JAPAN Snow Wrap – Hokkaido Resorts Sporting an Extra Metre or So
_Hakuba – looking tantalisingly peaky. Image:: Phoenix Hakuba www.phoenixhotel.jp
Japan Snow Wrap
The land of the Long White Cloud more than deserves its on snow wrap… with a plethora of resorts large and small all over Japan this wrap could grow very long very quickly so here are a selection of the better known resorts, and their conditions are indicative of what can be found everywhere.
It’s the same old story for Japan… snow snow and snow. Hokkaido has done particularly well this week, with Rusutsu the standout. Honshu resorts have recovered from last week’s rain and temperatures should stay below zero this week.
Hokkaido
Niseko
Recent snow: A good metre since the middle of last week but a lot of wind and blizzard style conditions.
Coming snow: Light snow through until the end of the weekend with some sun peeping through on Thursday and Friday.
Conditions generally: Plenty of new snow, but also plenty of wind. Word is the resort has some lovely wind stashes but the snowpack is very unstable – avalanche central!
Furano
Status: Open
Recent snow: Not quite a metre since last Tuesday, with snow clouds every day except Thursday and particularly heavy falls on Friday. Basically a powder filled week!
Coming snow: Snowing through until Saturday when the sun looks set to make an appearance. At the moment forecast is only calling for light snow, but it’s likely to be heavier than expected.
Conditions generally: Fresh powder every day for a week now, some say more powder than people there to ski it!
Rusutsu
Status: Open
Recent snow: It’s snowed a good 30cm or so every day since Wednesday – by our calculations that’s well over a metre. Even with all that snow the sun managed to get a look in on Thursday.
Coming snow: Daily snowfalls, but it’s the weekend we should all be getting excited about, the snow will get heavier and heavier right through until Sunday.
Conditions generally: Between the amazing daily snow and the cold air things are looking pretty good in Rusutsu!
Honshu
Status: Open
Recent snow: 60cm or at village level since last Wednesday, spread pretty evenly over the week with about 10cm – 15cm daily.
Coming snow: Following last week’s trend, the start of the week will be warm-ish, fortunately not as warm as last week, no rain is expected, but not much snow either. Then as it gets colder there should be some decent new snow, coming in on Thursday night and hanging around until Saturday.
Conditions generally: There’s been enough new snow to cover the melt-freeze base from last week’s rain and the regular top-ups of snow are helping things along nicely.
Shiga Kogen
Status: Open
Recent snow: Around 50cm since Friday, after a few clear days to finish off last week. Most of that snow came in the form of a blizzard that made for some pretty wild times over the weekend.
Coming snow: The snow will come back some time on Thursday, most likely, with moderate snowfalls through until Sunday. Nothing epic in the forecast yet though, but things can change!
Conditions generally: The continuing cold has played its part in reestablishing a good base for new snow to fall upon.
Nozawa
Status: Open
Recent snow: A little over a metre of snow in the past week with snowfalls spread pretty evenly over the week, though heavier on the weekend.
Coming snow: Nozawa looks set to do best from the storm heading to the region at the end of the week with solid snowfalls Thursday evening through to Saturday.
Conditions generally: Great cover thanks to last week’s snow. Some warmer temps expected to kick off the week, perhaps some sunshine as well, so lovely days to be outside!
Zao
Status: Open
Recent snow: 40cm or so since last Tuesday, heaviest over the weekend after a couple of days of blue sky.
Coming snow: Clear skies or slightly overcast for most of the week with mild temps – though still sufficiently below zero to maintain the base, then moderate snow over the weekend.
Conditions generally: The weekend snow brought conditions back up after last week’s warm spell and with the temperature continuing cold it should stay pretty good until the next snowfalls next weekend.
Hakuba forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.
Niseko forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.
