The spring conditions are making hiking and exploring more accessible.
Base up top: 335cm Temp Top; -1 Degrees
Base at bottom: 175cm
New Snow since close: 0cm
Today will continue the trend of spring conditions we’ve had recently. Up the top will be fast and icy early in the day, but will soften as the temperature warms by late morning. On the lower half temperatures remained above zero all night so will be soft from first lifts onwards.
We expect a mostly sunny morning before the clouds roll through later this afternoon. Unfortunately there is the possibility of rain, but likely this should quickly turn to snow up high. Visibility early on is good, but limited over a long range with a haze blown in by south winds from the metropolitan area of Japan. This means views of surrounding big mountain peaks are somewhat limited.
Yesterday was a good day on the mountain but again long range views were limited by haze. The skiing and boarding was good early with fast conditions across the mountain. However with the warm temperatures most areas quickly became slushy. The Yamabiko area was the place to be all day as it held excellent quality spring snow that remained relatively dry. Off piste runs were heavy in the shade and slow and sticky in the sun. The park and pipe were in fine form.
The forecast still remains extremely variable over the next week or so. We expect snow showers overnight and a cold Saturday morning. This is a very brief cool front as the freezing level is set to skyrocket from 650 to 3000 meters by late afternoon.
On Sunday morning we expect another cold front to move across the region delivering snow and very cold temperatures until at least Monday afternoon. Tuesday should see another dramatic warming trend before yet another brief cool change moves through on Wednesday morning, with the likelihood of more snow showers.
Exploring one of the steeper areas of Nozawa Onsen.
