REPORT

At the moment, the resorts you can still ski between are: Okushiga Kogen and Yakebitaiyama; Ichinose Family, Tannenomori, Terakoya, and Takamagahara Mammoth; and Yokoteyama and Shibutoge. Since the Yokoteyama–Kumanoyu connecting course closed at the end of March, Kumanoyu is now isolated. Likewise, with the closure of Ichinose Yamanokami, Yakebitaiyama is no longer connected to Ichinose. This morning, I ran into a skier from the town of Iizuna (pictured) who told me, “I have the NAGANO6 Powder Dream Season Pass and came to Okushiga Kogen today because the courses looked interesting.”
[Okushiga・Downhill Course]

While it was pouring rain down in the Shibu Onsen and Yudanaka Onsen area, the precipitation turned to snow as I gained elevation, with snow starting to fall around the Ichinuma pond. After passing through the Shiga No. 2 Tunnel, the roads became snow-covered, and by the time I exited the Shiga No. 3 Tunnel, the landscape had turned completely white! Okushiga Kogen Ski Resort still has more than enough snow to keep everything fully open, but on the skier’s right side of the First Slope (pictured, background), snow has been piled up to add to the slopes as the snowmelt progresses.
[Okushiga・First Slope]

The Downhill Course (first photo) and the Third Slope (fourth photo) both had hard packed, groomed granular snow bases topped with about 5 cm of fresh wet snow. However, by the time I skied the Expert Course (pictured), the surface of the groomed runs had started to soften. Mogul lanes were set up on both sides of the Expert Course and on the skier’s right side of the First Slope. A slalom course had also been set up on the skier’s left of the First Course.
[Okushiga・Expert Course]

I had a conversation with a couple from Chiba (pictured) who commented, “We were surprised to see it snowing this morning! We’re staying at Hotel Sanraku for three nights, and the dinners have been delicious. Actually, the main event of our trip is going to be the Shinshu Takayama Cherry Blossom Festival on our final day.” As of now, the cherry blossoms are in full bloom in Nagano City and Obuse, and just beginning to bloom in Yamanouchi.
[Okushiga・Third Slope]

　
＊The Okushiga Kogen Fourth Pair Lift is closed from Monday to Thursday.
＊Starting today, 4/15 (Tue.), the Snownavi Spring ’25 Edition reports will include frequent updates from Shiga Kogen as well!
＊The base depth at the top of this report reflects the maximum depth across all of Shiga Kogen. Currently, the highest recorded depth of 200 cm is at Okushiga.
*The planned final day of operation for each lift can be found here.
　 　
[Shiga Kogen Details on 4/15 (Tue.)]
*Available Courses … (Okushiga) 1st, 2nd Expert, 3rd, 4th, 6th, Downhill, Kumaotoshi, Rinkan, Hillside, Detouring, (Yakebitaiyama) Giant Slalom, Gondola Contact, Gondola detou, Olympic, Super Giant, Panorama, Middle Contac, East, Middle, East connecting route, South connecting route, (Ichinose Family) Front, Teng, Panorama, Perfecter, (Kumanoyu) 1st A, 1st Mogul Bahn, 1st Shirakaba, 2nd A, 2nd Beginner, 3rd A,3rd rinkan, 3rd Beginner, 4th A, 4th Beginner, 4th Event, Umanose, (Yokoteyama) 1st, 2nd, Kaiwa, Jumbo, King, (Shibutoge) Gemut
*Available Lifts … (Okushiga) 2nd Rapid Pair, 3rd Rapid Pair, Gondola, (Yakebitaiyama) No.1 Gondola (8:00 -), No.2 Gondola, (Ichinose Family) Ichinose Quad, 2nd Pair B Line, (Kumanoyu) No.1 Pair, No.1 Pair B Line, (Yokoteyama) 1st Sky B Line, 2nd Sky, 3rd Sky, 4th Pair, (Shibutoge) 1st Romance
*Fees … 3/31- Spring Fee 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