REPORT

The snow falling at the Champion Parking Area at 7 a.m. this morning was heavy with moisture, but once I stepped off the gondola at the top of the resort, it had turned to dry powder. Along the Han-no-ki High-Speed Pair, conditions were excellent, with a moderately firm, powdery groomed base topped by 5 to 10 cm of light new snow. After confirming that the Tsuga No. 2 Pair wouldn’t start running until after its scheduled 8:30 a.m. start time, I hurried straight over to the steep pitch along the Han-no-ki No. 3 Quad (pictured).
[Han-no-ki Slope]

There waiting for me was around 30 cm of soft, fluffy new snow! The depth and quality were far better than I had expected, which instantly lifted my spirits. A skier I rode up with on the Han-no-ki No. 3 Quad (first photo) told me, “I always follow Snownavi’s reporting! The snow was better than I expected and felt great, but I was surprised when the snow quality suddenly changed near the bottom.” As I skied down, the new snow topping the moderately firm, moist groomed surface on the lower part of Han-no-ki became heavier, making turns more difficult.
[Han-no-ki Slope]

After transferring from the Han-no-ki No. 3 Quad to the Han-no-ki High-Speed Pair, I headed over to the Tsuga-no-mori Slope. Beautifully smooth, untouched snow stretched out beneath the Tsuga No. 2 Pair (pictured), which had just started running. And of course, it goes without saying that the ungroomed sections of Tsuga-no-mori delivered a plush 30 to 40 cm of fluffy new snow!
[Tsuga-no-mori Slope]

On the groomed sections of Tsuga-no-mori (pictured) as well as the groomed Gotemba Course, conditions were excellent, with a nicely set powder-groomed surface topped by about 10 cm of light new snow. On the Shirakaba Slope, the moderately firm, moist groomed base was covered by roughly 5 cm of wetter new snow, which had been tracked up into a bumpy surface that really strained the legs. Meanwhile, on the Oya-no-hara Slope, 1 to 2 cm of fresh snow on top of the moist groomed surface allowed my skis to run fast and smooth.
[Tsuga-no-mori Slope]

　
＊At midnight on 1/1 (Thu.), the NEW YEAR COUNTDOWN Fireworks will light up the sky over the Oya-no-hara Slope.
　　
[Tsugaike Kogen Details on 12/30 (Tue.)]
*All Courses are OPEN!
*Operating lifts … Gondola (from 8:00) and totally 13 lifts.
*Fees … 1-Day Ticket Adult JPY8,200, 6 to 12 y/o JPY4,900, Over 60 y/o JPY6,700
　
*Request for the original data of our photographs

reported by Snownavi