Niseko Now: Tuesday 11th December 2018
- Dec 11, 2018
- 4 min read
Updated: Dec 4, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 18cm
Snowfall at base this season 202cm
Posted on Tuesday 11th December 2018 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
You want another 20cm of snow? Not quite, but nearly that much once again as I have measured another 18cm of fresh snowfall to add this morning.
The last few days has been very good indeed. I have now measured and recorded a total of 202cm snowfall this season so far up until today, and I see that Niseko Grand Hirafu is now reporting an official snow depth of 160cm in the peak area.
Of course, we want more - it's a never-ending need! - but happily the forecast tells us that we can expect more though perhaps not so much today.
Right now we have pretty much all of Niseko HANAZONO open apart from the Park, with fairly large parts of Hirafu open - other than the peak area and both sides of the middle area. You can ski down to base at both.
Today sees the start of night time or 'nighta' operations in Niseko.
At Niseko Grand Hirafu the Ace Family Quad and the Ace Number 2 Quad Center Four lifts will be operating until 8:30pm. The Hirafu Gondola and Holiday Number 1 lifts are planned to join in the nighta fun from Saturday 15th December.
At Niseko Annupuri the Jumbo Number 1 quad lift will be operating for nighta until 8:30am. And Niseko Village also has nighta (though I can't find any particular details). Note that there is no nighta over at the Niseko HANAZONO area.
I think that's about it for this morning. The reports get a bit less time-consuming once we are 'all open'. I haven't had my toast yet!
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Niseko base 6am: -7℃, mild wind and snowing. 20cm snowfall without snowdrift development. Moiwa700m: mild wind, 30cm snowfall, light snowdrift development. Sea of Japan Benkei cape: NW13m/s, Kamui cape: W11m/s, 1027hPa, 2.2m waves.
The isobars are starting to spread and the storm is finally settling down. The snowdrifts that developed until last night have stabilized and, although the cornices are still prone to impacts, the general avalanche risk is low. The snowpack is still shallow and the out of bounds area is not suitable for riding yet. The gates will be kept closed. Please refrain from crossing boundary ropes.
The snow is good, but the light is weak and the surface relief is hard to see. Beware of over-speeding and obstacles lurking under the surface. Wearing a helmet and a beacon may not be mandatory, but is strongly recommended as they may save your and others lives.
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Ski resort operation information: Tuesday 11th December 2018
The below information is manually checked each morning and believed to be correct at time of report
Niseko Grand Hirafu
Part open
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 160cm
- Base: 70cm
Ski lifts operating:
- Ace Family quad
- Ace Number 2 Center Four
- Ace Number 3 pair
- Hirafu Gondola
- Holiday Number 1 Pair
- King Number 3 quad
- Swinging Monkey
Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Mostly open
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 115cm
- Base: 103cm
Ski lifts operating:
- Hanazono Number 1 quad
- Hanazono Number 2 quad
- Hanazono Number 3 quad
Niseko Grand Hirafu & Hanazono Courses open:
- Family
- Sen-no-ki
- Alpen
- Beginners Access
- Green (part)
- Shirakaba
- Center
- Kogen
- Boyo Course
- Dai-ni-no-kabe
- Kokutai
- Holiday
- Rinkan
- Jumbo Course
- Parallel Course
- Silver Dream
- Stairway to Heaven
- Setsuzoku
- Legend of Shinya
- Renkan
- Yotei Sunset
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Niseko Annupuri
Part open
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 100cm
- Base: 60cm
Ski lifts operating:
- Annupuri Gondola
- Dream Number 1 quad
- Jumbo Number 1 quad
- Jumbo Number 3 pair
Niseko Annupuri Courses open:
- Utopia Course
- Shirakaba Course
- Paradise Course
- Family Course
- Junior Course
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Niseko Village
Part open
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 120cm
- Base: 80cm
Ski lifts operating:
- Niseko Gondola
- Upper Village Gondola
- Village Express
- Community Chair
- Banzai Chair
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Night time operations until 8:30pm in the Niseko Grand Hirafu, Niseko Village and Niseko Annupuri areas (starting from today).
There is no nighta at the Niseko HANAZONO area.
Niseko Now 2018-2019 season |
Data as of Tuesday 11th December 2018 Total snowfall at base so far 202cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 16 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 25cm (23rd November) November 2018 snowfall 84cm reported on 8 days December 2018 snowfall 118cm reported on 8 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.