Nozawa Onsen Accommodation, Nagano, The Alps Japan
Nestled in the Japan Alps is a magical place steeped in culture and with some terrific skiing and boarding. Nagano was home to the Winter Olympics in 1998.
Get in touch if keen to get knee deep in powder or neck deep in a Hot Spring soon…
Video
Check out our video of our 4 main properties below.
Nozawa Onsen is a very traditional town with beautiful hot springs, friendly locals, and awesome snow. Our Lodge gives you amazing value and we have a range of accommodation to suit any budget.
The Lodge is only 100m to the slopes and short stroll to town
Relaxed and comfortable atmosphere
In the centre of Japan’s main Island Honshu easy access from anywhere
You can fly direct to Tokyo and there is a shuttle bus direct to the Lodge
English and Japanese Speaking Staff to help with all your needs
Unique and beautiful place with breathtaking nature and culture
Nozawa Village is also famous for its hot springs, there are many nearby
Lots of terrain, with Gondolas, high speed quads, and long runs – very few lift lines
Thanks Mark – we were first invited to Nozawa years ago and have been enjoyed the skiing, the village and your hospitality ever since. Thanks for helping us enjoy it so much,
Put yourself in the picture. Nozawa Onsen pillow line.
Base up top: 375cm Temp Top; +4 Degrees
Base at bottom: 195cm
New Snow since close: 0cm
It’s the first day of spring and the temperatures have almost spiked from this warm spell with a freezing level sitting at about 2000m. Luckily the forecast rain has held off for the time being.
Conditions out there are very spring-like with firm and fast pistes early, softening during the day. Crowd levels are very low and most areas feel like you are at your own private resort. Unfortunately strong winds about the peaks have forced temporary closure of higher lifts and the Nagasaka gondola. Let’s hope the winds back off soon.
Like yesterday, the best riding will be had on the groomed runs. The park and pipe are in fine form and well worth checking out.
Yesterday was a surprisingly good day on the slopes. The Yamabiko pistes held excellent quality right up through the afternoon. The lower groomers became slushy later in the day, but the skiing was still fun and forgiving. Bright blue sunshine made for some beautiful photo opportunities near the summit.
Looking at the weather forecast we expect moderate snow to begin sometime tonight with about 10-20cm expected. We should see snow and very cold temperatures continue on Saturday. The winds will be strong so remember an extra layer of clothing.
Sunday should see the occasional light snow showers pass through interspersed with cold partly cloudy weather. Following this snowy couple of days we should see an extended period of bluebird days with spring conditions and a gradual warming trend.
Shenanigans in Nozawa. Great day for an undie run yesterday.
Base up top: 405cm Temp Top; +1 Degrees
Base at bottom: 220cm
New Snow since close: 0cm
It’s a warm day here in Nozawa Onsen, one of the warmest in some time with positive temperature right up to the peak. The feeling of spring is definitely in the air for, at least the time being. Wildlife sightings are become increasingly frequent with birds, groups of Kamoshika and even occasional sightings of black bears. But winter is not quite over yet with another dump of Japan powder expected on the weekend.
At the moment we have mostly overcast conditions, light winds and even lighter crowds. It will be a fun day for skiing with firm and fast pistes early that will become slushy during the afternoon.
Yesterday was a picture perfect day. Clear blue skies and cool temperatures lasted the afternoon. The visibility was simply excellent with perfect views of the surrounding Japanese Alps and even the Sea of Japan out to the west. Skiing was also excellent with plenty of deep fresh powder on offer through the trees, especially in the morning. Crowd levels were exceptionally low.
Looking at the weather predictions we should see these spring temperatures persist until Friday night. Tomorrow should be a clear bluebird day, classic spring conditions. We expect some wild prefrontal weather to pass over on Friday with some rain possible, luckily it will only last a short time. A moderate dump of snow of at least 20cm, possibly more is looking likely for Friday night. Light snows and cold temperatures should continue till around Monday.
Stefan makes the most of a powder pillow on a run through the trees in Nozawa Onsen.
Base up top: 420cm Temp Top; -15 Degrees
Base at bottom: 255cm
New Snow since close: 15cm
Eyes were almost glued to the windows this morning at breakfast time, because we have an absolutely stunning day today in Nozawa Onsen. A crystal clear blue sky, white heavily snow frosted trees and perfect fresh snow, what more could you want?
The groomed runs are silky smooth corduroy and very fast with cold overnight temperatures. It will be a challenge to find a single patch of ice in the mountain today so the quality of riding will be very high. Through the trees will also deliver some of the best turns of your life with dry knee deep powder and a spectacular backdrop of the soaring Japan Alps. Winds are light and crowd levels are low.
Yesterday continued on the recent form of day after day excellent skiing and boarding in Japan. We saw deep windblown stashes of powder and the temperatures were very cold. Light snow showers persisted most of the day and the sun even made a brief appearance during the afternoon. Late February this year is really turning it on with very consistent excellent conditions.
Looking at what’s in store for the next couple of days we should see some warmer spring skiing conditions for around three days before the freezing level takes a dive back down to around sea level once again on Friday night. Snow is predicted around this time but freeze thaw conditions means the fresh snow will be unstable sitting on what will be an icy base layer.
Some long term guests staying at Nozawa Onsen have been busy riding and filming and have documented their adventures on a video blog. Make sure you check it out, pretty awesome.
What a crazy day it was yesterday in Nozawa Onsen. We had very strong winds shut the entire top half of the mountain almost all day. Combined with the weekend crowds it was a little hectic in the lift lines. We saw heavy snow continue all day- a true blizzard.
Amongst the trees the riding was brilliant with deep windblown powder. Cruising down the groomed runs was not too dissimilar to the Antarctic with horizontal blowing snow. A day to get out there and experience the conditions just for the fun of it.
Today the storm has subsided and we have some blue skies and sun making a return. We still have the occasional light snow shower passing through. The top of the mountain will be all time considering the closure of top lifts yesterday; two days of fresh powder awaits the early birds.
Looking at the forecast we should see mostly blue sky today before completely clearing tomorrow. Tomorrow should be beautiful in fact with cool temperatures, light winds and bluebird skies. Wednesday should see spring conditions with the freezing level rising to around 1200m and mostly clear weather. The first day of spring we will see a return to winter conditions with moderate snow and very cold temperatures predicted. Let’s hope the powder continue well into March and beyond.
Ski racing yesterday in very challenging conditions
There is moderate snow falling in the village here at Nozawa Onsen this morning. It remained clear for most of last night and everyone subsequently went to bed not expecting too much in the morning. However, in typical Japan style we have been surprised with a 30cm overnight fall.
Skiing and boarding across the resort today will be good with cold temperatures. Visibility will be a bit limited, especially up high and there are strong winds about the peaks. Head for the trees to seek out improved definition as the light is very flat. Weekend crowds will track out most obvious areas fast so best get up there early.
Yesterday was yet another great day on the mountain. The Nozawa Onsen snow festival is on this weekend so whilst it is more crowded than usual if you skied the lower areas first up, then moved high, lift lines were easy to avoid.
We saw mixed conditions yesterday. The perfect magic foot of powder brought excellent skiing early, especially with clearing partly cloudy skies offering good visibility. After some sun we saw a couple more light snow showers in the afternoon before clearing once more.
We should see snow showers continue the remainder of today and we even expect light snows tomorrow morning. On Tuesday we still expect a beautiful clear day. Looking further ahead we should see mixed conditions with even a few warmer days, but who could complain considering the consistent excellent conditions we’ve had lately.
Darcy covered in fresh powder after a faceshot in the trees of Nozawa Onsen
