REPORT

If you’re looking to ski at a relaxed pace during this time of year, when everything is still covered in powder, Maruike, Hasuike, and Sun Valley—located at the gateway to Shiga Kogen—are excellent choices. Today at Maruike, both the B and C courses featured groomed packed powder bases with moderate firmness. The Maruike 1st Triple Lift is short at 269 m, but weekdays are quiet, and both Maruike B (450 m) and Maruike C (800 m) follow long, sweeping layouts that make for a surprisingly satisfying run.
[Maruike – B Course]

At the Hosaka 1st Quad unloading area, Mr. Yumoto from Shiga Kogen Mountain Discovery (pictured, right) greeted me with a cheerful “Good morning.” He continued, “I came up to check the snow quality and get my legs moving, and today’s grooming feels great. We should definitely go backcountry skiing together sometime.” The rime ice coating the trees around this area was especially beautiful.
[Sun Valley – Beginner Course]

At Hasuike, both the B Course and the Hasuike Junior Course were in excellent condition, with about 3 cm of dry, silky new snow sitting on top of a moderately soft groomed base. Students visiting on a school trip from Tokyo (pictured) told me, “We’ve really improved over these three days. It’s incredibly easy to ski and a lot of fun.”
[Hasuike – B Course]

The heavy snowfall being driven by a strong northerly wind around 7:30 a.m. eased by about 8:00, and before long patches of blue sky began to appear overhead. At the same time, views of the foothills below, completely blanketed in white, came into view. Along the ungroomed edges of the runs, 10 to 15 cm of soft, fluffy new snow had accumulated. The steep, ungroomed Maruike A remains closed for now, as some brush is still exposed.
[Sun Valley – Main Course]

＊The base depth at the top of this report reflects the maximum depth across all of Shiga Kogen. Currently, the highest recorded depth of 180 cm is at Takagahara Mammoth, while Sun Valley is reporting 70 cm.
　
[Shiga Kogen Details on 2/3 (Tue.)]
*Fully OPEN (Except for Shibutoge Simple, Yokoteyama Jumbo, Yokoteyama Kaiwa, Maruike A)
*Available Lifts … Hosaka 1st Quad (8:30～), Shigakogen Resort Gondola (8:30～) and totally 39 lifts
*Fees … 1 Day Ticket Adult JPY9,000, Middle & High school students JPY6,700, Under 12 y/o JPY4,100, over 60 y/o JPY6,900, 1 preschooler free per paying adult.

*Request for the original data of our photographs