Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata New snowfall at base 10cm Snowfall at base this season 136cm Posted on Sunday 29th December 2013 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . The sun is out this morning! It's not supposed to be, but it is! Lets rewind a bit to yesterday when it was snowing for lots of the day, but as I hinted at in the report, there were short periods of time when it stopped snowing and we even saw the sun and blue sky. The snow clouds usually moved back in fairly quickly though. So there's quite a lot of blue sky up there this morning, but the forecast is for snow all day. I hear it was clouded over earlier as well, so perhaps it will quickly cloud over once again like it was doing yesterday. For now though, sun is shining down and it's a lovely morning. 15cm of so of new snowfall since yesterday and resorts reporting about that, the most up at Kagura who report 20cm. --- Official resort snow depths @ Sunday 29th December 2013, AM: Naeba: 130cm Kagura (Tashiro): 180cm Kagura (Mitsumata): 220cm NASPA Ski Garden: 140cm Gala Yuzawa: 190cm Iwappara: 110cm Yuzawa Kogen: 130cm Yuzawa Nakazato: 90cm Yuzawa Park: 90cm ---- Maiko Snow Resort: 140cm Ishiuchi Maruyama: 140cm Joetsu Kokusai: 100cm Yuzawa Now 2013-2014 season Data as of Sunday 29th December 2013 Total snowfall at base so far 136cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 15 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 30cm (16th December) November 2013 snowfall 5cm reported on 1 day December 2013 snowfall 131cm 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

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata New snowfall at base 5cm Snowfall at base this season 31cm Posted on Saturday 14th December 2013 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . It kind of feels a bit like yesterday. Yesterday started off with clear blue skies when we were expecting something more snowy. It didn't last too long as by mid morning lots of white cloud had formed and by lunchtime it was almost all grey cover. By evening snow was falling and there is about 10cm of fresh snow on top of the car outside. Why does it feel like yesterday? Well, we were expecting a snow storm this morning. But it is actually clear and sunny once again. Brilliant if you are up at Kagura today, but not great for everywhere else as we need that snow. The forecast actually still insists that it will snow all day today, so I can only thing/hope that those clouds will move back in and it will be snowing soon. Right now though looking out of the window, it doesn't look likely. But then again again, it didn't yesterday either! It looks like the snow is falling to the north of our valley - Nagaoka city is getting snowed on right now. Looks like at the moment this is 'Satoyuki' - where it snows in the plains rather than in the mountains. So for what it is worth, the forecast is for snow all today and all tomorrow. It does look like the skies over Naeba and Kagura are getting clouded over a bit actually... anyway, I'll let you know tomorrow what it brings. In resort news as reported yesterday, the Tashiro and Kagura areas are now linked up so most of Kagura is now open. They report 10-20cm of snow overnight. Conditions should be very nice up there. Naeba this morning is reporting 5-10cm of new snowfall and this morning the Prince Number 2 Gondola is moving as well as the top Takenokodaira romance (pair) life and Daishamen romance lift, so there's some natural snow upper runs open this weekend. Iwappara are saying that they received 15cm of snow on the middle area slopes - but unfortunately it's not enough to open today. Yuzawa Kogen were saying yesterday that they still planned to open today but are being very shy with any kind of details. Maiko Snow Resort were also hoping to open today but are unable to. The other few resorts that were aiming for an opening today are not going to be able to. If this snowfall that is forecast for this weekend actually decides to make an appearance.... I don't think we are far away! --- Currently open: Kagura: Most of Kagura is now open. The 3 areas are linked up. Naeba: Prince Number 2 Gondola No5 high speed lift No4 romance lift Takenokodaira romance lift Daishamen romance lift Joetsu Kokusai: Very limited operations --- Planned resort opening dates for resorts in Yuzawa and Minamiuonuma: As soon as possible: Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Kogen Nakazato Snow Wood Maiko Snow Resort Muikamachi Ski Resort December 20th: Yuzawa Park Ishiuchi Maruyama December 21st: GALA Yuzawa Ipponsugi Yuzawa Kogen (Nunoba area) Muikamachi Hakkaisan December 28th: Mt Granview Yuzawa Now 2013-2014 season Data as of Saturday 14th December 2013 Total snowfall at base so far 31cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 5 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 10cm (8th and 12th December) November 2013 snowfall 5cm reported on 1 day December 2013 snowfall 26cm 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 10cm Snowfall at base this season 41cm Posted on Sunday 15th December 2013 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . Snow is falling in Yuzawa this morning. After that lovely start to the day yesterday, once again clouds moved in later on and it was snowing by the time Sunday morning came around. Kagura is reporting 30-40cm of fresh snowfall since yesterday, and I am reporting around 15-20cm in town. Fairly gusty winds means that there's more or less in places so it's difficult to put a number on it. The snow is still coming down now, and the wind is still blowing. Kagura is also reporting their car park full up at 8:45am, so there's going to be a lot of people up there. Unfortunately strong winds mean that it's only open from the Mitsumta Ropeway to the Kagura Number 1 quad - Tashiro area is closed and so the people who were planning on going there will also be trying to get to Mitsumata. Naeba seems to be open as planned. Iwappara are reporting 40cm of fresh snowfall (presumably on upper runs) but also that they now hope to open on Friday 21st. Yuzawa Nakazato have opened with two lifts moving this morning. Maiko Snow Resort is open with the Gondola taking you up (and back down) from the upper bowl area where the quad lift is operating. Yuzawa Kogen are saying that they hope to be open from tomorrow. I think that's it for the moment - it's often a confusing picture at this time of year when the snow arrives. We always find it curious how some resorts seem almost reluctant to get their 'open' information out there! Fingers crossed we get more cm today to help these resorts get open. I'll do another round up tomorrow morning. --- Currently open: Kagura Naeba Yuzawa Nakazato Maiko Snow Resort Joetsu Kokusai --- Planned resort opening dates for resorts in Yuzawa and Minamiuonuma: As soon as possible: Yuzawa Kogen Nakazato Snow Wood Muikamachi Ski Resort December 20th: Yuzawa Park Ishiuchi Maruyama December 21st: GALA Yuzawa Ipponsugi Yuzawa Kogen (Nunoba area) Muikamachi Hakkaisan December 28th: Mt Granview Yuzawa Now 2013-2014 season Data as of Sunday 15th December 2013 Total snowfall at base so far 41cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 6 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 10cm (8th, 12th and 15th December) November 2013 snowfall 5cm reported on 1 day December 2013 snowfall 36cm 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 2cm Snowfall at base this season 116cm Posted on Friday 27th December 2013 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . So yesterday started off with lovely clear skies and mid morning there were some deep blues to enjoy, though quite quickly things changed and by lunchtime it was still bright but overcast. As it got darker the skies were very grey. Amazing sometimes how quickly it can change. I have heard reports of rain in nearby areas, but when I was out at 8pm last night it was still just cloudy so can't confirm if we got rained on after that! This morning we woke to just a dusting of snow really, with the most (5cm) being reported by Kagura. At the moment in Yuzawa it is just 0 degrees with light wet snow falling. A light wind but more wind higher up and windier conditions due later in the day and tomorrow too. Resorts are almost all open but really we are on less snow than usual I would say. I noticed in the Nozawa Now report today there was a comparison with last year so let's take a look on here too. 27th December 2012: Naeba - 120cm Kagura - 250cm GALA Yuzawa - 190cm Iwappara - 140cm Yuzawa Kogen - 150cm Maiko Snow Resort - 180cm Joetsu Kokusai - 150cm Today: Naeba - 110cm Kagura - 220cm GALA Yuzawa - 180cm Iwappara - 90cm Yuzawa Kogen - 110cm Maiko Snow Resort - 115cm Joetsu Kokusai - 80cm These are all the numbers reported by the resorts themselves and so comparable year on year. So they are all on less snow than last year - with some much less. It's quite clear though as there isn't that much snow around town at the moment. Hopefully we'll get snowed on good in this next week into New Year. (PS Mt Granview opens tomorrow!) --- Official resort snow depths @ Friday 27th December 2013, AM: Naeba: 110cm Kagura (Tashiro): 180cm Kagura (Mitsumata): 220cm NASPA Ski Garden: 115cm Gala Yuzawa: 180cm Iwappara: 90cm Yuzawa Kogen: 110cm Yuzawa Nakazato: 80cm Yuzawa Park: 80cm ---- Maiko Snow Resort: 115cm Ishiuchi Maruyama: 110cm Joetsu Kokusai: 80cm Yuzawa Now 2013-2014 season Data as of Friday 27th December 2013 Total snowfall at base so far 116cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 13 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 30cm (16th December) November 2013 snowfall 5cm reported on 1 day December 2013 snowfall 111cm 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 5cm Snowfall at base this season 76cm Posted on Tuesday 17th December 2013 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . An early report this morning and we can actually see a bit of the mountains this morning after those few days of cloud, snowfall and poor visibility. No new cm of snow overnight though there was probably another 5cm during the daytime yesterday. Wet snow, and the wind was quite strong. This morning it is just cloudy as I write this, with cloud and sometimes light snow forecast this morning and just cloudy this afternoon. Having said that, even in the 15 minutes since I started writing this, it feels like it's clearing up a bit. The clouds are nowhere near as thick as the last few days. There's only a light wind as well this morning. The local forecast for tomorow is just cloud but it feels like it might end up being clearer. Kagura is back open as planned after a few wind affected days and reporting 10cm of fresh snow since yesterday. With some lifts not moving during the snow storm, there should be some fine untouched conditions there this morning. In other resort news, all of the Okusoeji bowl area of the Maiko Snow Resort is now open. Looks like there will be more snow before the weekend, and so I would expect (and hope) that for the weekend places will be close to fully open. --- Currently at least part open: Joetsu Kokusai Kagura Nakazato Snow Wood Maiko Snow Resort Naeba Yuzawa Kogen Yuzawa Nakazato Kagura is currently the only resort area that is almost fully open. --- Planned resort opening dates for resorts in Yuzawa and Minamiuonuma: December 20th: Muikamachi Ski Resort Yuzawa Park Ishiuchi Maruyama December 21st: GALA Yuzawa Ipponsugi Yuzawa Kogen (Nunoba area) Muikamachi Hakkaisan December 28th: Mt Granview Yuzawa Now 2013-2014 season Data as of Tuesday 17th December 2013 Total snowfall at base so far 76cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 8 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 30cm (16th December) November 2013 snowfall 5cm reported on 1 day December 2013 snowfall 71cm 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 5cm Snowfall at base this season 81cm Posted on Saturday 21st December 2013 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . Well, not exactly the thick layer we were hoping for this morning. About 5cm or so at base areas and up to 10cm that Kagura is reporting higher up. This morning cloud over Yuzawa again, and it is snowing lightly at the moment. Having said that, over at Naeba blue skies seem to be appearing as clouds move on... perhaps we will get some of that later here as well. So mixed conditions today. Today is Naeba's 'Grand Open' which probably involves some local sake, snacks - and more importantly, most of the lifts and runs being open. Across town most of the resorts are now open, and trying to be as fully open as possible. Today is the first of three days holiday in Japan and one of those important weekends for the skijo - they want to make a good start to the season proper this weekend. There are some limitations though due to the lack of deep snow so far so in places it's a bit thin out there. Generally as you might expect there's more snow the higher you go. All of the 3 main areas of the GALA Yuzawa resort are open from today, including most of the courses, as is the connection between Yuzawa Kogen - GALA Yuzawa - Ishiuchi Maruyama. The Iwappara resort seem to be fully open. We are being led to believe that hoping for some snowfall today and tomorrow is not a waste of time, so I am hoping to be able to bring snowy news in my next report. Yuzawa Now 2013-2014 season Data as of Saturday 21st December 2013 Total snowfall at base so far 81cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 9 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 30cm (16th December) November 2013 snowfall 5cm reported on 1 day December 2013 snowfall 76cm 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 15cm Snowfall at base this season 114cm Posted on Wednesday 25th December 2013 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . 5-10cm or so of snow on the car this morning and resorts around Yuzawa are reporting 5-20cm of fresh snow overnight. Kagura is boasting an impressive 30-40cm with Naeba reporting 15-20cm. So a new nice layer of snow to enjoy this Christmas morning. Today the forecast told us to expect a clear start - and it does look like surrounding areas are more like that - but it was a very overcast and cloudy start to the day in Yuzawa this morning. Having said that, as I write this at 9:30am, the clouds do seem to be preparing to break up and depart and the sun threatening to shine through. My contact over in Naeba told me that the sun is out there and a mixture of cloud and blue sky. So my guess is that it's going to clear up today over Yuzawa and we might be left with those blue skies that the forecast told us to expect. Let's see. Images today from Ishiuchi Maruyama and Maiko Snow Resort. Oh yes.... Happy Christmas! --- Official resort snow depths @ Wednesday 25th December 2013, AM: Naeba: 110cm Kagura (Tashiro): 180cm Kagura (Mitsumata): 220cm NASPA Ski Garden: 125cm Gala Yuzawa: 170cm Iwappara: 105cm Yuzawa Kogen: 110cm Yuzawa Nakazato: 80cm Yuzawa Park: 95cm ---- Maiko Snow Resort: 130cm Ishiuchi Maruyama: 120cm Joetsu Kokusai: 80cm Yuzawa Now 2013-2014 season Data as of Wednesday 25th December 2013 Total snowfall at base so far 114cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 12 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 30cm (16th December) November 2013 snowfall 5cm reported on 1 day December 2013 snowfall 109cm 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 30cm Snowfall at base this season 71cm Posted on Monday 16th December 2013 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . Lots of snow to report this morning from the region in the biggest blast of the season so far. And Kagura are reporting the goods with a full 50cm up on upper slopes up there. Nice. 20-30cm being reported by Naeba this morning where the same lifts are moving this morning as yesterday. Down here in town, with wind it's difficult to put a number on it, but since last report I would say 30cm is probably about right. Heavy and rather wet snow here at town level town. Wind is messing with the Tashiro part of Kagura again today - which is closed - and Kagura is open via Mitsumata from the Ropeway to Kagura Number 1 pair lift. It has been windy since yesterday and still blowing about here in town too, so other planned lifts might be affected. This current snowfall is forecast to ease off late today into early tomorrow. --- Currently at least part open: Joetsu Kokusai Kagura Nakazato Snow Wood Maiko Snow Resort Naeba Yuzawa Kogen Yuzawa Nakazato Kagura is currently the only resort area that is almost fully open - when the winds aren't visiting, that is! --- Planned resort opening dates for resorts in Yuzawa and Minamiuonuma: December 20th: Muikamachi Ski Resort Yuzawa Park Ishiuchi Maruyama December 21st: GALA Yuzawa Ipponsugi Yuzawa Kogen (Nunoba area) Muikamachi Hakkaisan December 28th: Mt Granview Yuzawa Now 2013-2014 season Data as of Monday 16th December 2013 Total snowfall at base so far 71cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 7 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 30cm (16th December) November 2013 snowfall 5cm reported on 1 day December 2013 snowfall 66cm 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 3cm Snowfall at base this season 99cm Posted on Monday 23rd December 2013 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . While it was snowing on and off yesterday, it didn't really end up with much in terms of new cm. This morning just a dusting on top of the car, with the higher elevations at Kagura reporting 5cm of fresh snow. We started off with a grey cloud cover this morning but it seems like it might be clearing up. Some blue skies have broken out over Minamiuonuma and as I write this the sun is making an appearance. All the signs of clearing conditions -- but, the local forecast actually gives us snow this afternoon and into tomorrow. I wonder which will be right? --- Official resort snow depths Naeba: 90cm Kagura (Tashiro): 160cm Kagura (Mitsumata): 200cm NASPA Ski Garden: 114cm Gala Yuzawa: 160cm Iwappara: 90cm Yuzawa Kogen: 110cm Yuzawa Nakazato: 75cm Yuzawa Park: 80cm ---- Maiko Snow Resort: 120cm Ishiuchi Maruyama: 110cm Joetsu Kokusai: 80cm Yuzawa Now 2013-2014 season Data as of Monday 23rd December 2013 Total snowfall at base so far 99cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 11 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 30cm (16th December) November 2013 snowfall 5cm reported on 1 day December 2013 snowfall 94cm 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 5cm Snowfall at base this season 5cm Posted on Thursday 21st November 2013 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . Good morning from Yuzawa. As you might have read on the Naeba Now report page, this Yuzawa Now report page will be taking on the Naeba and Kagura news this season. While we have always given mention to Kagura and Naeba on Yuzawa Now, we'll be giving those areas more coverage now. After all, they are in the same town. Anyway, you want to know about the snow?! Well, a sprinkling over at Naeba and some more snowfall up on the slopes of Kagura overnight but at the moment the sun is out over Yuzawa. We did and still do actually have cloud and rain forecast for the day, so perhaps it will quickly cloud over again and that is what we will get. For now though a nice morning in Yuzawa and no snow on the ground in town. The snow season starts on Saturday though. That's for certain, as Kagura have announced it on their website. Saturday 23rd will be the first official day of the season in Yuzawa. As things stand, there will be 1500m of the main Kagura run open. The Mitsumata Ropeway will take eager sliders up and the Kagura Gondola will take people to the base of the Kagura area. The initial plan is for the Kagura No1 quad and the Kagura No1 pair lift to be open on weekends and just the quad on weekdays. A shuttle bus is planned to be operating from Mitsumata to the Kagura Gondola. Expect this situation to change them get rid of the bus as soon as is possible. (There was even rumour of a possible 'no bus' right from the beginning last week, but I haven't heard any more of that since and perhaps the milder conditions have put a stop to that). I also have news about Kandatsu Kogen to relay this morning. After the meeting in Yuzawa on Tuesday, it turns out that the Kandatsu Kogen resort will not be opening this season. It's quite big news in Yuzawa as you might expect as Kandatsu was one of the popular resorts, but unfortunately we're not going to be able to slide down the slopes there this time round. The company now in charge of the resort though seems to be confident looking forward to next (ie. 14/15) season and so I think there is probably a good chance that Kandatsu will be back next season. Please note that is a personal guess. Hope you stick around. Here are the planned resort opening dates for all of the skijo in Yuzawa: November 23rd: Kagura (Mitsumata) December 7th: Kagura (Tashiro) Naeba Iwappara December 14th: Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Kogen Nakazato Snow Wood December 20th: Yuzawa Park December 21st: GALA Yuzawa Ipponsugi Yuzawa Kogen (Nunoba area) Yuzawa Now 2013-2014 season Data as of Thursday 21st November 2013 Total snowfall at base so far 5cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 1 day Most snowfall observed in 1 day 5cm (12th November) November 2013 snowfall 5cm 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 1cm Snowfall at base this season 26cm Posted on Friday 13th December 2013 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . I was hoping to bring news of huge amounts of fresh snowfall this morning, but.... it's clear and sunny! Yes, we have beautiful blue skies over Yuzawa and there's hardly a cloud to be seen over this particular valley anyway. To the north it looks like there's a fair bit of cloud. Currently it is 1C with a high of 5C due later on. No new snow overnight to report, but it was snowing for most of the day yesterday and so I have added a few cm to the numbers on this page. Snow should be back though by the end of the day and snowfall along with cold temperatures are forecast for the weekend. --- In resort news, from tomorrow the connecting course between the Kagura area and Tashiro areas will be open for the first time this season. This means that most of the Kagura resort will be open. Not quite all, but most of it. Certainly enough to have a fine day in that fresh snow. Both of the Ropeways at Kagura will be opening from 7:30am tomorrow morning. The Dragondola between Naeba and Tashiro should be up and running from Saturday 21st December. Over at Naeba, lovely blue skies over that part of Yuzawa as well. They have the Number 4 pair lift moving today, possibly in celebration of the main base hotel opening for winter. Joetsu Kokusai in Minamiuonuma have actually opened a run this morning and Iwappara in Yuzawa are planning to be open tomorrow. Both are limited openings as things stand but if we do get snowfall tonight they will adjust as is possible. Maiko Snow Resort are hoping to open tomorrow but it's borderline right now. Again, probably will depend on snowfall overnight. I can tell that I'm going to be very busy tomorrow morning, and I'll try to bring you all the latest from around town. --- Currently part open: Kagura: Most of Kagura will be open from tomorrow including the connection between the main Kagura area and Tashiro. Naeba: Number 5 quad Number 4 pair lift Joetsu Kokusai: --- Planned resort opening dates for resorts in Yuzawa and Minamiuonuma: December 14th: Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Kogen Nakazato Snow Wood Maiko Snow Resort Muikamachi Ski Resort December 20th: Yuzawa Park Ishiuchi Maruyama December 21st: GALA Yuzawa Ipponsugi Yuzawa Kogen (Nunoba area) Muikamachi Hakkaisan December 28th: Mt Granview Yuzawa Now 2013-2014 season Data as of Friday 13th December 2013 Total snowfall at base so far 26cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 4 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 10cm (8th and 12th December) November 2013 snowfall 5cm reported on 1 day December 2013 snowfall 21cm 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 0cm Snowfall at base this season 5cm Posted on Friday 6th December 2013 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . Good morning from Yuzawa and once again the sun is out early on though more cloud and the forecast is for rain from mid morning. Hopefully that will mean snow at higher elevations. OK so to the news. Tashiro was planning to open tomorrow - but as of yesterday afternoon they said that they have 10-15cm of snow up there and need at least 30cm. Some courses have more snow and would be ok for opening, but the important bits around the Ropeway area don't have enough. So no opening tomorrow - well, unless we get enough snow overnight into tomorrow that is. We'll have to wait until tomorrow to know that. They are just saying that they will open now as soon as possible. Naeba will be able to open on that run in front of the hotel - it will be all man-made snow on that run for now. Iwappara and Joetsu Kokusai will of course not be opening tomorrow either as planned as there is no snow on the majority of the resort slopes as of this morning. Basically, we just need a good old fashioned huge dump of snow! Snow forecast for tomorrow, hopefully down to town, and it should definitely be colder over the weekend. Currently open - parts of Kagura: Kagura main course - 1500m Technical course - 500m Giant course - 1100m Mitsumata Ropeway Kaguea Gondola Kagura Number 1 quad (every day) Kaguea Number 1 pair (just weekends for now - so not open today) Planned resort opening dates for all of the skijo in Yuzawa town (subject to snow conditions) December 7th: Naeba As soon as possible: Iwappara Kagura (Tashiro) December 14th: Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Kogen Nakazato Snow Wood December 20th: Yuzawa Park December 21st: GALA Yuzawa Ipponsugi Yuzawa Kogen (Nunoba area) Resorts in neighbouring Minamiounuma city: December 7th: Joetsu Kokusai December 14th: Maiko Snow Resort Muikamachi Ski Resort December 20th: Ishiuchi Maruyama December 21st: Muikamachi Hakkaisan December 28th: Mt Granview Yuzawa Now 2013-2014 season Data as of Friday 6th December 2013 Total snowfall at base so far 5cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 1 day Most snowfall observed in 1 day 5cm (12th November) November 2013 snowfall 5cm reported on 1 day December 2013 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