REPORT

It was a strangely captivating morning that really brought home the scale of the mountains—and the scale of Tsugaike itself. Around 7:30 a.m., light, dry snow was falling in the Central Parking Area. I boarded the gondola right at its 8:00 a.m. start, and as it climbed up through the low-lying cloud, the falling snow suddenly stopped. To the east, a dramatic and beautiful sea of clouds spread out across the horizon (pictured; the tracks visible beneath the gondola line are within the DBD area).
[Gondola]

The Tsuga-no-mori Slope (pictured) and the Gotemba Course were groomed into firm, powdery conditions that delivered far better turns than expected—one of those confidence-boosting surfaces that makes you feel like you’re skiing better than you really are. The ungroomed sections, lightly dusted with 1 to 2 cm of fresh snow and just firm enough, were also easy and enjoyable to ski. I couldn’t help wanting to keep lapping the Tsuga No. 2 Pair for as long as time allowed, hoping the dream conditions wouldn’t end.
[Tsuga-no-mori Slope]

Less than 30 minutes later, clouds rose and blocked out the sun (pictured), and visibility quickly went white. The Han-no-ki Slope was groomed into well-set, powdery conditions and skied easily overall, with some firmer patches in the areas around the snowmaking equipment near the bottom. As I skied down, I eventually dropped below the cloud layer on the lower section of Han-no-ki.
[Tsuga-no-mori Slope]

New snow totals were greater toward the lower part of the resort today. The Maruyama Slope (pictured) picked up about 2 cm of light new snow and featured moderately firm, groomed powder conditions. The Oya-no-hara and Karamatsu Slopes also had firm surfaces with 2 to 5 cm of new snow. Measuring along the side of the Oya-no-hara Slope showed closer to 10 cm of fresh accumulation.
[Maruyama Slope]

　　
[Tsugaike Kogen Details on 1/28 (Wed.)]
*Fully OPEN!
*Operating lifts … Gondola (from 8:00) and totally 12 lifts.
*Fees … 1-Day Ticket Adult JPY8,200, 6 to 12 y/o JPY4,900, Over 60 y/o JPY6,700
　
*Printable Rental Discount Coupons!
Carving Ski・Snowboard 1-Day Rental Set JPY3,500 / Outerwear JPY2,500!
Carving Ski・Snowboard High Performance Model Rental JPY500 OFF!
Kid’s Ski・Snowboard 1-Day Rental Set JPY2,500 / Outerwear JPY1,500!

*Request for the original data of our photographs

reported by Snownavi