REPORT

I woke up at 2:30 in the morning and left my house shortly after to drive Route 292 (the Shiga-Kusatsu Route), which had been closed for the winter, to catch views of Mt. Shirane and the snow corridor. There were a number of people with large cameras taking pictures around the highest point of the road (2,172 meters above sea level). One of them, a man from Saitama Prefecture, told me, “It’s nice to be up high and see the view looking down (pictured). I’m headed to do some spring skiing at Yokoteyama after this.”
[Kusatsu-Shiranesan]

As of 4/22 (Mon.), the only lifts operating at Kumanoyu are the Second Pair A Line and B Line, but a total of 8 runs are still skiable! The first day of Golden Week started off cloudy but later turned sunny, and we had clear sunny skies right from the morning yesterday and today. When I went out for the early morning opening at 6:00 a.m. (*which actually began at 5:50 a.m. today), I was surprised to find hard-packed groomed slopes since it was already hot down at the base of the mountains.
[Kumanoyu・Umanose Course]

I had a conversation with two people from Gifu and Kyoto (pictured) whom I met at the Second Pair off ramp, and was told, “Yesterday we skied at Nozawa, and today and tomorrow we’ll be at Shiga. The slopes are so nice and firm!” The Second Beginner Course was groomed to its full width, and the granular snow surface was firmly packed. The snow became softer as tracks were laid by early visitors, but my skis ran well.
[Kumanoyu・Umanose Course]

I met a couple from Shimane Prefecture (pictured), who commented, “We love your site! We drove about 10 hours from Shimane Prefecture to get here. It was worth the trip since we were lucky to get firm slopes in good condition, but… we have to work tomorrow, so we’ll make the 10-hour drive back after the early morning operation ends.” The Third and Fourth beginner courses (pictured) were quite empty, so the hard and tight snow conditions held up for a long time.
[Kumanoyu・Fourth Beginner Course]
　　
*Terakoya closed on 4/29 (Mon., holiday).
*The snow depth listed at the top of this report is the highest reported throughout the Shiga Kogen area. Currently, that amount of 110 cm is at Kumanoyu.

　
[Availability Information on 4/29 (Mon.)]
*Available Courses … (Kumanoyu) No. 2A, Umanose, No.2 Beginner, No.3A, No.3 Rinkan, No.3 Beginner, No.4 Event, No.4 Beginner, and totally 30 Courses
*Available Lifts … Kumanoyu No.2 PairA & B (6:00-) and totally 17 lifts
*Fees … 4/1- Spring Discount 1 Day Ticket Adult JPY6,500, Middle & High school students, over 60 y/o JPY5,900, Under 12 y/o JPY3,200

*Request for the original data of our photographs
　
　
reported by Snownavi