REPORT

Today I spoke to a couple of instructors with the Tsugaike Ski School (pictured) on the Kane-no-naru-oka Slope, which opened on 12/22 (Fri.). The pair from China told me in perfect Japanese, “We started taking lesson reservations last weekend. We already have a lot of bookings, particularly from overseas guests.” It was a white Christmas, with about 3cm of fresh snow at the foot of the mountain.
[Kane-no-naru-oka]

As I headed to the top of the ski resort on the gondola, it began to snow around the level of the Umanose Course. Tsugaike is now mostly open, as the Tsuga No. 2 Pair and Kane-no-naru-oka Skyliner II opened on 12/22 (Fri.), the Han-no-ki No. 3 Quad and Maruyama No. 1 Quad opened on 12/23 (Sat.), and the Han-no-ki No. 1 Quad and Tsugaike Chuo Triple opened on 12/24 (Sun.). Conditions were great for skiing fast on the Tsuga-no-mori Slope (pictured), with 2 to 3cm of fresh snow covering the moderately firm groomed powder snow.
[Tsuga-no-mori]

I had a conversation with three visitors (pictured) from Matsumoto and Hakuba who told me, “We love your site. Two of us were off on Monday this week, so we all got together to snowboard.” The Maruyama Slope (pictured) was groomed with a moderately firm powder snow surface, and while there were some areas where the tall underbrush was exposed, it did not hinder skiing.
[Maruyama]

It was the same story on the Han-no-ki Slope, which was also groomed with a well-packed powder snow surface from top to bottom. The skiing was so smooth that I found myself wanting to use the gondola and do laps on this 3km long course. The Kane-no-naru-oka Slope (first photo) had 2 to 3 cm of fresh, somewhat wet snow on top of the groomed surface.
[Han-no-ki]

　　　
[Tsugaike Kogen Details on 12/21 (Thu.)]
*Almost All Areas Available (= Champion1, Umanose Kane-no-Naru-Oka 2nd are not open)
*Available Lifts … Gondola (8:00〜), Tsuga No.2 Pair, Han-no-ki High Speed Pair, Han-no-ki no.3 Quad, Han-no-ki no.1 Quad, Mariyama no.1 Quad, Kane-no-Naru-Oka Sky liner Ⅱ, Kane-no-Naru-Oka Romance, Tsugaike Chuoh Triple
*Fees … 1 Day Ticket Adult JPY6,400, Elementary School Students JPY3,800, Over 60 y/o JPY4,800 (until 3/17)
　　
*Printable Rental Discount Coupons!
Carving Ski・Snowboard 1-Day Rental Set JPY3,000 / Outerwear JPY2,500!
Carving Ski・Snowboard High Performance Model Rental JPY500 OFF!
Kid’s Ski・Snowboard 1-Day Rental Set JPY2,500 / Outerwear JPY1,500!

*Request for the original data of our photographs

reported by Snownavi