Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata New snowfall at base 0cm Snowfall at base this season 0cm Posted on Monday 30th November 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. As forecast it looks like today is going to be a fine and sunny one - first half of it anyway. There's lots of early morning low cloud around the region this morning but blue skies above it and probably very quickly we will all be able to enjoy that. It's going to be a mild day with temperatures rising above 10 degrees later on. Yesterday of course the lower part of the main run at Kagura opened for the first time this season. Not a huge amount of snow up there, certainly by Kagura standards, but enough to keep going hopefully until the next snowfall and an increase in base. There are some snow making machines up there as well helping out. That next snow is looking likely to be with us by the end of the week. Down here at town level we're going to get something falling this week. There's a good chance of rain but borderline chance of snow to fall as well around Friday. All eyes on those temperatures. Tomorrow we enter December. If you didn't experience December here last year, do take a look at the archive reports and see how we were treated to 5.5m of snowfall here at town level in that one month. Last December the snowfall was at times a bit crazy, even for us. It will certainly be interesting to see how this year will shape up. Until now of course it has been relatively mild and the longer term forecast for the prefecture tells us that December should be around average or slightly warmer than average. This particular region of the prefecture doesn't always play by the rules though - and hopefully not this year! Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Monday 30th November 2015 Total snowfall at base so far 0cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 0 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 0cm November 2015 snowfall 0cm Previous report Next report 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. 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. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata New snowfall at base 0cm Snowfall at base this season 0cm Posted on Friday 4th December 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. Snow has been falling in the mountains this morning. We might have even had some sleet-like action overnight down here, but this morning the roads are just wet with rain. I was woken up by some thunder earlier on which sounded promising and it looks like Kagura got 10cm of fresh snowfall and the Mitsumata area got 3cm since last night. Naeba is also reporting 5cm of snowfall and the base there now has a thin blanket of white. No cm here in the main town area but snow is again visible on some upper areas between the clouds. We even had a brief moment of sunshine a while back but the clouds have blocked that off once again now. The local forecast for the day is cloud with rain lower down here in town and snow at higher elevations. We're expecting clearer weather beyond tomorrow and into at least the middle of next week, so what we get today will definitely be important especially to Kagura who are always hoping to open up more. Iwappara and Joetsu Kokusai resorts were hoping to be able to open from tomorrow, but with no snow on the ground of course that won't be happening so they will be on standby to open just as soon as there is enough snow. Most other resorts in the region are at least a week or two away from planned opening so there's time yet of course. The main topic of conversation though at the moment with lots of people is the weather and when we'll get snow to arrive in style this season. The first really decent snowfall here in town last year was on 7th-8th December and after that it just didn't seem to want to stop. You can relive those exciting times by checking out the archive reports... --- Planned opening dates for resorts in Yuzawa Town and Minamiuonuma City (by date): Currently part open: The lower part of the main Kagura area - 600m in length, real snow + artificial - is open. The Mitsumata (snow-mat) area is currently being used as a connection to get to the open Kagura area. Operating lifts are Mitsumata Ropeway, Mitsumata Number 1 lift, Mitsumata Number 3 lift, Kagura Gondola, Kagura Number 1 romance pair lift. The Kagura Gondola needs to be taken to return back to the Mitsumata area. On standby to open as soon as there is enough snow: Iwappara Joetsu Kokusai Saturday 12th December: Kaguta (Tashiro) Maiko Snow Resort Naeba Friday 18th December: Ishiuchi Maruyama Muikamachi Ski Resort Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Park Saturday 19th December: GALA Yuzawa Ipponsugi Kandatsu Kogen Ludens Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Wood Muimamachi Hakkaisan NASPA Ski Garden Yuzawa Kogen Thursday 24th December: Chateaux Shiozawa Friday 25th December: Hakkaisanroku Saturday 26th December: Itsukamachi Ishiuchi Hanaoka Mt Granview Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Friday 4th December 2015 Total snowfall at base so far 0cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 0 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 0cm November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 0cm Previous report Next report 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. 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. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata New snowfall at base 0cm Snowfall at base this season 0cm Posted on Friday 11th December 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. It's not good news this morning. Heavy rain at times overnight and heavy rain is expected on and off during the day today. And with some forecasts having temperatures rising as high as a mind-boggling 20 degrees today, there's obviously no chance of snow even higher up. As of 8am it's already above 10 degrees and indeed has been around that through the night. Something wrong with that! You can see on the Kagura webcam the damage that rain has obviously done up there compared with yesterday. Perhaps it's just best we get this abnormal weather out of the way once and for all so that winter can move in. Thankfully it should be dropping back down tomorrow somewhat with sunshine and clearer skies forecast. But what's that on the week forecast for around mid-week next week? The first snowfall down to town level maybe? Onegai shimasu! For the moment though we are going to have to continue holding tight. Naeba planning on getting their artificial snow lower course area open from tomorrow. Planned opening dates for resorts in Yuzawa Town and Minamiuonuma City (by date): Currently part open: The main Kagura course - 1500m in length, real snow (and artificial) - is open. The Mitsumata (snow-mat) area is currently being used as a connection to get to the open Kagura area. Operating lifts are Mitsumata Ropeway, Mitsumata Number 1 lift, Mitsumata Number 3 lift, Kagura Gondola and the Kagura Number 1 high speed quad. The Kagura Gondola needs to be taken to return back to the Mitsumata area. Saturday 12th December: Naeba On standby to open as soon as there is enough snow: Iwappara Joetsu Kokusai Kagura (Tashiro) Maiko Snow Resort Friday 18th December: Ishiuchi Maruyama Muikamachi Ski Resort Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Park Saturday 19th December: GALA Yuzawa Ipponsugi Kandatsu Kogen Ludens Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Wood Muimamachi Hakkaisan NASPA Ski Garden Yuzawa Kogen Thursday 24th December: Chateaux Shiozawa Friday 25th December: Hakkaisanroku Saturday 26th December: Itsukamachi Ishiuchi Hanaoka Mt Granview Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Friday 11th December 2015 Total snowfall at base so far 0cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 0 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 0cm November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 0cm Previous report Next report 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. 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. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata New snowfall at base 15cm Snowfall at base this season 15cm Posted on Friday 18th December 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. At last, we have snow in town! Wet snow started falling in the morning yesterday down here in town though it wasn't sticking until the evening and by late night there was just over 10cm of lovely fresh snow on the ground. This morning there's a little more and so I'm going to log it as 15cm. The Kagura resort is reporting 30cm of fresh snowfall so higher up on the mountain there has been a decent fall. I was happy to be woken by the snow moving machines at 4am this morning. A good sound it surely is! It is of course fantastic to see snow again... and it feels proper winter as well with a nice chill in the air. Right now it is about 2 degrees and snow has been holding off but it might be falling again especially this morning and then again overnight tonight into tomorrow. It seems that this morning Kagura are planning to open their Giant Course and Technical Course if possible. And Tashiro is going to be open from tomorrow as well. EVENING UPDATE: There has been very light snow at times but mostly fairly clearer weather today with no new cm to report in town. It has stayed cold though which is good and there is some snow expected overnight tonight and into tomorrow morning. Areas around Yuzawa expecting up to 10cm according to the Niigata forecast. The snow that we have received yesterday means that are going to be a few changes for the weekend though it wasn't enough for huge changes. Here is the information that I have been able to find this evening: Kagura Mitsumata - will be mostly open from tomorrow (Saturday), from Mitsumata Ropeway through to Kagura Number 4 Romance pair lift. Kagura Tashiro - will be part open from tomorrow (Saturday), from Tashiro Ropeway to Tashiro Number 1 high speed lift. No skiable connection between Kagura<>Tashiro. GALA Yuzawa - will be part open tomorrow (Saturday), with the Melody and Entertainment courses planning to be open. Muikamachi Hakkaisan - will be part open tomorrow (Saturday), with the Technical course and Rakuraku A course opening Maiko Kogen Resort - not enough snow to open tomorrow (Saturday), but there is a slight chance of a part opening on Sunday depending on how much snow falls tonight. Kandatsu Kogen - not enough snow to open tomorrow. NASPA Ski Garden - has delayed opening until there is enough snow. Ishiuchi Maruyama - has delayed opening until there is enough snow. Yuzawa Kogen - has delayed opening until there is enough snow. The Ropeway is open for tourists (not skiers/snowboarders). Yuzawa Nakazato - has delayed opening until there is enough snow. That's about it for now. Currently it is unconfirmed what Naeba might have planned for tomorrow, but as things stand now the choice for the weekend is basically Kagura, GALA Yuzawa, Naeba and Muikamachi Hakkaisan. Kagura Mitsumata is easily offering the widest area but note that the connecting courses between Kagura and Tashiro will not yet be open. We'll scan through all the information again tomorrow morning and report any further news. Everyone would be very much helped if there were more snow tonight, that's for sure! --- Planned opening dates for resorts in Yuzawa Town and Minamiuonuma City (by date): Currently part open: Kagura The main Kagura course area is open. The Mitsumata area is currently being used as a connection to get to the open Kagura area. Operating lifts are Mitsumata Ropeway, Mitsumata Number 1 lift, Mitsumata Number 3 lift, Kagura Gondola, Kagura Number 1 high speed quad and Kagura Number 1 romance lift (on Saturdays and holidays during this period). All but the latter two are used to get to the snow. The Kagura Gondola needs to be taken to return back to the Mitsumata area. Naeba A few lower area courses area open. From tomorrow: GALA Yuzawa Muikamachi Hakkaisan On standby to open as soon as there is enough snow: Ipponsugi Ishiuchi Maruyama Iwappara Joetsu Kokusai Kagura (Tashiro) Kandatsu Kogen Ludens Yuzawa Maiko Snow Resort Muikamachi Ski Resort Nakazato Snow Wood NASPA Ski Garden Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Park Yuzawa Kogen Thursday 24th December: chateau-shiozawa Friday 25th December: Hakkaisanroku Saturday 26th December: Itsukamachi Ishiuchi Hanaoka Mt Granview Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Friday 18th December 2015 Total snowfall at base so far 15cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 1 day Most snowfall observed in 1 day 15cm (18th December) November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 15cm reported on 1 day Previous report Next report 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. 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. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata New snowfall at base 4cm Snowfall at base this season 19cm Posted on Saturday 19th December 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. 2:30pm news update: Maiko Snow Resort have announced that they will be opening from tomorrow. The Gondola and Okusoeji lifts will be operating (starting at 8:30am) with 6 of the upper Okusoeji area planned to be open. Lower courses are not open and so the Gondola is needed to get back down. --- Original morning report: Good morning from Yuzawa where we have had some more snow overnight. Not a huge amount, but we'll very happily take it! Kagura are reporting 10-15cm of snow, I am reporting 4-5cm of snow down here in town. Light snow expected for the morning and maybe clearing to just cloud later on. Tomorrow the forecast is for clearer and sunny skies and slightly warmer. After today the next decent snow we can probably expect is just before Christmas. Anyway let's get down to the details! There's a few resort areas opening for the first time this season from this morning and basically most of the other resorts are now 'on standby' to open as soon as there is enough snow. Below is what we can confirm this morning and we'll do our best to keep this updated for you every morning. Resort operations in Yuzawa and Minamiuonuma (Saturday 19th December 2015, 9am) Kagura From today a large part of Kagura Mitsumata is now open with natural snow - basically most areas up to and including the main Kagura runs are skiable. A decent part of Kagura Tashiro is also now open from this morning - up to the Tashiro Number 1 high speed lift. Note that the connecting courses between the main Kagura area and the Tashiro areas are not yet open. Naeba Lower Number 4 and 5 courses are open with the help of artificial snow, and from today the upper Takenokodaira course opens (natural snow). GALA Yuzawa GALA Yuzawa is open from this morning - the Melody and Entertainment courses in the main Central Area are open. Muikamachi Hakkaisan Muimamachi Hakkaisan has also opened today - the Technical course and Rakuraku A courses open with just two pair lifts operating (one to get to the open area). The Gondola is not open yet. On standby to open as soon as there is enough snow to open: Ipponsugi Ishiuchi Maruyama Iwappara Joetsu Kokusai Kagura (Tashiro) Kandatsu Kogen Ludens Yuzawa Maiko Snow Resort Muikamachi Ski Resort Nakazato Snow Wood NASPA Ski Garden Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Park Yuzawa Kogen Planning to open on Thursday 24th December: Chateau Shiozawa Planning to open on Friday 25th December: Hakkaisanroku Planning to open on Saturday 26th December: Itsukamachi Ishiuchi Hanaoka Mt Granview Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Saturday 19th December 2015 Total snowfall at base so far 19cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 2 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 15cm (18th December) November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 19cm reported on 2 days Previous report Next report 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. 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. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata New snowfall at base 0cm Snowfall at base this season 19cm Posted on Sunday 20th December 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. Good morning from Yuzawa where early on there's quite a lot of cloud around, though the forecast for the day is still clearer skies and sun. Looks like it's already sunny up in the Naeba area so I expect things to clear up this morning. It is currently hovering around 0C degrees. As I mentioned in my afternoon update yesterday, the Maiko Snow Resort is this morning going to be part open. Their Gondola will take people up to the 6 courses that will be open in the Okusoeji area. Apparently there is fairly decent snow cover but it's still pretty thin on the ground up there. New gear not recommended! Apart from that I don't think there's any resort operation changes since what was reported yesterday. We didn't get any new cm of snow during the day yesterday even though it was snowing lightly at times. It remained cold during the day though. Taking a look at the forecast for the coming week... realistically the decent snowfall that we all need is going to be with us around Friday. Before then it is going to be getting warmer than we would like with a mix of sun and perhaps at times rain. As much as I don't want to report that! But, what is due at the end of the week is looking promising so we must keep an eye on that. --- In situations like this, when there's not enough snow for places to open as planned, you might think that people would just be sitting around with spare time waiting for the snow. For most people, it's almost the opposite of that. There's so many things to do and many of those things are far from interesting! Things like re-arranging plans and dealing with cancellations. So people are busy, but they are busy doing stuff that they would very much prefer not need be doing. Christmas is of course coming up later this week and it is one of the first 'events' of the season and so everywhere would dearly like to be up and running by then. It does look like decent snow is due around the end of the week, but it's going to be tight. --- Resorts that are now at least part open (Sunday 20th December 2015) - subject to change: Kagura A large part of Kagura Mitsumata is now open with natural snow - basically most areas up to and including the main Kagura runs are skiable. (Mitsumata Family course and Chibbiko area; Kagura main gelende, Giant, Technical, Panorama and Gondola courses). A decent part of Kagura Tashiro is also now open - up to the Tashiro Number 1 high speed lift. (Tashiro Ladies course, Shirakaba course, Tashiro Alyeska course, Tashiroko course, Number 1 high speed connecting course, Skyline course). Note that the connecting courses between the main Kagura area and the Tashiro areas are not yet open. Naeba Lower Number 4 and 5 courses are open with the help of artificial snow, and from today the upper Takenokodaira course opens (natural snow). GALA Yuzawa GALA Yuzawa is open from this morning - the Melody and Entertainment courses in the main Central Area are open. Maiko Snow Resort From this morning the Gondola will be taking people up to the Okusoeji area where the two lifts will be operating and 6 courses open. Okusoeji RanRan, GuiGui, RunRun, SuiSui, RakuRaku and SanSan courses open. Muikamachi Hakkaisan Muimamachi Hakkaisan has also opened today - the Technical course and Rakuraku A courses open with just two pair lifts operating (one to get to the open area). The Gondola is not open yet. Resorts on standby to open as soon as there is enough snow to open: Ipponsugi Ishiuchi Maruyama Iwappara Joetsu Kokusai Kagura (Tashiro) Kandatsu Kogen Ludens Yuzawa Muikamachi Ski Resort Nakazato Snow Wood NASPA Ski Garden Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Park Yuzawa Kogen Planning to open on Thursday 24th December: Chateau Shiozawa Planning to open on Friday 25th December: Hakkaisanroku Planning to open on Saturday 26th December: Itsukamachi Ishiuchi Hanaoka Mt Granview Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Sunday 20th December 2015 Total snowfall at base so far 19cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 2 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 15cm (18th December) November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 19cm reported on 2 days Previous report Next report 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. 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. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata New snowfall at base 0cm Snowfall at base this season 19cm Posted on Monday 21st December 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. Yesterday turned into a beauty of a day. All of the cloud had disappeared by mid to late morning leaving us with bright blue skies and the sun shining down on us. It was perfect Sunday weather for mid-winter; it felt great, but I think that we would all prefer a blizzard that delivers lots of snow right now. I was over at Maiko with a few friends yesterday where the upper slopes were open for the first time this season. It was fun and there were quite a few people out, but it's very clear that there isn't much snow around - new gear is definitely not recommended! The photos today are from yesterday and they probably speak for themselves. Lots of bushes on show and things popping up out of the snow on the courses themselves. Patrol were busy putting sticks in the ground in some places where there was no snow. Like I said though, it was fun and the quality of the snow that was there was actually pretty decent. This morning it's back to cloudy and overcast skies above the region. Today is going to warm up a bit more with a high of about 9 degrees expected later in town. It's probably going to rain as well, though we can probably hold out for snow higher up. Up until around Thursday it's likely to be something like a mix of cloud, sun at times and perhaps rain at times. Hopefully not much of that last one. The good news is that the strong cold front is still due to be here starting around Friday. It's still looking good for decent snowfall down to town. Fingers crossed. Resort operations look like they will be the same today as yesterday with a new addition to mention - Joetsu Kokusai, where it seems the Panorama courses over in the North Zone are open. --- Resorts that are now at least part open (Monday 21st December 2015) - subject to change: Kagura A large part of Kagura Mitsumata is now open with natural snow - basically most areas up to and including the main Kagura runs are skiable. (Mitsumata Family course and Chibbiko area; Kagura main gelende, Giant, Technical, Panorama and Gondola courses). A decent part of Kagura Tashiro is also now open - up to the Tashiro Number 1 high speed lift. (Tashiro Ladies course, Shirakaba course, Tashiro Alyeska course, Tashiroko course, Number 1 high speed connecting course, Skyline course). Note that the connecting courses between the main Kagura area and the Tashiro areas are not yet open. Naeba Lower Number 4 and 5 courses are open with the help of artificial snow and the upper Takenokodaira course is open (natural snow). GALA Yuzawa GALA Yuzawa is open - the Melody and Entertainment courses in the main Central Area are open. Maiko Snow Resort The Gondola takes you up to the Okusoeji area where the two lifts will be operating and 6 courses open. Okusoeji RanRan, GuiGui, RunRun, SuiSui, RakuRaku and SanSan courses open. Joetsu Kokusai Panorama quad and two pair lifts open with the Panorama courses in the North Area open. Muikamachi Hakkaisan The Technical course and Rakuraku A courses open with just two pair lifts operating (one to get to the open area). Resorts on standby to open as soon as there is enough snow to open: Ipponsugi Ishiuchi Maruyama Iwappara Kagura (Tashiro) Kandatsu Kogen Ludens Yuzawa Muikamachi Ski Resort Nakazato Snow Wood NASPA Ski Garden Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Park Yuzawa Kogen Planning to open on Thursday 24th December: Chateau Shiozawa Planning to open on Friday 25th December: Hakkaisanroku Planning to open on Saturday 26th December: Itsukamachi Ishiuchi Hanaoka Mt Granview Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Monday 21st December 2015 Total snowfall at base so far 19cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 2 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 15cm (18th December) November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 19cm reported on 2 days Previous report Next report 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. 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. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata New snowfall at base 0cm Snowfall at base this season 19cm Posted on Tuesday 22nd December 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. Kagura this morning are reporting 10-20cm of fresh snow on their upper areas which is great to hear. Less exciting news to report from lower down as after the cloudy start, for a short time it cleared up a bit with even a bit of sun, but then later on it started raining and was raining overnight. It's a bit... wet... this morning too though it should ease off sooner than later sometime this morning. The temperature here in town is currently 5 degrees and that is basically constant from overnight as well. We can't expect it to rise much during the day though. Yesterday afternoon Maiko Snow Resort announced that they aren't unfortunately going to be able to open today due to the deteriorating snow conditions (and basically amount of snow!) up there. The rain couldn't have done them any favours. So they join the list of 'waiting for snow' resorts once again. Looks like Joetsu Kokusai are remaining open though this morning as are of course Naeba, Kagura and GALA Yuzawa. Tomorrow the local forecast says cloud/sun and a high of around 8C in town. OK so how is this promised snowfall at the end of the week looking? I'm very happy to report that it still looking like it is on the cards, hopefully with snow starting falling in town Friday and continuing through the weekend. If it all happens as per the forecasts, we can maybe expect lots of the 'on standby' resorts to be able to get going (at least in part) by the end of the weekend. We can only hope! I'm getting somewhat tired of posting reports about mild temperatures and rain, so a good dose of heavy snow will be very exciting! --- Resorts that are now at least part open (Tuesday 22nd December 2015) - subject to change: Kagura A large part of Kagura Mitsumata is now open with natural snow - basically most areas up to and including the main Kagura runs are skiable. (Mitsumata Family course and Chibbiko area; Kagura main gelende, Giant, Technical, Panorama and Gondola courses). A decent part of Kagura Tashiro is also now open - up to the Tashiro Number 1 high speed lift. (Tashiro Ladies course, Shirakaba course, Tashiro Alyeska course, Tashiroko course, Number 1 high speed connecting course, Skyline course). Note that the connecting courses between the main Kagura area and the Tashiro areas are not yet open. Naeba Lower Number 4 and 5 courses are open (with the help of artificial snow) and the upper Takenokodaira course is open (100% natural snow). GALA Yuzawa GALA Yuzawa is part open - the Melody and Entertainment courses in the main Central Area are open. Joetsu Kokusai The Panorama quad and two pair lifts are moving with the Panorama courses in the North Area open. Muikamachi Hakkaisan The Technical course and Rakuraku A courses open with just two pair lifts operating (one to get to the open area). Resorts on standby to open as soon as there is enough snow to open: Ipponsugi Ishiuchi Maruyama Iwappara Kagura (Tashiro) Kandatsu Kogen Ludens Yuzawa Muikamachi Ski Resort Nakazato Snow Wood NASPA Ski Garden Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Park Yuzawa Kogen Planning to open on Thursday 24th December: Chateau Shiozawa Planning to open on Friday 25th December: Hakkaisanroku Planning to open on Saturday 26th December: Itsukamachi Ishiuchi Hanaoka Mt Granview Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Tuesday 22nd December 2015 Total snowfall at base so far 19cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 2 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 15cm (18th December) November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 19cm reported on 2 days Previous report Next report 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. 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. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata New snowfall at base 0cm Snowfall at base this season 19cm Posted on Wednesday 23rd December 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. Good morning from Yuzawa. It's a mostly cloudy morning here, and dry too. Overnight temperatures dropped to just under zero but today it highs of around 9C expected. Yesterday we had to put up with rain again unfortunately. Perhaps once this snow starts falling at the end of the week, there's just be no rain left until sometime around May. That would be good! The forecast remains the talk of the town of course, and it's still giving us snow at the end of the week. It might start off as rain in town on Friday but should be snowing by the end of the day. And, fingers crossed, a decent amount of snow on Saturday and Sunday when it should be getting winter-like cold again. Sadly the Joetsu Kokusai resort - which had been part open for a number of days - will be closed today. The rain of yesterday put a stop to that. Which means that the limited skiing choices for right now are as noted below... Kagura, Naeba and GALA Yuzawa. Kagura is offering by far the biggest (widest) open area. In fact, from today the skiable connection between Kagura and Tashiro is open which means that basically the majority of the 'Kagura' resort is now open. That's a big area. Hopefully in a matter of days, there will be much more choice available to us all. --- Resorts that are now at least part open (Wednesday 23rd December 2015) - subject to change: Kagura Most of Kagura is now open. Both Ropeways (Mitsumata and Tashiro) are open and you can ski or snowboard from one to the other. The only areas now closed at Kagura seem to be the very top pair lift, one of the main Mitsumata slopes and the Mitsumata downhill course back to base. Naeba Lower Number 4 and 5 courses are open (with the help of artificial snow) and the upper Takenokodaira course is open (100% natural snow). GALA Yuzawa GALA Yuzawa is part open - the Melody and part of the Entertainment courses in the main Central Area are open. Muikamachi Hakkaisan The Technical course and Rakuraku A courses open with just two pair lifts operating (one to get to the open area). Resorts on standby to open as soon as there is enough snow to open: Ipponsugi Ishiuchi Maruyama Iwappara Kagura (Tashiro) Kandatsu Kogen Ludens Yuzawa Muikamachi Ski Resort Nakazato Snow Wood NASPA Ski Garden Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Park Yuzawa Kogen Planning to open on Thursday 24th December: Chateau Shiozawa Planning to open on Friday 25th December: Hakkaisanroku Planning to open on Saturday 26th December: Itsukamachi Ishiuchi Hanaoka Mt Granview Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Wednesday 23rd December 2015 Total snowfall at base so far 19cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 2 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 15cm (18th December) November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 19cm reported on 2 days Previous report Next report 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. 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. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata New snowfall at base 0cm Snowfall at base this season 19cm Posted on Thursday 24th December 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. Good morning, and things remain generally a bit wet this morning with temperatures somewhere about the same as well... dropping to about 5C overnight and a high of about 10C expected today. Hopefully it might clear up a bit like it did yesterday for a while and indeed cloud is the forecast for the day. So is tomorrow the start of the snow? We're still hoping. There may be some more rain to get through before it turns to snow but later in the day all being well snow will be falling down to town. And that will be the start of a run of a few days of snow. Kagura remains the biggest skiable area open with both the Ropeways open and the connecting courses as well. Please note that the Dragondola connecting Kagura with Naeba is not yet open with only limited parts of Naeba open at the moment. --- If you look back at the report archives you will remember the incredible snowfall that we enjoyed last year in December - 559cm of it, here in town! The year before the same number for December was 131cm of snowfall during the month. This month so far we are on a pretty sad sounding 19cm. There's a lot of catching up to do. It's important to note of course that last year was something of a 'special' December and so far this month is proving to be 'special' on the other end of the stick. Let's see what this weekend brings us! --- Resorts that are now at least part open (Thursday 24th December 2015) - subject to change: Kagura Most of Kagura is now open. Both Ropeways (Mitsumata and Tashiro) are open and you can ski or snowboard from one to the other. The only areas now closed at Kagura seem to be the very top pair lift, one of the main Mitsumata slopes and the Mitsumata downhill course back to base. Naeba Lower Number 4 and 5 courses are open (with the help of artificial snow) and the upper Takenokodaira course is open (100% natural snow). GALA Yuzawa GALA Yuzawa is part open - the Melody and part of the Entertainment courses in the main Central Area are open. Muikamachi Hakkaisan The Technical course and Rakuraku A courses open with just two pair lifts operating (one to get to the open area). Resorts on standby to open as soon as there is enough snow to open: Ipponsugi Ishiuchi Maruyama Iwappara Kagura (Tashiro) Kandatsu Kogen Ludens Yuzawa Muikamachi Ski Resort Nakazato Snow Wood NASPA Ski Garden Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Park Yuzawa Kogen Planning to open on Thursday 24th December: Chateau Shiozawa Planning to open on Friday 25th December: Hakkaisanroku Planning to open on Saturday 26th December: Itsukamachi Ishiuchi Hanaoka Mt Granview Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Thursday 24th December 2015 Total snowfall at base so far 19cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 2 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 15cm (18th December) November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 19cm reported on 2 days Previous report Next report 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. 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. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata New snowfall at base 0cm Snowfall at base this season 19cm Posted on Friday 25th December 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. Happy Christmas! ...and hopefully it will be by the end of the day. Rain falling overnight and it is raining this morning and remaining mild. We were kind of expecting this rain though, so there's no need to overly worry just yet. It should be getting colder later on today with snow due to be falling sometime this afternoon. (Kagura say it is already snowing higher up there this morning and sleet being reported by Naeba early on). There's huge debate as to how much snow we'll actually going to get over the next few days. Everyone is of course hoping for lots. The forecasts seems to agree snow later today and overnight, some on and off tomorrow and all day through Sunday - with Sunday due to be the coldest and most winter-like of the lot. We're here now though so we are going to find out soon enough. Snow Gods, onegai shimasu! --- Resorts that are now at least part open (Friday 25th December 2015) - subject to change: Kagura Almost all of Kagura is now open. Both Ropeways (Mitsumata and Tashiro) are open and you can ski or snowboard from one to the other. The only areas now closed at Kagura are the very top pair lift, one of the main Mitsumata slopes and the Mitsumata downhill course back to base. Naeba Lower Number 4 and 5 courses are open (with the help of artificial snow) and the upper Takenokodaira course is open (100% natural snow). GALA Yuzawa GALA Yuzawa is part open - the Melody and part of the Entertainment courses in the main Central Area are open. Muikamachi Hakkaisan The Technical course and Rakuraku A courses open with just two pair lifts operating (one to get to the open area). Resorts on standby to open as soon as there is enough snow to open: Chateau Shiozawa Hakkaisanroku Ipponsugi Ishiuchi Maruyama Iwappara Kagura (Tashiro) Kandatsu Kogen Ludens Yuzawa Muikamachi Ski Resort Nakazato Snow Wood NASPA Ski Garden Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Park Yuzawa Kogen Planning to open on Saturday 26th December: Itsukamachi Ishiuchi Hanaoka Mt Granview Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Friday 25th December 2015 Total snowfall at base so far 19cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 2 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 15cm (18th December) November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 19cm reported on 2 days Previous report Next report 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. 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. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata New snowfall at base 4cm Snowfall at base this season 23cm Posted on Saturday 26th December 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. It's good to see some white again. Not a huge amount - just under 5cm outside here - but there will be more on the mountains. Kagura resort are reporting 10-15cm of fresh. Yesterday was a mostly wet day again though it turned into sleet and snow later in the dark, with this snowfall overnight. This morning there are actually blue skies in places and the sun is out. It's just over 0 degrees right now and will be getting a little warmer during the day today but hopefully not too much. Later on precipitation is due again... might start as rain here in town but should soon be snow. Overnight tonight and tomorrow is still the period to look to for potentially heavy snow. It's still there on the forecast. Resorts around town are taking things day by day now. For example, NASPA Ski Garden has announced that it plans to open on Monday (28th) - all being well with the snowfall tomorrow. I would expect similar plans at other resorts. It all depends on how much snow falls. (Obviously!) All we can do is wait. Or enjoy the resorts that remain open. Evening update: It has been an odd kind of day really here, with fine clear blue skies opening up during the daytime. The forecast was insisting it was going to be raining during the daytime, but at one point there was hardly a cloud in the sky. It was keeping on the mild side as well with a high of about 6 degrees around lunchtime. This evening there's a few spots of rain but snow is apparently imminent. Looks like it might be early tomorrow morning when temperatures really take a decent drop. Up to 30cm of snow is expected higher up on the mountains and up to 15cm expected around Yuzawa and Minamiuonuma town areas. That is what is forecast up until 10am tomorrow morning and it should be snowing all day tomorrow. So things are looking promising. Let's see how things are come report time tomorrow morning. By the way, with Kagura currently the place where there's the most area open, they were really very busy today with overflowing car parks. Expect more of that tomorrow too and until there's more choice. --- Resorts that are now at least part open (Saturday 25th December 2015) - subject to change: Kagura Almost all of Kagura is now open. Both Ropeways (Mitsumata and Tashiro) are open and you can ski or snowboard from one to the other. The only areas now closed at Kagura are the very top pair lift, one of the main Mitsumata slopes and the Mitsumata downhill course back to base. Naeba Lower Number 4 and 5 courses are open (with the help of artificial snow) and the upper Takenokodaira course is open (100% natural snow). GALA Yuzawa GALA Yuzawa is part open - the Melody and part of the Entertainment courses in the main Central Area are open. Muikamachi Hakkaisan The Technical course and Rakuraku A courses open with just two pair lifts operating (one to get to the open area). Resorts on standby to open as soon as there is enough snow to open: Chateau Shiozawa Hakkaisanroku Ipponsugi Ishiuchi Maruyama Iwappara Kagura (Tashiro) Kandatsu Kogen Ludens Yuzawa Muikamachi Ski Resort Nakazato Snow Wood NASPA Ski Garden Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Park Yuzawa Kogen Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Saturday 26th December 2015 Total snowfall at base so far 23cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 3 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 15cm (18th December) November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 23cm reported on 3 days Previous report Next report 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. 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. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com