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Zao Now: Friday 6th December 2019

  • Dec 6, 2019
  • 2 min read

Updated: Oct 6, 2025

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Zao region of Yamagata


New snowfall at base 12cm
Snowfall at base this season 36cm

Posted on Friday 6th December 2019 This is an archived report. The latest Zao Now report can be found here.


Good morning from Zao.


I have more snowfall to report. 12cm of it outside base areas.


And... Utopia is open!


Yes, the Utopia Number 2 pair lift is operating and while it is very limited of course, we are now officially 'season in'!


They plan to have the Utopia Nunber 1 lift open tomorrow and part of the Chuo area of the resort should also be open tomorrow.


Opening ceremony in the Uwanodai area tomorrow at 11:00am.


Feels like it is all starting proper now!


Lifts operating:


- Utopia Number 2 pair lift

- Zao Chuo Ropeway / Zao Ropeway / Sky Cable


Courses open:


- Utopia


Official snow depths (as reported by resort):


- Summit area: 25cm

- Paradise area: 20cm

- Chuo area: 20cm

- Utopia area: 45cm

- Uwanodai area: -cm

- Oomori area: 25cm



Zao Now 2019-2020 season

Data as of Friday 6th December 2019 Total snowfall at base 36cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 5 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 16cm (on 5th December) November 2019 snowfall 8cm observed on 3 days December 2019 snowfall 28cm observed on 2 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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