Niseko Now: Saturday 13th December 2014
- Dec 13, 2014
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 25cm
Snowfall at base this season 211cm
Posted on Saturday 13th December 2014 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Good morning from Niseko, which seems to be - and almost certainly is - getting busier by the day. There's an atmosphere building... and it's a good one!
25cm of fresh snow to report again this morning, and another very cold start to the day. It's well down below zero. Brrr, as they say. Or perhaps we should say 'samui'.
Conditions should be excellent, and with snow forecast to continue falling conditions should remain so.
Night skiing (nighta) on the mountain starts from today of course, and I have added info on which lifts are planned to be open below.
Niseko Grand Hirafu also open their Free Ride Park today, which can be found next to the King Number 1 Pair lift, and also the Hirafu Kids Snow Park.
It's still early season of course so all of these things may not be in full swing just yet, but good to see things opening up.
Large parts of the mountain are now open so we're nearly there...
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Niseko base 6am: -6C, 15cm of crystal snow. Calm morning with no development of snowdrifts. Moiwa 600m: -7C, 20cm and light development of snowdrifts. Coastal data: NW16m/s at Benkei cape. Anupuri 1000m: -10C, 1.2m snowpack, light snow. Peak data not available.
Light snowfall and mild wind has continued under moderate winter weather pattern. Out of bounds area is still full of small trees and sasa-bamboo and not ready for riding. Still a few dumps needed. Gates will be kept closed for a while.
Slides from Dec 10th layer are to be expected in steep spots under lift-lines. A small avalanche can easily bury a person at the bottom. Please do not ski under the lifts.
Beware of hitting trees and ruin the season.
Streams are still not fully buried, be careful not to fall in and freeze.
This information is made for the safety of all resort users.
The snow is excellent today.
(Many thanks as always to the Niseko Avalanche folk producing the reports each season; published with permission)
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Here's what is planned to be open today (subject to change):
Niseko Grand Hirafu
Courses:
Family Course, Sen-no-ki, Alpen, Detour for Beginners, Green, Onsenzawa, Center, Shirakaba, Kokutai, Kogen, Ni-Kabe, Jumbo, Parallel, Rinkan, Setsuzoku, Jumbo, Parallel, Holiday
Lifts:
Ace Family Lift, Ace Number 2 Center Four lift, Ace Number 3 lift, Holiday Number 1 Pair lift, Hirafu Gondola, King Number 3 Triple lift, Swinging Monkey.
Night skiing lifts:
Ace Family Pair lift, Ace Number 2 Center Four lift, Hirafu Gondola, Holiday Number 1 Pair lift
Niseko Hanazono
Courses: Stairway to Heaven, Silver Dream, Legend of Shinya, Yotei Sunset, Crystal Garden
Lifts: All 3 quad lifts operating
Night skiing lifts: No night skiing at Hanazono
Niseko Village
Courses:
Final Fling, Shaky Knees, Next Stage, Banzai, Cruiser, Don't Blink, beginners course from Gondola, Junkyard, Namara (part ungroomed), Jagaimo (ungroomed), Misoshiru (ungroomed)
Lifts:
Niseko Gondola, Community Chair, Banzai Chair
Night skiing lifts:
Community Chair and Banzai Chair until 8pm.
Niseko Annupuri
Courses:
Paradise, Family, Challenge, Marchen, Dynamic, Junior, Utopia, Shirakaba, Silver (9 out of 13 courses open)
Lifts:
Annupuri Gondola, Jumbo Number 1 Quad, Jumbo Number 2 Pair, Jumbo Number 3 Pair
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Official snow depth numbers at the time of writing:
Grand Hirafu / Hanazono:
Top - 170cm
Base - 100cm
Niseko Village:
Top - 100cm
Base - 70cm
Annupuri:
Top - 130cm
Base - 90cm
Niseko Now 2014-2015 season |
Data as of Saturday 13th December 2014 Total snowfall at base so far 211cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 17 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 40cm (7th December) November 2014 snowfall 30cm reported on 5 days December 2014 snowfall 181cm reported on 12 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.