We escaped rain during the day yesterday and instead enjoyed lots of blue sky and sun again, more cloud than yesterday but a fine sunny day.

And very warm. Very warm.

The temperature on the sign at the side of the Route 17 said 12 degrees in Ishiuchi and 11 degrees in Yuzawa when I went past in the afternoon. It felt very spring like. I hear that temperatures even got as high as 19 degrees in some parts of Niigata Prefecture.

A fun day though, once you accept the spring-ness of the conditions. Lots of resorts very busy too over the weekend.

More cloud did turn up last night though and light rain was falling last time I was outside. It's still falling now but forecast to clear up this morning leaving us with a cloudy day. We seem to have managed to avoid the prolonged heavy rain that was on the forecast last week. Still, not the nicest of early mornings to be out, let's hope the rain eases off quickly.

It's another mild morning though it won't be warming up as much as over the weekend.

Looks like it should be gradually getting colder this week with the next decent snow maybe around Friday. Until then a mix of cloud, possible light rain and light snow if we are lucky.

Less wind this morning and all resorts look set to be open as planned.

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Official snow depths:

GALA Yuzawa:
490cm
Ishiuchi Maruyama:
360cm
Iwappara:
270cm
Joetsu Kokusai:
300cm
Kagura:
370cm
Kandatsu Kogen:
370cm
Maiko Snow Resort:
370cm (upper)
250cm (lower)
Naeba:
290cm
NASPA Ski Garden:
325cm
Yuzawa Kogen:
340cm (Kogen)
290cm (Nunoba)
Yuzawa Nakazato:
245cm

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Nighta in the area

Nighta 'night skiing' - where some slopes are floodlit for skiing and snowboarding in the evening - is available at the following resorts in the area.

Ishiuchi Maruyama:
Every day until 21st March (until 8:50pm)
Iwappara:
Every day until 22nd March (until 8pm on weekdays and Sundays, 9pm on Saturdays)
Joetsu Kokusai:
Every day until 22nd March (until 9pm)
Kandatsu Kogen:
From 'all night' on Fridays and Saturdays (6pm or 10pm until 4am the next morning)
Maiko Snow Resort:
Every day until 14th March (until 8pm)
Naeba:
Every day until 29th March (until 9pm)
All night on 14th March (10pm until 6am)
NASPA Ski Garden (skiers only):
Saturdays until 29th February (until 7pm)
Yuzawa Nakazato:
Saturdays until 14th March (until 8:30pm)

Chateaux Shiozawa also have nighta but only on certain days - no fixed schedule available.
Resorts not mentioned above do not operate 'nighta' (or do not plan to have more this season).
Some resorts offer tickets that include nighta, others need a special lift ticket.

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Ski and snowboard resorts in Yuzawa town