Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido New snowfall at base 40cm Snowfall at base this season 685cm Posted on Tuesday 14th January 2014 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here I have been sat here trying to decide what words to use this morning, especially as we try not to get too carried away with epic adjectives on these here reports, so I thought I'd try to just go for the numbers... I have measured 40-45cm of new snow since my last report. Like, wow. We are getting on for 3m of snowfall in January alone, and that's here in the village base area and so will likely be a fair bit more than that on the mountain. Grand Hirafu has upped it's upper snow depth to 4m this morning. Sun lovers can rejoice... for the moment anyway. As I am writing this we have some blue sky appearing over parts of the mountain and even a bit of sun. It may well be only a short view though with the latest forecasts continuing to give us snowy conditions right through the weekend. If you like it deep, then this is most certainly the place to be. January is shaping up to be outstanding. --- Niseko Avalanche Report Niseko base 6am: -8C, 25cm of crushed crystal snow in the past 12 hours. Moiwa 800m: -11C, 40cm of fresh, light breeze & snowfall. Annupuri 1000m: -13C, light breeze, 50cm of fresh. Hirafu 1000m: -11C, 30cm of fresh with snowdrift development. Annupuri peak 1308m: -16.2℃, N16.6m/s, wind forecast at noon: W10m/s. Coastal data: Benkei cape NW11m/s, Kamui cape NNW6m/s, 1.7m waves, 1021hPa. Heavy snowfall continues, but isobars are spacing out and the wind is calming down. Snow deposit up to 70cm on-piste. Soft-slabs, up to 150cm, have formed in leeward slopes above 800m. These slabs are still unstable and avalanche risk remains high. Peak gates will be closed. Other gates to be decided, please follow the ski patrol’s instructions. Do not enter Haru no Taki area. A critical accident occurred in there in 1998 and the current conditions are quite alike. Accidents happen when the conditions are right and the Niseko Rules has been set to minimize the chances of accidents to happen. It is not just another formality to avoid responsibilities. Beware of cracks. Better stay close to in-bounds area today. The visibility is bad but the snow in the trees is deep and good. Have a nice day. --- Official snow depth numbers and lift news at time of writing: Grand Hirafu / Hanazono: Top - 400cm Base - 225cm Niseko Village: Top - 300cm Base - 210cm Annupuri: Top - 245cm Base - 200cm Niseko Now 2013-2014 season Data as of Tuesday 14th January 2014 Total snowfall at base so far 685cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 45 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 40cm (14th January) November 2013 snowfall 123cm reported on 9 days December 2013 snowfall 275cm reported on 22 days January 2014 snowfall 287cm 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 Kutchan/Niseko. 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 Niseko region of Hokkaido New snowfall at base 15cm Snowfall at base this season 760cm Posted on Wednesday 22nd January 2014 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here Another day, another new 15cm of fresh snow to report. Snow still falling and the mountain is covered in cloud cover this morning but visibility looks decent. A bit of blue sky over to the south of Mt Yotei at the moment but we're more likely to see cloud/snow today than a clear up. We might get to see the sun tomorrow and Friday though and Friday in particularly will be mild - might even get to see the mercury rise above zero. Shouldn't last for long though, don't worry. That's about it really. -7 degrees here at base, Hirafu reporting wind speed of 3-7m/s. --- Niseko Avalanche Report Niseko base 6am: -8C, 15cm broken crystal snow in the last 12hrs. Moiwa 800m: -11C, wind , 20cm new snow, wind and some snowdrift development. Annupuri 1150m: -14C, 20cm new snow, moderate snowdrift development. Annupuri peak 1308m: -15.4C, wind NW18.7m/s, wind predicted to be NW20m/s at noon. Hirafu 1000m: no data. Cape Benkei: NW16m/s, Cape Kamui: NW10m/s, wave 1.7m, pressure 1014hPa. Above 1000m wind and moderate snowdrift development on leeward slopes. There is the possibility of up to 40cm fracture from Jan 20th-21st layer, depending on location. From snowfall transition, a slab fracture will be instantaneous, wide reaching and resulting in an avalanche running at high speed(>100km/h). Do not enter steep slopes and cornice slopes like Kozan no Sawa(back bowl). Gates 2&3 will be closed today.. Please listen to the Patrols advice and even if the weather clears avalanche risk remains high. Do not duck ropes. The upper sections of Annupuri West Ridge are often glare ice, ice crust and generally very difficult snow conditions. Yesterday Hirafu Patrol rescued a guided tour customer on West Ridge. This is no place for guides to be taking customers. If you want to ride the west face and sidewalls please take the North face and come around to Chinpoku Rock. Always take care on the West face(coordinate F7), sometimes avalanches are triggered deep within the snowpack and can travel down and across Route 58. Traversing knoll and gully terrain always keep your group spaced apart. The snow is beginning to reset in the trees, have a safe day. --- Official snow depth numbers and lift news at time of writing: Grand Hirafu / Hanazono: Top - 390cm Base - 190cm Niseko Village: Top - 320cm Base - 220cm Annupuri: Top - 270cm Base - 210cm Niseko Now 2013-2014 season Data as of Wednesday 22nd January 2014 Total snowfall at base so far 760cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 52 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 40cm (14th January) November 2013 snowfall 123cm reported on 9 days December 2013 snowfall 275cm reported on 22 days January 2014 snowfall 352cm reported on 21 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 Kutchan/Niseko. 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 Niseko region of Hokkaido New snowfall at base 10cm Snowfall at base this season 735cm Posted on Friday 17th January 2014 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here Some days it is of course colder than others, and this morning is one of those. Mightily cold this morning and it's down well into minus double digits, even here at Hirafu base area. Resorts on the mountain are reporting temperatures of -16C on upper areas. An extra layer is called for this morning. But it will be worth it. While we 'only' have 10-15cm of fresh snow to report this morning, we are treated to blue skies. Just a few white fluffy clouds here and there. Lovely. It should be a truly excellent day. Cameras recommended. Forecast is for continued clearer conditions than we have had in the last week or so, less snowfall and perhaps more sun. Temperatures to remain suitably low though through the weekend and into next week. --- As you may have heard, there was an avalanche incident out on the mountain yesterday, apparently in the back bowl near the summit of Annupuri. Three people were buried and for some time it was feared there might not be a good ending. Happily though the day ended without any fatalities. It's worth pointing out this was outside of the resort area and people who venture out do so entirely at their own risk. And should only be doing so either with guides or others who know the area and are prepared, for their own sake. The temptations and excitement are there, but care and clear thinking is needed. Take care out there. --- Niseko Avalanche Report Niseko base 6am: -14C, 10cm of crystal snow in 12hours. Moiwa800m: -11C, 20cm of fresh with snowdrift development. Annupuri 1150m: -13C waves, 1019hPa. Calm morning as a high-presure system approaches and the isobars spacing out. Overnight snowfall is small, however late night wind and snow made some snowdrifts develop in some areas. Backbowl sidewalls and Higashi-One areas are still unstable and possibilities of 40cm thick slab avalanche are to be considered. These slides would be larger than the one happened yesterday, stay away from valley bottoms as avalanches run through there. Traversing across under cornices of big slopes is simply stupid and ridiculous. It is like deliberately trying to cause an avalanche. Please think about what would happen to you and the people below you if it slides. General avalanche risk is low except in 1100m cornice slopes. Peak gates will open from the morning. Ski patrols are worn out with yesterday’s rescue, please be prudent and be wise. Excellent snow condition today; have a good one. --- Official snow depth numbers and lift news at time of writing: Grand Hirafu / Hanazono: Top - 420cm Base - 210cm Niseko Village: Top - 320cm Base - 220cm Annupuri: Top - 270cm Base - 210cm Niseko Now 2013-2014 season Data as of Friday 17th January 2014 Total snowfall at base so far 735cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 48 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 40cm (14th January) November 2013 snowfall 123cm reported on 9 days December 2013 snowfall 275cm reported on 22 days January 2014 snowfall 337cm reported on 17 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 Kutchan/Niseko. 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 Niseko region of Hokkaido New snowfall at base 15cm Snowfall at base this season 760cm Posted on Wednesday 22nd January 2014 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here Another day, another new 15cm of fresh snow to report. Snow still falling and the mountain is covered in cloud cover this morning but visibility looks decent. A bit of blue sky over to the south of Mt Yotei at the moment but we're more likely to see cloud/snow today than a clear up. We might get to see the sun tomorrow and Friday though and Friday in particularly will be mild - might even get to see the mercury rise above zero. Shouldn't last for long though, don't worry. That's about it really. -7 degrees here at base, Hirafu reporting wind speed of 3-7m/s. --- Niseko Avalanche Report Niseko base 6am: -8C, 15cm broken crystal snow in the last 12hrs. Moiwa 800m: -11C, wind , 20cm new snow, wind and some snowdrift development. Annupuri 1150m: -14C, 20cm new snow, moderate snowdrift development. Annupuri peak 1308m: -15.4C, wind NW18.7m/s, wind predicted to be NW20m/s at noon. Hirafu 1000m: no data. Cape Benkei: NW16m/s, Cape Kamui: NW10m/s, wave 1.7m, pressure 1014hPa. Above 1000m wind and moderate snowdrift development on leeward slopes. There is the possibility of up to 40cm fracture from Jan 20th-21st layer, depending on location. From snowfall transition, a slab fracture will be instantaneous, wide reaching and resulting in an avalanche running at high speed(>100km/h). Do not enter steep slopes and cornice slopes like Kozan no Sawa(back bowl). Gates 2&3 will be closed today.. Please listen to the Patrols advice and even if the weather clears avalanche risk remains high. Do not duck ropes. The upper sections of Annupuri West Ridge are often glare ice, ice crust and generally very difficult snow conditions. Yesterday Hirafu Patrol rescued a guided tour customer on West Ridge. This is no place for guides to be taking customers. If you want to ride the west face and sidewalls please take the North face and come around to Chinpoku Rock. Always take care on the West face(coordinate F7), sometimes avalanches are triggered deep within the snowpack and can travel down and across Route 58. Traversing knoll and gully terrain always keep your group spaced apart. The snow is beginning to reset in the trees, have a safe day. --- Official snow depth numbers and lift news at time of writing: Grand Hirafu / Hanazono: Top - 390cm Base - 190cm Niseko Village: Top - 320cm Base - 220cm Annupuri: Top - 270cm Base - 210cm Niseko Now 2013-2014 season Data as of Wednesday 22nd January 2014 Total snowfall at base so far 760cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 52 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 40cm (14th January) November 2013 snowfall 123cm reported on 9 days December 2013 snowfall 275cm reported on 22 days January 2014 snowfall 362cm reported on 21 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 Kutchan/Niseko. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report. SnowJapan is an entirely independent operation. Our daily reports are not posted on behalf of ski areas or any other business or organisation. Since first going online in 1999, the integrity of this website has always been our top priority, and it is something we are not prepared to compromise. All content is carefully created and written by humans who share a passion for the subject and what SnowJapan stands for. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata New snowfall at base 0cm Snowfall at base this season 0cm Posted on Friday 21st November 2014 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . Open kettei! Yes, the decision has been made and Kagura is going to open from tomorrow morning. Hurray! Here's the lowdown: The Mitsumtata Ropeway will be open from 8am tomorrow morning. From the top of the Gondola a shuttle bus will take folk over to the base of the Kagura Gondola, and that Gondola will take you up to the main Kagura area where the Kagura Number 1 quad will be operating every day and the Kagura Number 1 Romance lift will be moving on Saturdays and holidays. So that's the lift situation. What about the courses? They plan to have the main Kagura run open - 1500m of it which - will 20-50m in width. And they are noting 60cm in snow depth. So a fairly decent start and with the natural snow up there and the 'snow' that the machines have been making it looks like decent cover up there. Remember there's some tonjiru and osjiruko soup on offer down at Mitsumata Ropeway from 1pm-4pm as well, though they are talking about limited supply so you have to decide what you want. Skiing and snowboarding or soup? ;) Perhaps both if you come back down before 4pm and there's still some left. The Ropeway plans to be open until 5pm, with the last 'going up' at 2:30pm. So that's the situation at Kagura. There won't be any new real snow up there as this morning the sun it out and it's a beautiful start to the morning. Clear skies all round, a bit of low lying early morning fog in places. Lovely. It's going to be a Yuzawatastically fine and sunny day by the looks of things, and warming up too with a high temperature of maybe 12-13 degreees forecast. Similarly warm and maybe similarly sunny tomorrow as well for that first day at Kagura. Here are the planned opening dates for ski resorts in Yuzawa Town: Tomorrow: Kagura (Mitsumata) Saturday 6th December: Kagura Tashiro Iwappara Saturday 13th December: Naeba Friday 19th December: Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Kogen Yuzawa Park Saturday 20th December: NASPA Ski Garden GALA Yuzawa Ludens Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Wood Ipponsugi Yuzawa Kogen (Nunoba area) Kandatsu Kogen Yuzawa Now 2014-2015 season Data as of Friday 21st November 2014 Total snowfall at base so far 0cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 0 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 0cm November 2014 snowfall 0cm Previous report Next report All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Yuzawa. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report. SnowJapan is an entirely independent operation. Our daily reports are not posted on behalf of ski areas or any other business or organisation. Since first going online in 1999, the integrity of this website has always been our top priority, and it is something we are not prepared to compromise. All content is carefully created and written by humans who share a passion for the subject and what SnowJapan stands for. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata New snowfall at base 0cm Snowfall at base this season 0cm Posted on Friday 28th November 2014 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . The sun is out early on this morning and it's a beautiful clear sky morning here in Yuzawa. Going to be a stunner of a day I reckon. Which would be nice if we were mid season and had 2m of snow to play in! A high temperature of 15 degrees is forecast for the town area today so it's borderline T-shirt weather. We're expecting mild conditions to continue through the weekend, but they seem set to change around Tuesday. Dropping temperatures and snowfall might give me something to grip on to for my reports early in the week! Before then though, it's sun for today and rain at times tomorrow. Due to the snow situation we find ourselves in (ie. not enough of it!), Kagura are having to make a change to what they have open. From today, the available course is 600m long (was 1500m until today) with the Kagura Romance pair lift open and the quad taking a break. --- Resorts currently open: Kagura: A 600m run at the main Kagura area is open, access via Mitsumata Ropeway. A shuttle bus takes people from the top of the Ropeway to the base of the Kagura Gondola, which then takes them up to the base of the main Kagura area. The Kagura Number 1 Romance pair lift is operating to service the open course. --- Planned opening dates for resorts in Yuzawa Town: Saturday 6th December: Kagura Tashiro Iwappara Saturday 13th December: Naeba Friday 19th December: Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Kogen Yuzawa Park Saturday 20th December: NASPA Ski Garden GALA Yuzawa Ludens Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Wood Ipponsugi Yuzawa Kogen (Nunoba area) Kandatsu Kogen Yuzawa Now 2014-2015 season Data as of Friday 28th November 2014 Total snowfall at base so far 0cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 0 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 0cm November 2014 snowfall 0cm Previous report Next report All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Yuzawa. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report. SnowJapan is an entirely independent operation. Our daily reports are not posted on behalf of ski areas or any other business or organisation. Since first going online in 1999, the integrity of this website has always been our top priority, and it is something we are not prepared to compromise. All content is carefully created and written by humans who share a passion for the subject and what SnowJapan stands for. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata New snowfall at base 0cm Snowfall at base this season 0cm Posted on Sunday 23rd November 2014 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . Yesterday was a beautiful day throughout the region. Those few clouds that were hanging around early in the morning disappeared leaving us with clear blue skies and relatively warm conditions. A fine day for that first slide of the season I reckon, and quite a few people turned out to Kagura for some fun. As promised the 1500m main run at Kagura was open with decent coverage too. Unfortunately we experienced an minor earthquake last night just after 10pm, and was saddened to see that it was much stronger over in the Hakuba region of Nagano. Thoughts with our friends over in that area today (see the Hakuba Now report this morning for more on that). Here this morning it is raining and not as warm as yesterday. Kagura were reporting a temperature of +2 degrees as of 7am. The sun should be back tomorrow and that should warm things up a bit more once again. Currently open: Kagura - 1500m run at the main Kagura area, access via Mitsumata Ropeway. --- Here are the planned opening dates for ski resorts in Yuzawa Town: Saturday 6th December: Kagura Tashiro Iwappara Saturday 13th December: Naeba Friday 19th December: Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Kogen Yuzawa Park Saturday 20th December: NASPA Ski Garden GALA Yuzawa Ludens Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Wood Ipponsugi Yuzawa Kogen (Nunoba area) Kandatsu Kogen Yuzawa Now 2014-2015 season Data as of Sunday 23rd November 2014 Total snowfall at base so far 0cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 0 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 0cm November 2014 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 85cm Snowfall at base this season 410cm Posted on Thursday 18th December 2014 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . This storm that is over Japan at the moment is still at the top of the national news. Last night they were warning that parts of Niigata were up for 120cm of more snowfall before Thursday evening. I think a lot of people went to sleep worried about what might await them but for this region anyway there wasn't quite as much expected overnight. Let's rewind back to yesterday. It was pretty wild. After the snow I reported yesterday morning, in the early afternoon I took a fresh 40cm off the top of my car. Then 20cm more in the evening. And there's another 15cm on there this morning. So that's 85cm since my last report. I might even be under-reporting there. It was moderately windy at times yesterday, sometimes strong. So it's another of those days when there's just a ridiculous amount of snow around. It's hard to believe that we are still only on 18th December and only really had 3 lots of snow. Quite a few ski resorts around Yuzawa and Minamiuonuma plan on being open from tomorrow and then more again on Saturday (details below). They won't have lack of snow problems to deal with, that's for sure. If anything, the problem might be digging out the ski lifts! A good problem to have though as sometimes around this time of the year and even beyond Christmas there's a worry about snow. Not this year! Kagura reports 80cm of fresh snowfall and the official snow depth goes up from 200cm to.... er, 200cm. (How does that work then?! I know the amount that falls doesn't always translate into the same amount added due to compacting and all that, but still...!) Strong winds up there is affecting Kagura with only the Mitsumata Ropeway, Mitsumata Number 1 Quad and Mitsumata Number 2 Romance pair lifts operating. So no main Kagura area and no Tashiro today. Naeba report 35-50cm and they are too limited to lower areas due to wind. Here in town it's not actually snowing at the moment, and even looks like it might clear up with visibility getting better - can see the mountains - but the snow is due through the day and I imagine this is just a temporary break, it'll probably be snowing again just after I post this. The forecast for the day is more heavy snow and moderate to strong winds, with the snowfall easing off overnight by early tomorrow morning. Some forecasts are saying we might get to see clearer skies and the sun shining down tomorrow. Would be nice. As locals deal with all of this snow - 'enough is enough' seems to be the local consensus for now - this weekend should be great. With much more suddenly opening up in some respects it feels like this coming weekend is the first main weekend of the season proper after a kind of 'pre-season' Hope you can get here to enjoy it. Snow should be superb. --- Resorts currently open: Kagura - limited to just Mitsumata today due to wind Naeba - part open Iwappara - part open, 2 central area lifts operating Joetsu Kokusai - part open, 5 lifts operating Maiko Snow Resort - part open, top Okusoeji area, Gondola and 2 Okusoeji lifts operating --- Official snow depths: Kagura: 200cm Naeba: 100cm Iwappara: 190cm Maiko Snow Resort: 200cm Joetsu Kokusai: 180cm --- Planned opening dates for resorts in Yuzawa Town and Minamiuonuma City (by date): Friday 19th December: Ishiuchi Maruyama Muikamachi Ski Resort Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Kogen Yuzawa Park Saturday 20th December: Chateau Shiozawa GALA Yuzawa Ipponsugi Kandatsu Kogen Ludens Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Wood Muimamachi Hakkaisan NASPA Ski Garden Yuzawa Kogen (Nunoba area) Tuesday 23rd December: Itsukamachi Thursday 25th December: Hakkaisanroku Saturday 27th December: Ishiuchi Hanaoka Late December Mt Granview Yuzawa Now 2014-2015 season Data as of Thursday 18th December 2014 Total snowfall at base so far 410cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 9 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 100cm (15th December) November 2014 snowfall 0cm December 2014 snowfall 410cm 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 100cm Snowfall at base this season 295cm Posted on Monday 15th December 2014 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . It hasn't stopped snowing since yesterday. It's relentless! It's one of those times when numbers are difficult to be accurate with and in a way kind of meaningless. I think yesterday morning in my report I actually under-reported - there was more like 70cm on the ground once I got a measure on it. Then mid-day I moved another fresh 30cm from the same place. Then in the evening I moved another 40cm. And this morning, there was another 30-40cm. That's all fresh snowfall. So adding all of that up, it comes to 170-180cm! And a full 1m since yesterday. There's a piece of unused level land next to where I am here and the snow on that land is now getting on for 2m. I was just looking back at reports from previous seasons (you can do that too using the links at the bottom of this page) - in recent years we have never had so much snow at this early stage in the season. I think what has surprised so many locals here is how we have only really had 2 snow 'events' down to town level - basically last weekend and the weekend that has just finished - yet here we are with nearly 2m of snow piled up on the ground around town. All a bit overwhelming really, though of course exciting at the same time. As you might expect, it has been causing transportation issues as everyone tries to cope with it all. The Joetsu Shinkansen was actually stopped for a while yesterday as there was a power cut, though I'm not sure if that was related to the weather conditions somehow or not. OK so let's get onto resort stuff. This morning Iwappara are suddenly up to a snow depth of 170cm. (Compare with Christmas Day last year when that number was at 105cm). They don't seem to be opening any more lifts though with the two lifts that have been open so far remaining open. Kagura are reporting 40-50cm of new snow overnight, but there's the snow that fell during the day as well which is surely not included in that. Maiko Snow Resort now have a snow depth of 190cm and new snowfall of 60cm. It doesn't look like there's much more open in terms of lifts and course though just yet. I imagine there's a lot of snow management to deal with at the moment, but lack of snow is not going to be an issue this December. The snowfall may ease off a bit later today and tomorrow and warm up a little, but that next storm is still scheduled to be with us around Wednesday bringing with it lots more snow. Oh yes one thing I haven't mentioned, the snow has been fabulously light. Once the storm passes and people can catch their breath, conditions should be amazing. If you do get out there, take real care with all this fresh deep snow. Visibility is limited as well. --- Resorts currently open: Kagura - pretty much fully open Naeba (part open) Iwappara - part open, 2 central area lifts operating Joetsu Kokusai - part open, 5 lifts operating Maiko Snow Resort - part open, top Okusoeji area, Gondola and 2 Okusoeji lifts operating --- Official snow depths: Kagura: 200cm Naeba: 100cm Iwappara: 170cm Maiko Snow Resort: 190cm Joetsu Kokusai: 180cm --- Planned opening dates for resorts in Yuzawa Town and Minamiuonuma City (by date): Friday 19th December: Ishiuchi Maruyama Muikamachi Ski Resort Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Kogen Yuzawa Park Saturday 20th December: Chateau Shiozawa GALA Yuzawa Ipponsugi Kandatsu Kogen Ludens Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Wood Muimamachi Hakkaisan NASPA Ski Garden Yuzawa Kogen (Nunoba area) Tuesday 23rd December: Itsukamachi Thursday 25th December: Hakkaisanroku Saturday 27th December: Ishiuchi Hanaoka Late December Mt Granview Yuzawa Now 2014-2015 season Data as of Monday 15th December 2014 Total snowfall at base so far 295cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 6 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 100cm (15th December) November 2014 snowfall 0cm December 2014 snowfall 295cm 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 50cm Snowfall at base this season 460cm Posted on Friday 19th December 2014 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . Hello from Yuzawa and for once it's not snowing. Locals breath a sigh of relief as they continue to dig themselves out of their houses and find their cars under all of the snow. I didn't move the snow from my car yesterday and I think I can just about make it out under a huge blob of marshmallow outside my house. Yesterday while it snowed for most of the day once again it wasn't quite as full on as it was the previous day. Still, another 40-50cm or so I would say. Kagura report 80cm since yesterday. For the moment it is mostly cloudy and overcast over the town area but quite bright. I can see that down in the Naeba area there's some blue sky and the sun seems to be shining down on the lower slopes of the resort. And there's just now some blue sky visible from here in town as well. Perhaps it will clear up today here too? More resorts opening for the first time this morning. Or should I say 'pre-open' with some, which kind of seems to mean 'open a bit'. Or maybe even 'part open'. Sounds like an event though! Though I do see that at Kandatsu Kogen this morning... it's free! Yes, a full day of free skiing on offer over there which can't be bad. It's good to see Kandatsu Kogen back after a year with the lifts taking a rest. I think it was a bit of a shock for Kandatsu not to be open. But anyway, back to normal now. And more resorts opening tomorrow as well as can be seen in the list below. In fact, come tomorrow there'll only be a few places left to get open for the season (one of those being the famous Mt Granview). Just looking round for information and as expected from tomorrow more lifts and courses will be open. Maiko Snow Resort, for example, will have all of the top Okusoeji area open and also the Nagamine area with part of the Maiko area... basically most of the resort. I can't see much reason why resorts that are open at at least close to fully open from tomorrow and it would surprise me if places continued to hold back. There's enough snow! Tomorrow it will warm up slightly - highs as high as 8 degrees in town? Rain in the evening? Nooooo! If we get that rain lets hope it quickly turns into snow - which is what is forecast to happen. Wouldn't want to spoil all of this lovely fluffy light snow that we have. --- Resorts currently open: * Apologies - at the time of writing this report it is proving difficult to confirm full details for the resorts that are opening for the first time this morning Kagura - fully open Naeba - part open Iwappara - part open, 2 central area lifts operating Joetsu Kokusai - part open, 5 lifts operating Maiko Snow Resort - part open, top Okusoeji area, Gondola and 2 Okusoeji lifts operating Ishiuchi Maruyama - lots open Muikamachi Ski Resort Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Kogen Yuzawa Park --- Official snow depths: GALA Yuzawa: N/A Ishiuchi Maruyama: 250cm Iwappara: 205cm Joetsu Kokusai: 180cm Kagura: 230cm Kandatsu Kogen: 200cm Maiko Snow Resort: 200cm Naeba: 140cm NASPA Ski Garden: 190cm (opens tomorrow) Yuzawa Kogen: N/A Yuzawa Nakazato: N/A --- Planned opening dates for resorts in Yuzawa Town and Minamiuonuma City (by date): Saturday 20th December: Chateau Shiozawa GALA Yuzawa Ipponsugi Kandatsu Kogen Ludens Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Wood Muimamachi Hakkaisan NASPA Ski Garden Yuzawa Kogen (Nunoba area) Tuesday 23rd December: Itsukamachi Thursday 25th December: Hakkaisanroku Saturday 27th December: Ishiuchi Hanaoka Late December Mt Granview Yuzawa Now 2014-2015 season Data as of Friday 19th December 2014 Total snowfall at base so far 460cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 10 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 100cm (15th December) November 2014 snowfall 0cm December 2014 snowfall 460cm 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 60cm Snowfall at base this season 195cm Posted on Sunday 14th December 2014 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . Yesterday started off really disappointing, the sun even came out for a few moments time to time and some clear conditions. It was frustrating seeing the heavy snow in Niigata City reported on the TV news... it's wasted up there! But anyway, snow clouds came down to this region later in the day and... This morning is very different. Tons of snow on the ground, easily more than 50cm on the top of my car - and Kagura is reporting 50-80cm of fresh snow (though the snow depth remains at 150cm!) Naeba are reporting 40-6cm of fresh and that their patrol are out this morning checking things and there's a chance of more opening up today, depending on safety etc. I can't find any news on other courses/lifts opening up at the resorts that are now open but of course would expect that to happen soon if not today. Then again, it's blowing a snow storm out there at the moment - not sure many people will be wanting to be out just at the moment. Once it has eased off a bit though things will be very good indeed I should imagine. Though looking at the forecast, while snow might ease off later today or into tomorrow, we're going to get a quick second wave move in late Tuesday into Wednesday. So no complaints this morning. (Perhaps other than from people who have to have to go outside and shift it!) Loads of snow and we're now back and beyond what we had last weekend. There's no doubt now that this snow will be sticking around, especially with the snow lined up in the coming week as well. In fact, it will surely be a really great start to the season for all of the resorts around Yuzawa and Minamiuonuma which is a great thing to be able to report. I'm going to spend the day first off moving snow and then watching it from inside and looking forward to being able to enjoy it. --- Resorts currently open: Kagura (Mitsumata) Kagura (Tashiro) Iwappara (part open) Joetsu Kokusai (part open) Naeba (part open) Maiko Snow Resort (part open) --- Planned opening dates for resorts in Yuzawa Town and Minamiuonuma City (by date): Friday 19th December: Ishiuchi Maruyama Muikamachi Ski Resort Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Kogen Yuzawa Park Saturday 20th December: Chateau Shiozawa GALA Yuzawa Ipponsugi Kandatsu Kogen Ludens Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Wood Muimamachi Hakkaisan NASPA Ski Garden Yuzawa Kogen (Nunoba area) Tuesday 23rd December: Itsukamachi Thursday 25th December: Hakkaisanroku Saturday 27th December: Ishiuchi Hanaoka Late December Mt Granview Yuzawa Now 2014-2015 season Data as of Sunday 14th December 2014 Total snowfall at base so far 195cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 5 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 80cm (7th December) November 2014 snowfall 0cm December 2014 snowfall 195cm 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 10cm Snowfall at base this season 305cm Posted on Tuesday 16th December 2014 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . The snowfall continued yesterday through into the afternoon though it wasn't as determined as it was on Sunday, and by evening the skies were much clearer and people could catch a breath! A quick ride round the area yesterday and things were looking suitably mid-winter. People on the roofs of buildings that look like they are about to get squashed shovelling snow onto the road, snow 'walls' at the side of roads which are 2m high in places. It sure didn't feel like middle of December. Having driven through Uonuma and Minamiuonuma as well as Yuzawa, I would probably say that there's more snow to the north in the Uonuma/Minamiuonuma areas. But lots everywhere and when there's so much it doesn't really matter. Anyway, this morning it's a cloudy somewhat overcast feel, grey skies all round. No new snow overnight (so what I log today is from the daytime yesterday). Temperatures to rise to around 3 degrees today, with quite strong winds and rain likely later on. We are still on for the stormy conditions tomorrow and maybe into Thursday when we expect more potentially heavy snowfall and strong winds. It might not be nice out there for a while. Resorts that are open seem to be open on the same scale again today, so I'm guessing this is what we have until the weekend. Once the weekend arrives I would think they'll open up fully and the resorts that plan to open from Saturday should also get off to a great start. --- Resorts currently open: Kagura - pretty much fully open Naeba - part open Iwappara - part open, 2 central area lifts operating Joetsu Kokusai - part open, 5 lifts operating Maiko Snow Resort - part open, top Okusoeji area, Gondola and 2 Okusoeji lifts operating --- Official snow depths: Kagura: 200cm Naeba: 100cm Iwappara: 160cm Maiko Snow Resort: 170cm Joetsu Kokusai: 180cm --- Planned opening dates for resorts in Yuzawa Town and Minamiuonuma City (by date): Friday 19th December: Ishiuchi Maruyama Muikamachi Ski Resort Yuzawa Nakazato Yuzawa Kogen Yuzawa Park Saturday 20th December: Chateau Shiozawa GALA Yuzawa Ipponsugi Kandatsu Kogen Ludens Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Wood Muimamachi Hakkaisan NASPA Ski Garden Yuzawa Kogen (Nunoba area) Tuesday 23rd December: Itsukamachi Thursday 25th December: Hakkaisanroku Saturday 27th December: Ishiuchi Hanaoka Late December Mt Granview Yuzawa Now 2014-2015 season Data as of Tuesday 16th December 2014 Total snowfall at base so far 305cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 7 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 100cm (15th December) November 2014 snowfall 0cm December 2014 snowfall 305cm 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