REPORT

Heavy snow has been falling densely on the slopes since yesterday afternoon. This morning, I spoke with a father and daughter (pictured) from Aichi Prefecture, who told me, “We love your site! We mainly ski in the Takayama area in Gifu Prefecture, but we come out to Shiga Kogen once a season. The snow is nice and light, and we are always on the hunt for powder!”
[Okushiga Kogen・Downhill Piedmont Course]

The Okushiga Kogen Downhill Course was groomed with a moderately soft, powder snow surface that was topped off with a thin layer of fresh snow. The Hillside Course (pictured), which branches off from the middle of the Downhill Course, was groomed to the width of two grooming machines on the skiers’ right side, while the rest was left ungroomed. I thoroughly enjoyed the 30 cm of light, fresh snow I found there.
[Okushiga Kogen・Hillside Course]

There was 30 to 35 cm of fresh snow on the Kumaotoshi Course (pictured, maximum 30°, average 20°, length 400 m), which is one of Okushiga’s steepest slopes. You might think it would have been an all-out battle for powder, but first tracks were laid down at 9:20, a full 50 minutes after the gondola opened for business. I was pretty excited to find this perfect, secret spot!
[Okushiga Kogen・Kumaotoshi Course]

I had a chat with a digger (pictured) who works to maintain the Free LINE Park, who said, “We had our grand opening on 2/3 (Fri.), and we’re working hard to keep the park open and in tip-top shape daily up until Golden Week.” Currently, the Free LINE Park has a total of 20 elements, including kickers, spines, banks, waves, and various jibs.
[Okushiga Kogen・6th Slope]

　　
[Availability Information on 2/9 (Thu)]
*All courses are available! (Except for Maruike A, Mt. Nishidate Okabe C)
*Available Lifts … Okushiga Kogen Gondola (8:30-) and totally 38 lifts
*Lift Fees … 1 Day Ticket Adult JPY6,500, 13-18 & Over 60 y/o JPY5,600, 6-12 y/o JPY3,200 (Until 3/31)

＊Hotels of Shiga Kogen

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reported by Snownavi