Niseko Now: Saturday 12th December 2015
- Dec 12, 2015
- 4 min read
Updated: Dec 2, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 0cm
Snowfall at base this season 134cm
Posted on Saturday 12th December 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Hopefully we can move on quite quickly from the really poor weather conditions the last few days.
It would seem that rain has done damage and snow conditions have suffered - some runs that have been open are now closed again. Do check the updated information below. And I of course advise checking with the resorts if you are here as decisions may be made during the day as well. I can't wait for 'everywhere' to be open. And not just because it will make checking information every morning much easier either... it will mean full access to lots of fluffy powder (hopefully) on the mountain. We should really be there already.
Anyway, back to this morning!
Snow conditions may be far from perfect but the weather is thankfully much improved this morning.
It is colder for a start and it is not raining (hurray!). It's actually a very fine morning with lots of clear blue sky and the sun shining down on us. It should be a fine day today; and we can probably expect similar conditions as well during the day tomorrow... perhaps Monday too. Time to enjoy practicing on some well-groomed courses in the fine weather I think.
But what about fresh snow, you ask. Well, look to perhaps Tuesday and then Wednesday onwards for some of that. And hopefully lots of that! I will of course keep you up to date with that each morning.
'Nighta' (night skiing) starts from this evening at the Niseko Grand Hirafu, Niseko Village and Niseko Annupuri resort areas. Note that there is no nighta at the Niseko Hanazono area.
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Niseko base: -1℃, no snowfall and calm morning. Coastal data: Benkei cape NNE7m/s, Kamui cape calm, 1020hPa, 1.8m waves. Northerly 10m/s wind at 1000m altitude.
Thaw is continuing. 40cm snowpack at 600m. Some dirt patches are starting to appear in the courses. The surface is frozen this morning due to radiation cooling in a mild wintry pressure pattern.
The groomers are in a good condition for technique practicing. The ungroomed snow around the courses is crusty (Dec 12th layer) and tricky to ski. Do not duck ropes to access the out of bounds areas. Avalanche occurrence does not depend on the amount of snow.
The Niseko Rules exist in order to prevent out of bounds accidents and are mandatory rules that all resort users must obey.
A free debate is scheduled at the Niseko Avalanche Forum today (held at Niseko Townspeople Hall), anyone is welcome to participate.
Have a nice weekend.
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Resort specific news as of 8:40am - subject to change during the day
The lifts market with an asterix (*) below are planned to be open for night skiing
Niseko Grand Hirafu
Lifts planned to be running:
- Ace Family pair*
- Ace Number 2 Quad Center Four (for transport)
- Ace Number 3 pair
- Hirafu Gondola (for transport)
- King Number 3 triple
- Swinging Monkey
Courses planned to be open:
- Family
- Beginners access
- Center
- Shirakaba
- Kogen
- Boyo
- Holiday
- Rinkan (lower part)
- Jumbo
- Connecting Course
Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Lifts planned to be running:
- Hanazono Number 1 quad (for transport)
- Hanazono Number 2 quad
- Hanazono Number 3 quad
Courses planned to be open:
- Parallel
- Silver Dream
- Stairway to Heaven
- Setsuzoku course
- Crystal Garden
- Yotei Sunset (ungroomed)
Niseko Village
Lifts planned to be operating:
- Niseko Gondola
- Community Chair*
- Banzai Chair*
Niseko Annupuri
Lifts planned to be operating:
- Annupuri Gondola
- Jumbo Number 1 quad*
- Jumbo Number 2 pair
- Jumbo Number 3 pair
Courses planned to be open:
- Utopia
- Shirakaba
- Paradise
- Junior
- Family
- Silver
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Official resort snow depths:
Grand Hirafu / Hanazono:
Top - 145cm
Base - 35cm
Niseko Village:
Top - 60cm
Base - 20cm
Niseko Annupuri:
Top - 60cm
Base - 30cm
Niseko Now 2015-2016 season |
Data as of Saturday 12th December 2015 Total snowfall at base so far 134cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 10 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 20cm (30th November) November 2015 snowfall 61cm reported on 4 days December 2015 snowfall 73cm reported on 6 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.