Best Powder Day Nozawa It’s one of those days… One of the BEST days of the year… A POWDER DAY! This is what people travel all over the world from to come ski and ride. With yesterday’s high winds, the upper mountain was closed all day… What this means for riders today is plenty of untouched fresh powder to claim first tracks on! Take care skiing and snowboarding in the powder. I’d recommend riding with at least one other person, just in case you lose a ski or pole and have to dig around in the snow. It’s still very cold out there, perfect temperatures for preserving the fresh powder, but wrap up warm – goggles and muffs are highly […]
Lessons Nozawa Japan
Japan Cold Snap Nozawa
Japan Cold Snap Nozawa Japan is being hit by a once-in-a-decade cold snap and we’re certainly feeling it here in Nozawa Onsen. We’ve again hit our two metre mark for the Yamabiko base! Yesterday we woke up to sunshine but by lunchtime, the clouds had crowded in, the winds picked up and the snow started falling. The base went from 150cm to 230cm in just one day! Temperatures are the coldest they’ve been all season so if you’re out chasing some of that powder today, put on double those usual layers and make sure you’ve got your powder planks if venturing anywhere off the groomers. You know its cold when the road heating just can’t keep up. It’s going to […]
Snow Fall Nozawa Onsen
Snow Fall Nozawa Onsen Today is the beginning of what’s looking to be the snowiest week of the season so far! Perfect timing for all our guests travelling for the Chinese New Year. Nozawa Onsen is known for its excellent snowfall. People travel from all over the world to get a taste of that fresh powder! The best snowfall year Nozawa has ever experienced was in 1986… That season, they received more than 2000cm! The lowest record was in 2016 – where the mountain received just over 500cm… This is still a lot compared to an Australian ski field such as Perisher, which in that same year received just over 350cm. Today we should see around 50cm of snowfall throughout […]
How to Ski Powder
How to Ski Powder Those who come to ski and snowboard in Japan, visit here because they are chasing the world-renowned powder. When you’re watching the locals and pros ski down powder, they make it look so effortless and natural. But really, it takes a lot of practice to perfect. Powder skiing is completely different to skiing on piste. You basically have to throw all previous knowledge about skiing out of the window. Advice For the skiers out there, create a large surface area to float on by bringing your skis close together. When you’re skiing on piste, you usually use your downhill ski to begin to turn. If you try doing that in powder skiing, you’re going to send […]
Resorts Open Early Japan
Resorts Open Early Japan Harvesting the Veggies in Nozawa before they end up in the cool room. We have had some beautiful sunny days lately and as always helpful with getting work done before the season starts. Conditions look set to change from tomorrow afternoon with a West/ North West wind change dropping temps by over 10 degrees and taking the freezing level down. Resorts Open Early Japan Rain up top will turn to snow and a decent fall forecast for Friday night. Not sure it will be enough to get the lifts turning but with cold temps they can no doubt get the snow making happening too. Stay tuned it is early days. Resorts currently open in the […]
Best Coffee Nozawa Onsen
Best Coffee Nozawa Onsen Getting your morning fix in Nozawa Where is your favourite Coffee in Nozawa? Cold Winter, Hot Coffee or if prefer Hot Chocolate. They kind of go hand in hand and nothing better to warm the soul than a hot brew on a snowy day. For years it was hard to get a good cuppa in Nozawa and I remember people begging us to get a decent coffee Machine. So we did, about 10 Years ago I am guessing, we put it at Nozawa Central and it was the first espresso machine in town. As people’s love of coffee grew in Japan and around the world Nozawa followed and before long there were plenty of places to […]
Courier Service Nozawa Japan
Courier Service Nozawa Japan The Journey is inevitable. Baggage is optional Have lots of people contacting us asking if can send their bags up to Nozawa when arrive. The Answer is yes! The Courier service mainly handled by a company known as Black Cat or “Kuro Neko” is next level. They will get your bag from A to B in Japan in no time and at a very reasonable cost with pure Japanese efficiency. I once sent a bag from Tokyo at 7pm and it arrived in Nozawa at 9am the next morning. I would have struggled to get it there any quicker myself! It only cost 1500 yen too. All Airports in Japan have a “Takyubin” counter where the […]
Ski Course Nozawa Japan
Ski Course Nozawa Japan Who wants to improve their Skiing or Snow Boarding skills? Ski and Board Improvement courses in Nozawa Work on your Parallel Turns and Apres yarns with one of our awesome improvement courses this coming season in Nozawa. Join a group of like minded people to enjoy a week in the snow and hone your skills at the same time. Whether board or ski we are running 3 courses this season in December, February and March. Ski Course Nozawa Japan 7 Nights Accommodation, breakfast, 6 days lift passes and 4 hours a day of instruction all included from just 133,000 Yen or about $1435 per person. Great value and sure you would get a lot out of […]
Accommodation Nozawa Fire Festival
Accommodation Nozawa Fire Festival The Nozawa Onsen Fire Festival Who has seen it? Let us know what you thought it was like. The Fire Festival is a spectacle which needs to be seen to be believed. It is held on January 15th every year to pray for a plentiful harvest, health and good fortune in the coming year. The festival dates back to 1863, and has a rich and colourful history in Nozawa Onsen. During this festival the twenty-five and forty-two year old men from the village play a very important role. An old belief in Japan dictates that, for men, these years are unlucky ages. The men of the Village construct the shaden (shrine) from beech wood on the […]
Nozawa Gondola Open Close
Nozawa Gondola Open Close Thats a wrap for the Gondola for this Green Season in Nozawa Next time you ride it, hopefully the scene will look like this nice and white at the top when you get off. It was a spectacular array of colours in the forest canopy below the Gondola these past weeks. You can still get to the top but need to hike, ride or drive. With the cool weather it is a beautiful time to ride up and cruise down. Have many people asking when will the Ski Resort open? The official planned opening date is for Saturday the 26th of November. Last year we saw a 30th of November opening with some early falls and […]