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New Snow (Resort): 0cm
New Snow (Village): 0cm
Weather: fine
Snow Depth: 215cm (Yamabiko)
Outlook: Some light snow showers over the weekend, moderate snow expected on Sunday night.
Open Areas: Almost everything is open except Kurokura and Hachiman which probably won’t be open again this season.

It is a beautiful sunny day in Nozawa today, there is not a cloud in the sky. Yesterday saw light snow fall throughout the day to give the icy runs a little relief. Visibility was poor throughout the day so it is nice to see the sun again.

The mountain is crowded as usual for a Saturday in February, weekends should be less busy from now on as weather improves and Japan moves into spring.

It looks like the snow has gotten as high up on the stick as it is going to this season. A peak of 270cm – Not fantastic but it could have been worse. It is a little early to be reflecting on the season just yet…

New Snow (Resort): 0cm
New Snow (Village): 0cm
Weather: overcast
Snow Depth: 220cm (Yamabiko)
Outlook: Fine weather over the weekend with some light snow showers. Moderate snowfall expected in the first half of next week.
Open Areas: Almost everything is open except Kurokura and Hachiman. Challenge is closed for a Giant Slalom competition – the Katagiri memorial cup.

It is snowing lightly in Nozawa with low cloud almost all the way down the bottom station of the gondola. The snow-flakes are very small so unlikely to amount to much. Up the top it is quite windy and cold.

After much freeze-thaw, rain, and a few days without snow, the slopes are absolutely bullet-proof. The only relief you will get is a 2 cm layer of mash on top, which has been scraped off leaving pure ice in many areas. Sharpened edges are highly advised today. After the weekend we have some snow in the forecast for the first half of next week which would help to freshen things up a bit – very much needed at the moment.

New Snow (Resort): 0cm
New Snow (Village): 0cm
Weather: overcast
Snow Depth: 230cm (Yamabiko)
Outlook: Scattered light snow at the top and light rain in the village over the next week.
Open Areas: Almost everything is open except Kurokura and Hachiman.

Yesterday evening saw light rain fall in the village and snow at the top of the mountain. Looking at the webcams shows the trees are coated in snow which suggests a few centimetres has fallen, despite the resort reporting no new snow. Visibility is poor from about 900m up.

The forecast for the next week calls for the current warm weather to continue, with light snow to the top part of the mountain and rain in the village. There is a base of over 2m on Yamabiko, however snow levels on the lower slopes are depleted. In terms of skiable area we are probably not going to lose anything over the next week, however if the current trend of warm weather continues the danger of losing Karasawa and the lower part of Skyline will arise in early March.

New Snow (Resort): 0cm
New Snow (Village): 0cm
Weather: Rain
Snow Depth: 240cm (Yamabiko)
Outlook: Light snow tonight and moderate snow on Friday at Yamabiko.
Open Areas: Almost everything is open except Kurokura and Hachiman.

I woke up this morning to rain in the village. This continued for a few hours all over the mountain including Yamabiko. We also have an temperature inversion in Nozawa giving a temperature of + 5 degrees up top and a few degrees above zero in the village. Most of the rain eased of towards mid day but we still have rain showers across the mountain from time to time. The runs reminded me of late March spring skiing which actually isn’t to bad.

No decrease in the snow depth at Yamabiko has been reported but I can see that the lower parts have suffered quite a lot. However the snow depth is still slightly better than it was before the massive snowfalls we had last week.

New Snow (Resort): 0cm
New Snow (Village): 0cm
Weather: Cloudy with some precipitation
Snow Depth: 240cm (Yamabiko)
Outlook: Precipitation tomorrow and on Friday. Falling as rain on the lower slopes  and as snow up top.
Open Areas: Almost everything is open except Kurokura and Hachiman.

This morning offered clouds with some glimpse of sun here in Nozawa. The runs were good and quite fast despite relatively high temperatures. At about noon the winds picked up and brought in heavier clouds bringing small amounts of rain to the lower slopes. Together with temperatures a bit above zero this made the runs a bit sticky on most of the mountain.

The forecast calls for the precipitation to strengthen some more tomorrow which will unfortenatly bring rain to large parts of the resort. However by tomorrow evening the freezing level will go down again and we are expecting some snow to fall all the way down to the village. The precipitation on Friday will come as snow up top and as rain on the lower parts of the mountain.

New Snow (Resort): 10cm (Yamabiko)
New Snow (Village): 0cm
Weather: Cloudy with light snow or rain
Snow Depth: 240cm (Yamabiko)
Outlook: See below
Open Areas: Almost everything is open except Kurokura and Hachiman.

Rain during the night in the village turned to very wet snow this morning. The snow that came at the top of the mountain during the night was also very wet. However the weekend crowds are now gone and today was a very quiet day in Nozawa. The bottom runs were quite sticky but the top runs were not bad. The rain/snow that kept falling during most of the day unfortunately made this a wet day here in Nozawa with lots of people going inside from time to time to dry up.

New Snow (Resort): 0cm
New Snow (Village): 0cm
Weather: Bluebird
Snow Depth: 255cm (Yamabiko)
Outlook: Warm week ahead with snow to the top of the mountain and rain in the village.
Open Areas: Almost everything is open except Kurokura and Hachiman.

Yesterday was a fantastic day to be on the mountain snow-wise, with the most fresh snow we have seen all season. It was also the busiest day of the season with especially long queues for the gondolas and the lifts up on Yamabiko. We have one or perhaps two more really busy weekends before it starts quietening down for the spring season.

The forecast for the week ahead is rain in the village and snow up top. You may have noticed that there was a yellow tinge to the snow in the photo I posted of the skier on Hikage yesterday. Apparently this was caused by Koza – a yellow dust which gets blown in from China. Normally this occurs in April. It is hard to talk about spring skiing the day after the base jumps up 60cm, but it certainly appears to be on the way.

New Snow (Resort): 50cm+ (Yamabiko)
New Snow (Village): 50cm+
Weather: Heavy Snow
Snow Depth: 270cm (Yamabiko)
Outlook: See below
Open Areas: Almost everything is open except Kurokura and Hachiman. Kandahar is open.

Nozawa is showing us that it hasn’t forgotten how to turn on the snow, it has been snowing very hard since last night and there is knee deep snow on the doorstep.

Waist deep on Hikage

Up on the mountain it was bottomless despite the rain which fell yesterday. As usual the powder hounds were out early so it was quite chopped up by 930 and queues for the lift and gondola were lengthy.

Silly amounts of snow in the village

An interesting weather pattern has developed over the last couple of weeks which has been unusual for Japan at this time of year.

Depression after depression has approached from the southwest of Japan, passed along either the east or west coasts and then disappeared off into the pacific. As these lows approach they bring in warm moist air which usually damages the lower mountain snow pack with wettish snow or rain. As they pass the southerly flow is replaced with a northerly which is always cooler and a reasonable snowfall ensues.

Nozawa is currently being affected by one of these northerlies and heavy snow is expected tonight. The weather will clear late Saturday until another system arrives from the south on Monday. The snow level should rise again from this, rain in the village but snow on Yamabiko. Mid next week a ridge moves in and a period of sunny weather should eventuate. 

Longer term there appears to be a continuation of the current pattern. Warmer systems from the southwest. This is certainly turning out to be a frustrating season. Unfortunately it looks like you’ll need to stay up the top of Nozawa to get the best snow!