Yuzawa Now: Friday 6th March 2020
- Mar 6, 2020
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata
New snowfall at base 12cm
Snowfall at base this seas 387cm
Posted on Friday 6th March 2020 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here.
It is really good to see some fresh snow on the ground this morning. Took a while to get going yesterday, and perhaps not as much as we were told to expect and hoping for, but all snow is precious.
Kagura are reporting... actually, they're not reporting any snowfall number at the time of me putting this report together. But they are saying that the Tashiro Area is closed due to wind.
But Maiko Snow Resort seem to be reporting 40cm from their upper slopes! That seems a lot.
I can report 12cm on the ground. If there is as much as 40cm higher up, perhaps it's one of those cases where it has actually snowed quite a lot more at higher elevations than down at base. (That often happens in early and late seasons).
There is a lot of cloud around and light snow is still falling in places but the sun is managing to come out in places as well.
Tomorrow we are expecting sunshine so it should be a fine day to be out on the mountains.
---
The Iwappara resort have announced that they will be open until Sunday (8th March).
They originally planned to be open until 29th March, so that's 3 weeks earlier than planned. I expect a good chance of similar news in the coming days from other lower areas... important to note that higher areas still have good snow cover.
---
Today was to be the main Yuzawa Yuki Matsuri (Snow Festival). It has been largely downsized but it appears that there will be fireworks at 8:50pm and perhaps a few smaller things going on by the base of the Yuzawa Kogen Ropeway from 7pm, though curiously it is rather difficult to find detailed information.
Something called 'Echigo Yuzawa Onsen Fuyu (Winter) Illumination 6 Week' is ongoing from 4pm-9pm, with some lighting along the road between the station and Yuzawa Kogen. That is planned until 10th April.
---
GALA Yuzawa
- All lifts are operating
- All courses in the Central and Northern Area are open
- The Batman and Eliza courses in the Southern Area are open
- The Ropeway connecting GALA Yuzawa with Yuzawa Kogen is operating
- Downhill Falcon course is closed
- Official snow depth: 170cm
Ishiuchi Maruyama
- 14 courses open; above Ginza course
- Official snow depth: 130cm (upper); 70cm (mid)
Iwappara
- The central area is open; 3 lifts operating
- Official snow depth: 70cm
- Iwappara will operate until 8th March this season
Joetsu Kokusai
- 4 lifts operating; 5 courses open in the main base hotel area and Panorama Area
- Official snow depth: 100cm
Kagura
- The Tashiro Area is closed today due to wind
- Official snow depth: 210cm
Kandatsu Snow Resort
- Lifts A, B, C and E are operating; most courses open
- Official snow depth: 140cm
Maiko Snow Resort
- The top Okusoechi area is open
- The Nagamine runs and lifts are back open today
- 3 lifts are operating in the Maiko Area
- Official snow depth: 140cm (upper); 30cm (base)
Muikamachi Hakkaisan
- 8 of 14 courses open; 3 of 4 lifts operating
- Official snow depth: 160cm
Naeba
- 19 of 22 courses open
- Official snow depth: 90cm
- Details on Naeba Now report here
NASPA Ski Garden
- All lifts operating; all courses except A and D are open
- Official snow depth: 90cm
- NASPA Ski Garden will operate until 10th March this season
Yuzawa Kogen
- The top area via Yuzawa Kogen Ropeway is fully open
- The base Family lift is also open
- The downhill course and base Snow Land areas is closed
- The Ropeway connecting Yuzawa Kogen with the Southern Area of GALA Yuzawa is operating
- Official snow depth: 120cm (Kogen); 30cm (base)
Yuzawa Nakazato
- Number 1, 2, 3 and 5 lifts are operating
- Official snow depth: 50cm
Yuzawa Park
- All lifts are operating
- Official snow depth: 60cm
Yuzawa Now 2019-2020 season |
Data as of Friday 6th March 2020 Total snowfall at base so far 387cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 33 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 48cm (6th February) November 2019 snowfall 12cm reported on 1 day December 2019 snowfall 27cm reported on 7 days January 2020 snowfall 88cm reported on 10 days February 2020 snowfall 248cm reported on 14 days March 2020 snowfall 12cm reported on 1 day |
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.