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A video review of a snowy January in Myoko Kogen

Tim — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 08:49:27 +0000

With February well under way, I’ve put together a video of the action from the month just gone. It was a January we’ll be talking about for years to come, with snow almost every day making for day after day of deep fresh lines…..

Today in Myoko Kogen

The snow expected for today has taken a while to settle in but it is snowing quite steadily at the moment. Around 5 to 10cm awaited the eager holiday crowds this morning, and at least that has fallen throughout the day. It’s looking like continuing into the night so it should be a fun day out there tomorrow. Monday night is looking snowy as well, before a spell of fine weather on Wednesday and the possibility of warmer conditions and rain towards the end of the week. Let’s just hope it stays cold and that precipitation falls as snow too!

Current official snow depth around the Myoko area:

Ski Area	Akakura Kanko	Akakura Onsen	Ikenotaira	Suginohara	Seki Onsen
Snow depth (cm)	280	260	260	210	530

Beautiful Myoko sunrise, and now it's snowing again

Tim — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 07:20:48 +0000

After an amazing sunrise this morning, the clouds have rolled in bringing fairly heavy snow. There is only about 20cm predicted for the next couple of days but I’d say there should be at least that much on the ground by tomorrow morning if it keeps falling at this rate. Should be another fun day!

Current official snow depth around the Myoko area:

	Akakura Kanko	Akakura Onsen	Ikenotaira	Suginohara	Seki Onsen
Snow depth (cm)	265	265	270	230	450

Myoko Kogen snow report Wednesday 24th February 2010

Tim — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 05:31:47 +0000

Akakura Onsen is warm and sunny today – hardly a cloud to be seen and an expected top of 10 degrees C. Clouds are expected to move in over night and bring rain by Thursday evening with heavy rain forecast for Friday morning, Saturday night and Monday night. So lots of slushy skiing fun to be had today and tomorrow before the rain comes and lets just hope it gets cold sometime soon….

New Snow (Resort): 0 cm

New Snow (Village): 0 cm

Weather: Light southwesterly wind and an expected top of 10 degrees C. Excellent visibility.

Official statistics:

Resort	Status	Base yesterday (cm)	Base today (cm)	Current temperature (degrees C)	Current weather
Suginohara	All areas open	190	190	2	Fine
Ikenotaira	All areas open	260	260	2	Fine
Akakura Kanko	All areas open	260	250	3	Fine
Akakura Onsen	All areas except Maruyama triple lift and mogul challenge course/alpen course open. Night skiing 5:00 ~ 9:00 at Kumado	255	250	1	Fine
Madarao/Tangram	All areas open	190	190	2	Fine
Seki Onsen	All areas open	560	560	3	Fine

( Click on the resort names in the table above to see more information about each ski area )

Farewell to Myoko (for now)

This is my last posting for the season from Myoko Kogen as I will be moving over to Nozawa Onsen for March (and writing reports for the Nozawa part of this site).

Thanks to all the great people of Akakura Onsen for a wonderful time there over the last two months and I hope to see you all again next season! Thanks also to readers of the blog – I hope you’ve enjoyed the photos and videos and I hope to see you in Myoko next season too!
– Tim

Click here to check out what’s happening in Nozawa Onsen today

Myoko Kogen snow report Tuesday 23rd February 2010

Tim — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 03:38:22 +0000

It is a very spring time feel here in Akakura Onsen today, with temperatures well above zero, sun in the sky and slushy conditions on the hill. A top of 6 degrees C is forecast for today and Thursday is looking extra warm with a top of around 13 degrees C before rain on Friday, Saturday and into Sunday morning. Not good for the snow pack but let’s hope it can hang in there until this “fake spring” blows over and we get back to the serious business of winter ….. hopefully!

New Snow (Resort): 0 cm

New Snow (Village): 0 cm

Weather: Light southwesterly wind and an expected top of 6 degrees C. Excellent visibility.

Official statistics:

Resort	Status	Base yesterday (cm)	Base today (cm)	Current temperature (degrees C)	Current weather
Suginohara	All areas open	200	190	1	Fine
Ikenotaira	All areas open	260	260	-1	Fine
Akakura Kanko	All areas open	260	260	1	Fine
Akakura Onsen	All areas except Maruyama triple lift and mogul challenge course/alpen course open. Night skiing 5:00 ~ 9:00 at Kumado	260	255	-1	Fine
Madarao/Tangram	All areas open	200	190	1	Fine
Seki Onsen	All areas open	560	560	2	Fine

( Click on the resort names in the table above to see more information about each ski area )

Click here to check out what’s happening in Nozawa Onsen today

Some more footage of riding Niigata pow

Tim — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 05:12:38 +0000

Here is a little video of some nice powder and funny jibbing done in late January 2010

Myoko Kogen snow report Wednesday 10th February 2010

Tim — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:12:36 +0000

Still raining, but it’s trying to snow….

Temperatures are finally starting to return to a wintry level here in Akakura Onsen, although the official reports show freezing level has not yet been reached at several resorts. It is forecast to continue getting cooler quickly today as a very light northerly brings light snow in the afternoon and evening. Those conditions should persist right through to Sunday morning providing some much needed repair to the rain affected slopes. The snow depth is down more than 50cm at Akakura Kanko, partly because the new snow had not settled, but that’s still a big drop….

New Snow (Resort): 0 cm

New Snow (Village): 0 cm

Weather: Very light northerly wind in the afternoon bringing colder conditions and light snow. Rain and fog affecting visibility this morning.

Official statistics:

Resort	Status	Base yesterday (cm)	Base today (cm)	Current temperature	Current weather
Suginohara	All areas open	210	190	1	Cloudy
Ikenotaira	All areas open	290	280	0	Snow
Akakura Kanko	All areas open	250	240	3	Cloudy
Akakura Onsen	All areas except Maruyama triple lift and mogul challenge course/alpen course open. Night skiing 5:00 ~ 9:00 at Kumado	265	245	-1	Cloudy
Madarao/Tangram	All areas open	210	190	0	Cloudy
Seki Onsen	All areas open	570	570	-3	Sleet

( Click on the resort names in the table above to see more information about each ski area )

Great weather for an Onsen….

Outside of the village of Akakura Onsen, there are two main onsens that are easily accessible from the Mt. Myoko shuttle bus; “Landmark” in Ikenotaira (left) and “Naena no yu” in Suginosawa (right), just near Suginohara ski area. Both are supplied with natural hot spring water from high on the slopes of Mt. Myoko and are an excellent way to relax and soothe the muscles after skiing or boarding.

From Myoko – Onsens

Click here to check out what’s happening in Nozawa Onsen today

Myoko Kogen snow report Tuesday 9th February

Tim — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 03:03:32 +0000

It is a foggy morning here in Akakura Onsen with some light rain still falling. The forecast came true yesterday and from about 3pm it started raining in earnest and was fairly heavy late into the night. It is expected to keep raining until tomorrow morning when temperatures should drop and turn the precipitation to snow. Light snow and snow showers are forecast for the rest of the week. A relatively strong southwesterly wind this morning will weaken and turn northwesterly bringing the colder system with it. Today’s maximum temperature will be around 5 degrees C – very much like spring weather…..

New Snow (Resort): 0 cm

New Snow (Village): 0 cm

Weather: Moderate southwesterly winds weakening throughout the day and turning northwesterly. Poor visibility this morning with rain and fog. Very heavy rain effected snow today.

Official statistics:

Resort	Status	Base yesterday (cm)	Base today (cm)	Current temperature	Current weather
Suginohara	All areas open	230	210	-2	Rain
Ikenotaira	All areas open	290	290	2	Rain
Akakura Kanko	All areas open	~	250	4.5	Rain
Akakura Onsen	All areas except Maruyama triple lift and mogul challenge course/alpen course open. Night skiing 5:00 ~ 9:00 at Kumado	300	265	2	Rain
Madarao/Tangram	All areas open	230	210	2	Light rain
Seki Onsen	All areas open	~	570	3	Light rain

( Click on the resort names in the table above to see more information about each ski area )

Making the most of the good weather and great snow conditions by hiking up towards Maeyama yesterday morning

From Myoko 8/2/2010

Click here to check out what’s happening in Nozawa Onsen today

Myoko Kogen snow report Friday 5th Feb 2010

Tim — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:41:14 +0000

Big dump coming tonight?

After a fine and sunny start to the day it has started snowing lightly already. There is a moderate westerly breeze and it is forecast to bring some fairly heavy snow to the area this afternoon and this evening – local news reports have suggested up to 70cm may fall in some areas! At the very least we should get around 30cm over the next 24 hours which will keep the excellent conditions we’ve had for the last few days going into the weekend. The evil specter of rain still looms ominously on the outlook around Monday night, so we’ll just have to wait and see what that brings

New Snow (Resort): <1 cm

New Snow (Village): <1 cm

Weather: Light snow now after a fine start to the day. Forecast to get heavier in the afternoon with the possibility of very heavy snow storms reported on the local news here. Moderately strong westerly wind and a forecast maximum of -3 degrees C. Visibility will be fair this morning and decreasing in the afternoon.

Official statistics:

Resort	Status	Base yesterday (cm)	Base today (cm)	Current temperature	Current weather
Suginohara	All areas open	200	200	-4	Fine
Ikenotaira	All areas open	235	235	-5	Snow
Akakura Kanko	All areas open	260	250	-6	Fine
Akakura Onsen	All areas except Maruyama triple lift and mogul challenge course/alpen course open. Night skiing 5:00 ~ 9:00 at Kumado	260	265	-5	Fine
Madarao/Tangram	All areas open	215	190	-6	Fine
Seki Onsen	All areas open	520	520	-5	Snow

( Click on the resort names in the table above to see more information about each ski area )

The sun sets behind the Akakura Kanko figure-heads; a snowman and a sun shaped head wearing sunglasses…..

Click here to check out what’s happening in Nozawa Onsen today