Coincidentally, was watching Al Jazeera weather report earlier.
Noticed it looked unusually warm over Sapporo area.
Bad news for their annual Snow Festival (ice sculptures), which kicked off today.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@Whitegold, Yeah, but the warmth up there was not particularly warm and was short-lived. Maxed out around 2C for a few hours yesterday. Don't think it would have made much of a difference!
Dust on crust (0-2cm fresh) at Shiga Kogen today. Off piste unpleasant. Pistes quite hard and scratchy due to the rain yesterday. Beautiful sunny and calm day though.
Cloudy and mild Wednesday and Thursday.
Looks like Thursday evening into Friday will bring some fresh, so will probably be the only day to experience powder this week in the Nagano/Niigata area! Last day of skiing for us so hopefully it will be a good one.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Hi, quick question, should i consider Japan for early April skiing? I know its not snorkel skiing season but is there decent late season snow and if so where are the best resorts to consider for a first timer to Japan with intermediate skiing family in tow?
Dust on Crust up at the Cat today. But hidden in the trees at lower angles there was 50cm of the dust.
Or pick the real wind affected zones and ride the drifts and straight line the crust between.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
A top Yokoteyama, Shiga Kogen - at 2,305m, the highest ski lift in Japan.
Pistes were either hard and grippy if well maintained or glazed concrete with a dusting of lube if not. Great views from the top. Recommend the cafe on top of the top lift.
@Idris, I was also at Shiga Kogen yesterday. Some pretty nasty pistes at times!! My skis were definitely not sharp enough, or perhaps I never had the ability to ski polished hardpack properly...
Found some reasonable grippy pistes at Yakebitaiyama though.
Last night and today there was a fairly unexpected massive dump at Lotte Arai (and Myoko + nearby areas to a slightly lesser extent). A good 50-60cm fresh snow at higher levels. Great to ski deep powder again after 5 days of crud/crust/ice/hardpack. Last day of skiing in Japan this winter, it was a good one.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Yakebi has better piste maintenance than most of the others in Shiga; Seibu owned area.....big Prince hotel at the base.
Nozawa was fun today with between 20-30cm fresh up top and like you great to ski powder rather than ice. Will probably be in
Myoko Sun or Mon with Niigata friends who refuse to pay Arai prices......they buy Myoko pre-season tickets in Aug/Sept.
Glad you had a good last day!
After all it is free
After all it is free
Hokkaido
Flat but flattering
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Not sure what to make of the official snow reports from Arai. Yesterday they reported 13cm of fresh snow at base, and today 2cm (total = 15cm)
That doesn't square at all with our experience on the ground - we arrived 9am yesterday morning to around 20cm level new snow in the carpark, and cleared 25cm off the car around 4pm. It carried on snowing moderately after that until the evening (total = 45cm+)
Nearby Sekiyama weather station at a similar altitude recorded a snow depth increase of 33cm from 00:00 to 24:00 yesterday.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Up at the cat, More than a dusting today, started out ankle deep, by days end it was more mid calf. And a lot deeper if you found a lee slope that had wind deposit on it.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Sunday 10, Nozawa again....mogul fields were great as the powder had blown in. Up top, Yamabiko, still excellent snow and lots of fun through the trees. Today Akakura Kanko/Onsen (Myoko); everyone telling us we should have come yesterday.....yeah, yeah, yeah. Snow was like velvet until about 2p.m. when temps started to rise. Saw several foreigners being interviewed by ski patrol after skiing down a cliff!.....ok it was not a big one but those rocks can do a lot of damage. More snow on the way.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Yesterday skied Tenjin yesterday
Ankle to over the head face shots, BUT on a frozen/crusty base. Once off anything exposed it got deep quickly. By afternoon all the lower stuff got heavy.
Snowed again last night, more snow on the way.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Is Japow done for 2019?
I managed a quick week in Hakuba 2nd week of Feb. Scratched around for a few days until we found our bearings but later found the goodies, and continued to enjoy them for 4 days straight.
Then a week of sunshine and no snow until 23 February.
Last weekend was boot top.
More snow on the way mid-week.
Central Hokkaido has been better - higher, colder, new snow.
7 out of the past 10 winters mid-March has been face shot central.
So the demise is premature IMHO
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
We are in Tokyo at the moment sightseeing before heading to happo one on Wednesday. Evergreen are advising a shortage of side piste powder and advising backcountry skiing.
What do the experts think of it?
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Heard it's been pissing it down in Hakuba
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Mike Pow wrote:
Heard it's been pissing it down in Hakuba
As in heavy rain? Oh dear, I'm due out for the last week of March and Hakuba was an option. (I know, I know... don't panic, a lot can change in 3 weeks)
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Hakuba (50/265cm) has had much less snow this season (3.5 metres so far) and nothing in the past week leaving the slopes hard packed and in need of a fresh snowfall.
If that's accurate, that must be some kind of record
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Just my luck - the one year it's convenient to get to Japan!
After all it is free
After all it is free
Perhaps an internal flight to Hokkaido the best bet after all
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
I just got back from 10 days in and around Furano and there was little new snow falling in that time. If it wasn’t for the fact I was on a semi-back country tour and everyone had skins we would have had a very sad time if we had been restricted to lifts/resorts. We ended up doing three backcountry 1000m plus skinning days, one of which was almost 1500m.
Temperatures were all over the place with +2C in Furano and -15C plus windchill on the volcanoes on the same day. It had obviously been a lot colder in the days before we arrived, as most roads were coated in 5cm of hardpacked ice.
One of the most amazing sights was a road crew who over a couple of days de-iced, excavated and relaid a complete road junction with immaculate tarmac and road markings in sub zero temperatures. I can’t see that happening in the UK.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
SW Hokkaido fared a little better with resort powder until the 17th.
Touring powder up high and a top up in resort on 24th and 25th.
Based on my experiences, March will be pretty big.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Quote:
Yuzawa is a resort town in the Japanese Alps. It’s known for its hot springs and many ski areas. Yuzawa Kogen Ropeway links the town with ski trails and Alp no Sato botanical garden. At the Echigo-Yuzawa train station, Ponshukan is a sake museum with a tasting area and sake bath. The Snow Country Museum is dedicated to the area’s history and the Yuzawa-set novel “Snow Country.”
I'm just reading this mesmerising novel. Has anyone ever skied there?
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
We are in Hakuba at the moment slotting in our hotel room. For the first time in my life I cannot work up the entusism to go out skiing. It's bucketing down. With rain.
It is probably snowing from the mid station upwards so tomorrow it may be our first powder day.
This is my first time in Japan and I was amazed at just how many snowboarders there are. In the alps they are about 5 to 10% in Hakuba 47 (it was a Sunday) over 80% were boarders. And they were young as well. I suspect the average age in the alps is 35 here it appeared to be 20. No wonder the lifts don't have footrests.
Anyway we are having a good time and I will post a full report later.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Hurtle wrote:
Quote:
Yuzawa is a resort town in the Japanese Alps. It’s known for its hot springs and many ski areas. Yuzawa Kogen Ropeway links the town with ski trails and Alp no Sato botanical garden. At the Echigo-Yuzawa train station, Ponshukan is a sake museum with a tasting area and sake bath. The Snow Country Museum is dedicated to the area’s history and the Yuzawa-set novel “Snow Country.”
I'm just reading this mesmerising novel. Has anyone ever skied there?
Yes and most of the neighbouring resorts. Yuzawa Kogen, Gala and Ischiuchi are joined to make a resonably sized ski area. Opposite you have Maiko and Iwaparra. Round the corner is Kandatsu Kogen that runs night skiing till 4am. Up the road a little is Kagura and Naeba. There are a bunch of other smaller ones as well. If you get bored Nozawa Onsen is within day trip distance. Or through the tunnel to Tenjin for some alpine style steeps.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@Idris, sounds great. Thank you.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
johnE wrote:
We are in Hakuba at the moment slotting in our hotel room. For the first time in my life I cannot work up the entusism to go out skiing. It's bucketing down. With rain.
It is probably snowing from the mid station upwards so tomorrow it may be our first powder day.
This is my first time in Japan and I was amazed at just how many snowboarders there are. In the alps they are about 5 to 10% in Hakuba 47 (it was a Sunday) over 80% were boarders. And they were young as well. I suspect the average age in the alps is 35 here it appeared to be 20. No wonder the lifts don't have footrests.
Anyway we are having a good time and I will post a full report later.
When I arrived in Furano the pension proprietor gave me the tour and showed me the ski room. I had to chuckle since the room contained about 30 snowboards and one pair of skis. I guess the abundance of regular easy access powder is likely to sway the demographic (?).
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@johnE, You're in Spring Break for Japanese Uni students, so lots of 19-22yr olds. In addition last year several of the big ski areas (most of the Nagano resorts) allowed 19yr olds to ski free in the hope that they would return with groups of friends this season. If it weren't for boarders many Japanese resorts on Honshu would have closed after 'The Bubble'. Hakuba has good transport links with Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo and so can attract more people than areas up north. On weekdays in Jan/Feb the resorts survive thanks to pensioners, high school groups (up to a thousand at a time all in the same skiwear!) and foreigners.
I hope you enjoy the promised sunshine tomorrow.....I was in Hakuba this afternoon and I'm sorry but I had to laugh at some bedraggled boarders coming off the mountain.......carrying their umbrellas! Well prepared
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Thankfully it's still cold and dry up north.
A slight dusting overnight, but no snow in the forecast.
Corn cycle has begun.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Soooo, four of us have flown, with nieve optimimism, to Rusutsu for 10 days, from the UK, and in all likelihood, my new pow skis are not gonna get used.
We’re here now, so are going to use this trip as a recy for future (on forecast) trips.
What two or three resorts should we check out on Hokkaido while we’re here?
I’ve just read about, Asahidake, it’s higher and is snowing now, so we might try that. Unless anyone here can tell us it’s not worth it.
Asahidake is great but remote.
You can stay there or 'commute' from Asahikawa - about 50 mins drive.
Asahidake has three pistes and the rest is ungroomed, unpatrolled terrain.
When it's on it's magic.
Anf if it's sunny, the views are dynamite.
Decent drive from Rusutsu. About 5 hrs
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@hmsgeoff, Asahidake is really a touring ‘resort’, so needs skins or snow shoes to take full advantage. With blue sky and sunshine it is spectacular being the highest peak on Hokkaido with steam pouring from the fumaroles, but it poor weather is can be purgatory. I’ve been there in both conditions, and near white out and -36C isn’t fun.
There is only one lift (a large cable car) that runs every 20 mins, from the base to the first plateau. From there it is either skin/bootpack up, or ski back down a short steep section followed by long cat tracks out.
You would really need to know that it was really good conditions to make it worth the journey.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Snowing at Kiroro.
Decent dump forecast across Hokkaido for the 11th
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Great info, thanks guys.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Stick or twist? I was planning to ski on Honshu 24-29 March. Pretty convenient from Tokyo by train however the forecast seems better for Hokkaido and I could get flights for less than £100 (train on Honshu would be £70).
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
