Today will see the men of the Village in their “Bad Luck” Years aged 25 and 42 drag the huge logs down from the Forest and thru the Village to the ceremony grounds. Fuelled with camaraderie and lots of Sake it is a spectacle to watch. Then along with other villagers they will set about building the shrine within a 48 hour limit to be ready for the Festival to take place on the 15th of January. The dragging begins at the bottom of the Kandaha Race Course at about 1pm then past Hikage and Nagasaka Gondolas then down thru the village. Be […]
Fresh blue sky morning at Nozawa Onsen.
Base at top: 105 cm Temp at Top; -9 Degrees Base at Uenotaira 95 cm New Snow since close: 1 cm Weather; some blue skies right now but snow on its way. After consistent snowfall throughout yesterday and during the night, the mountain should be nice and fresh for a beautiful day of riding. Thanks to the extra cover, a few new runs are open including Utopia and Ushikubi. The Nozawa Onsen team were hard at work yesterday preparing parts of the mountain and shaping the halfpipe so hopefully we see some more of the mountain opening soon. Unfortunately the forecast has been downgraded from our original predictions for the week. There will still be light snow […]
A good week ahead for Nozawa Onsen
Base at top: 100 cm Temp at Top; -9 Degrees Base at Uenotaira 95 cm New Snow since close: 8 cm Weather; Snowing Nozawa Onsen was treated to another beautiful day out on the slopes yesterday with decent coverage, particularly at the higher altitudes. The colder temperatures kept the snow fresh, but with large crowds here over the long weekend, the snow was chopped up relatively quickly. Today is a holiday for the Japanese to celebrate “coming of age”, so the mountain once again will be quite busy. There is, however, fresh snow in the resort with 8 cm having fallen up the top overnight. […]
A promising forecast for Nozawa Onsen
Base at top: 105 cm Temp at Top; -6 Degrees Base at Uenotaira 95 cm New Snow since close: 0 cm Weather; fairly clear, snow in the evening Yesterday began with some light clouds hanging around in the skies after a nice fresh cover of the good stuff. The afternoon brought with it some beautiful blue skies and sun. The conditions stayed nice throughout the day, however there unfortunately isn’t enough snow yet for some parts of the mountain to be open. The next few days seem like they should bring some of the snow we’ve been needing, with consistent snow predicted to fall from tonight until Tuesday, […]
Mt Dock Gondola Cafe – Great Coffee in Nozawa Onsen
Kohi – it’s Japanese for Coffee It is going to be a magic day on the slopes but first coffee! If want to get your caffeine fix or some great breakfast fuel be sure to drop into the Mt Dock Gondola Cafe located just below the main Nagasaka Gondola. They also do Lunch and have beers and wine for an Apres drink. Open daily from 8am to 5pm and check out the great Mt Dock retail store at the same time. Espresso yourself people…
Nozawa Onsen is getting snowy!
Base at top: 105 cm Temp at Top; -8 Degrees Base at Uenotaira 95 cm New Snow since close: 15 cm Weather; Snowing across all of Nozawa There’s a fair lot of fresh snow building up in Nozawa Onsen, with a nice cover of snow landing by early yesterday, and another 15cm overnight. A moderate snowfall is predicted to continue for most of today keeping the mountain fresh all day. Sunday should be a great day once again with skies slightly clearing in the morning before storm clouds take shape in the late afternoon. Snow is expected to fall again from Sunday night right through till Tuesday! This Monday is the Japanese Coming of Age celebration, which […]
How to Onsen in Nozawa Onsen
Coming into peak season in Nozawa Onsen and there will be lots of visitors in the Village. One of the attractions of Nozawa is all the free Natural Hot Spring baths or Onsens which are available to enjoy. Here are a few tips to help you make the most of them. Basically if you follow the locals you will be fine but just incase here are some guidelines to help you make the most of this unique experience. • Bring; a Towel – small is best, soap and shampoo, we supply this at the Lodges. • Pick the right door Mens and Ladies are well marked. • Take shoes off before you step on the raised wooden area after entering […]
A fresh coating for Nozawa Onsen
Base at top: 100 cm Temp at Top; -7 Degrees Base at Uenotaira 95 cm New Snow since close: 12 cm Weather; clear up the top, cloudy in village With a fresh 25cm covering the resort yesterday, everyone’s spirits are up and we’re all happy to have some more fresh snow. The base now sits at 100cm up the top and 95cm at Uenotaira. With the sun shining up the top, we can expect a beautiful day to begin with followed by relatively cold temperatures and some good cloud formations over the resort in the afternoon. Later in the day snow should start falling right down to the village and will continue through the night and tomorrow. Temperatures will continue […]
Clearer days are long gone and the snow is falling
Base at top: 80 cm Temp at Top; -8 Degrees Base at Uenotaira 70 cm New Snow since close: 3 cm Weather; Snowy!! The snow began falling in the early hours of the morning and is still coming down hard. There are a few centimetres of fresh up top and there’s expected to be heavy snowfalls throughout the day. The village is starting to turn white and there’s going to be a lot more soon. Across the whole mountain which should mean we can reopen a few of the runs down to the village. Skyline and Forest trail particularly should open after this lot of snow. The next few days are looking good for us; cold temperatures will keep the […]
A big storm is on its way to Nozawa Onsen
Base at top: 80 cm Temp at Top; 1 Degrees Base at Uenotaira 75 cm New Snow since close: 1 cm Weather; Cloudy The next few days are looking exciting for us here at Nozawa Onsen. After having a slow start to the season with less snow than we expected, we should be in for a treat over the next few days. Tomorrow should bring us a fair amount of snow right down to the village and it won’t be melting away with temperatures staying below -2 degrees at the base and around -5 up the top. Looking further ahead it seems like Friday night could be the start of the big dump which will continue throughout Saturday. It won’t […]