Niseko Now: Wednesday 11th December 2024
- Dec 11, 2024
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 14cm
Snowfall at base this season 133cm
Posted on Wednesday 11th December 2024 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Good morning from Niseko.
It is a snowy and rather windy morning.
I am pleased to see what looks like regular snowfall on the forecasts across the coming week.
Conditions should be ever improving over the coming days.
As the start of the day it looks like the Hirafu gondolas (not used to saying that in the plural) and Annupuri gondola are operating at reduced speed, presumably due to weather conditions.
------------------------------------
So, what’s that mysterious structure that has appeared by the base lifts at Hanazono in the last few weeks?
I still don’t know what it is. I can’t find any announcement about it from the ski area, and I have yet to get over there myself since it appeared. (And before I am accused of being tardy and too focused on my toast, let me remind readers that it is not my 'job' to promote the activities and retail offerings of any ski area!)
Anyway, is it another ‘Louis Vuitton Niseko Winter Resort Pop-up Store’? Well, it sure doesn’t look like what was at that spot last year. That looked like a posh tent thingy (they called it a ‘Yurt’).
From afar, right now to me this still very much looks like some kind of work in progress. I mean, it's not very pretty is it? Kind of like some scaffolding surrounding a secret building (or yurt) that might suddenly be revealed sometime soon. Someone suggested it might be a huge, padded cell, perhaps for containing any naughty misbehaving foreigners. It doesn’t look posh yet, so maybe it’s just some kind of big tool shed in which workers can keep stuff and/or eat their onigiri at lunch. Or a smo(r)king room?
It’s fun to speculate and the suspense is excite, for sure. Answers on a postcard, please…
(Unfortunately, you can't see it very well on the image today due to the snow falling. Check out some previous recent reports to see it).
------------------------------------
Niseko Avalanche Report
Mountain base: -3℃, 10cm snowfall in 12h, snow temp is high and slightly heavy. Moiwa800m: -7.3℃, 15cm snowfall, snowdrifts developing and visibility is bad. Hanazono 1000m: -9.0℃, ESE1.9m/s, 10cm snowfall. Coastal data: Benkei cape NNW17m/s, Kamui cape W11m/s, 1009hPa, 1.7m waves.
The winter pressure distribution (High in the west, Low in the East) is back, isobars are getting close to each other, the sea is white with foam, snowdrifts are slowly developing above 800m elevation and will keep growing, making 50cm thick surface slab avalanches likely to occur in cornice slopes and SE aspects above 1150m. It is highly recommended not to approach leeward 30° slopes of 1150-1500m elevation. The avalanche risk will rise in the afternoon. Do not stay put in gully bottoms. The gates cannot open yet due to insufficient snowpack. Niseko values your right to ski, but please respect back the Niseko Rules to prevent unnecessary accidents. Visibility is low. Have a nice day.
------------------------------------
Individual ski area information for Wednesday 11th December 2024
The below snow depth and snowfall numbers are manually checked each morning from official sources.
Lift information is the planned operations for the day at the time of writing.
Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
Peak: 20cm
Base: 21cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
Peak: 115cm (+15cm change since yesterday)
Base: 93cm (+13cm change since yesterday)
Lifts:
All four lifts are now operating
Courses:
All open apart from Colly's Folly and Legend of Shinya
------------------
Niseko Tokyu Grand Hirafu
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
Peak: 20cm
Base: 15cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
Peak: 150cm (+5cm since yesterday)
Base: 70cm (+15cm change since yesterday)
Lifts:
Ace Family quad
Ace Gondola
King Gondola
King Holiday pair
King Number 3 quad
Swinging Monkey
Courses:
Family
Sennoki
Alpen
Beginners access
Green
Kogen
Boyo
Dai-no-kabe
Kokutai
Holiday
------------------
Niseko Village Ski Resort
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
Peak: 105cm (+35cm since yesterday)
Base: 70cm (+10cm since yesterday)
Lifts:
Niseko Gondola
Upper Village Gondola
Village Express
Community Chair
Banzai Chair
------------------
Niseko Annupuri Kokusai
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
Peak: 80cm (+10cm since yesterday)
Base: 60cm (+10cm change since yesterday)
Lifts:
Annupuri Gondola
Dream Number 1 quad
Jumbo Number 1 quad
Courses:
Utopia
Shirakaba
Paradise
Family
Junior
------------------
Niseko Moiwa Ski Resort
Lifts:
Number 1 pair lift
Number 2 pair lift
------------------------------------
Night skiing
Floodlit night skiing is planned from Saturday 14th December 2024 until Wednesday 23rd March 2025.
Niseko Now 2024-2025 season |
Data as of Wednesday 11th December 2024 Total snowfall at base so far 133cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 16 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 18cm (5th and 8th December) November 2024 snowfall 38cm reported on 8 days December 2024 snowfall 95cm 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.