REPORT

Rain reached the summit of Yokoteyama (2,307 m) yesterday as temperatures climbed during the day. With the weather not expected to improve, early morning operations of the 1st Sky, from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m., were canceled today. Early this morning I met a group of three from Kanagawa and Tokyo (pictured) who told me, “We always check your reports! We came for the Shibutoge Snow Park that opened on 4/1 (Wed.). It looks windy—we hope the lifts are running.”
[Yokoteyama ・2nd Slope]

The 1st and 2nd Slopes at Yokoteyama (pictured) had groomed, soft granular snow bases, and snow coverage remained complete with no exposed brush to be found. The rain had stopped, but strong winds moved in this morning, so with no clear timeline for the 3rd to start running, I headed over to Kumanoyu by car since the connecting course was closed.
[Yokoteyama・2nd Slope]

By around 10 a.m. at Kumanoyu, the groomed snow on the 2nd Beginner (fourth photo), 3rd Beginner (pictured), and 4th Beginner courses had softened into a loose granular base, creating some drag. The Kumanoyu 3rd Quad (pictured, foreground) ended operations on 3/29 (Sun.), and the 1st Pair (pictured, background) will close for the season tomorrow, 4/12 (Sun.).
[Kumanoyu・3rd Beginner Course]

Deep moguls had formed across the entire 2nd A Course at Kumanoyu, and technical skiers and mogul lovers continued to drop in to train there. Around 10:30 a.m., as the clouds began to settle, the Yokoteyama 3rd Sky and the Shibutoge 1st Romance lifts finally began operating.
[Kumanoyu・2nd Beginner Course]

　　
*When Route 292 reopens at 10:00 a.m. on 4/22 (Wed.), private vehicles will once again be able to access the Shibutoge parking area.
*From 4/1 (Wed.), the Nagano Prefecture 150th Anniversary “Learn More! Shinshu Experience Discount” offers 50% off one-day lift tickets for Nagano residents and 20% off for non-residents.
*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 at Okushiga, while Yokoteyama has 75 cm.
*Cherry blossom season has arrived in Nagano.
　　　
[Shiga Kogen Details on 4/11 (Sat.)]
*OPEN Courses … (OKUSHIGA) No.1, No.2 Expert, No.3, No.4, Downhill, Downhill (Beginner), Hill Side, Rinkan, (YAKEBITAIYAMA) Panorama, Panorama In, Giant Slalom, Gondola Detour, South, East Connection, (ICHINOSE FAMILY) Front, Tengu, Panorama, (Terakoya) Eternal, Philosophy, LIPS, (Takamagahara) Takamagahara Mammoth, (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 17 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