REPORT

I saw that snow was falling at Shiga Kogen’s Yamanoeki in a post on the official Shiga Kogen X account yesterday, so I decided to head to the Ichinose Family Ski Area. Route 292 was icy and slippery above the Bouhei Bridge. The sky started out overcast around 7:30 a.m., then gradually cleared, and by around 8:30 a.m., blue skies had fully opened up above.
[Ichinose Family・Front Slope]

A skier I met at the top of the Ichinose Quad (pictured, background) said, “I didn’t expect this much snow! That’s Shiga Kogen for you.” At the top of the resort, 3 to 5 cm of relatively dry new snow had accumulated. The upper section of the Tengu Course (pictured) was surprisingly free of any granular feel and featured well-packed groomed wet snow with a powder-like feel.
[Ichinose Family・Tengu Course]

A ski area staff member told me, “A light layer of snow has been accumulating since yesterday. We started grooming earlier than usual this morning because we didn’t want the surface to freeze too hard in the overnight cold.” As I moved down the slope, the surface gradually transitioned into groomed snow with more granular mixed in.
[Ichinose Family・Tengu Course]

The Front Slope was firmly groomed with a pressed mix of granular and wet snow. A staff member from Iron Rock Japan told me, “I’m very familiar with Snownavi. I’m here in Ichinose today to test plates for one of our contracted athletes. It started snowing around midday yesterday.” In April, weekend operations include not only Ichinose Family, Yakebitaiyama, Okushiga Kogen, Yokoteyama–Shibutoge, and Kumanoyu, but also Terakoya and Takamagahara Mammoth.
[Ichinose Family・Front Slope]

　　　　　　　　
*Starting 4/1 (Wed.), the Nagano Prefecture 150th Anniversary “Shinshu Experience Discount” will offer 50% off one-day lift tickets for residents of Nagano and 20% off for visitors from outside the prefecture.
＊The base depth at the top of this report reflects the maximum snow depth across all of Shiga Kogen. Currently, the highest recorded depth of 120 cm is shared by　Ichinose Family, Okushiga, and Shibutoge
＊Cherry blossom season has arrived in Shinshu.
　　　
[Shiga Kogen Details on 4/8 (Wed.)]
*OPEN Courses … (OKUSHIGA) No.1, No.2 Expert, No.3, No.4, Downhill, Downhill (Beginner), Hill Side, Rinkan, Kids Rinkan, (YAKEBITAIYAMA) Closed on Wednwsday, (ICHINOSE FAMILY) Front, Tengu, Panorama, Perfecter, (KUMANOYU) 1st A, 1st Mogul, 2nd Shirakaba, 2nd A, 2nd Beginner, 3rd A, 3rd Rinkan, 3rd Biginner, 4th A, 4th Beginner, 4th Event, Umanose , (YOKOTEYAMA) 1st, 2nd, Kaiwa, King, (SHIBUTOGE) Gemute, Weber
*Operating Lifts … Ichinose Quad (8:30～) and totally 13 lifts
*Fees … 1 Day Pass Spring Discount from 4/1: Adult JPY7,000, Middle & High school students JPY6,500, Under 12 y/o JPY3,500, over 60 y/o JPY6,500

*Request for the original data of our photographs

reported by Snownavi