Yuzawa Now: Friday 23rd December 2016
- Dec 23, 2016
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata
New snowfall at base 0cm
Snowfall at base this season 106cm
Posted on Friday 23rd December 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here.
Hello from Yuzawa and a bit of a later report this morning as I wanted to check everything -- unfortunately, the weather is making things a bit tricky at the moment.
Yesterday was - as expected - another very warm day. I posted my report early yesterday and didn't initially pick up on the fact that some resorts were not going to be able to open due to strong winds. GALA Yuzawa was closed for the day, as were the Tashiro and main Kagura areas at Kagura. It was fairly windy low down too.
We knew it was going to be mild/warm but I was still pretty shocked to see 18C on the road-side thermometer here in Shiozawa just outside of Yuzawa at 6pm. That's just silly numbers and I wish to lodge a formal complaint to someone/somewhere!
And then there was the rain. Yes, it rained overnight and heavily at times.
This morning it's cloudy with a few spots of rain here and there but generally it is holding off for now.
After such a good start a few weeks back, this last week has inflicted some serious damage. The 60cm of snow that was nicely piling up in my garden has now all gone. And slopes around town level in the region are now looking rather brown unfortunately as the snow has disappeared.
Ishiuchi Maruyama and Yuzawa Park had opened, but they are going to be closed for the day today due to the conditions.
A few other resorts are now reducing the areas that are open due to the current snow conditions.
I know what I have written is all a bit grim, but in the interests of telling it like it is. But we all want some good news as well of course, so let's get onto that...
By tonight it should be snowing again and hopefully it will turn everywhere back to white by the morning and continue through the day. After that a break from the snow and a little warmer (but thankfully not the kind of warm we have experienced this last week) before more snow due around Tuesday-Wednesday. So fingers crossed we can get back to 'winter mode' fairly quickly.
I have updated the resort-specific information below with what info I have available. Will do our best to keep this up to data every day.
Snow. Now. Please! :)
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Resort-specific info as of Friday 23rd December 2016
GALA Yuzawa
GALA Yuzawa is part open.
9 courses in the Central and North areas open in total.
Official snow depth: 90cm
Ishiuchi Maruyama
Closed today due to the snow conditions.
Official snow depth: 50cm
Iwappara
Iwappara is part open. 4 lifts and 11 courses are open.
Opening of nighta has been delayed until there is more snow.
Official snow depth: 30cm
Joetsu Kokusai
Part of the Panorama area of Joetsu Kokusai is open with 6 lifts operating and 5 courses open.
Official snow depth: 50cm
Kagura
All areas of Kagura are generally open. The top Kagura Number 5 pair lift and course will open from 1st January 2017.
The Dragondola was planning to be open from today, but they have delayed opening due to the lack of snow.
Official snow depth:
Kagura - 150cm
Mitsumata - 110cm
Tashiro - 130cm
Kandatsu Kogen
Kandatsu Kogen is part open with three lifts operating.
Official snow depth: 40cm
Naeba
The Prince Number 2 Gondola, Takenokodaira pair, Number 3 and 5 high speed lifts, Number 4 romance pair lifts are operating.
Official snow depth: 50cm
Maiko Snow Resort
The Gondola and Okusoeji quad and pair lifts are operating. 6 courses open in total.
The Maiko side of the resort is currently closed. Official snow depth:
Upper - 50cm
Base - 0cm
Muikamachi Hakkaisan
The Ropeway and Number 3 romance pair lifts are operating.
Official snow depth: 50cm
NASPA Ski Garden
NASPA Ski Garden is open with 5 courses and lifts 1, 3, 4 and 5 operating.
Official snow depth: 35cm
Yuzawa Kogen
Yuzawa Kogen is part open. The lower Nunoba area is closed.
The Ropeway, Cosmos pair lift, Summit pair lift are operating.
Official snow depth:
Top - 60cm
Base - 10cm
Yuzawa Park
Yuzawa Park has had to close due to the snow situation.
Official snow depth: 30cm
Yuzawa Nakazato
Yuzawa Nakazato is part open.
The Number 2 pair lift is operating.
Official snow depth: 25cm
Yuzawa Now 2016-2017 season |
Data as of Friday 23rd December 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 106cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 10 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 26cm (11th December) November 2016 snowfall 2cm reported on 1 day December 2016 snowfall 104cm reported on 9 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.