Starry night skiing Nozawa
It’s the first weekend of 2023! This weekend is a long weekend in Japan with Monday a public holiday celebrating Seijin no hi or Coming of Age day. It is held in order to congratulate and encourage all those who have reached or will reach the age of Maturity which is 20 Years old in Japan and they are officially Adults. Check out the web cams up top here; https://nozawa-onsen.com/nozawa-webcams/
The day dawns with a sunshine and a check of the cams reveals a beautiful day up top. Mist has wrapped itself around the village this morning but it should lift as the day begins, displaying a bright blue sky. It’ll be a nice relief to feel the sun warming our cheeks after the Siberian snowstorm that’s been blowing since Christmas.
It’s going to be an exciting weekend ahead…
Tonight there will hopefully be night skiing next to the Nagasaka Gondola. Please check nozawaski.com for the latest updates near the day’s end, but the skiing should begin from 4:30pm if it’s going ahead.
The newest Nozawa Onsen cafe is opening today as well! Shizen is a vegan cafe offering delicious goodies, like Buddha bowls and smoothies. They will also host regular yoga classes and the occasional silent rave – the first tomorrow evening! Stop by and say hello to the new Shizen team and grab yourself a treat too!
TODAY:
Temperature at the top; -5 degrees
New snow since yesterday; 0cm
Base at the top; 190cm
Snow conditions; The groomers should be groomed to perfection with good quality of snow under foot and still some powder to enjoy on the sides. Watch out for the ungroomed tracked out runs and bumps from yesterday’s skiing session.
Weather; A clear morning with scattered clouds and the occasional light snow shower, getting heavier as the day ends.
LIFTS IN OPERATION:
- Nagasaka and Hikage Gondola’s open from 8:30am.
- The Hikage Quad is still closed due to maintenance.
- Please check nozawaski.com for the latest updates and closing times.
RUNS OPEN;
- All runs are open including Skyline with the exception of:
- Yunomine A, Mukobayashi, Grandprix, Hachiman, and Half Pipe.
- The Snow Park and Kandahar West and East are partially open.
- Please do not ski in restricted areas. There is still insufficient snow cover in many places and it’s dangerous to ski outside of the resort area without proper backcountry experience.
SNOW FORECAST:
The weekend’s arrived and with it, a brief respite in the heavy snowfall! We’ll get to see some sunshine in the morning but the snow will be back in the evening with heavy showers of just under 20cm. It’ll be a snowy Sunday morning but this should then ease over the day with sunshine on Monday during the day with another larger 30cm dump in the evening. From Thursday we have a little bell shaped warm front forming from the south. Will have to wait and see but maybe some rare January Spring days before temps plummet on Sunday evening and another large snow system engulfs us.
We’ll provide the latest forecast tomorrow so check back then!
While you’re out having fun, tag #nozawaonsenjapan to share you photos and be featured on our stories.