REPORT

First thing this morning, I ran into Mr. Yamada from TEAM RESCUE WAX, who commented, “Today we’ve got that light, Shiga Kogen snow.” He continued, “I came to restock our products carried at TACT Ski Lab Okushiga inside Sportsheim Okushiga. You can buy Rescue Wax there, and they also offer Super Musou base treatments.”
[Okushiga Kogen・4th Slope]

A powerful cold front enveloped the Japanese archipelago starting on 2/7 (Sat.), and by the morning of 2/8 (Sun.), temperatures at Okushiga Kogen had dropped to -15°C. On weekends and holidays, the gondola, 2nd Rapid Pair, and 3rd Rapid Pair begin operating 30 minutes earlier than usual, at 8:00 a.m. When I entered the 4th Slope (pictured) via the 4th Pair, which started running at 8:40 a.m., I was greeted by groomed packed powder with a pleasantly soft feel.
[Okushiga Kogen・4th Slope]

At the gondola summit station, I met a group of four visitors from Aichi and Shizuoka prefectures (pictured), who told me, “We always check your reports. The fresh snow on the flatly-groomed runs feels fantastic.” Interestingly, the Downhill Course had two distinct surfaces: the left side featured well-compacted packed powder, while the right side combined firmer groomed wet snow topped with about 10 cm of light, dry new snow. On the 3rd Slope, the well-compacted packed powder base was covered with 5 to 10 cm of the same dry new snow.
[Okushiga Kogen・Downhill Course]

On the connecting course to Yakebitaiyama, I ran into a group of three visitors from Aichi and Saitama prefectures (two of whom are pictured). They told me, “We always check Snownavi. We use the Mt. 3 Pass for Okushiga, Yakebitaiyama, and Madarao. We’re heading over to Yakebitaiyama now!” As a side note, dates including a 9—such as 2/9 (Mon.)—are celebrated as “Okushiga Day,” when the Okushiga area one-day lift ticket is discounted by ¥700.
[Okushiga Kogen・Yakebitaiyama Connecting 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 Okushiga is reporting 140 cm.
　
[Shiga Kogen Details on 2/8 (Sun.)]
*Fully OPEN (Except for Shibutoge Simple, Yokoteyama Jumbo, Yokoteyama Kaiwa A, 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