Search Results:

Merry christmas everyone!! And it looks like its going to be a very white christmas in Nozawa too.

The siberian high is starting to send those cold northwesterlies down towards Japan as we had all hoped and the snowy weather patterns are starting to assert themselves on the region. 

Currently a depression is moving across northern Japan and should sit just to the east of Hokkaido late on Christmas day. This will drag cold moist air down from russia in a northwesterly flow. Snow should develop during the afternoon all the way down to village level. Snow can be expected from this system all the way through to the 28th when it finally moves far enough north to stop affecting Honshu.

After a day or so of fine weather another system follows a similar path and snow should develop again on the 30th.

The long range models show a stable siberian high coupled with a series of low pressure systems out near the Kamchatka peninsula. This means there is a good chance of consistent snowfall for the forseeable future.

It’s time to indulge!!

Outstanding views from Yamabiko today

New Snow (Resort): 2cm – Yamabiko
New Snow (Village): 2cm
Weather: Fine
Snow Depth: 55cm (Yamabiko)
Outlook: Snow
Open Areas: Yamabiko (All courses), Skyline connect, Uenotaira – grooming down the mid station has begun.

Snow fell for much of the afternoon yesterday, and there were periods last night when it fell quite steadily. I was expecting there to be a bit more fresh snow, but really there was only a sprinkling. The weather was so good it was impossible to be disappointed whatsoever - beautiful blue skies and the clearest view from Yamabiko out to the Japan sea I have ever seen.

The outlook is still looking great, with heavy snow expected on Christmas night.

Merry Christmas!

Blue on White - everyone's favourite

Looking down on the village to the first white roofs of the season. In the distance poor old Togari can be seen, snow top to bottom for the first time this season.

New Snow (Resort): 15cm – Yamabiko
New Snow (Village): 5cm
Weather: Fine
Snow Depth: 60cm (Yamabiko)
Outlook: Snow
Open Areas: Yamabiko (All courses), Skyline connect, Uenotaira – grooming down the mid station has begun.

After some heavy snow for a few hours around dark yesterday, light snow fell on and off for most of the evening. It cleared up after that and today we have been treated to a spectacular day on the mountain. Being a public holiday in Japan (Emporers birthday) meant that the mountain is more crowded than usual, with the queue for the gondola going out the door at 8:40 this morning.

The forecast is looking good, with more light snow over night and then some heavy stuff from Christmas night.

It is snowing very hard in Nozawa at the moment, and has been like this for a couple of hours. Tomorrow should be a great powder day, and this snow will go a long way to opening more terrain.

New Snow (Resort): 10cm – Yamabiko
New Snow (Village): 0cm
Weather: Fine and warm
Snow Depth: 45cm (Yamabiko)
Outlook: Snow
Open Areas: Yamabiko A,B,C, and D courses, Skyline connect, Uenotaira. The resort is reporting that runs from Uenotaira to mid station are open, however the rope is still up and no action so far.

With extremely warm temperatures and heavy rain in the village last night, there was concern as to whether winter would ever arrive in Nozawa. It was a huge relief to wake up and see the snowline had creeped down below the Nagasaka Gondola Mid Station this morning.

It appears that heavy rain fell all over the mountain, and the base has been badly affected. The top ten centimetres is quality, but there are slushy areas, icy areas, and even muddy patches all over Uenotaira. With more snow expected today hopefully that is not going to become a problem.

It is now quite chilly in the village and if anything falls from now on, it is going to be snow. The outlook is very good at the moment - heavy snow expected on Christmas night.

New Snow (Resort): 0cm – Yamabiko
New Snow (Village): 0cm
Weather: Fine and warm
Snow Depth: 50cm (Yamabiko)
Outlook: Fine today, rain tomorrow and then hopefully lots of snow.
Open Areas: The resort is currently closed due to strong winds.

Nozawa Onsen Ski Resort is currently closed due to high winds. Looking at the footage of the resort on TV – the wind is still giving the trees a good ruffle up. I think today is probably going to be a write off. We are expecting some weather to move in today, it will definitely start with some rain today but I think we can look forward to waking up to a snowy village tomorrow.

New Snow (Resort): 0cm – Yamabiko
New Snow (Village): 0cm
Weather: Fine and warm
Snow Depth: 50cm (Yamabiko)
Outlook: Fine today, rain tomorrow and then hopefully lots of snow.
Open Areas: Yamabiko A,B,C, and D courses, Skyline connect, Uenotaira

Today is the official opening day of Nozawa Onsen Ski Resort. It was celebrated with free mulled wine, sake, and miso soup. The condition of the snow was surprisingly quite good, and visibility was perfect. Really the only thing missing was over two thirds of Nozawa’s skiable terrain, which is yet to come to the party.

It seems as though we are in for the real start of the season next week. After some rain which is expected to fall tomorrow, the rest of the week is looking very promising.

Stick watch is a new feature to Nagano Go – it will allow us to see how the season is shaping up compared to measurements taken on the same day, in previous years. As you can see 2008/09 is lagging behind. All I can say is thank god we have more than 25cm. Hopefully the weather that we are expecting next week will allow a bit of a catch up – find out next week on stick watch.