Niseko Now: Tuesday 10th February 2015
- Feb 10, 2015
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 10cm
Snowfall at base this season 872cm
Posted on Tuesday 10th February 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Morning from my Hirafu base with more fresh snow to report and very cold temperatures.
-17 degrees being reported by Niseko Village and Annupuri areas this morning on their upper slopes.
Again not a huge amount of fresh down here, but it's snowing now and there's a solid 10cm here at base and as you can see from the report below there's more being reported around the mountain, so conditions should be pretty good this morning - especially higher up. I will have to go and check!
It's not the most important number but just for the record the official upper snow depth at Niseko Grand Hirafu hits 400cm this morning.
The forecast still has snowmen lined up each day through into the weekend so snow is expected daily - how much? We'll just have to see what we get served up.
Yesterday the wind conditions prevented some lifts from getting started. How's today shaping up? Looks better this morning with all resorts open and apart from possible late starts due to some checks on the top lifts at Niseko Grand Hirafu and Niseko Village, open as normal.
Have a fun day!
Tomorrow is a national holiday in Japan - National Foundation Day.
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Resort specific news as of 8:30am - subject to change during the day
Niseko Grand Hirafu:
Looks set to be open as planned this morning.
Niseko Hanazono:
Looks set to be open as planned this morning. Possible late start for top King 4 chair.
Niseko Village:
Looks set to be open as planned this morning. Possible late start for top Wonderland chair.
Niseko Annupuri:
Looks set to be open as planned this morning.
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Niseko base 6am: -11C, 20cm of snowfall in 12 hours. Moiwa 800m: NE5m/s, -13C, 30cm snowfall. Annupuri 1000m: W5m/s, -13C, snowpack 285cm. Hirafu 1000m: -12C. Peak 1308m: SE speed n/a, -18.6C. Coastal data: Benkei cape WNW17m/s, Kamui cape WSW18m/s, 996hPa, 1.6m waves.
30-40cm snowfall has been observed mainly in western areas. The snowdrifts are slowly developing but stabilizing at the same time. The slabs are also stabilizing, however cornices and knolls above 800m are still unstable and considerable avalanche risk remains in typical avalanche terrain. Gates opening are yet to be determined, please respect the ski patrol’s decision.
Better refrain from riding high altitude open steep slopes today. The stabilization process is delayed due to low temperature and a failure from Feb 7th layer would trigger a large surface slab slide. The areas outside the gates is not the ski resort anymore, always be alert and ride cautiously. Carrying an avalanche beacon is not compulsory in the Niseko out of bounds area, however it is seriously recommended to do so to minimize the risks. Avalanche beacons may save not only your life, but your buddy’s too. Have a nice day.
Niseko Now 2014-2015 season |
Data as of Tuesday 10th February 2015 Total snowfall at base so far 872cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 60 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 45cm (15th and 26th December) November 2014 snowfall 30cm reported on 5 days December 2014 snowfall 519cm reported on 25 days January 2015 snowfall 257cm reported on 23 days February 2015 snowfall 66cm reported on 7 days |
All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Kutchan/Niseko. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report.