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New Snow (Resort): 40cm
New Snow (Village): 40cm
Weather: Snowing
Snow Depth: 90cm (Yamabiko)
Outlook: Snow
Open Areas: Both gondolas are closed due to high winds. The Hikage and Nagasaka triple lifts are running.

It is snowing very hard in Nozawa Onsen at the moment, as it has been since last night. Unfortunately neither of the Gondolas are running. There is some skiing on the Hikage slope, but a quick look at the TV shows huge queues and barely room to move for anyone.

I’m sorry there are no photos of skiing and boarding waist deep powder or stick watch today, I hope these photos of ridiculous amounts of snow on top of cars will suffice. 

Butch gets the shovel out for the first time this season

It has been snowing very hard since last night - thirty centimetres of snow in the village. It has been snowing even longer up top, and they are grooming the bottom slopes as I write this. Tomorrow should be top to bottom.

Unfortunately, the wind is strong in town and probably very strong up top. I give the gondola a 0.5% chance of moving this morning – I really hope I am wrong because there is some very deep snow to be enjoyed!

New Snow (Resort): 0cm
New Snow (Village): 0cm
Weather: Fine
Snow Depth: 50cm (Yamabiko)
Outlook: Snow
Open Areas: Yamabiko (All courses), Skyline connect, Uenotaira, runs from Uenotaira to the mid station of the Nagasaka Gondola.

A chilly morning today, with blue skies, icy roads and probably quite crunchy slopes. It has since clouded over, and the TV camera on Uenotaira is showing light snow falling. I learnt some new Japanese today: bakudan teikiatsu – explosive low pressure system. There is one about to arrive in Nozawa and not a moment too soon! The groomers will be working overtime trying to open up as much terrain as possible for Saturday, the start of the peak New Years season. 

I hope you are all enjoying Christmas. Last night was a very quiet night in Nozawa’s few bars. Hopefully a few feet of powder will save the day and bring us some Christmas cheer.

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!