Ski Contest Nozawa Onsen
Yesterday was an utterly stunning day up in the mountain and down in the village – you were either skiing or walking through gently falling snow mixed with sunshine creating a magic concoction of glitter in the sky! At some moments, the flakes were so fat, if they caught in your hair they lingered as a new accessory, not melting for a few minutes.
Today is the last day of the All Japan National Junior High School Ski Championships.
School children from around Japan aged between 13 and 15 years old have been competing this week in a range of disciplines such as downhill racing, ski jumping and cross country skiing.
Nozawa Onsen has the competition contract for the next 10 years meaning every year around this time, the village will be bustling with Japanese families and their excited children ready to race. This week I’ve seen quite a few brave souls keeping fit and training by running up and down Nozawa’s hilly streets.
Nozawa has a long connection with Junior High School students skiing in the resort. In fact, the first record of skiing here was by a villager who went to Junior High School in Iiyama in 1897.
頑張って - Ganbate to all those competing.
TODAY:
Temperature at the top; -3 degrees on Yamabiko, -1 degrees on Uenotaira
New snow since yesterday; 1cm but we ended up with well over 30cm into yesterday
Base at the top; 245cm
Snow conditions; The cold conditions have preserved yesterday’s powder for some lovely soft skiing today.
Weather; Cloudy for most of the day. More snow expected from this afternoon. With up to 10cm on the cards for Yamabiko.
LIFTS IN OPERATION:
All lifts bar Karasawa Double, Utopia Double, Skyline Double and Challenge Pair are open.
RUNS OPEN: Same as yesterday.
SNOW FORECAST:
Ski Contest Nozawa Onsen
Todays weather will be quite similar to yesterday. Light snow showers throughout the day, getting moderate by the day’s end – about 10cm of fresh snow on Yamabiko. The cold temperatures are now holding over the weekend, still in the low negative degrees. Saturday will start with some sunny snow showers, clearing in the afternoon. Sunday will be our bluebird day. And then, the strong Northerly winds blow in for Monday, with light snow starting during the day, getting heavy by the evening. 20cm of snow forecast to fall! Tuesday’s forecast is heavy snow for most of the day leaving us for that magic foot of fresh powder. Lighter snow showers continue on Thursday and Friday. It’s looking like an epiiic weekend ahead.
If keen to improve your own skills we have still got spots in our Ski and Board Improvement courses in late Feb and March. Here is a link to look and book; https://www.nozawaholidays.com/news/ski-snowboard-improvement-courses-nozawa-japan/
Check back tomorrow for the latest forecast and don’t forget to tag #nozawaonsenjapan in your pics – we love to see your adventures out in the snow!