Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata New snowfall at base 3cm Snowfall at base this season 137cm Posted on Wednesday 20th January 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . Good morning from Yuzawa. Yesterday some of the forecasts insisted that it should be snowing all day in Yuzawa, but it was a really beautiful day with lots of blue sky. Some cloud here and there at times, especially later in the afternoon, but for a lot of the day it was blue skies and sunny. I was waiting until the 10am Niigata report again this morning just to see what they say and pass it on to you... Having said that, I'm not sure what it is worth at the moment as it seems to have been wrong - and sometimes totally off - for so many days this season so far. It seems that forecasting folk are having real problems forecasting correctly the weather in this particular region. Last night I was rather excited to see that they were telling us to expect 25-40cm of snow to fall in Yuzawa by 10am this morning. What we actually got was more a very disappointing 3-5cm. I see our guy in Naeba is reporting 8cm and the resort over there reporting 10cm, but other than that there are no official snowfall numbers to report this morning. Anyway as of 10am the same Niigata report tells us to expect 15-20cm in the Minamiuonuma and Yuzawa areas today from now until 4pm. It is actually snowing quite heavily just at the moment so let's see if we can get the cm this time. With some decent snowfall falling in other places on Honshu now, I think it's our turn to get some decent numbers! --- Strong winds is a feature of this morning and it looks like wind is affecting some lift operations around town... only the Mitsumata area of Kagura is open and it looks like the gondola and Okusoeji lifts at Maiko Snow Resort are also affected. There may be some other lifts affected depending on the wind. In other news it looks like the South Area of the GALA Yuzawa resort is now part open. --- Resort official snow depths (Wednesday 20th January 2016) and any specific news: All resorts in the area are now generally open for the season, though please note that some areas and courses are not yet open. Generally some steeper slopes that need more snow are still closed and some lower slopes are patchy, to varying degrees. Not updated today due to early report. Resorts in Yuzawa: GALA Yuzawa Part of the South Area now open 140cm Ishiuchi Maruyama 100cm Iwappara 40cm Joetsu Kokusai 80cm Kagura 90cm (Mitsumata) 120cm (Tashiro) 150cm (Kagura) Kandatsu Kogen 90-110cm Maiko Snow Resort 90cm (upper) 20cm (lower) Muikamachi Hakkaisan 80cm Naeba 90cm NASPA Ski Garden 70cm Yuzawa Kogen 90cm Yuzawa Nakazato 60cm Yuzawa Park 40cm Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Wednesday 20th January 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 137cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 18 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 28cm (28th December) November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 92cm reported on 7 days January 2016 snowfall 45cm 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 26cm Snowfall at base this season 163cm Posted on Thursday 21st January 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . Hello from Yuzawa and it is a much happier report this morning. I have just taken measurements in three places and the verdict is... 26cm of fresh snowfall. That's more like it! It's fantastic to a see a good new layer of snow on the ground, something that we usually take for granted here but are now perhaps leaning to appreciate all the more. So at last, a nice decent amount of snow overnight after another day of snow falling yesterday without it making much of an impact in terms of cm. It must have been snowing pretty good overnight. This morning here's what 'the resorts that report' are saying: Kagura: 30-40cm of fresh snowfall Naeba: 20-30cm of fresh snowfall Maiko Snow Resort: 25cm of fresh snowfall I would imagine most of the resorts around the valley will have all got at least 20cm of fresh on their slopes. (Quite how Kagura get 40cm and not adjust their official snow depth is one of the mysteries that definitely needs solving!) All areas appear to be open this morning with no wind issues. It is still snowing this morning as well with snow forecast for the day and tomorrow too... and over the weekend as well. We have heard that before of course this season and been disappointed but perhaps this time it might be a different story. Look towards Sunday in particular for heavy snowfall. Could this be the turning point of the season for us here in this region? --- Resort official snow depths (Thursday 21st January 2016) and any specific news: All resorts in the area are now generally open for the season though please note that some areas and courses are not yet open. This new snowfall will certainly have helped but we could do with more to help with base numbers. Resorts in Yuzawa: GALA Yuzawa Part of the South Area now open 130cm Ishiuchi Maruyama 100cm Iwappara 60cm Joetsu Kokusai 110cm Kagura 90cm (Mitsumata) 120cm (Tashiro) 150cm (Kagura) Kandatsu Kogen 90-110cm Maiko Snow Resort 120cm (upper) 50cm (lower) Muikamachi Hakkaisan 90cm Naeba 100cm NASPA Ski Garden 85cm Yuzawa Kogen 100cm Yuzawa Nakazato 70cm Yuzawa Park 70cm Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Thursday 21st January 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 163cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 19 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 28cm (28th December) November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 92cm reported on 7 days January 2016 snowfall 71cm 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 8cm Snowfall at base this season 171cm Posted on Friday 22nd January 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . Good morning from Yuzawa where has been more snow since the last report... 8cm outside my place here in town. Snow was falling on and off for most of the day yesterday and overnight and I suppose because of that we were hoping for more cm than what we got, but it's all good. The snow of the last few days has certainly been appreciated by the resorts - and of course people visiting them - and happily there is more on the way soon. Light to moderate snow expected through the day today with maybe a break in snowfall during the day tomorrow, to be followed by heavy snow which is forecast for Saturday night and through Sunday (some forecasts seem to say that will happen on a slightly later schedule than that). Maiko Snow Resort are this morning reporting 10cm of fresh snow on their slopes, as are Kagura. So I would expect about that around the resorts this morning. With snow still falling now, visibility is limited outside and on the slopes but the fresh snow to play in will probably make up for that. Take care where you're going. --- Resort official snow depths (Friday 22nd January 2016) and any specific news: All resorts in the area are now generally open for the season though please note that courses are not yet open. The fresh snowfall of the last few days has been a big help, though we could do with more to give us decent base numbers. Some numbers have not been updated today at the time of writing the report. Resorts in Yuzawa: GALA Yuzawa 150cm Ishiuchi Maruyama 100cm Iwappara 100cm Joetsu Kokusai 110cm Kagura 110cm (Mitsumata) 140cm (Tashiro) 170cm (Kagura) Kandatsu Kogen 90-110cm Maiko Snow Resort 125cm (upper) 55cm (lower) Muikamachi Hakkaisan 90cm Naeba 100cm NASPA Ski Garden 85cm Yuzawa Kogen 100cm Yuzawa Nakazato 75cm Yuzawa Park 70cm Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Friday 22nd January 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 171cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 20 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 28cm (28th December) November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 92cm reported on 7 days January 2016 snowfall 79cm reported on 13 days Previous report Next report All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Yuzawa. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report. SnowJapan is an entirely independent operation. Our daily reports are not posted on behalf of ski areas or any other business or organisation. Since first going online in 1999, the integrity of this website has always been our top priority, and it is something we are not prepared to compromise. All content is carefully created and written by humans who share a passion for the subject and what SnowJapan stands for. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata New snowfall at base 24cm Snowfall at base this season 209cm Posted on Monday 25th January 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . Yesterday saw what was surely the most full-on winter conditions we have had this season so far. Heavy snow was falling for lots of the day and some blustery winds as well especially in the afternoon. I cleared a good 15cm off my measuring area yesterday evening and overnight there has been more snow with another 9cm added (somewhat less than we were actually expecting overnight), so I make that 24cm since my report yesterday morning. Interestingly Kagura are reporting 10cm and Maiko report 5-15cm. With those numbers I can only think they are leaving out what fell yesterday as there has certainly been more than that since yesterday afternoon! When I say 'lots of the day' above, there was this one curious period late morning when the clouds cleared up quite a lot - we even had blue skies - and we thought that might be the end of the snow for the day... but happily it started up again quite quickly and got heavy. It has been snowing this morning and still is, though just as I write this report things it is lighter and it's actually quite bright. Perhaps it will be similar to yesterday and the heavy snow will be back quickly - it is on the forecast for the day. It's fantastic to see some decent amounts of snow fall of course and fingers crossed we will get more today. The chances of a clear and sunny day tomorrow are high - being here tomorrow should be excellent timing. Temperatures do look like they are going to creep up somewhat higher later in the week and there's chance of some rain as well which doesn't sound very good. Hopefully we'll avoid that. For now though, fresh snow to play in and some fine to excellent conditions to be found. --- Checking around resorts early on it seems that Tashiro area of Kagura will be closed due to wind up there. Kagura via Mitsumata will be open at the beginning of the day up to Kagura Number 1 pair lift. --- Resort official snow depths (Monday 25th January 2016) and any specific news at time of writing: All resorts in the area are now open - and they are now 'mostly' open with just a few steeper courses still unavailable. All slopes have enjoyed a decent refresh of snow over the last few days. Resorts in Yuzawa: GALA Yuzawa 150cm The South Area is now part open and downhill Falcon course is also open Ishiuchi Maruyama 120cm Iwappara 100cm Joetsu Kokusai 110cm Kagura 110cm (Mitsumata) 140cm (Tashiro) 170cm (Kagura) Tashiro is closed today Kagura open via Mitsumata to the Number 1 pair lift Kandatsu Kogen 100-110cm Maiko Snow Resort 130cm (upper) 60cm (lower) Muikamachi Hakkaisan 100cm Naeba 100cm NASPA Ski Garden 95cm Yuzawa Kogen 110cm Yuzawa Nakazato 85cm Yuzawa Park 80cm Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Monday 25th January 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 209cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 23 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 28cm (28th December) November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 92cm reported on 7 days January 2016 snowfall 117cm reported on 16 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 14cm Snowfall at base this season 223cm Posted on Tuesday 26th January 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . We enjoyed more snowfall through most of the day yesterday (and yes, we did get a few short periods where it backed off like the day before) and it was snowing pretty good for most of the day. Since my report yesterday morning there has been another 14cm of snowfall down here by my base. Interestingly, once again resorts are if anything under-reporting with just 5cm from both Kagura and Maiko this morning. You'd think they'd want to shout out about the better actual numbers - of course, we don't want anyone to be 'lying' about conditions, that's not cool... So this morning, just like the forecast told us to expect, we have beautiful almost clear blue skies from early on. There's just a bit of cloud about, and quite a bit to the north of Minamiuonuma still but it looks like it is going to be a really great morning to be strapped to the skis or board. We're good for time being, but there's not much snow lined up on the 6-day forecast currently with the best chance of the next (decent) snow being around Saturday. Before then, we can probably expect some sun and temperatures warming up a bit. Look out for a chance of rain sometime around Thursday and Friday at town level. Let's hope we can avoid that. By Saturday with that expected snow it should be getting colder once again. I haven't been out myself the last few days but heard from friends about some great conditions at Kagura, GALA and Kandatsu the last few days which is good to hear. I'll be checking myself today. --- Resort official snow depths (Tuesday 26th January 2016) and any specific news at time of writing: All resorts in the area are either mostly or fully open. All slopes have enjoyed a decent refresh of snow over the last week. Resorts in Yuzawa: GALA Yuzawa 170cm The South Area is now part open and downhill Falcon course is also open Ishiuchi Maruyama 140cm Iwappara 115cm Joetsu Kokusai 120cm Kagura 130cm (Mitsumata) 160cm (Tashiro) 190cm (Kagura) Kandatsu Kogen 100-140cm Maiko Snow Resort 160cm (upper) 90cm (lower) Muikamachi Hakkaisan 100cm Naeba 100cm NASPA Ski Garden 105cm Yuzawa Kogen 110cm Yuzawa Nakazato 85cm Yuzawa Park 95cm Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Tuesday 26th January 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 223cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 24 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 28cm (28th December) November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 92cm reported on 7 days January 2016 snowfall 131cm 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 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 185cm Posted on Sunday 24th January 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . Yesterday was an interesting one. The snowfall eased off and the clouds were stubborn for most of the morning but around lunchtime we did get some blue skies and sunshine over Yuzawa with cloud moving back over later in the afternoon. And quite a clear evening with a beautiful moon. This morning I got up around 7:30am and looked out of the window hoping to see heavy snow falling only to see.... calm and quite clear skies. Not again, was my first thought. But soon after light snow started falling and now (9:15am) it is snowing heavily. It looks and feels like it is set in as well. Proper snow this time, it's really coming down. Brilliant! I'm logging 3cm so far since the snow started. Kagura reported 1-2cm overnight and Maiko reported 0cm, but that was before this morning snow started and it if does continue like this today we should be on for some decent numbers by tomorrow. Exciting. Forecasts do say it should be snow all today and most of tomorrow as well. They disagree somewhat on what will happen Tuesday but it could definitely be one of those clear sky days after a storm and the perfect time to be here. We'll see. For now we want as much snow as possible out of this storm. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow morning. --- Resort official snow depths (Sunday 24th January 2016) and any specific news: All resorts in the area are now open - and they are now 'mostly' open with just a few steeper courses still unavailable. Importantly, lower slopes have also enjoyed a decent refresh of snow over the last few days. But we still need more! Resorts in Yuzawa: GALA Yuzawa 150cm Ishiuchi Maruyama 120cm Iwappara 100cm Joetsu Kokusai 110cm Kagura 110cm (Mitsumata) 140cm (Tashiro) 170cm (Kagura) Kandatsu Kogen 100-110cm Maiko Snow Resort 130cm (upper) 60cm (lower) Muikamachi Hakkaisan 100cm Naeba 100cm NASPA Ski Garden 95cm Yuzawa Kogen 100cm Yuzawa Nakazato 75cm Yuzawa Park 80cm Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Sunday 24th January 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 185cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 22 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 28cm (28th December) November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 92cm reported on 7 days January 2016 snowfall 93cm reported on 15 days Previous report Next report All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Yuzawa. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report. SnowJapan is an entirely independent operation. Our daily reports are not posted on behalf of ski areas or any other business or organisation. Since first going online in 1999, the integrity of this website has always been our top priority, and it is something we are not prepared to compromise. All content is carefully created and written by humans who share a passion for the subject and what SnowJapan stands for. About SnowJapan.com About the daily reporting on SnowJapan.com

Independent snow and weather reporting from the Yuzawa & Minamiuonuma region of Niigata New snowfall at base 1cm Snowfall at base this season 239cm Posted on Tuesday 2nd February 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . Good morning from Yuzawa where there has just been a dusting of snow overnight and light snow is falling now in the Ishiuchi area just to the north of central Yuzawa (where I am posting from this morning). Once again it looks like light snow on and off is what we can expect today with a high of around +1C later on. After today the next snowfall is due around Friday when hopefully we might be able to get a decent refresh in before the weekend. --- Below are the official snow depth numbers were from some of the larger resorts on 1st February 2015 (last season). Official snow depths are definitely not the best measure of snowfall and/or gaining an understanding of how a season is measuring up - some resorts move theirs around more than others, some arguably over-report and some also arguably under-report. But the numbers each year are being put out there by the same resorts and so are comparable with the numbers posted from this season, and so maybe of interest: GALA Yuzawa: 410cm Ishiuchi Maruyama: 360cm Iwappara: 265cm Joetsu Kokusai: 230cm Kagura: 340cm Kandatsu Kogen: 340cm Maiko Snow Resort:340cm (upper); 270cm (lower) Naeba: 260cm NASPA Ski Garden: 305cm Yuzawa Kogen: 320cm (Kogen) Yuzawa Nakazato: 225cm --- And as promised, here are official snowfall records from Yuzawa Town, as published by Niigata Prefecture. Check out the one day last season when over 1m of snowfall was recorded in one day! And the 9 days when 51-100cm of fresh snow fell. It brings back memories of some serious snow shovelling as well as some superb conditions on the slopes! You'll also notice that 7 seasons ago was a pretty lean season as well. No comparable numbers are available for this season yet and I think it might be spring before they are - but we'll keep an eye open for those and come back to the numbers in the future. 2014-2015 season (last season): 23 days with 1-10cm of snowfall recorded 20 days with 11-30cm of snowfall recorded 16 days with 31-50cm of snowfall recorded 9 days with 51-100cm of snowfall recorded 1 day with over 100cm of snowfall recorded Most snowfall in one day: 105cm (!) Peak snow depth: 333cm 2013-2014 season: 31 days with 1-10cm of snowfall recorded 24 days with 11-30cm of snowfall recorded 15 days with 31-50cm of snowfall recorded 3 days with 51-100cm of snowfall recorded 0 days with over 100cm of snowfall recorded Most snowfall in one day: 76cm Peak snow depth: 290cm 2012-2013 season: 22 days with 1-10cm of snowfall recorded 23 days with 11-30cm of snowfall recorded 18 days with 31-50cm of snowfall recorded 6 days with 51-100cm of snowfall recorded 0 days with over 100cm of snowfall recorded Most snowfall in one day: 75cm Peak snow depth: 310cm 2011-2012 season: 22 days with 1-10cm of snowfall recorded 19 days with 11-30cm of snowfall recorded 16 days with 31-50cm of snowfall recorded 12 days with 51-100cm of snowfall recorded 0 days with over 100cm of snowfall recorded Most snowfall in one day: 70cm Peak snow depth: 305cm 2010-2011 season: 31 days with 1-10cm of snowfall recorded 15 days with 11-30cm of snowfall recorded 15 days with 31-50cm of snowfall recorded 8 days with 51-100cm of snowfall recorded 0 days with over 100cm of snowfall recorded Most snowfall in one day: 75cm Peak snow depth: 270cm 2009-2010 season: 31 days with 1-10cm of snowfall recorded 16 days with 11-30cm of snowfall recorded 7 days with 31-50cm of snowfall recorded 7 days with 51-100cm of snowfall recorded 0 days with over 100cm of snowfall recorded Most snowfall in one day: 96cm Peak snow depth: 255cm 2008-2009 season: 28 days with 1-10cm of snowfall recorded 15 days with 11-30cm of snowfall recorded 5 days with 31-50cm of snowfall recorded 3 days with 51-100cm of snowfall recorded 0 days with over 100cm of snowfall recorded Most snowfall in one day: 56cm Peak snow depth: 148cm --- Resort official snow depths (Tuesday 2nd February 2016) and any specific news at time of writing: All resorts in the area are either mostly or fully open. And updates for 2nd Feb not available at time of writing. Resorts in Yuzawa: GALA Yuzawa 170cm Ishiuchi Maruyama 120cm Iwappara 105cm Joetsu Kokusai 140cm Kagura 140cm (Mitsumata) 170cm (Tashiro) 200cm (Kagura) Kandatsu Kogen 110-160cm Maiko Snow Resort 160cm (upper) 60cm (lower) Muikamachi Hakkaisan 150cm Naeba 110cm NASPA Ski Garden 105cm Yuzawa Kogen 140cm Yuzawa Nakazato 85cm Yuzawa Park 85cm Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Tuesday 2nd February 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 239cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 27 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 28cm (28th December) November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 92cm reported on 7 days January 2016 snowfall 143cm reported on 18 days February 2016 snowfall 4cm 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 3cm Snowfall at base this season 238cm Posted on Monday 1st February 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . Good morning from Yuzawa, first day of February already! Yesterday the snow did finish up and leave us with some clearer skies and sunshine in the afternoon. This morning it is snowing and there's 3cm fresh on the ground. Early on Kagura are reporting 3-5cm and Maiko are reporting 5cm. Not a massive amount, but it is still snowing now - though not expected to last beyond this morning. It is currently -1C and it shouldn't warm up too much during the day today. Light snow from time to time today and tomorrow as well, some forecasts saying there's a decent chance of the sun making an appearance mid-week - and then a return to some fresh snowfall on Friday. What will February bring us this season. More of the same, or a sustained blast of full-on winter? --- As promised I'm going to bring you some numbers from the season. To start with today, it'll be our own numbers that we have observed here in town. A few people have been asking about the snowfall in Yuzawa this season and how it compares with previous seasons. Some didn't know about all of the archives that we have here on SnowJapan - there are archive reports going as far back as 2002 on the site. It's interesting to take a look back and see how the reports have evolved and improved over the years. (Those of you viewing the reports on the mobile site will need to go over to the main website to get all of the arhives and full details). But just to demonstrate how 'not normal' this season is, last season at the end of January I had observed 979cm of snowfall. This season so far, observing from the same place, that number stands at 235cm; essentially less than 1/4 of the amount from the same point last season. Last year was definitely 'special' (the previous season the number at the end of January was 433cm), and there's bound to be more snow falling higher on the mountains than here in town, but it's still a pretty startling comparison. And that is perhaps why it's such a talking point - because we are so used to getting huge amounts of snow in this region. Still, it is important to note that resorts are open and actually have decent snow cover - it's not as if they we have bare mountains like in some places. January 2016: 143cm January 2015: 420cm January 2014: 297cm 15/16 season up until the end of January 2016: 235cm 14/15 season up until the end of January 2015: 979cm 13/14 season up until the end of January 2014: 433cm Remember those numbers are all observed here at base level, not up on the mountain. And they are taken from the same place in each of those seasons, by ourselves. Tomorrow, I'll introduce some other statistics that come directly from Niigata Prefecture about official snowfall records in Yuzawa town. --- Resort official snow depths (Monday 1st February 2016) and any specific news at time of writing: All resorts in the area are either mostly or fully open. Resorts in Yuzawa: GALA Yuzawa 170cm Ishiuchi Maruyama 120cm Iwappara 105cm Joetsu Kokusai 140cm Kagura 140cm (Mitsumata) 170cm (Tashiro) 200cm (Kagura) Kandatsu Kogen 110-160cm Maiko Snow Resort 160cm (upper) 60cm (lower) Muikamachi Hakkaisan 150cm Naeba 110cm NASPA Ski Garden 105cm Yuzawa Kogen 140cm Yuzawa Nakazato 85cm Yuzawa Park 85cm Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Monday 1st February 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 238cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 26 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 28cm (28th December) November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 92cm reported on 7 days January 2016 snowfall 143cm reported on 18 days February 2016 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 12cm Snowfall at base this season 235cm Posted on Saturday 30th January 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . Morning from Yuzawa, and after the snow falling yesterday and last night, there has been an additional 12cm of fresh on the ground according to my measurements. Here's how much fresh snowfall is being reported by various resorts this morning: Kagura is reporting 15-20cm. Naeba (seems to be) reporting 10+cm. Maiko Snow Resort is reporting 10-15cm. Muikamachi Hakkai-san, to the north of Yuzawa, is reporting 20cm. And I am reporting 12cm of snow down in town. Again it is not as much as we were hoping for (and the local reports as of last night told us to expect), but still it's a decent new layer for the start of the weekend. Snow was falling when I got up this morning but it has stopped now and we are left with just cloudy skies. Forecasts have snow clouds due to be with us for most of the coming week, but not the kind that will deliver significant amounts of snow - more like light snow from time to time. Here's to the temperatures remaining low and keeping the snow in decent condition. Have a fun Saturday. --- Resort official snow depths (Saturday 30th January 2016) and any specific news at time of writing: All resorts in the area are either mostly or fully open. Resorts in Yuzawa: GALA Yuzawa 160cm Ishiuchi Maruyama 140cm Iwappara 110cm Joetsu Kokusai 140cm Kagura 140cm (Mitsumata) 170cm (Tashiro) 200cm (Kagura) Kandatsu Kogen 110-160cm Maiko Snow Resort 155cm (upper) 80cm (lower) Muikamachi Hakkaisan 150cm Naeba 100cm NASPA Ski Garden 110cm Yuzawa Kogen 140cm Yuzawa Nakazato 85cm Yuzawa Park 90cm --- 'Nighta' (floodlit night operations) Details of the 'nighta' operations at ski and snowboards resorts around Yuzawa and Minamiuonuma. Ishiuchi Maruyama Open daily until 8:50pm (until 20th March). The Chuo No 1 and Chuo No 2 lifts are open daily. The Kanko No 1, Kanko No 2, Kanko No 3, Hatsukaishi Entrance lift, Hatsukaishi No 2 pair lifts are open on weekends and holidays. The basic charge is 2000 yen but various tickets are available. Iwappara Open daily until 9pm on Saturdays and until 8pm on weekdays and Sundays (until 21st March). The charge is 1500 yen for adults and 1000 yen for children and seniors. Joetsu Kokusai Open daily until 9pm (until 21st March). The charge is 1500 yen for adults and 1000 yen for children and seniors. On weekdays the area in front of the main hotel is open - a larger area (including Osawa and Atema) is open on weekends. Kandatsu Kogen Open from 6pm until 4am on Fridays, Saturdays and evenings before holidays through 26th March. Open from 4:30pm until 11pm on weekdays until 24th March. Various tickets are available starting at 2000 yen for adults, 1700 yen for seniors and 1000 yen for children. Maiko Snow Resort Open daily with the Maiko Center quad lift operating from 4pm until 8pm. The charge is 500 yen for everyone. Naeba Open daily until 27th March. From 4pm until 8:30pm on weekdays and Sundays (2000 yen); until 9pm every Saturday and on 20th March (3000 yen). 'All Night' opening is planned for Saturday 26th March when Naeba will be open from 10pm until 5am. NASPA Ski Garden Extended opening until 6pm (Number 1 lift) on Saturdays until 27th February. There is no special ticket available just for the extended time. Yuzawa Nakazato Open on Saturdays from 5pm until 8:30pm (until 12th March). Tickets are 1500 yen for adults and 1000 yen for children and seniors. Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Saturday 30th January 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 235cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 25 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 28cm (28th December) November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 92cm reported on 7 days January 2016 snowfall 143cm reported on 18 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 34cm Snowfall at base this season 293cm Posted on Wednesday 10th February 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . It's a very good morning from Yuzawa, where it has been snowing like how we expect it to snow here. The most impressive snow of the season I would say with it really coming down hard at times last night and overnight leaving us with over 30cm at base and resorts reporting that much and more - the most being reported by Kagura as you might expect, with 30-60cm of fresh up there. Conditions will surely have been transformed everywhere though since this snow started with that very nice new thick layer. It's still snowing now and while it is expected to ease off later on, there should be more cm to report tomorrow. Strong winds look like they are affecting operations at Kagura this morning so expect to see some lifts not moving there. The sun is expected tomorrow as well making it very probably a choice day to be here. Should be excellent! Looking beyond tomorrow there's still a warm up along with wet weather forecast for the weekend unfortunately, which would be a really great shame to spoil all this snow we have just got - not to mention the World Cup event that is being held over at Naeba - so we can only hope for that not to happen, or at least damage limitation. For now though time to have some fun in the fresh snow. --- Resort official snow depths (Wednesday 10th February 2016) and any specific news at time of writing: Resorts in Yuzawa: GALA Yuzawa 170cm Ishiuchi Maruyama 150cm Iwappara 200cm Joetsu Kokusai 150cm Kagura 160cm (Mitsumata) 190cm (Tashiro) 220cm (Kagura) Kandatsu Kogen 150-180cm Maiko Snow Resort 190cm (upper) 90cm (lower) Muikamachi Hakkaisan 170cm Naeba 110cm NASPA Ski Garden 160cm Yuzawa Kogen 160cm Yuzawa Nakazato 100cm Yuzawa Park 130cm Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Wednesday 10th February 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 293cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 31 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 34cm (10th February) November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 92cm reported on 7 days January 2016 snowfall 143cm reported on 18 days February 2016 snowfall 58cm 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 7cm Snowfall at base this season 255cm Posted on Sunday 7th February 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . Good morning from Yuzawa. I spent most of the day yesterday in Nagaoka City which is north of Yuzawa and came back in the evening to some light snowfall in Yuzawa though no new cm on the ground. Overnight we have had more snow though and there's 7cm to report in town here. Kagura are reporting 15cm and Maiko Snow Resort are reporting 5cm as of 7am, though it was snowing quite hard for a short while since then I expect there's more over there than 5cm. The new snow is of course very welcome. A few friends who were out yesterday have reported of rather spring-like conditions yesterday on some lower slopes around town though conditions keeping better higher up. Still, it's peak season now so we should be enjoying deep and fluffy everywhere right now. Today once again it's forecast snow but - once again - it somehow just doesn't seem to want to click into 'dumpage' mode. Like I said it was snowing quite heavily for a short while earlier on, but that has now eased off and it's quite bright like it might even clear up. Hopefully it will get snowing again. Tomorrow clear and sunny skies and mild conditions are very likely to be followed by the promise (is it a promise?) of decent snow falling on Tuesday. --- Resort official snow depths (Sunday 7th February 2016) and any specific news at time of writing: Resorts in Yuzawa: GALA Yuzawa 170cm Ishiuchi Maruyama 150cm Iwappara 110cm Joetsu Kokusai 150cm Kagura 140cm (Mitsumata) 170cm (Tashiro) 200cm (Kagura) Kandatsu Kogen 135-170cm Maiko Snow Resort 160cm (upper) 60cm (lower) Muikamachi Hakkaisan 150cm Naeba 110cm NASPA Ski Garden 120cm Yuzawa Kogen 140cm Yuzawa Nakazato 90cm Yuzawa Park 90cm Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Sunday 7th February 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 255cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 29 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 28cm (28th December) November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 92cm reported on 7 days January 2016 snowfall 143cm reported on 18 days February 2016 snowfall 20cm 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 4cm Snowfall at base this season 259cm Posted on Monday 8th February 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Yuzawa Now report can be found here . Yesterday the snow was on and off for most of the day until mid afternoon - and actually falling quite heavily at some times, I'm happy to report so I imagine a fairly decent amount fell especially in higher areas. There was probably a 3-4cm of snow fall in town before it cleared up. Come 3pm and there was quite a lot of blue sky as the clouds started to disperse leaving us with a generally clear evening. There has been no further new snowfall overnight. This morning as expected the day has started with blue skies and sunshine. Clear skies all around and a cold start so it should be a good morning though we are expecting things to get warmer this afternoon. But things are still looking good for snow tomorrow, with heavy snow possible tomorrow night. Happy Chinese New Year to everyone! --- Resort official snow depths (Monday 8th February 2016) and any specific news at time of writing: Resorts in Yuzawa: GALA Yuzawa 170cm Ishiuchi Maruyama 150cm Iwappara 110cm Joetsu Kokusai 150cm Kagura 140cm (Mitsumata) 170cm (Tashiro) 200cm (Kagura) Kandatsu Kogen 135-170cm Maiko Snow Resort 160cm (upper) 60cm (lower) Muikamachi Hakkaisan 150cm Naeba 110cm NASPA Ski Garden 120cm Yuzawa Kogen 140cm Yuzawa Nakazato 90cm Yuzawa Park 90cm Yuzawa Now 2015-2016 season Data as of Monday 8th February 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 259cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 30 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 28cm (28th December) November 2015 snowfall 0cm December 2015 snowfall 92cm reported on 7 days January 2016 snowfall 143cm reported on 18 days February 2016 snowfall 24cm 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