Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata New snowfall at base 15cm Snowfall at base this season 53cm Posted on Monday 12th December 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. That was a very satisfying weekend! Lots of snow falling and the first real 'mid-winter feel' of the season, at town level anyway. Dare I say it, it felt more like two seasons ago than last season. Check the archive reports to see what I mean by that! But, lets not get too over-excited just yet... So it was snowing for most of the day yesterday and heavily at times too. I have recorded another 15cm of snowfall since my report yesterday morning. There's a nice blanket of snow everywhere this morning. And what a morning it is too! The sun is out and we have clear blue skies over Yuzawa. Stunning. It is a fairly cold start to the morning but will warm up a bit, to perhaps around +4C this afternoon. Tomorrow is going to be warmer still and later on in the day it's looking like we are going to get rained on in lower elevations. The good news is that by Wednesday it should be snowing again. In most seasons we do actually get a layer of snow down in town that melts away before we get the snow that remains for the winter. What will it be this season? Will this layer remain? We'll just have to wait and see what happens day by day, and I will of course bring you the latest every morning. I was half expecting Maiko Snow Resort to say they might be opening this morning, but as of 9am there is no word from them yet. They did mention that they had 30cm of snow at the base of the resort yesterday afternoon though. Iwappara and Joetsu Kokusai also remain 'on standby'. Resort-specific info as of Monday 12th December 2016 Ski resorts that are currently open in the region: Kagura Almost all of Kagura is now open. They are reporting 15-20cm of fresh snow overnight. Official snow depth: Kagura - 120cm Mitsumata - 80cm Tashiro - 100cm Naeba The lower slopes of Naeba are open. Official snow depth: 60cm Planned opening dates for other resorts in Yuzawa Town and Minamiuonuma City (by date): Opening as soon as there is enough snow: Iwappara Joetsu Kokusai Maiko Snow Resort Friday 16th December: Muica Snow Resort Yuzawa Park Saturday 17th December: GALA Yuzawa Kandatsu Kogen Ludens Yuzawa Muikamachi Hakkaisan Nakazato Snow Wood Yuzawa Kogen Yuzawa Nakazato Wednesday 21st December: Ishiuchi Maruyama Thursday 22nd December: NASPA Ski Garden Friday 23rd December: Chateau Shiozawa Ipponsugi Itsukamachi Saturday 24th December: Hakkai Sanroku Mt Granview Wednesday 28th December: Ishiuchi Hanaoka --- 'Nighta' (floodlit night operations) Below are details of the planned 'nighta' operations at ski and snowboards resorts around Yuzawa and Minamiuonuma this season. This information is subject to change due to snow and weather conditions. Ishiuchi Maruyama Daily from 23rd December 2016 until 19th March 2017. Nighta is from 5pm until 8:50pm. The Chuo Number 1, Chuo Number 2 and Kanko Number 3 Express lifts are open daily. The Kanko Number 1 Express lift, Hatsukaishi Entrance lift and Hatsukaishi Number 2 pair lifts are also open on weekends and holidays. Iwappara Daily from 17th December 2016 until 20th March 2017. Nighta is from 5pm until 9pm on Saturdays and until 8pm on weekdays and Sundays. The Main course, Grand course and West courses are open during nighta. Joetsu Kokusai Daily from 17th December 2016 until 20th March 2017. Nighta is from 5pm until 9pm. The area in front of the main base hotel is open for nighta. Kandatsu Kogen 'Hobo All Night' ('Almost All Night') is on Fridays, Saturdays and nights before holidays between 29th December 2016 and 1st April 2017. The nighta opening times on those days is from 6pm until 4am the following morning. Maiko Snow Resort Daily from 28th December 2016 until 19th March 2017. Nighta is from 4pm until 8pm. The Maiko center quad lift on the Maiko Side of the resort operates for nighta. Naeba Daily from 17th December 2016 until 26th March 2017. Nighta is from 4pm until 8:30pm. Part of the lower area of the resort is usually open for nighta. NASPA Ski Garden 'Thanks' (extended) opening on Saturdays in December, January and February and also on 23rd December and from 30th December until 8th January 2017. On those days the Number 1 lift is open until 6pm. Yuzawa Nakazato Every Saturday from 7th January until 11th March 2017, 29th December until 3rd January, 8th January 2017. Nighta is from 5pm until 8:30pm. The Number 2 pair lift operates during nighta. Yuzawa Now 2016-2017 season Data as of Monday 12th December 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 53cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 6 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 26cm (11th December) November 2016 snowfall 2cm reported on 1 day December 2016 snowfall 51cm reported on 5 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 24cm Snowfall at base this season 77cm Posted on Thursday 15th December 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. It's a very good morning here in Yuzawa. We have a decent amount of fresh snow on the ground and also things are looking good for ski resort openings over the next few days. Yes, the wet conditions yesterday turned into snowy conditions later in the afternoon and this morning there's 20cm of fresh snow on the ground outside SnowJapan HQ here just to the north of Yuzawa, and 24cm at our Yuzawa measuring point. Maiko Snow Resort have announced that they will be opening from tomorrow (Friday), and they'll announce exactly what will be open in terms of lifts and courses later on today - though depending on how much snow falls it may just be the top Okusoeji bowl area via the Gondola. Iwappara and Joetsu Kokusai have said that they are both now planning towards opening from Saturday. Muica Snow Resort was hoping to open from tomorrow but has delayed that for the moment and no word from Yuzawa Park just yet (they were also aiming for Friday). Then there's the whole bunch of places that were hoping to open from Saturday... Exactly how much snow falls over the next few days is obviously going to have a big affect on what opens up by the weekend, but it is snowing right now still and snow is forecast for the day tomorrow as well - so it's all looking promising. If you look back over the archive reports, you'll notice that this time last year we were still waiting to record the first snow on the ground here in town, so we are definitely enjoying a more promising start to the season. Exciting times! We'll have a clearer idea on the situation tomorrow morning and I will of course update you with the latest. --- Resort-specific info as of Thursday 15th December 2016 Ski resorts that are currently open in the region: Kagura All areas of Kagura are now open. The top Kagura Number 5 pair lift and course will open from 1st January 2017. The resort is reporting 15cm of fresh snow at Tashiro, 20cm at Mitsumata and 20-30cm at the main Kagura area. Official snow depth: Kagura - 120cm Mitsumata - 80cm Tashiro - 100cm Naeba A few of the lower slopes of Naeba are open. Official snow depth: 60cm Planned opening dates for other resorts in Yuzawa Town and Minamiuonuma City (by date): Opening as soon as there is enough snow: Iwappara Joetsu Kokusai Maiko Snow Resort Muica Snow Resort Yuzawa Park Saturday 17th December: GALA Yuzawa Kandatsu Kogen Ludens Yuzawa Muikamachi Hakkaisan Nakazato Snow Wood Yuzawa Kogen Yuzawa Nakazato Wednesday 21st December: Ishiuchi Maruyama Thursday 22nd December: NASPA Ski Garden Friday 23rd December: Chateau Shiozawa Ipponsugi Itsukamachi Saturday 24th December: Hakkai Sanroku Mt Granview Wednesday 28th December: Ishiuchi Hanaoka Yuzawa Now 2016-2017 season Data as of Thursday 15th December 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 77cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 7 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 26cm (11th December) November 2016 snowfall 2cm reported on 1 day December 2016 snowfall 75cm reported on 6 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 8cm Snowfall at base this season 85cm Posted on Friday 16th December 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. The snow continued falling for most of the day yesterday, though it didn't actually result in that much more cm on the ground. With more snowfall overnight I record another 8cm of fresh snowfall since my report yesterday morning. (Interestingly, Kagura are just reporting 5cm of fresh and so are Maiko Snow Resort). Talking of Maiko Snow Resort - they are open this morning. They have their gondola moving as well as the two lifts in the upper Okusoeji area and about 2/3 of the courses up there open. They are reporting a snow depth of 95cm up top with about 30cm at base. And it also looks like Kandatsu Kogen have opened this morning as well - their official opening was planned for tomorrow, but it seems they just can't wait! In what they are calling 'pre-open', 60% of their courses will be available. GALA Yuzawa enjoys a high elevation and so expect a large part of that resort to be open. They have said that they will have their Central and North areas open with 7 courses available. There's a bunch of ski and snowboard resorts in Yuzawa and Minamiuonuma preparing to open from tomorrow and with the snowfall we have received I expect them all to be able to - to varying degrees. There's still not a huge amount of snow at town level but more the higher up you go. It's all happening now though, and it feels good. After the poor start to the season last year I think many people were wary but we need to remember that last year was not 'normal'. We have a promising start here now so hopefully we're back to normal and we can expect some very nice snowfall this season. For the moment, it will be really great if the resorts can all open as planned. There's so much information to try and gather and with resorts themselves crazy busy in 'bata-bata' mode, I will do my best tomorrow morning to bring you all of the latest details.. and apologies in advance if the report is posted later than usual. --- Oops, I nearly forgot the forecast - snow through the day today and perhaps into tomorrow, some clearer skies and milder temperatures into early next week. Not too warm please!! --- Resort-specific info as of Friday 16th December 2016 Ski resorts that are currently open in the region: Kagura All areas of Kagura are now open. The top Kagura Number 5 pair lift and course will open from 1st January 2017. The resort is reporting 5cm of fresh snow. Official snow depth: Kagura - 120cm Mitsumata - 80cm Tashiro - 100cm Naeba More of Naeba opening up now with the Number 2 gondola operating. Official snow depth: 60cm Maiko Snow Resort The top Okusoeji area is about 2/3 of that area is open from this morning. Official snow depth: Upper - 95cm Base - 30cm Kandatsu Kogen Special 'pre-open' today with the resort saying it is '60% open'. Official snow depth: 80cm Planned opening dates for other resorts in Yuzawa Town and Minamiuonuma City (by date): Planned opening tomorrow: GALA Yuzawa Iwappara Joetsu Kokusai Ludens Yuzawa Muica Snow Resort Muikamachi Hakkaisan Nakazato Snow Wood Yuzawa Kogen Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Park Wednesday 21st December: Ishiuchi Maruyama Thursday 22nd December: NASPA Ski Garden Friday 23rd December: Chateau Shiozawa Ipponsugi Itsukamachi Saturday 24th December: Hakkai Sanroku Mt Granview Wednesday 28th December: Ishiuchi Hanaoka Yuzawa Now 2016-2017 season Data as of Friday 16th December 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 85cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 8 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 26cm (11th December) November 2016 snowfall 2cm reported on 1 day December 2016 snowfall 83cm reported on 7 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 20cm Snowfall at base this season 105cm Posted on Saturday 17th December 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. Yesterday we enjoyed more snowfall through most of the day - there were a few small patches of blue sky in the afternoon from time to time but overnight the snow was falling again and outside SJHQ in Minamiuonuma there's 18cm of fresh since the last report. 20cm on the ground in Yuzawa. Nice. Maiko Snow Resort are reporting up to 25cm of fresh snow while Kagura are reporting up to 20cm. We have done really well since last weekend and happily it means that the resorts who were planning on opening from today are able to. I have done my best to update the individual resort information below with all of the latest that is available. Looking beyond today, there is more sunshine on the forecast for the coming week than snow and it does look like it is gradually going to be warming up a bit. Not what we want to hear but hopefully it'll peak out late week and we can be back to snow in time for Christmas. In the meantime the snow we have now should keep us going. It's still snowing now so fingers crossed we'll get a decent amount more today before it eases off... though it isn't that cold this morning and actually forecast for temperatures to rise a bit later - watch out for the chance of it being too warm for snow and dreaded rain falling later on. Hopefully not! --- Resort-specific info as of Saturday 17th December 2016 GALA Yuzawa GALA Yuzawa is open from this morning. The Central and North areas are open: Central Area - Melody, Edelweiss, Entertainment, Gigi, Grenoble courses and the sledging area North Area - Broadway and Swan courses Official snow depth: 120cm Iwappara Iwappara is part open from today. The Number 2 and Number 3 pair lifts as well as the Chuo and Summit quad lifts are operating. Official snow depth: 60cm Joetsu Kokusai Joetsu Kokusai is part open from today with 11 lifts operating and 12 courses open. Official snow depth: 70cm Kagura All areas of Kagura are now open. The top Kagura Number 5 pair lift and course will open from 1st January 2017. The resort is reporting 5-20m of fresh snow. Official snow depth: Kagura - 150cm Mitsumata - 110cm Tashiro - 130cm Kandatsu Kogen After the special 'pre-open' yesterday, Kandatsu Kogen is now officially open for the season. Official snow depth: 85cm Naeba The Prince Number 2 Gondola, Takenokodaira pair, Number 5 high speed lift, Number 3 and Number 4 romance pair lifts are operating. Official snow depth: 70cm Maiko Snow Resort The Gondola and Okusoeji quad and pair lifts are operating as well as the Maiko Center quad lift (on the Maiko side). Official snow depth: Upper - 120cm Base - 50cm Muikamachi Hakkaisan Hakkaisan is part open from today. The Ropeway and Number 1 and 3 romance pair lifts are operating. Official snow depth: 80cm Yuzawa Kogen Yuzawa Kogen is part open from today. The Ropeway, Cosmos pair lift, Summit pair lift and Nunoba pair lift are operating. Official snow depth: Top - 100cm Base - 45cm Yuzawa Park It seems Yuzawa Park actually part opened yesterday and today the Number 1 and Number 7 lifts are operating. Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Nakazato is part open from today. The Number 1 high speed lift, Number 2 and Number 3 romance pair lifts are operating. Official snow depth: 50cm Other nearby resorts now at least part open: Ludens Yuzawa Muica Snow Resort Nakazato Snow Wood Planned opening dates for other resorts in Yuzawa Town and Minamiuonuma City (by date): Wednesday 21st December: Ishiuchi Maruyama Thursday 22nd December: NASPA Ski Garden Friday 23rd December: Chateau Shiozawa Ipponsugi Itsukamachi Saturday 24th December: Hakkai Sanroku Mt Granview Wednesday 28th December: Ishiuchi Hanaoka Yuzawa Now 2016-2017 season Data as of Saturday 17th December 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 105cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 9 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 26cm (11th December) November 2016 snowfall 2cm reported on 1 day December 2016 snowfall 103cm reported on 8 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 1cm Snowfall at base this season 106cm Posted on Sunday 18th December 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. Yesterday the snow eased off and it definitely felt milder than it had been. Later on in the day there were spots of rain falling - wet snow in higher places - but let's do our best to try and forget about that. (The observed snowfall on the report this morning is what fell yesterday post-report). This morning the sun is out. There's lots of blue sky over Yuzawa, more cloud to the north. Actually it seems a bit more silvery-blue now than it was earlier and the forecast is more for cloud than sun - so perhaps it is gradually going to cloud over today. It is going to be mild too, up to about 7C later on in town according to the forecasts. In fact, this coming week we can expect some very mild temperatures with the warmest being around Wednesday to Thursday when it might be getting into double digit temperature territory. And rain. Shudder, I don't like the sound of that. After the lovely snow and real mid-winter feel we have enjoyed over the last week or so as well. It would be a crime if conditions were spoiled by it. We can but hope that the actual weather patterns change before we get there. The longer range forecast does show temperatures dropping as we head to the weekend and signs of snow as well, so fingers crossed for a return to snowy conditions over Christmas. For now though we have a decent amount of snow on the ground - much better than last year - and places are mostly part open. So it's time to head out and enjoy some skiing. I'll see you tomorrow. --- Resort-specific info as of Sunday 18th December 2016 GALA Yuzawa GALA Yuzawa is part open. The Central and North areas are open: Central Area - Melody, Edelweiss, Entertainment, Gigi, Grenoble courses and the sledging area North Area - Broadway and Swan courses. 7 courses open in total. Official snow depth: 130cm Iwappara Iwappara is part open. The Number 2 and Number 3 pair lifts as well as the Chuo and Summit quad lifts are operating. 11 courses open in total. Official snow depth: 60cm Joetsu Kokusai Joetsu Kokusai is part open with 11 lifts operating and 12 courses open. Official snow depth: 70cm Kagura All areas of Kagura are open. The top Kagura Number 5 pair lift and course will open from 1st January 2017. The resort is reporting 0-5m of fresh snow. Official snow depth: Kagura - 150cm Mitsumata - 110cm Tashiro - 130cm Kandatsu Kogen Kandatsu Kogen is mostly open with three lifts operating. Official snow depth: 80cm Naeba The Prince Number 2 Gondola, Takenokodaira pair, Number 5 high speed lift, Number 3 and Number 4 romance pair lifts are operating. Official snow depth: 70cm Maiko Snow Resort The Gondola and Okusoeji quad and pair lifts are operating as well as the Maiko Center quad lift (on the Maiko side). 9 courses open in total. Official snow depth: Upper - 110cm Base - 40cm Muikamachi Hakkaisan Hakkaisan is part open. The Ropeway and Number 1 and 3 romance pair lifts are operating. Official snow depth: Top - 150cm Base - 80cm Yuzawa Kogen Yuzawa Kogen is part open. The Ropeway, Cosmos pair lift, Summit pair lift and Nunoba pair lift are operating. Official snow depth: Top - 100cm Base - 45cm Yuzawa Park Yuzawa Park is part open. Official snow depth: 50cm Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Nakazato is part open. The Number 1 high speed lift, Number 2 and Number 3 romance pair lifts are operating. Official snow depth: 50cm Other nearby resorts now at least part open: Ludens Yuzawa Muica Snow Resort Nakazato Snow Wood Planned opening dates for other resorts in Yuzawa Town and Minamiuonuma City (by date): Wednesday 21st December: Ishiuchi Maruyama Thursday 22nd December: NASPA Ski Garden Friday 23rd December: Chateau Shiozawa Ipponsugi Itsukamachi Saturday 24th December: Hakkai Sanroku Mt Granview Wednesday 28th December: Ishiuchi Hanaoka Yuzawa Now 2016-2017 season Data as of Sunday 18th December 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 106cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 10 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 26cm (11th December) November 2016 snowfall 2cm reported on 1 day December 2016 snowfall 104cm reported on 9 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 106cm Posted on Friday 23rd December 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. Hello from Yuzawa and a bit of a later report this morning as I wanted to check everything -- unfortunately, the weather is making things a bit tricky at the moment. Yesterday was - as expected - another very warm day. I posted my report early yesterday and didn't initially pick up on the fact that some resorts were not going to be able to open due to strong winds. GALA Yuzawa was closed for the day, as were the Tashiro and main Kagura areas at Kagura. It was fairly windy low down too. We knew it was going to be mild/warm but I was still pretty shocked to see 18C on the road-side thermometer here in Shiozawa just outside of Yuzawa at 6pm. That's just silly numbers and I wish to lodge a formal complaint to someone/somewhere! And then there was the rain. Yes, it rained overnight and heavily at times. This morning it's cloudy with a few spots of rain here and there but generally it is holding off for now. After such a good start a few weeks back, this last week has inflicted some serious damage. The 60cm of snow that was nicely piling up in my garden has now all gone. And slopes around town level in the region are now looking rather brown unfortunately as the snow has disappeared. Ishiuchi Maruyama and Yuzawa Park had opened, but they are going to be closed for the day today due to the conditions. A few other resorts are now reducing the areas that are open due to the current snow conditions. I know what I have written is all a bit grim, but in the interests of telling it like it is. But we all want some good news as well of course, so let's get onto that... By tonight it should be snowing again and hopefully it will turn everywhere back to white by the morning and continue through the day. After that a break from the snow and a little warmer (but thankfully not the kind of warm we have experienced this last week) before more snow due around Tuesday-Wednesday. So fingers crossed we can get back to 'winter mode' fairly quickly. I have updated the resort-specific information below with what info I have available. Will do our best to keep this up to data every day. Snow. Now. Please! :) --- Resort-specific info as of Friday 23rd December 2016 GALA Yuzawa GALA Yuzawa is part open. 9 courses in the Central and North areas open in total. Official snow depth: 90cm Ishiuchi Maruyama Closed today due to the snow conditions. Official snow depth: 50cm Iwappara Iwappara is part open. 4 lifts and 11 courses are open. Opening of nighta has been delayed until there is more snow. Official snow depth: 30cm Joetsu Kokusai Part of the Panorama area of Joetsu Kokusai is open with 6 lifts operating and 5 courses open. Official snow depth: 50cm Kagura All areas of Kagura are generally open. The top Kagura Number 5 pair lift and course will open from 1st January 2017. The Dragondola was planning to be open from today, but they have delayed opening due to the lack of snow. Official snow depth: Kagura - 150cm Mitsumata - 110cm Tashiro - 130cm Kandatsu Kogen Kandatsu Kogen is part open with three lifts operating. Official snow depth: 40cm Naeba The Prince Number 2 Gondola, Takenokodaira pair, Number 3 and 5 high speed lifts, Number 4 romance pair lifts are operating. Official snow depth: 50cm Maiko Snow Resort The Gondola and Okusoeji quad and pair lifts are operating. 6 courses open in total. The Maiko side of the resort is currently closed. Official snow depth: Upper - 50cm Base - 0cm Muikamachi Hakkaisan The Ropeway and Number 3 romance pair lifts are operating. Official snow depth: 50cm NASPA Ski Garden NASPA Ski Garden is open with 5 courses and lifts 1, 3, 4 and 5 operating. Official snow depth: 35cm Yuzawa Kogen Yuzawa Kogen is part open. The lower Nunoba area is closed. The Ropeway, Cosmos pair lift, Summit pair lift are operating. Official snow depth: Top - 60cm Base - 10cm Yuzawa Park Yuzawa Park has had to close due to the snow situation. Official snow depth: 30cm Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Nakazato is part open. The Number 2 pair lift is operating. Official snow depth: 25cm Yuzawa Now 2016-2017 season Data as of Friday 23rd December 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 106cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 10 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 26cm (11th December) November 2016 snowfall 2cm reported on 1 day December 2016 snowfall 104cm reported on 9 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 2cm Snowfall at base this season 108cm Posted on Saturday 24th December 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. It is good to see snow falling as I write this report. Last night it was still raining here in town though during the day at higher elevations it had been snowing - hearing some positive reports from Kagura. They are this morning reporting up to 20cm of fresh snow since yesterday and Maiko Snow Resort closer to town are reporting 10cm on the upper area that is open. Lower down in town it is just a small amount but like I said it is snowing now so we are hoping for some cm today. It isn't mid-winter full on snowing though so not too sure how hopeful we can be. Tomorrow clearer skies are forecast and perhaps a fine and sunny day. Thankfully, even if it is fairly mild it shouldn't be like it was in the past week. Keep an eye on the forecast link above for the latest. Ishiuchi Maruyama and Yuzawa Park remain closed today as we await more snowfall. --- Resort-specific info as of Saturday 24th December 2016 GALA Yuzawa GALA Yuzawa is part open. 9 courses in the Central and North areas open in total. Official snow depth: 80cm Ishiuchi Maruyama Closed today due to the snow conditions. Official snow depth: 50cm Iwappara Iwappara is part open. 4 lifts and 11 courses are open. Opening of nighta has been delayed until there is more snow. Official snow depth: 30cm Joetsu Kokusai Part of the Panorama area of Joetsu Kokusai is open with 6 lifts operating and 3 courses open. Official snow depth: 40cm Kagura All areas of Kagura are generally open. The top Kagura Number 5 pair lift and course will open from 1st January 2017. The Dragondola was planning to be open from today, but they have delayed opening due to the lack of snow. Official snow depth: Kagura - 150cm Mitsumata - 110cm Tashiro - 130cm Kandatsu Kogen Kandatsu Kogen is part open with three lifts operating. Official snow depth: 60cm Naeba The Prince Number 2 Gondola, Takenokodaira pair, Number 3 and 5 high speed lifts, Number 4 romance pair lifts are operating. Official snow depth: 50cm Maiko Snow Resort The Gondola and Okusoeji quad and pair lifts are operating. 6 courses open in total. The Maiko side of the resort is currently closed. Official snow depth: Upper - 60cm Base - cm Muikamachi Hakkaisan The Ropeway and Number 3 romance pair lifts are operating. Official snow depth: 50cm NASPA Ski Garden NASPA Ski Garden is open with 2 courses and lifts 3, 4 and 5 operating. Official snow depth: 35cm Yuzawa Kogen Yuzawa Kogen is part open. The lower Nunoba area is closed. The Ropeway, Cosmos pair lift, Summit pair lift are operating. Official snow depth: Top - 80cm Base - 10cm Yuzawa Park Yuzawa Park is closed due to the snow situation. Official snow depth: -cm Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Nakazato is part open. The Number 2 pair lift is operating. Official snow depth: 30cm Yuzawa Now 2016-2017 season Data as of Saturday 24th December 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 108cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 11 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 26cm (11th December) November 2016 snowfall 2cm reported on 1 day December 2016 snowfall 106cm reported on 10 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 108cm Posted on Sunday 25th December 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. Happy Christmas! I wanted to bring you more snowy news but unfortunately there's not much of that to report this morning. This morning the Kagura resorts are reporting just 1cm of fresh snow while I notice Maiko Snow Resort is reporting 10cm, presumably that is up on the top bowl area. Trees to fairly close to town are looking nice and snow-dusted this morning, though there's no fresh to report at base level I'm afraid. It did (wet) snow at times during the day yesterday but there were also period of clearer skies and nothing falling, so there was no really Yuzawa-like snowfall. This morning it is a mix of blue sky, sun and cloud early on. I am happy to report that Ishiuchi Maruyama is back open today by the way. As always, individual resort information has been updated below. What to look out for on the forecast... snowfall on Tuesday into Wednesday and then Thursday into Friday. Please let it be decent snow. I'm hearing from too many resort folk about the feeling that this season is starting to look a bit like last season. We really don't want that to be the case, we want a classic Yuzawa season! Ending on a positive note, we have heard from a number of people who are here and really enjoying themselves. We may be short on snow and not at full power, but there's still a lot of fun to be had out there. Living here for so long and knowing just how much it can and usually does snow in this region, expectations are always very high. Some would say too high. But I'm pretty sure it'll happen, we just need to be patient for a while longer. Have a great day everyone and see you tomorrow. --- Resort-specific info as of Sunday 25th December 2016 GALA Yuzawa GALA Yuzawa is part open. 9 courses in the Central and North areas open in total. Official snow depth: 80cm Ishiuchi Maruyama Lifts at all three areas are now open, with part of the courses open. Official snow depth: 60cm Iwappara Iwappara is part open. 5 lifts and 13 courses are open. Opening of nighta has been delayed until there is more snow. Official snow depth: 30cm Joetsu Kokusai Part of the hotel base and Panorama area of Joetsu Kokusai is open with 6 lifts operating and 4 courses open. Official snow depth: 40cm Kagura All areas of Kagura are generally open. The top Kagura Number 5 pair lift and course will open from 1st January 2017. The Dragondola was planning to be open from today, but they have delayed opening due to the lack of snow. Official snow depth: Kagura - 150cm Mitsumata - 110cm Tashiro - 130cm Kandatsu Kogen Kandatsu Kogen is part open with three lifts operating. Official snow depth: 65cm Naeba The Prince Number 2 Gondola, Takenokodaira pair, Number 3, 4 and 5 high speed lifts and Number 4 romance pair lifts are operating. Official snow depth: 60cm Maiko Snow Resort The Gondola and Okusoeji quad and pair lifts are operating. 7 courses open in total. Official snow depth: Upper - 70cm Base - cm Muikamachi Hakkaisan The Ropeway and Number 1 and Number 3 romance pair lifts are operating. Official snow depth: 50cm NASPA Ski Garden NASPA Ski Garden is open with 2 courses and lifts 3, 4 and 5 operating. Official snow depth: 35cm Yuzawa Kogen Yuzawa Kogen is part open. The lower Nunoba area is closed. The Ropeway, Cosmos pair lift, Summit pair lift are operating. Official snow depth: Top - 80cm Base - 10cm Yuzawa Park Yuzawa Park is closed due to the snow situation. Official snow depth: -cm Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Nakazato is part open with 4 lifts operating. Official snow depth: 30cm --- 'Nighta' (floodlit night operations) Below are details of the planned 'nighta' operations at ski and snowboards resorts around Yuzawa and Minamiuonuma this season. This information is subject to change due to snow and weather conditions. Please note that this section will not be updated every day. Ishiuchi Maruyama Daily from 23rd December 2016 until 19th March 2017. Nighta is from 5pm until 8:50pm. The Chuo Number 1, Chuo Number 2 and Kanko Number 3 Express lifts are open daily. The Kanko Number 1 Express lift, Hatsukaishi Entrance lift and Hatsukaishi Number 2 pair lifts are also open on weekends and holidays. Iwappara Daily from 17th December 2016 until 20th March 2017. Nighta is from 5pm until 9pm on Saturdays and until 8pm on weekdays and Sundays. The Main course, Grand course and West courses are open during nighta. Joetsu Kokusai Daily from 17th December 2016 until 20th March 2017. Nighta is from 5pm until 9pm. The area in front of the main base hotel is open for nighta. Kandatsu Kogen 'Hobo All Night' ('Almost All Night') is on Fridays, Saturdays and nights before holidays between 29th December 2016 and 1st April 2017. The nighta opening times on those days is from 6pm until 4am the following morning. Maiko Snow Resort Daily from 28th December 2016 until 19th March 2017. Nighta is from 4pm until 8pm. The Maiko center quad lift on the Maiko Side of the resort operates for nighta. Naeba Daily from 17th December 2016 until 26th March 2017. Nighta is from 4pm until 8:30pm. Part of the lower area of the resort is usually open for nighta. NASPA Ski Garden 'Thanks' (extended) opening on Saturdays in December, January and February and also on 23rd December and from 30th December until 8th January 2017. On those days the Number 1 lift is open until 6pm. Yuzawa Nakazato Every Saturday from 7th January until 11th March 2017, 29th December until 3rd January, 8th January 2017. Nighta is from 5pm until 8:30pm. The Number 2 pair lift operates during nighta. Yuzawa Now 2016-2017 season Data as of Sunday 25th December 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 108cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 11 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 26cm (11th December) November 2016 snowfall 2cm reported on 1 day December 2016 snowfall 106cm reported on 10 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 9cm Snowfall at base this season 117cm Posted on Wednesday 28th December 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. I am happy to report that we are back to white again this morning. It's not a classic heavy snow dump that this area is famous for, but with the situation we were in until yesterday it is all very valuable. Here's how much fresh snow the resorts (who report) are reporting: Kagura: 20-30cm Mitsumata: 25cm Tashiro: 20cm Maiko Snow Resort: 20cm up top; 5-10cm at base There's 11cm on the ground outside SJHQ in Minamiuonuma (just to the north of Yuzawa) and we are measuring 9cm in Yuzawa. So that should give you an idea of where we are this morning. It is still snowing (lightly) and so hopefully there'll be more to add to that by the end of the day. The forecast tells us that the snow should be easing off by mid afternoon and perhaps some sunshine tomorrow before the snow clouds returning by tomorrow night. Looks like over the New Year clearer and drier skies will be more likely than snow, so fingers crossed for a decent amount over the next few. As always, resort-specific info as we have it has been updated below. It should be a much-improved situation out there this morning. Time to go and enjoy it. --- Resort-specific info as of Wednesday 28th December 2016 GALA Yuzawa 9 courses in the Central and North areas are open. Official snow depth: 70cm Ishiuchi Maruyama The lifts from the Chuo and Kanko bases (and a total of 8 lifts) are operating. Official snow depth: 50cm Iwappara Iwappara is part open. 5 lifts and 13 courses are open. Official snow depth: 35cm Joetsu Kokusai Part of the area in front of the base hotel and Panorama area of Joetsu Kokusai is open with 6 lifts operating and 4 courses up there open. Official snow depth: 30cm Kagura All areas of Kagura are generally open but lifts are affecting operations this morning. From the Mitsumata Station it is open to the Kagura Number 1 pair lift; from the Tashiro Station it is open to the Tashiro Number 1 lift. The Dragondola connecting Kagura with Naeba is not yet open. Official snow depth: Kagura - 150cm Mitsumata - 110cm Tashiro - 130cm Kandatsu Kogen Kandatsu Kogen is part open with three lifts operating. Official snow depth: 60cm Naeba The Prince Number 2 Gondola, Takenokodaira pair, Number 3, 4 and 5 high speed lifts and Number 4 romance pair lifts are operating. Official snow depth: 55cm Maiko Snow Resort The Gondola and Okusoeji quad and pair lifts are operating. 7 courses open in total. Official snow depth: Upper - 70cm Base - cm Muikamachi Hakkaisan The Ropeway and Number 3 romance pair lifts are operating. Official snow depth: 50cm NASPA Ski Garden NASPA Ski Garden is open with 2 courses and lifts 3, 4 and 5 operating. Official snow depth: 45cm Yuzawa Kogen Yuzawa Kogen is part open. The lower Nunoba area is closed. The Ropeway, Cosmos pair lift, Summit pair lift and Kogen Express lifts are operating. Official snow depth: Top - 70cm Base - 10cm Yuzawa Park Yuzawa Park is part open with the Number 7 lift operating. Official snow depth: 25cm Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Nakazato is part open with 4 lifts operating. Official snow depth: 35cm Yuzawa Now 2016-2017 season Data as of Wednesday 28th December 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 117cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 12 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 26cm (11th December) November 2016 snowfall 2cm reported on 1 day December 2016 snowfall 115cm reported on 11 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 1cm Snowfall at base this season 118cm Posted on Thursday 29th December 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. Yesterday snow did continue falling for much of the day, but it was the kind of snow that didn't really amount to much on the ground... not in town anyway. I expect maybe a few cm higher up but not seeing any such reports from resorts. It's a very fine morning early on. The sun is out, blue skies, and just a bit of thin cloud in places. All is calm. And it was very cold early on, -6C when I got up! Hopefully the calm before a bit of a storm as we are expecting snow clouds back over the region sometime this afternoon, the winds to change to northerly and get stronger, and snowfall from then through tomorrow. The forecasts look encouraging - let's hope they are right. New Year is fast approaching and we can expect ski resorts to be getting busier by the day now. With most resorts not yet fully open, it means that there's less space for everyone so expect busy conditions - especially at the popular places and resorts that have more terrain available. Today sees the Dragondola - the gondola lift that connects Naeba with Kagura - opening for the season. With the fine weather this morning it should be a good one. We want those snow clouds to move in quickly though... come on, over here!! --- Resort-specific info as of Thursday 29th December 2016 GALA Yuzawa 9 courses in the Central and North areas are open. Official snow depth: 100cm Ishiuchi Maruyama Lifts from all three base areas are now operating and the resort is part open. Nighta operations have begun! Official snow depth: 60cm Iwappara Iwappara is part open. 6 lifts and 14 courses are open, mostly mid to upper area. Nighta opens from tonight. Official snow depth: 35cm Joetsu Kokusai Part of the area in front of the base hotel and Panorama area of Joetsu Kokusai is open with 6 lifts operating and 5 courses up there open. Official snow depth: 40cm Kagura All areas of Kagura are open. The Dragondola connecting Kagura with Naeba is now open. Official snow depth: Kagura - 150cm Mitsumata - 110cm Tashiro - 130cm Kandatsu Kogen Kandatsu Kogen is mostly open with four lifts operating. All night from 6pm until 4pm tonight! Official snow depth: 60cm Naeba Most lifts operating including the Dragondola which opens from today. Official snow depth: 65cm Maiko Snow Resort The Gondola and Okusoeji quad and pair lifts are operating. 7 courses open in total. Official snow depth: Upper - 70cm Base - 20cm Muikamachi Hakkaisan The Ropeway and Number 3 romance pair lifts are operating. Official snow depth: 60cm NASPA Ski Garden NASPA Ski Garden is open with 4 courses and lifts 1, 3, 4 and 5 operating. Official snow depth: 50cm Yuzawa Kogen Yuzawa Kogen is part open. The lower Nunoba area is closed. The Ropeway, Cosmos pair lift, Summit pair lift and Kogen Express lifts are operating. Official snow depth: Top - 70cm Base - 10cm Yuzawa Park Yuzawa Park is part open with the Number 7 lift operating. Official snow depth: 25cm Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Nakazato is part open with 5 lifts operating. Official snow depth: 35cm Yuzawa Now 2016-2017 season Data as of Thursday 29th December 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 118cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 13 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 26cm (11th December) November 2016 snowfall 2cm reported on 1 day December 2016 snowfall 116cm reported on 12 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 26cm Snowfall at base this season 144cm Posted on Friday 30th December 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. It's a very good morning to you all from Yuzawa. We have received a decent amount of snow overnight. Here's what the resorts are reporting this morning: Naeba: 30-40cm Kagura: 30-40cm Mitsumata: 30cm Tashiro: 30cm Maiko Snow Resort: 20-40cm We are measuring 26cm in our spot and that is about the same in the neighbouring Ishiuchi area. Nice. :) Yesterday was a calm and fine day as forecast and indeed it did get cloudy later on in the day before snow started falling. And overnight of course it continued with the snow we have on the ground this morning being the result. This snow will have suddenly breathed fresh life into lower ski resort areas that were struggling and we can only hope for lots more of this kind of snowfall. Thank you! It is great to see resorts finally getting closer to being 'fully open'. After all, we really need to remember that 20-30cm is more like the norm in this particular region, rather than something special. We expect this kind of snow (and more) often and consistently. Anyway it is still snowing now so we should get some more cm today before it eases off. It's probably going to be milder tomorrow and according to some forecasts (but not others), a good chance of sunshine. For the next snowfall after today look towards Tuesday. Come on!!! --- At the start of the day wind is affecting top lifts at Naeba, the Dragondola and parts of Kagura. See below for more. GALA Yuzawa is open as planned. --- Resort-specific info as of Friday 30th December 2016 GALA Yuzawa 9 courses in the Central and North areas are open. Official snow depth: 100cm Ishiuchi Maruyama Lifts from all three base areas are now operating. All but two lifts operating and all courses are now available. Nighta operations have also started. Official snow depth: 100cm Iwappara Iwappara is part open. 7 lifts and 14 courses are open, mostly mid to upper area. Nighta is now available. Official snow depth: 60cm Joetsu Kokusai More of Joetsu Kokusai is now open with 10 lifts operating and 11 courses up there open. Official snow depth: 60cm Kagura All areas of Kagura are generally open but wind is affecting the resort this morning. Mitsumata Ropeway to Kagura Number 1 Romance lift and Tashiro Ropeway to Tashiro Number 6 romance lift areas open at the start of the day. Official snow depth: Kagura - 170cm Mitsumata - 150cm Tashiro - 130cm Kandatsu Kogen Kandatsu Kogen is now mostly open with 5 lifts planned to be operating. Nighta from 6pm until 4am tomorrow morning. Official snow depth: 80cm Naeba Most lifts operating but Dragondola, Number 1 Gondola and upper lift on hold at the start of the day due to strong winds. Official snow depth: 80cm Maiko Snow Resort Looks like Maiko is going to be opening the Nagamine area today which means that all three of the main areas will be open. Not fully open yet but 8 lifts and 16 courses should be available. Official snow depth: Upper - 110cm Base - 40cm Muikamachi Hakkaisan The Ropeway, Number 1 and Number 3 romance pair lifts are operating. Official snow depth: 80cm NASPA Ski Garden NASPA Ski Garden is open. All lifts are operating and all courses except A Course (and moguls course area) are open. Official snow depth: 90cm Yuzawa Kogen Yuzawa Kogen is mostly open including the lower Nunoba area. All lifts operating. Official snow depth: Top - 100cm Base - 40cm Yuzawa Park Yuzawa Park is part open with the Number 1 and Number 7 lifts operating. Official snow depth: 55cm Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Nakazato is part open with 6 lifts operating. Official snow depth: 50cm Yuzawa Now 2016-2017 season Data as of Friday 30th December 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 144cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 14 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 26cm (11th and 30th December) November 2016 snowfall 2cm reported on 1 day December 2016 snowfall 142cm reported on 13 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 2cm Snowfall at base this season 146cm Posted on Saturday 31st December 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. The snow continued falling yesterday in the daytime but it didn't really amount to much more on the ground (in town anyway) with just a few more cm, and surely a bit more at higher elevations. Resorts around town are this morning not reporting any fresh snowfall - apart from the top area of Kagura which is reporting 2cm. It is a cloudy start to this last day of 2016 here in Yuzawa, and while it was a chilly start the forecast is saying mild temperatures of up to around 5C later on -- with precipitation due this afternoon. Rain or snow? Unfortunately it might start with the former, especially at town level, but hopefully quickly change to the latter as it gets colder again. We'll just have to hope that we can avoid rain... 2016 has definitely not been a classic year of snowfall for the region (and generally Japan it seems). Far from it. Now we are going to see the end of the year, we can all look forward and hope for a better outlook in 2017. Loads of snow please! The daily reports will of course continue, but let me take this opportunity to thank you all for reading and hope you will continue to enjoy all of the reports on SnowJapan in 2017. And let's hope that all of the reports have lots of regular snow to report to you. --- Resort-specific info as of Saturday 31st December 2016 GALA Yuzawa 10 courses in the Central and North areas are open. Official snow depth: 130cm Ishiuchi Maruyama Lifts from all three base areas are now operating. All but one lift operating and all course areas are now available. Nighta operations have also started. Official snow depth: 100cm Iwappara Iwappara is part open. 7 lifts and 14 courses are open. Nighta is now available. Official snow depth: 60cm Joetsu Kokusai More of Joetsu Kokusai is now open with 17 lifts operating and 16 courses up there open. Official snow depth: 60cm Kagura All areas of Kagura are open. The top Kagura Number 5 lift will be open from 1st January. Official snow depth: Kagura - 170cm Mitsumata - 150cm Tashiro - 130cm Kandatsu Kogen Kandatsu Kogen is now mostly open with 5 lifts planned to be operating. Nighta from 6pm until 4am tomorrow morning. Official snow depth: 85cm Naeba Most lifts operating. Please see Naeba Now report for more specific details. Official snow depth: 80cm Maiko Snow Resort Maiko is now mostly open with 10 lifts and 17 courses available. 'Nighta' (floodlit night skiing) operations at Maiko Snow Resort from tonight. Official snow depth: Upper - 120cm Base - 40cm Muikamachi Hakkaisan The Ropeway, Number 1 and Number 3 romance pair lifts are operating. Official snow depth: 100cm NASPA Ski Garden NASPA Ski Garden is open. All lifts are operating and all courses (apart from the mogul course) are open. Official snow depth: 85cm Yuzawa Kogen Yuzawa Kogen is mostly open including the lower Nunoba area. All lifts operating. Official snow depth: Top - 100cm Base - 40cm Yuzawa Park Yuzawa Park is part open with the Number 1, 2, 3 and 7 lifts operating. Official snow depth: 55cm Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Nakazato is part open with all operating. Official snow depth: 55cm Yuzawa Now 2016-2017 season Data as of Saturday 31st December 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 146cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 15 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 26cm (11th and 30th December) November 2016 snowfall 2cm reported on 1 day December 2016 snowfall 144cm reported on 14 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