Zao Now: Thursday 17th December 2020
- Dec 17, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 7, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata
New snowfall at base 22cm
Snowfall at base this season 62cm
Posted on Thursday 17th December 2020 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.
Snow plough rumbled by at 04:00 and my ruler on the roof read +22cm (after clearing it has already coming back!) and sufficient to see the Diamond Valley and Uwanodai slopes opening - see recorded snow levels below.
Not as much as our friends over at Yuzawa are getting where, sadly, it is reported that a woman snowboarder in her 30s was found perished (asphyxiated) in the deep fresh snow yesterday - not off-piste.
The roads are getting narrower as the snow is pushed onto the verges and the forecast is still showing continuing snow through Sunday. I pulled a muscle shovelling blocks of the stuff yesterday so have still not gone out. Anticipate checking out the actual conditions tomorrow for y'all.
Lifts operating:
- Chuo Number 1 pair
- Chuo Number 2 pair
- Utopia pair
- Diamond Number 2 pair
- Zao Ropeway (both sections)
- Zao Chuo Ropeway
- Sky Cable
Ski course areas open:
- Chuo (part)
- Utopia
- Uwanodai (part)
- Diamond Valley (part)
Official snow depths (as reported by the ski area):
- Summit area: 55cm
- Paradise area: 60cm
- Chuo area: 95cm
- Utopia area: 70cm
- Uwanodai area: 40cm
- Omori area: 40cm
- Kurohime: 40cm
Zao Now 2020-2021 season |
Data as of Thursday 17th December 2020 Total snowfall at base 62cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 5 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 22cm (on 17th December) November 2020 snowfall 0cm December 2020 snowfall 62cm observed on 5 days |
All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Zao Onsen. 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.