REPORT

Nozawa Onsen Village native Nozomi Maruyama won Japan’s first medal in the women’s ski jumping Normal Hill event, taking bronze on 2/7 (Sat.) local time, giving momentum to the strong performances by Japanese athletes that have followed. This morning in the Yamabiko area of Nozawa Onsen, every groomed run offered moderately firm, easy-to-ski powder conditions.
[Yamabiko A Course]

“The snow feels amazing!” said a group of three men I met on the Yamabiko D Course. My edges gripped the snow effortlessly as I skied from Yamabiko D into C and then boarded the Yamabiko Four (pictured, background). A man from Niigata Prefecture riding the lift with me said, “The grooming today feels fantastic. I’m drawn to the variety and character of Nozawa’s courses, so I come here often. My favorite line with fresh snow is the Mizunashi Slope down into the Ushikubi Course.”
[Yamabiko C Course]

Tomorrow, 2/11 (Wed., holiday), the fourth “First Track”s event of the season will be held. Participants receive a complimentary drink ticket for non-alcoholic CORONA CERO, but I spoke with a staff member at the CORONA Hikage POP UP BAR near the Hikage Gondola base station (pictured) who said, “We’ll be waiting with ice-cold beer!”
[CORONA Hikage POP UP BAR]

I crossed paths with a woman from Nagano prefecture (pictured, right) who told me, “I always read your reports. I just bombed down the Skyline first thing this morning—it felt incredible! The halfpipe is fun too. Why don’t you give it a try?” The women’s halfpipe qualifiers for the Milano-Cortina Olympics begin on 2/11 (Wed.), with the men’s qualifiers starting on 2/12 (Thu.).
[Halfpipe]

＊“THIS IS LIVING FIRST TRACKS” events will be held on 2/11 (Wed.), 2/15 (Sun.), 2/19 (Thu.), 3/4 (Wed.), and 3/8 (Sun.).
　　
[Nozawa Onsen Details on 1/26 (Mon.)]
*Fully OPEN (Except for KANDAHAR WEST & EAST)
*Operating Lifts … Nagasaka Gondola (8:30～) and totally 14 lifts
*Fees … Adult JPY7,500, Under 15 y/o JPY4,500, Over 60 y/o JPY6,000
　　
＊Request for the original data of our photographs

reported by Snownavi