Nozawa Do Pre Season
20cm of fresh snow up in the Japan Alps
Hakuba Sanso Lodge sitting at 2832m above sea level woke up to this amazing view yesterday morning. A decent 20cm of fresh snow settling on the deck. It was enough for the lodge staff to call the Hut closed for the season. Temps were sitting just below 0 egress but they are expecting a huge cold front from Friday night with the mercury up there dropping to as low as – 11 degrees and forecast of a whopping 75cm of fresh snow could fall up there.
Even Nozawa Onsen may see some snow up top over the weekend with temps dipping just below freezing level. It is very early days so anything that falls in Nozawa will probably melt away but it will help to cool the ground down in preparation for Winter. Think it will stay up in the high ground though if that much falls. Getting lots of enquiry asking when the Nozawa Onsen Resort will open as I tell them this far out who knows. The resort will open the last weekend of November if there is snow but it is unlikely more chance early to mid December with the snowmaking too if temps stay cold.
Nozawa is of course a beautiful traditional Japanese village to explore at anytime of year and can be an exciting time to be in the village and watch the transformation from the warmth of an Onsen. Here is a list of things to do in Nozawa even if there is no snow; https://www.nozawaholidays.com/non-skiers/
Photo @ 白馬山荘 Arigatou Gozaimasu
