Latest News from Nozawa Onsen

Base up top: 290 cm    Temp Top;  -8 Degrees Base at bottom; 200 cm New Snow since close: 50 cm Weather; Partly cloudy It looks like the very heavy snow we have had for the past couple of days has finally abated. Small patches of brief blue sky are gradually making appearances with the occasional isolated snow shower passing over. We expect a continued clearing trend today with hopefully a full bluebird afternoon. Light winds are forecast. The snow is extremely deep off piste so its recommended to avoid these areas without adequate experience and equipment in dealing with the overhead depths. Yesterday only the lower slopes were open with horrendous wind conditions up top. Nevertheless there was so […]

Base up top: 270 cm Temp Top; -10 Degrees Base at Uenotaira 250 cm New Snow since close: 50 cm Weather; Still dumping It was less than a week ago we reported a 70 cm base up top. This morning it is 270cm we have had over 300cm fall now in less than a week. I have been here for a while and never seen a season start like this. Talked to my old Ski Patrol boss last night, he has done over 50 seasons here and he said he also couldn’t recall a mid December like this ever! It is proving hard work for all the locals trying to keep from literally getting buried with everyone on the roof […]

Base up top: 210 cm Temp Top; -7 Degrees Base at bottom; 150 cm New Snow since close: 25 cm Weather; Light snow Heavily overcast conditions have engulfed Nozawa Onsen this morning and we have some light snow falling across the mountain. Unfortunately high winds are forecast so fingers crossed the resort is able to open the upper lifted areas. As usual, this system looks to be slightly delayed in comparison to forecast timings, expect snowfall intensity to build steadily throughout the day. Best riding today again will be Yamabiko, provided wind intensity is below the safety margin for lift operation. Yesterday we saw strong prefrontal winds aloft which kept the Nagasaka Gondola closed all day. With only the Nagasaka […]

Base up top: 190 cm    Temp Top;  -4 Degrees Base at bottom; 140 cm New Snow since close: 0 cm Weather; Overcast   Everyone has been shovelling hard around the village late into the night yesterday. This means only one thing, snow is coming! Forecasts suggest heavy snows are expected over the coming days right up to the end of the week. Combined with what fell over the weekend we are looking towards a very solid december base indeed. No new snow fell overnight and yesterday afternoon felt decidedly warmer once the snowflakes had cleared. Compacting the base is what we are after at the moment and warmer temperatures expected today should continue to impact this change. Again today […]

Base up top:  210 cm    Temp Top; -7 Degrees Base at bottom;  170 cm New Snow since close:  50 cm Weather; Heavy snow   Welcome to the Nozawa Onsen daily snow reports for season 2014/15. We hope to provide you with detail weather and relevant resort information tied in with a selection of daily photos from in and around the local area of Nozawa Onsen. Like what you see? Head straight on over to the Nozawa Photos Facebook page and these wall hangers are available purchase starting at 1000 yen. Wow, what a weekend! The amount of snow that has fallen in the last 48 hours pushes towards the record books for Nozawa Onsen, surpassing 2m yesterday. Locals were […]

Base up top: 165 cm Temp Top; -7 Degrees Base at Uenotaira 150 cm New Snow since close: 95 cm Weather; Still snowing heavy!   Crazy night on the snow front in Nozawa, with almost a whole Meter of snow falling across the resort. Seems like a while since we have seen this big a dump as last season we did not get a lot of these huge falls. This system looks set to be a bit of a record for this time of year in a few parts of Japan and Nozawa is no exception. The base has over doubled overnight to up to 165cm and still going strong! This should set us up for the season now with […]

Base up top: 70 cm Temp Top; -3 Degrees Base at Uenotaira 70 cm New Snow since close: 10 cm Weather; snowing lightly After a pretty ordinary day yesterday today turned out to be pretty nice. Light snow fell across the resort most of the day, and then the sun burst out this afternoon. The base is consolidating but still some nice conditions and looks like a lot of snow on the way! Freezing levels are set to drop below Zero and heavy snow expected tomorrow. So looking good for the first Saturday of the season. The resort is also opening more runs with Uenotaira opening up which will be great for the beginners. The shuttle bus service looping the […]

Base up top: 100 cm Temp Top; -7 Degrees Base at Uenotaira 100 cm New Snow since close: 10 cm Weather; Mostly Sunny Pretty wild weather yesterday with more snow falling and nice and cold. We probably got about 20cm plus out of the day. The sun has come out so has made for a really nice morning. With no one here and more of the mountain opening up there are some great little stashes up for grabs. Locals are using the break in the weather to finish off renovations, catch up for a chat and clean up some snow before the next hit which looks like tomorrow then constant over the next week and some very low temps. Things […]

Base up top: 100 cm Temp Top; -7 Degrees Base at Uenotaira 100 cm New Snow since close: 0 cm Weather; Bluebird After the events of the past few days you would be forgiven for thinking that is was mid season not early December. Pretty special day up on the slopes yesterday with plenty of powder on offer as it kept snowing most of the day. People could not believe they lucked into so much snow at this time of year. Still need to build the base underneath but up top you didn’t feel it. This big dump will give us a great foundation. Still only the top Yamabiko open but a few were skiing top to bottom yesterday. Clear […]

Base up top: 135 cm Temp Top; -8 Degrees Base at Uenotaira 135 cm New Snow since close: 65 cm Weather; Dumping The snow just keeps coming in Nozawa. It has been falling heavily for 2 days now and the whole village has been transformed into a Winter Wonderland! We had 70 cm for two days in a row now and the base is now 135cm up top. With plenty of fresh everywhere it is going to be an awesome opening day today! All of the top of the mountain the Yamabiko area is open and the Nagasaka Gondola, looks like the Uenotaira area is not yet open at this stage The forecast is for the snow to ease today […]