Yuzawa Now: Sunday 25th December 2016
- Dec 25, 2016
- 5 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata
New snowfall at base 0cm
Snowfall at base this season 108cm
Posted on Sunday 25th December 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here.
Happy Christmas!
I wanted to bring you more snowy news but unfortunately there's not much of that to report this morning. This morning the Kagura resorts are reporting just 1cm of fresh snow while I notice Maiko Snow Resort is reporting 10cm, presumably that is up on the top bowl area. Trees to fairly close to town are looking nice and snow-dusted this morning, though there's no fresh to report at base level I'm afraid. It did (wet) snow at times during the day yesterday but there were also period of clearer skies and nothing falling, so there was no really Yuzawa-like snowfall.
This morning it is a mix of blue sky, sun and cloud early on.
I am happy to report that Ishiuchi Maruyama is back open today by the way. As always, individual resort information has been updated below.
What to look out for on the forecast... snowfall on Tuesday into Wednesday and then Thursday into Friday. Please let it be decent snow. I'm hearing from too many resort folk about the feeling that this season is starting to look a bit like last season. We really don't want that to be the case, we want a classic Yuzawa season!
Ending on a positive note, we have heard from a number of people who are here and really enjoying themselves. We may be short on snow and not at full power, but there's still a lot of fun to be had out there. Living here for so long and knowing just how much it can and usually does snow in this region, expectations are always very high. Some would say too high. But I'm pretty sure it'll happen, we just need to be patient for a while longer.
Have a great day everyone and see you tomorrow.
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Resort-specific info as of Sunday 25th December 2016
GALA Yuzawa
GALA Yuzawa is part open.
9 courses in the Central and North areas open in total.
Official snow depth: 80cm
Ishiuchi Maruyama
Lifts at all three areas are now open, with part of the courses open.
Official snow depth: 60cm
Iwappara
Iwappara is part open. 5 lifts and 13 courses are open.
Opening of nighta has been delayed until there is more snow.
Official snow depth: 30cm
Joetsu Kokusai
Part of the hotel base and Panorama area of Joetsu Kokusai is open with 6 lifts operating and 4 courses open.
Official snow depth: 40cm
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: 65cm
Naeba
The Prince Number 2 Gondola, Takenokodaira pair, Number 3, 4 and 5 high speed lifts and Number 4 romance pair lifts are operating.
Official snow depth: 60cm
Maiko Snow Resort
The Gondola and Okusoeji quad and pair lifts are operating. 7 courses open in total.
Official snow depth:
Upper - 70cm
Base - cm
Muikamachi Hakkaisan
The Ropeway and Number 1 and Number 3 romance pair lifts are operating.
Official snow depth: 50cm
NASPA Ski Garden
NASPA Ski Garden is open with 2 courses and lifts 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 - 80cm
Base - 10cm
Yuzawa Park
Yuzawa Park is closed due to the snow situation.
Official snow depth: -cm
Yuzawa Nakazato
Yuzawa Nakazato is part open with 4 lifts operating.
Official snow depth: 30cm
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'Nighta' (floodlit night operations)
Below are details of the planned 'nighta' operations at ski and snowboards resorts around Yuzawa and Minamiuonuma this season.
This information is subject to change due to snow and weather conditions.
Please note that this section will not be updated every day.
Ishiuchi Maruyama
Daily from 23rd December 2016 until 19th March 2017.
Nighta is from 5pm until 8:50pm.
The Chuo Number 1, Chuo Number 2 and Kanko Number 3 Express lifts are open daily.
The Kanko Number 1 Express lift, Hatsukaishi Entrance lift and Hatsukaishi Number 2 pair lifts are also open on weekends and holidays.
Iwappara
Daily from 17th December 2016 until 20th March 2017.
Nighta is from 5pm until 9pm on Saturdays and until 8pm on weekdays and Sundays.
The Main course, Grand course and West courses are open during nighta.
Joetsu Kokusai
Daily from 17th December 2016 until 20th March 2017.
Nighta is from 5pm until 9pm.
The area in front of the main base hotel is open for nighta.
Kandatsu Kogen
'Hobo All Night' ('Almost All Night') is on Fridays, Saturdays and nights before holidays between 29th December 2016 and 1st April 2017.
The nighta opening times on those days is from 6pm until 4am the following morning.
Maiko Snow Resort
Daily from 28th December 2016 until 19th March 2017.
Nighta is from 4pm until 8pm.
The Maiko center quad lift on the Maiko Side of the resort operates for nighta.
Naeba
Daily from 17th December 2016 until 26th March 2017.
Nighta is from 4pm until 8:30pm.
Part of the lower area of the resort is usually open for nighta.
NASPA Ski Garden
'Thanks' (extended) opening on Saturdays in December, January and February and also on 23rd December and from 30th December until 8th January 2017.
On those days the Number 1 lift is open until 6pm.
Yuzawa Nakazato
Every Saturday from 7th January until 11th March 2017, 29th December until 3rd January, 8th January 2017.
Nighta is from 5pm until 8:30pm.
The Number 2 pair lift operates during nighta.
Yuzawa Now 2016-2017 season |
Data as of Sunday 25th December 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 108cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 11 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 26cm (11th December) November 2016 snowfall 2cm reported on 1 day December 2016 snowfall 106cm reported on 10 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.