Niseko Now: Tuesday 11th February 2020
- Feb 11, 2020
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 1cm
Snowfall at base this season 585cm
Posted on Tuesday 11th February 2020 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
I have a (just about) 1cm dusting of snow to report this morning from base.
It is cloudy but there's some blue sky as well over on this side - Mt Yotei currently has some thick grey cloud over the top third.
Feels fairly calm too so all lifts should be opening as planned from the start of the day.
After this spell of some very cold conditions, somewhat milder temperatures are likely in the coming days - probably from tomorrow through Friday - but hopefully we will see a return to the cold come the weekend.
Today is a national holiday in Japan.
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Mountain base: -6.1℃, 3cm snowfall. Moiwa 800m: N354°9.7m/s, -8.4℃, 5cm snowfall, 15cm snowdrifts. Yu no sawa1000m: N354°6.7m/s, -10.9℃. Niseko Village 900m: NNW351°3.0m/s, -10.2℃. Hirafu 1000m: NNW329°speed n/a, -10.9℃. Hanazono 720m: NNW324°6.4m/s, -8.6℃. Benkei cape: N9m/s, Kamui cape: N9m/s, 1022hPa, 2.3m waves. Annupuri 1000m snow depth 170cm.
The isobars got a little tight for some time and made a northerly wind pick up and developing cornices. Snowfall is scarce and no drastic development of snowdrifts can be found in leeward slopes. The general avalanche risk is low today. All peak gates are scheduled to open from the morning. Be prepared before going out of bounds. Old tracks remain throughout the mountain. Beware of collapsing cornices and obstacles under the surface. Better wear a helmet.
The Niseko Rules applies to any person and there should be no exceptions or special cases. Regarding what happened at Gate 6 yesterday, we’d first like to apologize to the guests who were treated unfairly. Second, the Avalanche Institute, responsible for the mountain safety within the all mountain committee, severely alerts the resort management members that forcefully requested a special treatment to the ski patrol at the gate.
The impartial application of the Niseko Rules for the past 20 years reduced the number of accidents and as a result took a key role in the current prosperity of the snow business in Niseko and Resort business members should not forget about this reality.
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Niseko Grand Hirafu
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 255cm
- Base: 110cm
All lifts are normally operating EXCEPT:
- Ace Number 1 pair lift (normally rested)
- King Number 2 quad lift (normally rested)
All courses normally open
Lifts scheduled for late operations:
- Ace Family quad until 8:30pm
- Ace Number 2 Center Four quad until 8:20pm
- Hirafu Gondola until 8:10pm
- Holiday Number 1 pair until 8:30pm
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Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 190cm
- Base: 117cm
All lifts are normally operating
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Niseko Annupuri
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 180cm
- Base: 115cm
All lifts are normally operating
Lift scheduled for late operations:
- Jumbo Number 1 quad until 8:30pm
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Niseko Village
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 200cm
- Base: 120cm
All lifts normally operating EXCEPT:
- Country Road Chair (normally rested)
Lifts scheduled for late operations:
- Annupuri Village Gondola until 8:00pm
- Village Express until 8:00pm
- Banzai Chair until 8:00pm
Niseko Now 2019-2020 season |
Data as of Tuesday 11th February 2020 Total snowfall at base so far 585cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 61 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 33cm (21st January) November 2019 snowfall 85cm reported on 10 days December 2019 snowfall 207cm reported on 21 days January 2020 snowfall 224cm reported on 20 days February 2020 snowfall 69cm reported on 10 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.