Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata New snowfall at base 7cm Snowfall at base this seas 150cm Posted on Sunday 24th December 2023 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. Yesterday was interesting one. Yuzawa enjoyed quite a lot of blue sky and sunshine while it was still snowing in the valley to the north. We did get a bit more snow during the night, though. Kagura is reporting 10cm of snow since yesterday. We are starting this morning with more blue sky and sunshine, and less wind than yesterday. So it should be a very fine morning. NASPA Ski Garden opens from this morning, as does Ipponsugi Snow Park; the two 'skiers-only' (ie. snowboarding not allowed) areas close to the central town area of Yuzawa. More runs and lifts seem to be opening this morning, though generally we still need more snow for things to get into top gear. We might get some tomorrow night and into Wednesday too (though massive amounts are not expected). Muikamachi Hakkaisan, to the north of Yuzawa, seems to be the ski area with the most snow. It is reporting 190cm at the top, all lifts are operating and all runs are available. If I remember correctly, last year also saw more snow north of Yuzawa in the early season. --------------- GALA Yuzawa Lifts open: Diligence Gondola All Central Area lifts Victoria lift in the Northern Area Courses available: All Central Area courses Broadway, Super Broadway and Swan in the Northern Area Official snow depth: 130cm --------------------------- Ishiuchi Maruyama Operations: 10 lifts and 21 courses All three base areas and most runs now open --------------------------- Iwappara Operations: 3 lifts and 6 courses Official snow depth: 70cm --------------------------- Joetsu Kokusai Operations: 12 lifts and 15 courses open Official snow depth: 80cm --------------------------- Kagura Lifts open: 11 of 21 lifts operating Both the Mitsumata Ropeway and Tashiro Ropeway are now open (and you can get the Kagura area from both) Courses available: 19 of 30 runs open Official snow depth: Top: 80cm Base: 40cm --------------------------- Kandatsu Snow Resort Operations: 3 lifts and 8 courses Official snow depth: 70cm --------------------------- Maiko Snow Resort Lifts & courses: 4 lifts and 7 courses (including the quad in the Maiko Area) You need to ride the gondola back down to base from the Okusoechi Area Official snow depth: Top: 120cm Base: 40cm --------------------------- Muikamachi Hakkaisan Operations: All lifts and runs are open Official snow depth: Top: 190cm Base: 90cm --------------------------- Naeba Lifts open: Prince Number 2 Gondola Takenokodaira pair lift Number 4 high speed Number 5 high speed Number 4 romance pair lift Courses available: 5 courses open Official snow depth: Top: 50cm Base: 30cm Notes: You can now ski back down from top to base --------------------------- NASPA Ski Garden Lifts open: 3 lifts (1,3 and 4) and 7 courses Official snow depth: 85cm --------------------------- Yuzawa Kogen Operations: 4 lifts and 6 courses Official snow depth: Top: 40cm Base: 30cm --------------------------- Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Resort Operations: 3 lifts and 6 courses Official snow depth: 60cm --------------------------- Yuzawa Park Operations: 2 lifts and 3 courses Official snow depth: 50cm Yuzawa Now 2023-2024 season Data as of Sunday 24th December 2023 Total snowfall at base so far 150cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 10 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 55cm (23rd December) November 2023 snowfall 14cm reported on 2 days December 2023 snowfall 136cm 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 0cm Snowfall at base this seas 150cm Posted on Monday 25th December 2023 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. Merry Christmas! There seems to have been a dusting of snow in places overnight, but the day starts fine and sunny and we have clear blue skies over the town. It's a beautiful morning and slightly over 0C in town at 9am. There might be some snow overnight tonight though we probably shouldn't expect much. No further major snow event seems likely before New Year, so we are all going to have to enjoy what we have as we wait for fresh. --------------- GALA Yuzawa Lifts open: Diligence Gondola All Central Area lifts Victoria lift in the Northern Area Courses available: All Central Area courses Broadway, Super Broadway and Swan in the Northern Area Official snow depth: 130cm --------------------------- Ishiuchi Maruyama Operations: 10 lifts and 21 courses All three base areas and most runs now open --------------------------- Iwappara Operations: 3 lifts and 6 courses Official snow depth: 70cm --------------------------- Joetsu Kokusai Operations: 12 lifts and 15 courses open Official snow depth: 110cm --------------------------- Kagura Lifts open: 11 of 21 lifts operating Both the Mitsumata Ropeway and Tashiro Ropeway are now open (and you can get the Kagura area from both) Courses available: 21 of 30 runs open Official snow depth: Top: 80cm Base: 40cm --------------------------- Kandatsu Snow Resort Operations: 3 lifts and 9 courses Official snow depth: 60cm --------------------------- Maiko Snow Resort Lifts & courses: 4 lifts and 8 courses (including the quad in the Maiko Area) You need to ride the gondola back down to base from the Okusoechi Area Official snow depth: Top: 110cm Base: 40cm --------------------------- Muikamachi Hakkaisan Operations: All lifts and runs are open Official snow depth: Top: 190cm Base: 90cm --------------------------- Naeba Lifts open: Prince Number 2 Gondola Takenokodaira pair lift Number 4 high speed Number 5 high speed Number 4 romance pair lift Courses available: 5 of 24 courses open Official snow depth: Top: 50cm Base: 30cm Notes: You can now ski back down from top to base --------------------------- NASPA Ski Garden Lifts open: 3 lifts (1,3 and 4) and 7 courses Official snow depth: 80cm --------------------------- Yuzawa Kogen Operations: 4 lifts and 5 courses Official snow depth: Top: 40cm Base: 30cm --------------------------- Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Resort Operations: 3 lifts and 6 courses Official snow depth: 60cm --------------------------- Yuzawa Park Operations: 2 lifts and 5 courses Official snow depth: 50cm Yuzawa Now 2023-2024 season Data as of Monday 25th December 2023 Total snowfall at base so far 150cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 10 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 55cm (23rd December) November 2023 snowfall 14cm reported on 2 days December 2023 snowfall 136cm 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 seas 151cm Posted on Tuesday 26th December 2023 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. Good morning from Yuzawa. Last night/overnight the region got some rain and just a dusting of snow, just about justifying the 1cm in the report this morning (though that is long gone as I write this). Maiko Snow Report was reporting 5cm of fresh this morning, presumably up top. We had some lingering cloud early morning, but as of 10am it's (almost) clear blue skies above Yuzawa and the sun is shining down on us. It is a beautiful morning. Some people have contacted us to ask if 'everywhere will be open by New Year'. While I'd love to be able to say yes, I/we just don't know. It feels like right now as much that can open is already open, and that we will need more snow for much more to open up. We had that good snowfall a number of days ago, but it wasn't prolonged and we are still rather low on snow. You can see that in the numbers in this report section. We might get small amounts of snowfall here and there, but unfortunately, it doesn't look like we should expect much ---- at least into the New Year. Local forecasts are all reporting on how it will be mild in the coming days, rather than cold. We are going to have to wait for the next blast of winter. I wish I had more exciting snow news to report, but that's basically where we are for the moment. As we can't do anything about it, probably best we just get out there and enjoy what we have. After all, it's always great to be on the snow. --------------- GALA Yuzawa Lifts open: Diligence Gondola All Central Area lifts Victoria lift in the Northern Area Courses available: All the Central Area courses are open Broadway, Super Broadway and Swan in the Northern Area are open The Southern Area needs more snow to open Official snow depth: 110cm --------------------------- Ishiuchi Maruyama Operations: 10 lifts and 21 courses All three base areas and most runs are now open --------------------------- Iwappara Operations: 3 lifts and 6 courses Th summit lift should be open from tomorrow (Wednesday) Official snow depth: 40cm --------------------------- Joetsu Kokusai Operations: 12 lifts and 15 courses open Official snow depth: 90cm --------------------------- Kagura Lifts open: 11 of 21 lifts operating Both the Mitsumata Ropeway and Tashiro Ropeway are now open (and you can get the Kagura area from both) Courses available: 21 of 30 runs open Official snow depth: Top: 80cm Base: 40cm --------------------------- Kandatsu Snow Resort Operations: 3 lifts and 9 courses Official snow depth: 60cm --------------------------- Maiko Snow Resort Lifts & courses: 5 lifts and 9 courses (both base areas are open) You need to ride the gondola back down to base from the Okusoechi Area Official snow depth: Top: 110cm Base: 40cm --------------------------- Muikamachi Hakkaisan Operations: All scheduled lifts and runs are open The Number 2 pair lift is scheduled to be open on weekends, holidays and 29th Dec to 3rd Jan Official snow depth: Top: 130cm Base: 90cm --------------------------- Naeba Lifts open: Prince Number 2 Gondola Takenokodaira pair lift Number 4 high speed Number 5 high speed Number 4 romance pair lift Courses available: 5 of 24 courses open Official snow depth: Top: 50cm Base: 30cm Notes: You can now ski back down from top to base --------------------------- NASPA Ski Garden Lifts open: 3 lifts (1,3 and 4) and 7 courses Official snow depth: 75cm --------------------------- Yuzawa Kogen Operations: Most of the upper Kogen area is open The lower section is part open Official snow depth: Top: 40cm Base: 30cm --------------------------- Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Resort Operations: 3 lifts and 7 courses Official snow depth: 55cm --------------------------- Yuzawa Park Operations: 2 lifts and 5 courses Yuzawa Now 2023-2024 season Data as of Tuesday 26th December 2023 Total snowfall at base so far 151cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 11 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 55cm (23rd December) November 2023 snowfall 14cm reported on 2 days December 2023 snowfall 137cm 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 seas 151cm Posted on Sunday 31st December 2023 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. It was a beauty of a day yesterday, though it warmed up to around 9C in town. It has been just cloudy early on this morning but we are expecting some rain during the day. That should be changing to snow overnight into tomorrow morning. Let's see what Nature delivers. Take a look at the second photo today (below). That is the lower section of NASPA Ski Garden near the centre of town. Clearly, fresh snow is needed... and it is needed very soon. Higher areas are faring better in terms of snow cover (even if there isn't a whole lot of it at the moment). For example, as you can see from the GALA webcam (first photo), cover isn't an issue there. Personally, I can't wait to be able to bring you exciting news of heavy snow. Let us hope that January delivers! All the best for New Years Eve and see you on the other side. --------------- GALA Yuzawa Lifts open: Diligence Gondola, all Central Area lifts and all but the Buggy lift in the Northern Area are open Courses available: All the Central Area courses are open All the Northern Area courses apart from Super Swan and Roman Holiday B are open Official snow depth: 80cm --------------------------- Ishiuchi Maruyama Operations: 11 lifts and 16 courses open All three base areas are now open but there are restrictions --------------------------- Iwappara Operations: The central to summit area is open The lower Number 1 pair lift is open to get to the open area Official snow depth: 30cm --------------------------- Joetsu Kokusai Operations: 17 lifts and 15 courses open (mostly open) Official snow depth: 70cm --------------------------- Kagura Lifts open: 14 of 22 lifts operating Most of Kagura is now available though several courses in the Tashiro Area are not yet available The top Romance Number 5 lift is not yet open Courses available: 22 of 30 runs open Official snow depth: Top: 80cm Base: 40cm --------------------------- Kandatsu Snow Resort Operations: 4 lifts and 9 courses open Official snow depth: 40cm --------------------------- Maiko Snow Resort Lifts & courses: 9 lifts and 16 courses open (both base areas are open and connected via the Shuttle pair lift) Official snow depth: Top: 80cm Base: 25cm --------------------------- Muikamachi Hakkaisan Operations: All scheduled lifts and runs are open The Number 2 pair lift and associated run is scheduled to be open on weekends, holidays and between 29th Dec and 3rd Jan Official snow depth: Top: 110cm Base: 50cm --------------------------- Naeba Operations: 8 lifts and 8 courses open Dragondola connecting Naeba and the Tashiro Area of Kagura is operating Official snow depth: Top: 40cm Base: 20cm --------------------------- NASPA Ski Garden Operations: 3 lifts (1, 4 and 5) and 6 courses open Official snow depth: 50cm --------------------------- Yuzawa Kogen Operations: 5 lifts and 6 courses open Both the Kogen and lower sections are open with some restrictions Official snow depth: Top: 40cm Base: 30cm --------------------------- Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Resort Operations: 5 lifts and 8 courses open Official snow depth: 40cm --------------------------- Yuzawa Park Operations: 2 lifts and 5 courses open Official snow depth: 25cm Yuzawa Now 2023-2024 season Data as of Sunday 31st December 2023 Total snowfall at base so far 151cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 11 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 55cm (23rd December) November 2023 snowfall 14cm reported on 2 days December 2023 snowfall 137cm 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 3cm Snowfall at base this seas 17cm Posted on Friday 1st December 2023 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. Good morning from Yuzawa. After the rain yesterday, we have some wet snow around town this morning, several cm in places, but the roads are clear. There will undoubtedly be more at higher elevations, though Kagura isn't mentioning any specific numbers. Kagura is back open this morning, and the Mitsumata runs are skiable once again, though officially used as 'connecting courses' to get over to and back from Kagura. We expect a generally cloudy day today, with a high of around 5C in town this afternoon. Joetsu Kokusai ski area in Minamiuonuma always has a somewhat puzzling early planned opening date. They chose 2nd December this year, but as expected, they will not be opening tomorrow. They are now on standby to open as soon as there is enough snow. The other ski areas in the region all plan to open from the middle of December. --------------- Ski area information for Friday 1st December 2023 The information below is manually checked with official sources and updated for every report. Please note that details can change quickly, especially at the beginning of the season, and official information may take a bit longer to update. All information is subject to change. Kagura (via Mitsumata) Part open Lifts open: - Mitsumata Ropeway (from 8:00am) - Mitsumata Number 1 quad - Mitsumata Number 2 pair lift - Kagura Gondola - Kagura Number 1 quad Courses available: - Kagura main slope (1,500m) - Mitsumata runs (officially used just to connect with Kagura) Official snow depth: - Top: 30cm - Base: 0cm Notes: The Mitsumata lifts and course are used to get over to the main run that is open at Kagura. -------------------------------- Planned opening dates for other ski areas Opening as soon as there is enough snow: Joetsu Kokusai Friday 15th December 2023: Ishiuchi Maruyama Saturday 16th December 2023: GALA Yuzawa Kagura (via Tashiro) Kandatsu Snow Resort Naeba Yuzawa Kogen Wednesday 20th December 2023: Maiko Snow Resort Thursday 21st December 2023: Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Resort Friday 22nd December 2023: NASPA Ski Garden Saturday 23rd December 2023: Iwappara Muikamachi Hakkaisan Yuzawa Park Closed for the 2023-2024 season: Ishiuchi Hanaoka Itsukamachi Mt Granview :( Nakasato Kiyotsu Yuzawa Now 2023-2024 season Data as of Friday 1st December 2023 Total snowfall at base so far 17cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 3 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 12cm (25th November) November 2023 snowfall 14cm reported on 2 days December 2023 snowfall 3cm 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 0cm Snowfall at base this seas 151cm Posted on Monday 1st January 2024 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. Good morning from Yuzawa. And Happy New Year. For us snow lovers, it's impossible to not be disappointed this morning. We were expecting some fresh snow, but it just didn't really happen - at town level anyway. Rather, we got continued heavy rain and that, of course, has not helped matters. There was some light (wet) snow falling earlier, and there does appear to have been some snow higher up - though I don't have any specific numbers to report other than around 10cm at Naeba. At the moment ski area specific noticeable news this morning is that only the Mitsumata section of Kagura is open at the start of the day due to strong wind forecasts. That's all the information that is available there just now. We should not be surprised if some runs that were open have to be closed due to the snow situation. This will be so particularly ski areas at lower elevations... higher areas should be fine. If you are heading out to a specific ski area, we recommend checking their website for the latest as conditions might change even during the day. It isn't the most inspiring New Years Day, but we hope you have a good one wherever you are. --------------- A message from SnowJapan Happy New Year! 2024 is SnowJapan's 25th year. A quarter of a century! I still remember first putting together a simple webpage version of the printed guidebook I had made introducing the ski areas in Yuzawa and Myoko here in Niigata Prefecture in the mid-to-late 1990s. So much has happened since then, of course, including about six major site redesigns. So much has changed, including the site's dramatic increase in size, scope, and usage. Also, the 'inbound market' has become a thing. Believe it or not, it really wasn't back then! (Side note: it still isn't noticeable at many local remote ski areas, so there is still much of that kind of adventure left if you want to find it). Many of you might also remember the Forums. They were a lot of fun and proved valuable for many, but unfortunately, they became something of a burden behind the scenes. From our position, while the decision to turn them off in November 2014 was tough at the time, it proved to be the correct one and significant for the well-being of the site (and to the benefit of its wider audience) as a whole. Then, there was the more recent period when COVID abruptly halted international travel. It was, of course, a problematic, worrying and uneasy time for everyone. SnowJapan continued to operate and be updated as usual throughout that period. Site usage stats show that many of you were still reading our reports from overseas, even if you unfortunately couldn't visit Japan. I took that quiet period to start SnowJapanHistory in 2020. Since I first came to Japan, I've always been interested in the ski areas in my region and beyond. And I had often wondered what to do with information about ski areas that closed (and indeed ones from much further in the past). Simply deleting that information from SnowJapan and wiping it from memory seemed wrong. Still, there wasn't really anywhere appropriate within SnowJapan to keep that information. Starting the history project and discovering the many fascinating stories really took my interest in the history of skiing in Japan to a new level and has given me a new appreciation for the whole subject. (There have been many fun trips to take photographs of locations, too). That project also helped inspire some aspects of the latest SnowJapan redesign launched in 2022. But for all the things that have changed, some things have stayed the same. The most important is this website's basic concept, focus, and values that keep it on track. SnowJapan enjoys being 100% independent. We don't have any obligations to anyone in how we run things. No one has any influence over our content. Also unchanged is that we are not here to persuade you to visit Japan (though many people have told us how they came to Japan after using the resources on SnowJapan). The ongoing aim is to offer trustworthy and honest information and almost to be a countermeasure against all the hype and marketing messages (not to mention a fair amount of incorrect and misleading information) that are out there. If anything, that outlook actually becomes more stubborn as time passes. I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the trusted reporters who tirelessly provide our daily updates throughout the winter. Doing it every day for 5+ months is a big ask, and with so many people reading them, it's a real responsibility, too. Also, a thank you to everyone who has been friendly towards and supported SnowJapan over the last two and a half decades. SnowJapan is a year-round (and essentially never-ending) project. There is always something to update and something to try and improve. We love doing what we do and as long as it's fun... here's to the next however many years! Back to this season, and while it got off to a promising early start in some regions, it has since (generally) slowed down as we wait for the Japan-like heavy snowfall we all love. It's still relatively early, so hopefully, the snowfall will come soon and be consistent through the season. Thank you for reading, and all the best for 2024, wherever you might be reading this from. If you visit Japan this winter, we hope you return home with fine memories of the country. --------------- GALA Yuzawa Lifts open: Diligence Gondola, all Central Area lifts and all but the Buggy lift in the Northern Area are open Courses available: All the Central Area courses are open All the Northern Area courses apart from Super Swan and Roman Holiday B are open Official snow depth: 80cm --------------------------- Ishiuchi Maruyama Operations: 11 lifts and 16 courses open All three base areas are now open but there are restrictions --------------------------- Iwappara Operations: The central to summit area is open The lower Number 1 pair lift is open to get to the open area Official snow depth: 30cm --------------------------- Joetsu Kokusai Operations: 17 lifts and 15 courses open (mostly open) Official snow depth: 70cm --------------------------- Kagura Lifts open: Affected by wind this morning only Mitsumata Area open early on Official snow depth: Top: 80cm Base: 40cm --------------------------- Kandatsu Snow Resort Operations: 4 lifts and 9 courses open Official snow depth: 40cm --------------------------- Maiko Snow Resort Lifts & courses: 9 lifts and 16 courses open (both base areas are open and connected via the Shuttle pair lift) Official snow depth: Top: 80cm Base: 25cm --------------------------- Muikamachi Hakkaisan Operations: All scheduled lifts and runs are open The Number 2 pair lift and associated run is scheduled to be open on weekends, holidays and between 29th Dec and 3rd Jan Official snow depth: Top: 110cm Base: 30cm --------------------------- Naeba Operations: 4 lifts and 6 courses open Dragondola closed today due to wind Official snow depth: Top: 40cm Base: 20cm --------------------------- NASPA Ski Garden Operations: 2 lifts (4 and 5) and 3 courses open Official snow depth: 35cm --------------------------- Yuzawa Kogen Operations: 5 lifts and 6 courses open Both the Kogen and lower sections are open with some restrictions Official snow depth: Top: 40cm Base: 20cm --------------------------- Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Resort Operations: 5 lifts and 8 courses open Official snow depth: 35cm --------------------------- Yuzawa Park Operations: 2 lifts and 5 courses open Official snow depth: 20cm Yuzawa Now 2023-2024 season Data as of Monday 1st January 2024 Total snowfall at base so far 151cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 11 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 55cm (23rd December) November 2023 snowfall 14cm reported on 2 days December 2023 snowfall 137cm reported on 9 days January 2024 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 2cm Snowfall at base this seas 153cm Posted on Sunday 7th January 2024 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. Good morning from Yuzawa. It was definitely not great to hear rain falling overnight. And so it was good to wake up to snow. Maiko is reporting 3cm and at 7:30am Kagura was reporting 5cm of fresh snowfall. It seems like higher areas have received a welcome layer of fresh snow. It's just a small amount, up to around a few cm in places around town, but importantly it is snowing (though only lightly) this morning. Hopefully we will be getting more through today and into tomorrow. Currently slightly under 0C and it should be getting colder tonight and tomorrow is set to be a colder day. Fingers crossed for good news tomorrow. Over at NASPA Ski Garden: they had taken the chairs off their Number 3 quad lift due to some kind of technical/mechanical problem. Yesterday they put the chairs back on the lift, so hopefully that will be back operating soon. --------------- GALA Yuzawa Lifts open: All Central Area and Northern Area lifts are open The Southern Area is not open yet Courses available: All the Central Area courses are open All the Northern Area courses apart from Super Swan are open Official snow depth: 80cm --------------------------- Ishiuchi Maruyama Operations: 12 lifts and 15 courses open All three base areas are now open with some course restrictions --------------------------- Iwappara Operations: The central to summit area is open The lower Number 1 pair lift is open to get to the open area Official snow depth: 20cm --------------------------- Joetsu Kokusai Operations: 11 courses open in the Panorama and Forest Zones. Just the run in front of the hotel is open in that lower area. Official snow depth: 60cm --------------------------- Kagura Lifts open: 14 of 18 lifts operating Most of Kagura is now available though several courses in the Tashiro Area are not yet available The top Romance Number 5 lift is not yet open (more snow is needed) Courses available: 22 of 30 runs open Official snow depth: Top: 80cm Base: 30cm --------------------------- Kandatsu Snow Resort Operations: 4 lifts and 9 courses open Official snow depth: 40cm --------------------------- Maiko Snow Resort Lifts & courses: 5 lifts and 10 courses open The top Okusoechi area and Maiko area are open You need to get the gondola back to base from Okusoechi Official snow depth: Top: 70cm Base: 20cm --------------------------- Muikamachi Hakkaisan Operations: 3 lifts and 8 courses open Official snow depth: Top: 100cm Base: 30cm --------------------------- Naeba See our Naeba Now report. --------------------------- NASPA Ski Garden Operations: 2 lifts (4 and 5) and 2 courses open Official snow depth: 25cm --------------------------- Yuzawa Kogen Operations: 5 lifts and 6 courses open Lower 'playing in the snow' park area closed until there is enough snow Official snow depth: Top: 40cm Base: 20cm --------------------------- Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Resort Operations: 6 lifts and 9 courses open Official snow depth: 30cm --------------------------- Yuzawa Park Operations: 1 lift and 1 course open Official snow depth: 20cm Yuzawa Now 2023-2024 season Data as of Sunday 7th January 2024 Total snowfall at base so far 153cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 12 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 55cm (23rd December) November 2023 snowfall 14cm reported on 2 days December 2023 snowfall 137cm reported on 9 days January 2024 snowfall 2cm 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 43cm Snowfall at base this seas 196cm Posted on Monday 8th January 2024 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. Heavy snowfall, at last! Not the 70cm that was on the forecasts last night, more like 40cm around town areas, but it is still very very welcome and it is still snowing. Here is what ski areas are reporting: GALA Yuzawa: 40-50cm Maiko: 30cm JMA (Japan Meteorological Agency) Yuzawa measuring point: 37cm SnowJapan Yuzawa measuring point: 43cm SnowJapan Ishiuchi measuring point: 36cm We can't find any snowfall numbers reported by Kagura yet. Some ski area information is patchy as of 9am (they are still probably busy dealing with the snow). But there might well be operation changes during the day (ie. more courses and lifts opening). NASPA Ski Garden has that quad lift up and running and looks transformed by the new snowfall. The Buggy lift at GALA Yuzawa is operating meaning that the connection with Ishiuchi Maruyama is open. Hopefully they will also be able to open the Southern Area soon and the link with Yuzawa Kogen. (The plan seems to be 'mid-January'). All good. What we want now is for us to settle into a normal cycle of regular snowfall and for it to built up nicely. Onegai shimasu! Next decent snow later in the week with sun forecast tomorrow. --------------- GALA Yuzawa Lifts open: All Central Area and Northern Area lifts are open The Southern Area is not open yet Courses available: All the Central Area courses are open All the Northern Area courses apart from Super Swan are open Official snow depth: 80cm --------------------------- Ishiuchi Maruyama Operations: All three base areas are now open and most courses available --------------------------- Iwappara Operations: Mid to upper areas are open Official snow depth: 50cm --------------------------- Joetsu Kokusai Operations: 15 courses open. Official snow depth: 90cm --------------------------- Kagura Lifts open: Tashiro Area closed today due to wind and weather. Some restrictions at the main Kagura area too. Official snow depth: Top: 100cm Base: 50cm --------------------------- Kandatsu Snow Resort Operations: 4 lifts and 9 courses open Official snow depth: 70cm --------------------------- Maiko Snow Resort Lifts & courses: Most of Maiko is now open Official snow depth: Top: 120cm Base: 45cm --------------------------- Muikamachi Hakkaisan Operations: All lifts and 11 courses open Official snow depth: Top: 170cm Base: 120cm --------------------------- Naeba See our Naeba Now report. --------------------------- NASPA Ski Garden Operations: 4 lifts and most courses open Official snow depth: 70cm --------------------------- Yuzawa Kogen Operations: Most of Yuzawa Kogen is now open, some restrictions in lower area --------------------------- Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Resort Operations: 6 lifts and 9 courses open Official snow depth: 60cm --------------------------- Yuzawa Park Operations: 2 lifts and 1 course open Official snow depth: 45cm Yuzawa Now 2023-2024 season Data as of Monday 8th January 2024 Total snowfall at base so far 196cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 13 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 55cm (23rd December) November 2023 snowfall 14cm reported on 2 days December 2023 snowfall 137cm reported on 9 days January 2024 snowfall 45cm 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 21cm Snowfall at base this seas 217cm Posted on Tuesday 9th January 2024 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. It was so great to wake up to that fresh snow yesterday. It felt like kind of a relief after a long and anxious wait. The snow continued falling for much of the day around the town area and Minamiuonuma valley just to the north. Maybe more than we were actually expecting, which was a nice surprise. In the end a further 21cm of snowfall was measured in Yuzawa by 6pm last night (with an additional 23cm measured just to the north in Ishiuchi too). That fresh snow has a big difference, finally enabling most ski areas to get closer to the coveted ‘fully open’ status rather than having to work around various restrictions. While we might not be quite at that point yet, we are getting closer. We could still do with more snow (full admission: that’s a feeling almost never goes away, however much we get!) but it feels like it was an important turning point in the season. As I said yesterday, let’s hope that we can settle into a normal cycle of snowfall from now. After the snow during the day yesterday, there has not been any more overnight. It is a cold start to the early morning, but it will be warmer today (not too much please) and we should have sunny skies today. Anyone who is here should be able to enjoy some really fun conditions today. The next decent fresh snowfall is due around Friday and Saturday. ---------------------------- GALA Yuzawa Official snow depth: 130cm Central & Northern Areas are open The Southern Area and connection with Yuzawa Kogen is not yet available Ishiuchi Maruyama Official snow depth: 95cm Night skiing until 8:00pm Iwappara Official snow depth: 50cm Night skiing until 7:00pm Joetsu Kokusai Official snow depth: 120cm (top) Night skiing until 8:30pm Kagura Fresh snowfall (reported by the ski area): 0cm Official snow depth: 100cm (top), 50cm (base) Kandatsu Snow Resort Official snow depth: 70cm Maiko Snow Resort Fresh snowfall (reported by the ski area): 0cm Official snow depth: 150cm (top), 50cm (lower) Muikamachi Hakkaisan Official snow depth: 150cm (top), 70cm (base) Naeba Official snow depth: 50cm (top), 30cm (base) Night skiing until 8:30pm See our Naeba Now report NASPA Ski Garden Official snow depth: 80cm Yuzawa Kogen Official snow depth: 50cm Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Resort Official snow depth: 70cm Yuzawa Park Official snow depth: 70cm Yuzawa Now 2023-2024 season Data as of Tuesday 9th January 2024 Total snowfall at base so far 217cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 14 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 55cm (23rd December) November 2023 snowfall 14cm reported on 2 days December 2023 snowfall 137cm reported on 9 days January 2024 snowfall 66cm 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

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata New snowfall at base 1cm Snowfall at base this seas 218cm Posted on Thursday 11th January 2024 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. There was some light snow yesterday morning but it didn't give us much more than a dusting in places around town (and some spots of rain in places too, but let's try to forget that!) This morning is starting off quite grey and overcast but clearer skies and sunshine is expected for the day. The clouds are already starting to break a little in regions north of Yuzawa. Currently -4C. From later tomorrow more fresh snow should be falling and, fingers crossed, it will be a fair amount on Saturday. There's more due early week too, so that's pretty exciting. ---------------------------- GALA Yuzawa Official snow depth: 120cm Central & Northern Areas are open The Northern Area connection with Ishiuchi Maruyama is available The Southern Area and connection with Yuzawa Kogen is not yet available Ishiuchi Maruyama Official snow depth: 95cm The connection with the Northern Area of GALA Yuzawa is available Night skiing until 8:00pm Iwappara Official snow depth: 40cm Night skiing until 7:00pm Joetsu Kokusai Official snow depth: 120cm (top) Night skiing until 8:30pm Kagura Fresh snowfall (reported by the ski area): 0cm Official snow depth: 100cm (top), 50cm (base) Kandatsu Snow Resort Official snow depth: 60cm Maiko Snow Resort Fresh snowfall (reported by the ski area): 0cm Official snow depth: 130cm (top), 30cm (lower) Muikamachi Hakkaisan Official snow depth: 150cm (top), 70cm (base) Naeba Official snow depth: 50cm (top), 30cm (base) Night skiing until 8:30pm See our Naeba Now report NASPA Ski Garden Official snow depth: 75cm Yuzawa Kogen Official snow depth: 50cm Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Resort Official snow depth: 70cm Yuzawa Park Official snow depth: 70cm Yuzawa Now 2023-2024 season Data as of Thursday 11th January 2024 Total snowfall at base so far 218cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 15 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 55cm (23rd December) November 2023 snowfall 14cm reported on 2 days December 2023 snowfall 137cm reported on 9 days January 2024 snowfall 67cm reported on 4 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 22cm Snowfall at base this seas 240cm Posted on Saturday 13th January 2024 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. We have fresh snow. Here's what ski areas are reporting: Maiko Snow Resort: 20cm Yuzawa Kogen: 15cm SnowJapan measuring point in central Yuzawa @ 8:30am: 22cm SnowJapan measuring point near Ishiuchi @ 8:30am: 14cm More snow is due today, perhaps heavy at times. Tomorrow is still due to be clearer skies and sunshine with a return to snow on Monday and Tuesday. Someone asked about 'new snowfall' numbers... Unfortunately, most ski areas don't say how much 'new snow' has fallen each day. The ones that regularly do are Maiko Snow Resort and Kagura (though less so this season so far with the latter). Don't know why, but they don't seem to think it is important and just concentrate on their 'snow depth'. The snow depth number almost never increases by as much as the actual amount of snow that has fallen. (Which makes sense, due to grooming etc). And even that number sometimes takes a bit of time to catch up (a one-day delay is common). It is what it is. If more ski areas reported fresh snowfall numbers every morning, we would add that info to this report. For example, today Yuzawa Kogen are reporting 15cm, so that can be found below. ---------------------------- GALA Yuzawa Official snow depth: 120cm Central & Northern Areas are open The Northern Area connection with Ishiuchi Maruyama is available The Southern Area and connection with Yuzawa Kogen is not yet available Ishiuchi Maruyama Official snow depth: 95cm The connection with the Northern Area of GALA Yuzawa is available Night skiing until 8:00pm Iwappara Official snow depth: 40cm Night skiing until 8:00pm Joetsu Kokusai Official snow depth: 120cm (top) Night skiing until 8:30pm Kagura Fresh snowfall (reported by the ski area): ?cm Official snow depth: 100cm (top), 50cm (base) Kandatsu Snow Resort Official snow depth: 80cm Maiko Snow Resort Fresh snowfall (reported by the ski area): 20cm Official snow depth: 150cm (top), 40cm (lower) Muikamachi Hakkaisan Official snow depth: 170cm (top), 40cm (base) Naeba Official snow depth: 80cm (top), 60cm (base) Night skiing until 8:30pm See our Naeba Now report NASPA Ski Garden Official snow depth: 80cm Yuzawa Kogen Fresh snowfall (reported by the ski area): 15cm Official snow depth: 50cm Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Resort Official snow depth: 80cm Yuzawa Park Official snow depth: 70cm Yuzawa Now 2023-2024 season Data as of Saturday 13th January 2024 Total snowfall at base so far 240cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 16 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 55cm (23rd December) November 2023 snowfall 14cm reported on 2 days December 2023 snowfall 137cm reported on 9 days January 2024 snowfall 89cm 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 31cm Snowfall at base this seas 271cm Posted on Sunday 14th January 2024 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here. Last night we measured an additional 21cm of snowfall and this morning there is another 10cm, so that makes a total of 31cm since yesterday morning. Nice. This morning Kagura ski area is reporting 40cm of snowfall, presumably since yesterday morning, and Maiko is reporting 10cm of overnight snowfall. The bottom line: there's a good amount of fresh snow out there, the trees are looking heavy with snow, the sun is out. It should be an excellent Sunday. And probably very busy too! In ski area news, the downhill course (Falcon) at GALA Yuzawa is now open. Hopefully the Southern Area of that ski area will also get to open soon. More snow is still forecast for tomorrow and Tuesday. Two days of consistent snow would be great. Let's have some of that! ---------------------------- GALA Yuzawa Official snow depth: 150cm Central & Northern Areas are open The Falcon downhill course is open The Northern Area connection with Ishiuchi Maruyama is available The Southern Area and connection with Yuzawa Kogen is not yet available Ishiuchi Maruyama Official snow depth: ?cm The connection with the Northern Area of GALA Yuzawa is available Night skiing until 8:00pm Iwappara Official snow depth: 65cm Night skiing until 7:00pm Joetsu Kokusai Official snow depth: 140cm (top) Night skiing until 8:30pm Kagura Fresh snowfall (reported by the ski area): 40cm Official snow depth: 120cm (top), 70cm (base) Kandatsu Snow Resort Official snow depth: 110cm Maiko Snow Resort Fresh snowfall (reported by the ski area): 10cm (overnight) Official snow depth: 160cm (top), 50cm (lower) Muikamachi Hakkaisan Official snow depth: 210cm (top), 60cm (base) Naeba Official snow depth: 80cm (top), 60cm (base) Night skiing until 8:30pm See our Naeba Now report NASPA Ski Garden Official snow depth: 115cm Yuzawa Kogen Fresh snowfall (reported by the ski area): 15cm Official snow depth: 60cm Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Resort Official snow depth: 85cm Yuzawa Park Official snow depth: 90cm Yuzawa Now 2023-2024 season Data as of Sunday 14th January 2024 Total snowfall at base so far 271cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 17 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 55cm (23rd December) November 2023 snowfall 14cm reported on 2 days December 2023 snowfall 137cm reported on 9 days January 2024 snowfall 120cm 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