Niseko Now: Sunday 12th November 2023
- Nov 12, 2023
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 18cm
Snowfall at base this season 23cm
Posted on Sunday 12th November 2023 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
I am very happy to be able to report a decent amount of fresh snow on the ground this morning. I have just measured a further 18cm since my report yesterday and it is still snowing.
At 8am, the JMA (Japan Meteorological Agency) was reporting 27cm of snow since yesterday at their measuring point in Kutchan. That is located east of the ski areas.
The snow might ease off at times, but there should be more to come over the next few days before it starts to get a little warmer from around Wednesday.
This is all very encouraging and exciting, of course. Yey!
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It is very curious how many ski areas wait so long to refresh their own information about the season that is about to start. The guys working on updating SnowJapan talk about (and get frustrated by) this every year. Apparently, well over half of the 450+ ski areas around Japan still have their websites in 2022-2023 mode with zero mention of the upcoming season. Even some quite big ski areas are still stuck in last season. They don't even post a quick message saying that info for the new season will be up soon!
At the same time, some of those ski areas have already got printed leaflets made. (A fair amount of which will no doubt end up in a store room, not to be seen by any human eyes).
It does seem very odd and I wonder why this situation hasn't changed much in recent years. (And, is it a Japan thing?)
The ski area behind Kutchan Station, Asahigaoka, is a small local one, not an international giant, and is one example. At least they say that information for the new season is forthcoming.
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More information on the ski areas in Niseko and Kutchan
Planned opening date:1st December 2023:
Niseko Village Ski Resort
Planned opening date: 2nd December 2023:
Niseko Annupuri Kokusai
Niseko Moiwa Ski Resort
Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Niseko Tokyu Grand Hirafu
Planned opening date: unconfirmed (probably late December):
Asahigaoka
Niseko Now 2023-2024 season |
Data as of Sunday 12th November 2023 Total snowfall at base so far 23cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 2 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 18cm (12th November) November 2023 snowfall 23cm reported on 2 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.