Yuzawa Now: Tuesday 22nd December 2015
- Dec 22, 2015
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 23, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata
New snowfall at base 0cm
Snowfall at base this season 19cm
Posted on Tuesday 22nd December 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here.
Kagura this morning are reporting 10-20cm of fresh snow on their upper areas which is great to hear.
Less exciting news to report from lower down as after the cloudy start, for a short time it cleared up a bit with even a bit of sun, but then later on it started raining and was raining overnight. It's a bit... wet... this morning too though it should ease off sooner than later sometime this morning. The temperature here in town is currently 5 degrees and that is basically constant from overnight as well. We can't expect it to rise much during the day though.
Yesterday afternoon Maiko Snow Resort announced that they aren't unfortunately going to be able to open today due to the deteriorating snow conditions (and basically amount of snow!) up there. The rain couldn't have done them any favours. So they join the list of 'waiting for snow' resorts once again.
Looks like Joetsu Kokusai are remaining open though this morning as are of course Naeba, Kagura and GALA Yuzawa.
Tomorrow the local forecast says cloud/sun and a high of around 8C in town.
OK so how is this promised snowfall at the end of the week looking? I'm very happy to report that it still looking like it is on the cards, hopefully with snow starting falling in town Friday and continuing through the weekend. If it all happens as per the forecasts, we can maybe expect lots of the 'on standby' resorts to be able to get going (at least in part) by the end of the weekend.
We can only hope!
I'm getting somewhat tired of posting reports about mild temperatures and rain, so a good dose of heavy snow will be very exciting!
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Resorts that are now at least part open (Tuesday 22nd December 2015) - subject to change:
Kagura
A large part of Kagura Mitsumata is now open with natural snow - basically most areas up to and including the main Kagura runs are skiable.
(Mitsumata Family course and Chibbiko area; Kagura main gelende, Giant, Technical, Panorama and Gondola courses).
A decent part of Kagura Tashiro is also now open - up to the Tashiro Number 1 high speed lift.
(Tashiro Ladies course, Shirakaba course, Tashiro Alyeska course, Tashiroko course, Number 1 high speed connecting course, Skyline course).
Note that the connecting courses between the main Kagura area and the Tashiro areas are not yet open.
Naeba
Lower Number 4 and 5 courses are open (with the help of artificial snow) and the upper Takenokodaira course is open (100% natural snow).
GALA Yuzawa
GALA Yuzawa is part open - the Melody and Entertainment courses in the main Central Area are open.
Joetsu Kokusai
The Panorama quad and two pair lifts are moving with the Panorama courses in the North Area open.
Muikamachi Hakkaisan
The Technical course and Rakuraku A courses open with just two pair lifts operating (one to get to the open area).
Resorts on standby to open as soon as there is enough snow to open:
Ipponsugi
Ishiuchi Maruyama
Iwappara
Kagura (Tashiro)
Kandatsu Kogen
Ludens Yuzawa
Muikamachi Ski Resort
Nakazato Snow Wood
NASPA Ski Garden
Yuzawa Nakazato
Yuzawa Park
Yuzawa Kogen
Planning to open on Thursday 24th December:
Chateau Shiozawa
Planning to open on Friday 25th December:
Hakkaisanroku
Planning to open on Saturday 26th December:
Itsukamachi
Ishiuchi Hanaoka
Mt Granview
Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season |
Data as of Tuesday 22nd December 2015 Total snowfall at base so far 19cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 2 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 15cm (18th December) November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 19cm reported on 2 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.