Yuzawa Now: Thursday 3rd January 2019
- Jan 3, 2019
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata
New snowfall at base 37cm
Snowfall at base this season 320cm
Posted on Thursday 3rd January 2019 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here.
Excellent news again this morning.
It was snowing during the day yesterday, though not as intensively as last week. I cleared off 5cm of snow since the morning. But this morning I have just measured another 32cm. That's a total of 37cm since my report yesterday.
I tend to think that the ski resorts are being a bit shy with the new snowfall numbers that they report now that we have a lot, but for the record here they are:
Maiko Snow Resort: 30-40cm
Kagura: about 30cm
Ishiuchi Maruyama: 20cm
People like probably most of you reading this report mostly want there to always be large snowfall numbers. Deep is good, ne! For the ski resorts though, if there's too much news about relentless heavy snowfall they sometimes feel that it puts some people off coming.
Understandable, I suppose. Personally I get rather excited by the big numbers.
So yes it's really great to see so much snow falling again. And I would recommend keeping an eye on tomorrow too as we might get to enjoy some clearer sunny skies. With many people now returning to their normal lives after the New Year period, the slopes shouldn't be too busy either. So tomorrow should be an excellent day on the mountains with great conditions wherever you choose to slide.
GALA Yuzawa were hoping to open their Southern Area today but have delayed that... not due to a lack of snow, rather due to the large amounts of snow. The better problem of the two extremes I suppose, but they will want to get that area open as quickly as possible. Some fine snow conditions usually can be found there so keep an eye on that.
The 'Yuzawa Snow Link' (interesting new name for the connecting Yuzawa Kogen <> GALA Yuzawa <> Ishiuchi Maruyama resorts) joint lift ticket is now available. With the Southern Area of GALA Yuzawa not yet open, the Ropeway that connects GALA Yuzawa with Yuzawa Kogen is of course not operating yet. You can get from GALA Yuzawa to Ishiuchi Maruyama via the top ski lift. A shuttle bus between the respective bases is operating if you want to get between them.
Excited about tomorrow!
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Ski resorts in Yuzawa:
GALA Yuzawa
- 230cm (official snow depth)
- The Central and Northern Areas of GALA Yuzawa are open
- The Southern Area will hopefully be open soon
- Part of the downhill Falcon course is open
Iwappara
- 175cm (official snow depth)
Kagura
- Kagura area: 250cm (official snow depth)
- Mitsumata area: 210cm (official snow depth)
- Tashiro area: 230cm (official snow depth)
- The top pair lift is now open (from 1st January)
Kandatsu Kogen
- 170cm (official snow depth)
Naeba
- 160cm (official snow depth)
- Please see our Naeba Now report for daily updates from Naeba
NASPA Ski Garden
- 240cm (official snow depth)
Yuzawa Kogen
- Top: 220cm (official snow depth)
- Base: 150cm (official snow depth)
Yuzawa Park
- 180cm (official snow depth)
Yuzawa Nakazato
- 160cm (official snow depth)
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Ski resorts in Minamiuonuma - just to the north of Yuzawa:
Ishiuchi Maruyama
- 210cm (official snow depth)
Joetsu Kokusai
- 220cm (official snow depth)
Maiko Snow Resort
- Top: 240cm (official snow depth)
- Base: 160cm (official snow depth)
Muikamachi Hakkaisan
- 190cm (official snow depth)
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Night time 'nighta' operations (listed in alphabetical order)
Below is information on night time floodlit skiing operations at ski resorts in the area. Subject to change due to weather and snow conditions.
Ishiuchi Maruyama
Open daily until Saturday 16th March 2019
The Chuo Area is open daily for nighta
The Hatsukaishi and Kanko Areas only open for nighta over New Year and nights before holidays
4:00pm until 8:30pm
Iwappara
Open daily until Sunday 24th March 2019
Part of the mid and lower area of the resort
5:00pm until 8:00pm on weekdays; until 9:00pm on Saturdays
Joetsu Kokusai
Open daily until Sunday 24th March 2019
Area in front of the base hotel, Osawa and lower Atema
5:00pm until 9:00pm
Kandatsu Kogen
'Hobo (Almost) All Night' every Friday, Saturday and night before holidays until 30th March 2019
6:00pm until 4:0am the next morning
Maiko Snow Resort
Open daily 'one-coin nighta' (500 yen) until Saturday 16th March 2019
Maiko Center Quad lift in the Maiko Area
4:00pm until 8:00pm
Naeba
Open daily until Sunday 24th March 2019
Number 3 and 4 high speed and Number 4 romance pair lifts
4:00pm until 8:30pm
NASPA Ski Garden
NASPA extends opening for the Number 1 lift on the following dates:
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 12th, 13th, 19th, 26th January 2019
2nd, 9th, 10th, 16th, 23rd February 2019
Extended until 6:00pm
Yuzawa Nakazato
1st, 2nd, 3rd January 2019
Every Saturday from 5th January until 9th March 2019
Sunday 13th January 2019
Sunday 10th February 2019
Number 2 romance pair lift
5:00pm until 8:30pm
Yuzawa Now 2018-2019 season |
Data as of Thursday 3rd January 2019 Total snowfall at base so far 320cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 17 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 50cm (29th December) November 2018 snowfall 2cm reported on 1 day December 2018 snowfall 253cm reported on 13 days January 2019 snowfall 65cm reported on 3 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.