Niseko Now: Saturday 10th January 2015
- Jan 10, 2015
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 30cm
Snowfall at base this season 685cm
Posted on Saturday 10th January 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Good morning from Niseko. And a very good morning it most certainly is.
Close on 30cm of light fresh snow in places outside my place this morning just in time for first lifts, so just imagine how much there must be higher up.
It's actually rather calm as well this morning, or it looks like it is anyway. Mostly cloudy and light snow at times forecast for the day, though I can see some blue now as well. It was snowing lightly when I started putting the report together, but isn't now. Can't make it's mind up!
Similar conditions are forecast for tomorrow with a good chance of sunny and clearer skies for a few days from Tuesday.
Thankfully all of the resorts are opening as planned this morning. Well, apart from the Gondola at Niseko Village having some kind of hiccup preventing it from it's first 'early morning' gig this morning. Other than that though it's open as normal.
As I think I mentioned before it's a long weekend in Japan with Monday being the 'Coming of Age Day' national holiday. So there'll be a lot of people about, but with the conditions being as fantastic as they very probably are this morning I would imagine there'll be lots of happy people around.
I hope you can have an extremely fun weekend - wherever you are!
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Resort specific news at time of writing - subject to change during the day
Niseko Grand Hirafu:
Looks set to be open as planned this morning.
'Early Morning' lift available from today to 1st February (for 500 yen, you can ride Ace Quad Number 2 lift from 8am until 8:20am).
Niseko Hanazono:
Looks set to be open as planned this morning.
Niseko Village:
Looks set to be open as planned this morning.
Except... for the early morning Gondola, doh! - some kind of mechanical issue preventing that from happening today, though it's over by the time this gets posted anyway. (Sorry!)
Niseko Annupuri:
Looks set to be open as planned.
'Annupuri First Run' available 11th and 12th January (for 1000 yen, you can ride the Gondola from 7:20-8:20am).
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Niseko base 6am: -3C, 20cm of crystal snow in 12 hours. Moiwa 800m: NNW12m/s, -7C, 30cm snowfall with gradual development of snowdrifts. Annupuri 1150m: NW12-17m/s, -10C, 50cm snowfall with development of snowdrifts up to 100cm. Hirafu ridge N15m/s, -10C, 25cm snowfall with snowdrifts development. Coastal data: Benkei cape NNW12m/s, Kamui cape NNW6m/s, 1005hPa, 1.8m waves.
The atmospheric pressure gradient is shelving and the weather at the ocean and the mountains is settling down. The snowfall amount above 800m altitude reached 30-40cm in the last 12 hours, the snowdrifts are slowly developing and yesterday’s snowpack has stabilized. Today’s general avalanche risk is low. Peak gates will open as soon as they’re ready. Listen to the ski patrol’s instructions before stepping out of the gates. There will be a lot of people in the mountain today, pay attention to other parties. Better stay away from the valley bottom to avoid secondary accidents. The mountains will never be 100% safe. Always remain prudent and think safety first. Niseko community is constantly concerned about your safety. The snow in the treeruns is in fantastic conditions.
Have you switched your avalanche transceiver on? Are you carrying safety equipments? Food & drink?
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Official snow depth numbers and any notes at time of writing:
Grand Hirafu / Hanazono:
Top - 340cm
Base - 170cm
Niseko Village:
Top - 250cm
Base - 160cm
Niseko Annupuri:
Top - 230cm
Base - 180cm
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Lifts open for night skiing (planned):
Niseko Grand Hirafu
Ace Family Pair lift, Ace Number 2 Center Four lift, Hirafu Gondola, Holiday Number 1 Pair lift
(There is no night skiing at the Hanazono area)
Niseko Village
Community Chair and Banzai Chair
Niseko Annupuri
Jumbo Number 1 Quad
Niseko Now 2014-2015 season |
Data as of Saturday 10th January 2015 Total snowfall at base so far 685cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 39 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 136cm reported on 9 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.