Another fine day: Good on piste skiing

by Mark on January 2, 2017

Ski touring near Nozawa Onsen

Ski touring near Nozawa Onsen

Base at top: 130 cm

Temp at Top: -4 Degree

Base at Uenotaira station: 95 cm

New snow since close: 0 cm

Weather: Partly cloudy

We are looking at a pretty similar day to yesterday here in Nozawa Onsen. Its currently partly cloudy above the mountain with good visibility up high. The temperatures will be positive below mid mountain, negative towards the top. Again today the groomed runs will be the pick, smooth and fast early becoming choppy as the afternoon wares on. Its a little quieter on the mountain now the Japanese New Years holidays are drawing to a close and there is no new snow to report.

Yesterday was a fairly good day to be skiing or boarding. As the clouds circulated around Yamabiko there were some great views. The snow remained good up top, light and dry. Towards the mid elevations and high traffic it became a little icy, grading to slushy on the lower slopes. The mid station areas were again a great place to escape the crowds.

Looking into the future we have some interesting developments ahead. From tomorrow for the next two days we should see snowfalls across the top three quarters on Nozawa Onsen. The temperature is a little warm for snow to the village until Wednesday afternoon when the snow line will drop to 300m. Snow will continue until Friday. The daily totals aren’t extreme, probably topping up the mountain with 10cm or so each night but its better than nothing. In the distant future an extremely cold and snowy system is possible around the 10th. However this is subject to big changes, long range forecasts are never exactly accurate.

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