Latest News from Nozawa Onsen

Nozawa Onsen Ski Resort has been open for 4 days now since December 11th. Early days but there have been some fun conditions up top at Yamabiko and down to Uenotaira. Great to get an earlier start this season and hope it means we are in for a good season ahead Was getting a bit icy yesterday morning with a cold start and bluebird conditions.  So some new snow will be most welcome and looks like it is on the way. Forecasts are showing that Winter should take a firm grip on the resort over the next few days with freezing levels dropping to below sea level and good snow falls predicted for most of the week. Today sees the […]

Base up top: 30cm         Temperature; -8 Degrees New Snow: 5cm Exciting news from Nozawa Onsen we have woken up to snow falling in the Village this morning. Not sure what time it started but there is a few centimeters already gathered on the doorstep and nice big flakes are falling outside as I drink my morning coffee. Great to see and should mean we received a decent amount up top. This should hopefully see the resort open tomorrow morning Saturday December 10th. We should know later today so will try and post an update on our twitter and facebook feeds. Some enthusiastic skiers yesterday could not wait for the Lifts to open.  They hiked up the slopes and slid down […]

Thought I better send some photographic evidence of all this snow I was talking about yesterday. Took the drive to half way up the mountain this morning and it quickly became a Winter wonderland as we wound our way up the road that leads to Yamabiko and Shiga Kogen eventually. The snow started to get pretty deep around Paradise Slope so decided to stop the car there and get out for a play. Had some folks from Malaysia and Singapore in tow and for most was the first time to see snow. We do this most years before the lifts start and it is always a buzz to see the excitement on their faces and the thrill of the first […]

We got one step closer to the December 10th opening today in Nozawa. It rained, sleeted and snowed all day in the Village and you could literally see the snowline just above the lifts on Hikage bowl. Uenotaira, which was bare a few days ago is now white again and looks like a decent cover. The resort was tweeting that there had been 20cm fall, probably enough to warrant a drive to take a drive up there in the morning with the sleds! The outlook is for fairly clear days the next two then heavy snow on Thursday night and temps dropping to as low as minus 13 degrees. Which if eventuates will be the lowest this season so a […]

Has been a picturesque past week in Nozawa Onsen with continual early season dustings on the higher slopes. Unfortunately was not enough to get the lifts running this weekend but the resort is now planning to open next weekend December 10th and the signs for snow are promising. After a warmish day in Nozawa temps are dropping fast and snow expected above 1000m tonight and tomorrow. Should be enough for a play but the real ski action looks set for next weekend. In the meantime if heading up and keen for a ski near by Shiga Kogen has opened a few lifts with some real and man made snow. Up north they have been getting dumped on so hopefully it […]

Glorious morning in Nozawa Onsen today, after a pretty wild one on the weather front yesterday. We had strong winds and sleet throughout the course of the afternoon. The top of the mountain was shrouded in cloud most of the day so was hard to see what was going on up there. But this morning it is blue skies and the views are awesome with a decent coverage of white down to about half way. As the photos show the surrounding peaks got a good dose too. Tempted to drive up and see if we can lay a few first tracks for the season! The forecast is for a few sunny days now which will be nice but probably not […]

We’ve had another 20cm of snow overnight on the mountain.  Down here in the village it’s getting very cold – we’re looking forward to the big dumps!

Snow on the horizon for Nozawa Onsen. If predictions are correct then we could be in for over 30cm of snow up top over the next few days. Snowforecast was pretty spot on last season and a lot of the time can almost double what they predict! Temperatures up top are getting down to as low as -8 degrees up top. Hopefully this will give us what we need for a December 3rd open as planned. We still have good availability right up until Christmas so will be a fun December in Nozawa so get on the site and drop us a line if keen to come up for a slide https://www.nozawaholidays.com/ http://www.lodgenagano.com/

Many Alpine regions in Japan woke up to a blanket of snow this morning and Nozawa Onsen was no different with snow down to about half way covering Uenotaira . First good covering of the year and looks like more to come over the next day or two. Then will warm up over the weekend a bit before the next system is forecast to come in nice and cold on Monday next week. Temps are set to drop to -7 degrees with freezing point dropping to Village level at about 500m above sea level. Up top they are predicting heavy snowfall so will be interesting to see if that eventuates. In the past the resort has opened on November 21st […]