Evening sun and vast ocean of clouds

It is vast ocean clouds that it seems to be able to get on the cloud.

It was very beautiful yesterday.

(View from Higashi-tateyama ski area.)

Another Sunny Day!

It's bright and sunny today in Shiga Kogen!
Temperatures in the morning were about -2℃ in Hasuike.
This is Misumaike (Misuma Pond), known as well as Sankaku Pond, a few hours ago.

Still winter in Shiga Kogen

The winter is still with us in Shiga Kogen. During the night, we registered -6℃ and 12 cm of fresh snow in Hasuike.

More snow is expected during the day and it's cloud at the moment.

Warm up and have fun!!!

Fresh snow...

This picture was taken from the same place and day as the picture posted before, at the end of the day. Hopefully, we will have more snow during the week!

This is Hasuike Ropeway Station, 4:30 P. M.

Sunny Sunny Sunny!!!

This is how the sky was in the morning and still is a sunny blue sky day! Some people from Canada came here today to enjoy this beautiful day and go out snowshoe hiking. They decided to walk around Yokoteyama where, on clear days, it's possible to see even the Mt. Fuji. Hope they are enjoying the view right now!

Rainy Friday

Unfortunately, we had a rainy Friday at Shiga Kogen...
But it can be a perfect day to go out and visit the snow monkeys.

This couple, Diana and Giovanni, are Brazilian living in Australia and decided to spend some days in Japan.

They enjoyed a beautiful Thursday on the snow and decided to visit the Monkey Park on Friday. It seems that they enjoyed a lot!

Shiga Kogen Backcountry Ski Tour 2009 - video

Just a few moments of skiers having fun at Shiga Kogen Backcountry Ski Tour, last Saturday.

They skied during the whole day and here they were at Yoshigadaira.

More pictures from Sun Valley

This is Sun Valley Main Course, intermediate level.

Lots of snow!

A great day for those who were lucky enough to go out and enjoy the snow on Monday!

Fresh snow all day! Bad visibility but a great day anyway!

Pictures from Yokoteyama on Monday.

Beautiful Weekend!

Saturday ended beautifully!

Lots of fresh snow during the day and this gorgeous blue sky in the end!

This is Maeyama being prepared to the next day.

Picnic in the snow...

How about a picnic in the middle of snow and trees and under a gorgeous blue sky?

That's how dozens of people are enjoying their Saturday today, snowshoe hiking with Shiga Kogen's guides!

Perfect Weekend!

Saturday starts with more 17 cm of snow and it seems that we will have more during the day.

This is Suzurikawa bus stop at 8:40 A. M. Everybody going out to enjoy the snow very early!

Lucky people!





Higashitate Ski Course at 9:32 A. M. Really beautiful day today!

And today starts the 2nd Shiga Kogen Snow Village...

Looks beautiful!

Come and join us!

Shiga Kogen's winter illumination.

February 21, 2009 (Sat) to March 14 (Sat)

From 19:00-21:15

Where: SHIGA KOGEN SOGO KAIKAN 98 at Hasuike

more 10

Last night's snow fall add more 10 cm to our ski runs.
It's very cloudy today and we hope we can see more and more snow registered here!
So far, we have registered 116 cm in Hasuike.

This is Higashitateyama viewed from Hasuike this morning.

and this picture was taken yesterday, at the end of the day, in front of Hasuike Ropeway Station.

Shika Kogen 10!

Today we register 10 cm of snow and it was -10℃ in the morning at Hasuike.

at the summit...

Sun Valley, Shiga Kogen, Joshinetsu National Park, Nagano, Japan

February 17, 2009.

Tuesday

14:00

Sun Valley Quadrilift

Sun Valley, Shiga Kogen, Joshinetsu National Park, Nagano, Japan

February 17, 2009.

Tuesday

13:46

Perfect Day!

Yesterday was a really great day in Shiga Kogen!!! Light snow in the morning and them sunny until the end of the day.

This is Maruike (Maru Pond) yesterday, about 1:00 P. M.

And that's Sun Valley area.

It was a good day to go out and enjoy the snow, skiing, snowboarding or just taking pictures...

Lots of images from Sun Valley coming soon.

Snowboarding....

Some days ago I met these 2 guys at Yokoteyama’s bakery. Since they spent a whole week in Shiga Kogen snowboarding, it was nice to chat with them and learn about their favorite places.

Matt Richards、23 & Chris Alexoulas, 23

Chris Alexoulas is Australian and was traveling with Matt Richards, who is from Canada but is living in Australia, both 23 years old. Richards had been snowboarding in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United States and many places in Japan and they like Shiga Kogen because here is so huge that you can spend a whole week and still find new places to go and have fun. Also, they liked the powder snow and lift system. Although they had some difficult in changing buses because they don’t speak or read Japanese, but I guess this is part of the experience about“being in Japan” and I think they were great, because they only took the wrong bus once! Speaking about Japanese experiences, they loved relaxing in the onsen after coming back from the mountains, cold and tired, and said it’s really refreshing. They decided to come to Shiga Kogen after some research and they arranged the entire trip easily on the internet.

After a week snowboarding in Shiga Kogen, I asked about their favorite places and they told me that the places they had most fun was the Yakebitaiyama area and the Yokoteyama area as the view from the top of Yokoteyama is really worth seeing. Also, Shibutouge area, which is the other side of Yokoteyama, is really good for snowboarders.

Chris and Matt loved Shiga Kogen’s scenery and just thought it is a little too quiet at night and want more parties next time!

2℃

Our ponds are melting here!

But that's all right...
We hope Snow-Forecast.com prediction are right, them we will have lots of snow soon in Shiga Kogen!

"Days 0-3 Shiga Kogen Yokoteyama Weather Summary: A heavy fall of snow, heaviest during Mon afternoon. Temperatures will be below freezing (max -2°C on Sun morning, min -22°C on Tue night). Winds decreasing (near gales from the W on Mon morning, moderate winds from the WNW by Tue afternoon).

Days 4-6 Shiga Kogen Yokoteyama Weather Summary: A heavy fall of snow, heaviest during Thu night. Temperatures will be below freezing (max -2°C on Thu night, min -17°C on Wed night). Winds increasing (light winds from the W
on Thu morning, near gales from the SSW by Thu night). "

-from Feb 15 [Sunday] to Feb 20 [Friday]-

Kidoike (Kido Pond) this morning.

Sometimes all you have to do is wait.

Now you can see the Hasuike Ropeway Station.

Feb 14, 2009.


3 hours later,

12:17

Saturday.

*Happy Valentine's Day!