REPORT

Due to the arrival of the powerful cold wave, the Nagasaka and Hikage gondolas were out of service for the day yesterday at Nozawa Onsen Ski Resort. That meant visitors on the hunt for preserved stashes of deep powder were already lined up at the Nagasaka Gondola base station at 7:00 AM. With great anticipation, they headed to one of Nozawa’s major attractions, the special self-responsibility area of the Yamabiko Slope.
[Nagasaka Gondola]

As the name suggests, each skier and boarder who enters the area is fully responsible for their own safety. When I took one foot out of my binding to check the snow, there was a soft layer of more than 80 cm, and I was quickly buried up to my inseam. At the Yamabiko Quad boarding area, I saw people coming down from the slopes and high-fiving their buddies, with some of them saying, “Wow!” and “That’s incredible!”
[Special Self-Responsibility Area]

Even on the ungroomed Yamabiko B Course, there was a soft layer of more than 90 cm of fantastic fluffy snow. There were many international visitors amongst the powder seekers, and I heard people excitedly shouting, “No-za-wa On-sen!” (A Japanese rider is pictured here.)
[Yamabiko Slope・B course]

The ungroomed Kurokura Course (pictured, background), which leads to the Hikage Slope, had between 40 to 50 cm of fluffy fresh snow. In other news, the “SAVREQ” system that captures images of your skiing is now installed on the Hikage slope. When I tried it out, it was easy to set up and operate with my smartphone. (*Checking the video is free of charge for 12 hours. Downloading videos costs ¥300 per video.)
[Hikage Slope]

　
[Nozawa Onsen Availability Information on 1/17 (Tue)]
*All courses are available (Except for Yunomine A, Mokobayashi C, Hachiman C, Challenge 39°, Grand Prix C, KurokuraC)
*Available Lifts … Nagasaka Gondola (8:30-), Hikage Gondola (8:30-) and totally 14 lifts
*Lift Fees … Adult JPY6,000, Under 15 y/o JPY3,600, Over 60 y/o JPY4,800

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reported by Snownavi