seas 78cm

Posted on Thursday 21st December 2023 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here.


It is snowing and we already have a 10cm+ layer of new snow around town. (Much less just to the north). We are all hoping that we will be getting quite a lot of more over the next several days. Some forecasts say heavy snow, others are less bombastic in their predictions. (The former, please!)


A few noticeable changes this morning: The Giant course at Kagura is open and all of the lifts and courses in the Central Area of GALA Yuzawa are open this morning.


Yuzawa Nakazato has confirmed that it will be opening tomorrow morning. Hopefully, Maiko Snow Resort and Joetsu Kokusai are also still set to open from tomorrow.


That's all the news I can find at the moment. I will update the report again by this evening with any further news.


If the snow continues today and tomorrow, we can probably expect all ski areas to be able to be at least part open at the weekend.


Come on!!!


6pm update:


It has not been snowing as much as we had hoped so far today. Somewhat disappointing. Hopefully good snow news tomorrow.


Maiko Snow Resort have confirmed that it will be open tomorrow. The Gondola and two Okusoeji lifts (and runs) should be available. You'll need to get the gondola back down to base.


Yuzawa Kogen will also be part open from tomorrow, but there's no confirmation on exactly what will be open just yet.


Joetsu Kokusai has also announced that its Panorama Zone will open tomorrow.


No information is available yet regarding when the Tashiro section of Kagura might open.


(All info in this report other than the above update is as per original morning report. Any snowfall after the original morning report will be included in tomorrows report).


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Ski area information for Thursday 21st December 2023


The information below is manually checked with official sources and updated for every report.

Please note that details can change quickly, especially at the beginning of the season, and official information may take a bit longer to update.

All information is subject to change.


GALA Yuzawa

Part open


Lifts open (scheduled):

- Diligence Gondola

- All Central Area lifts


Courses available (scheduled):

- All Central Area courses


Official snow depth:

- 40cm


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Ishiuchi Maruyama

Part open


Lifts open (scheduled):

- Sunrise Express

- Green


Courses available (scheduled):

- Green course


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Kagura (via Mitsumata)

Part open


Lifts open:

- Mitsumata Ropeway (from 8:00am on weekends; 7:30am on weekends)

- Mitsumata Number 1 quad

- Mitsumata Number 2 romance pair lift

- Kagura Gondola

- Kagura Number 1 quad


Courses available:

- Kagura main slope

- Giant

- Gondola course

- Gondola line

- Family (Mitsumata)


Official snow depth:

- Top: 50cm

- Base: 30cm


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Kandatsu Snow Resort

Part open


Lifts open:

- A pair lift

- C quad lift


Courses available:

- 4 courses


Official snow depth:

- 40cm


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Naeba

Part open


Lifts open:

- Number 4 romance pair lift


Courses available:

- 1 course


Official snow depth:

- ?


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Planned opening dates for other ski areas


Opening as soon as there is enough snow:

Iwappara

Kagura (via Tashiro)

Joetsu Kokusai

Maiko Snow Resort

Muikamachi Hakkaisan

NASPA Ski Garden

Yuzawa Kogen

Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Resort

Yuzawa Park



Yuzawa Now 2023-2024 season

Data as of Thursday 21st December 2023 Total snowfall at base so far 78cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 7 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 26cm (19th December) November 2023 snowfall 14cm reported on 2 days December 2023 snowfall 64cm 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.


SnowJapan is an entirely independent operation. Our daily reports are not posted on behalf of ski areas or any other business or organisation. Since first going online in 1999, the integrity of this website has always been our top priority, and it is something we are not prepared to compromise. All content is carefully created and written by humans who share a passion for the subject and what SnowJapan stands for.



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