Iiyama Snow Festival on this weekend! Both today and Saturday Iiyama City the gateway to Nozawa Onsen is holding its annual Snow Festival. It is a much smaller version of the famous Sapporo Snow Festival. With snow sculptures, rides, shows, fireworks and food stalls. It has a country fair type feel but in lots of snow. The kids love it and nice to check out the local scene. There are igloos, power rangers and snow tube rides all on offer. The snow sculptures are pretty awesome and will be holding well this weekend with all the snow and very cold temps. Location ; Show Grounds to the North of the Iiyama Station. There is shuttles from the station every 30 […]
Nozawa Snow Report 11 February 2017
Snow falls adding to the monotony of winter 🙂 Nozawa Snow Report 11 February 2017: Stats Base at top: 375 cm Temp at Top: -11 Degree Base at Uenotaira station: 280 cm New snow since close: 15 cm Weather: Light Snow Nozawa Snow Report 11 February 2017: Overview Snowfalls have continued overnight refreshing the coverage back again to a clean slate. It sure is a hard life dealing with the monotony of winter in Nozawa Onsen 😉 Again cold temperatures will ensure japow of excellent quality and i’m sure there will be no shortage of wafts of spray displaced from wide bodied powder crafts across the mountain today! Expect the snow showers to persist later but much the same […]
Nozawa Snow Report 10 February 2017
Cold and snowy as falls continue Nozawa Snow Report 10 February 2017: Stats Base at top: 370 cm Temp at Top: -8 Degree Base at Uenotaira station: 265 cm New snow since close: 25 cm Weather: Snow Nozawa Snow Report 10 February 2017: Overview Heavy snow has fallen overnight and strong winds have battered the village during the early hours of this morning. Luckily these winds have now eased however snow showers continue at moderate fall rates. Since last lifts yesterday to 8am we recorded 25cm at Yamabiko and 15cm in the village. I’d say another 10cm has fallen since then making for some fine figures. With cold temperatures the skiing and snowboarding will be excellent mountain wide. Another day […]
Nozawa Snow Report 9 February 2017
One of those days Nozawa Snow Report 9 February 2017: Stats Base at top: 365 cm Temp at Top: -7 Degree Base at Uenotaira station: 260 cm New snow since close: 0 cm Weather: Overcast Nozawa Snow Report 9 February 2017: Overview Yesterday was one of those days. Sublime powder snow coated the resort creating a blank canvas to carve a personal choice of riding artwork. Through the morning passing clouds teased with periods of snowfalls and occasional blue sky. But by the afternoon it became almost full bluebird with amazing light and snow loaded trees across the mountain. Yamabiko reached its peak snow depth for the […]
Nozawa Snow Report 8 February 2017
Japow keeps coming Nozawa Snow Report 8 February 2017: Stats Base at top: 370 cm Temp at Top: -11 Degree Base at Uenotaira station: 270 cm New snow since close: 25+ cm Weather: Light snow Nozawa Snow Report 8 February 2017: Overview A good morning to all our readers. Last night it dumped again decorating the mountain with even more fresh japow. I think its going to be an epic day on the hill. With less winds snowfall accumulations would have been much more homogeneous and less compacted. Furthermore the potential for patches of clear weather later is a real possibility. Waste no time in bed this morning! Yesterday we experienced some good windblown powder snow across the resort of […]
Nozawa Snow Report 7 February 2017
Nozawa Snow Report 7 February 2017: Stats Base at top: 350 cm Temp at Top: -9 Degree Base at Uenotaira station: 245 cm New snow since close: 30 cm Weather: Snow Nozawa Snow Report 7 February 2017: Overview Strong winds blasted the township of Nozawa Onsen overnight and reports of heavy falls across the region are filtering in. Here we have received no less than 30cm on the upper mountain and 15cm down in the village. The fact that it was windy decreases the accuracy of measurements however one thing is for sure, there will be some very deep powder across the resort today. The areas which would hold the deepest snow are those that are protected from the wind. […]
Nozawa Snow Report 6 February 2017
Wild and wooly today Nozawa Snow Report 6 February 2017: Stats Base at top: 325 cm Temp at Top: -3 Degree Base at Uenotaira station: 230 cm New snow since close: 5 cm Weather: Windy, light snow Nozawa Snow Report 6 February 2017: Overview Some semi wild conditions about the peaks today. As of about 7am it was still lightly raining down here in the village and by 8am the snow line had reduced to around 800m as wet flakes began falling in the village. Since then it has become colder still and a brisk wind has increased as a slow moving low pressure passes to our east. Expect moderate snowfalls to increase in intensity today, becoming heavy overnight. The […]
Nozawa Snow Report 5 February 2017
Overcast and warming today, but an epic week ahead Nozawa Snow Report 5 February 2017: Stats Base at top: 330 cm Temp at Top: 0 Degree Base at Uenotaira station: 240 cm New snow since close: 0 cm Weather: Overcast Nozawa Snow Report 5 February 2017: Overview It was a quality sunrise this morning. Across the valley a pink alpenglow lit up the Myoko Stratovolcano with a band of high cloud displaying a similar reflectance. Right now we are soaked in with thick mid level cloud, probably won’t be seeing the sun for a while. The skiing today will be decent with fast conditions early that will becoming slushy later with rising temperatures and possible rain later this afternoon. A […]
Nozawa Snow Report 4 February 2017
Not a cloud in the sky; Perfect bluebird weather Nozawa Snow Report 4 February 2017: Stats Base at top: 330 cm Temp at Top: -7 Degree Base at Uenotaira station: 245 cm New snow since close: 1 cm Weather: Clear Nozawa Snow Report 4 February 2017: Overview No wind and no cloud will make for a good day’s skiing here in Nozawa Onsen. We only received a very light dusting last night down here in the village and 1cm was recorded up top at Yamabiko. Seems like we are well and truely into the rhythm of the season with weekly dumps of snow followed by some fine weather at the end. It will be busier today with the regular weekend […]
Nozawa Snow Report 3 February 2017
Heavy snow just keeps on falling Nozawa Snow Report 3 February 2017: Stats Base at top: 360 cm Temp at Top: -9 Degree Base at Uenotaira station: 280 cm New snow since close: 20-30 cm Weather: Light Snow Nozawa Snow Report 3 February 2017: Overview Heavy snow just keeps on falling here in Nozawa Onsen. After a pause in the falls yesterday evening, where we saw clear blue skies and a quality sunset, snowfalls have ramped up again overnight. Today we expect conditions to be much the same as yesterday, albeit with greater chance of good visibility later. Areas exposed to strong NW winds overnight will be wind scoured with a slight layer of irregular powder. The opposite faces will […]