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Zao Now: Saturday 25th March 2017

  • Mar 25, 2017
  • 2 min read

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata


New snowfall at base 4cm
Snowfall at base this season 504cm

Posted on Saturday 25th March 2017 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.


Good morning from Zao.


Cloud up there this morning, though a bit of blue sky to see now. 4cm of fresh snow to report on the ground and surely more higher up so conditions should be pretty good for this morning.


OK, so below are the plans for the rest of the season in terms of lift operations. It feels too early for some of these to be closing in the next week or two!


Planned closing dates for lifts at Zao Onsen - subject to change due to snow conditions:


Operating until tomorrow:

- Onsen Number 3 Parallel AB

- Onsen Number 4 quad

- Sunrise pair AB

- Nakamori Number 2 pair

- Diamond Number 2 pair


Operating daily until Friday 31st March:

- Oomori quad

- Yokokura Number 2 pair

- Astraea Number 1 pair

- Astraea Number 2 pair

- Astraea Number 3 pair


Operating daily until Sunday 2nd April:

- Nakamori Number 1 triple

- Onsen Number 1 pair

- Onsen Number 2 quad


Operating until Sunday 9th April:

- Mikaeri pair

- Shobunuma Number 2 pair (holidays only after 2nd April)


Operating until Sunday 16th April:

- Katakai triple (holidays only after 2nd April)

- Paradise pair AB (holidays only after 2nd April)


Operating until Sunday 7th May:

- Chuo Number 1 pair AB

- Chuo Number 2 pair AB (holidays only after 16th April)

- Utopia Number 2 pair


No fixed closing date:

- Yokokura Number 1 pair AB

- Kurohime Number 1 quad


Open all year (* for sightseeing):

- Sky Cable

- Chuo Ropeway

- Zao Ropeway



Zao Now 2016-2017 season

Data as of Saturday 25th March 2017 Total snowfall at base 504cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 63 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 39cm (on 16th January) November 2016 snowfall 11cm observed on 6 days December 2016 snowfall 98cm observed on 16 days January 2017 snowfall 241cm observed on 16 days February 2017 snowfall 105cm observed on 14 days March 2017 snowfall 49cm observed on 11 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.


SnowJapan is an entirely independent operation. Our daily reports are not posted on behalf of ski areas or any other business or organisation. Since first going online in 1999, the integrity of this website has always been our top priority, and it is something we are not prepared to compromise. All content is carefully created and written by humans who share a passion for the subject and what SnowJapan stands for.



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