REPORT

Since 4/10 (Mon.), Yakebitaiyama has been open daily, with the exception of Wednesdays, with only the First Gondola in operartion. There are currently two skiable routes: Giant Slalom Course (pictured) → Gondola Contact Course → First Gondola base station, and Panorama & Panorama In courses → South Course → East Course → First Gondola base station. It is also possible to ski to and from the Okushiga Kogen ski area from the top. When I arrived at the parking lot at 7:00 a.m., the eastern sky was hazy due to the presence of Asian Dust in the air.
[Yakebitaiyama・Giant Slalom Course]

I was concerned about the condition of the slopes, both in terms of the snowpack and the Asian Dust but there was plenty of snow on the groomed portions down to the middle of the mountain, and the dust turned out to not be a problem. The Giant Slalom Course (pictured) was well-groomed in the morning, with a tightly-packed granular snow surface. Even on the area at the bottom of the resort, where there is less snow, I was able to ski the Gondola Contact Course and detour course.
[Yakebitaiyama・Giant Slalom Course]

The Panorama Course can be taken to the upper portion of the South Course, and followed to the East Course and on to the First Gondola base station. I skied carefully on the lower part of the East Course where the width of the snow became narrower. By 9:00 a.m., the groomed granular snow that had been tightly packed at the beginning of the day was beginning to loosen up.
[Yakebitaiyama・Panorama Course]

By the way, when I took the First Gondola back up the mountain, I was joined by Espyuki (pictured), who provides ski resort information on his YouTube channel. He told me, “I often check Snownavi reports for the Hokushin area. The slopes were very hardpacked this morning, but they’re starting to soften up now, and the skiing is getting more comfortable!”
[Yakebitaiyama・Panorama Course]

　
[Availability Information on 4/13 (Thu.)]
*Available Courses … (Mt. Yakebitai) Gondola Connecting, Panorama, South, Giant Slalom, Panorama In, (Tanne-no-mori Okojo) Tanne-no-mori Okojo, (Ichinose Family) All courses open except for Perfecter & Terakoya Connecting, (Okushiga Kogen) All courses open except for Kumaotoshi C, (Kumanoyu) All courses open except for No.1 AC, No.1 Shirakaba C, No.1 Mogul Bahn, (Mt. Yokote Shibu-toge) All courses open except for No.2 G (Rinkan Road Detour), No.5 G, No.6 G, Jumbo C, Mt. Yokote Kumanoyu Connection C
*Available Lifts … Okushiga Kogen Gondola (8:00-) and totally 21 lifts
*Lift Fees … From 4/1 Spring Discount Adult JPY5,500, 13-18 & Over 60 y/o JPY5,100, 6-12 y/o JPY2,700

*Hotels of Shiga Kogen

*Click here to purchase photos found in this report
　
　
reported by Snownavi