Niseko Now: Friday 13th January 2017
- Jan 13, 2017
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 18cm
Snowfall at base this season 341cm
Posted on Friday 13th January 2017 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
It's a good morning from here in Niseko.
Nature has blessed us a very nice delivery of quality snowfall since my last report.
First of all just looking back to yesterday... the Swinging Monkey lift at Niseko Grand Hirafu didn’t make it to 10am yesterday morning and the lower Morino Chair and Village Express lifts at Niseko Village also had to halt mid-morning before being able to re-open again early afternoon. It was windy out there.
So onto today. And it looks like it should be a very good day indeed.
Decent amount of quality dry and light powder - check!
Cold - check!
Some blue skies and sunshine - check!
Much less wind - check!
Top lifts open - check!
On that last point, I think that today the top lifts should be operating as planned. And because they were closed yesterday there will very probably be people fighting to get up and play in that untouched snow.
That's it for me. Time to put on my own 'fighting gear'! Can't wait.
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I sometimes hear people asking about the mysterious Country Road Chair ski lift which can be seen lurking around on the trail map and indeed in person on the upper half of the Niseko Village resort area in a seemingly permanently resting kind of state.
Why isn’t it moving? Does it ever open? Does it have magical powers?
I spoke with someone from Niseko Village (located in Niseko Town, ba-dum-tsh!) about said lift to try and get some official word. Basically, this pair lift isn’t scheduled to open - but from time to time you might catch it moving. From what I gather that will most likely happen at times when it’s extremely busy or some kind of special event. It obviously is kept in working order as it can be called into action when called upon, and it does keep its place on the trail map.
So now you know, sort of.
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Niseko Avalanche Report:
Niseko base 6am: -8℃, 15cm snowfall and calm. Moiwa850m: -11℃, W5m/s, large development of cornice and snowdrifts. Annupuri1150m: -20℃, the snow is blown and cornices and snowdrifts have developed. Hirafu1250m: -12℃, mild westerly wind, 15cm snowfall and cornices/snowdrifts developed in Higashi-One. Kamui cape lighthouse: WSW8m/s, 1000hPa, 2.1m waves.
The wind is calming down. Newly formed wind-drifts of 100cm thickness have been observed. The new layer is stabilizing as we speak, but the avalanche risk will remain high all day. The cornices have grown big and are likely to fall and trigger a slide as they do. Beware and don’t stimulate them. Stay away from cornices and knolls and do not traverse steep slopes. Gates opening is undecided. Please follow the ski patrol’s instructions.
Surface slab avalanches occur as slabs slide in leeward slopes. Slopes near cornices in Higashi-One, Backbowl (Kozan no sawa), Annupuri bowl (Osawa) are all in critical conditions. Do not stay put in valley bottoms, avalanches strike from above. The snow in the treeruns is a little wind-affected and heavy but light snow is blanketing and is in great conditions. Wearing helmets, beacons and other safety equipments is strongly recommended when stepping out of bounds.
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Official resort snow depths as of Friday 13th January 2017:
Niseko Grand Hirafu & Hanazono
Top - 265cm
Base - 115cm
Niseko Village
Top - 190cm
Base - 120cm
Niseko Annupuri
Top - 185cm
Base - 115cm
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Night skiing is planned until Monday 20th March 2017 at the Niseko Annupuri, Niseko Grand Hirafu and Niseko Village resort areas. There is no nighta in the Hanazono area.
Niseko Now 2016-2017 season |
Data as of Friday 13th January 2017 Total snowfall at base so far 341cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 42 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 36cm (16th December) November 2016 snowfall 110cm reported on 14 days December 2016 snowfall 181cm reported on 22 days January 2017 snowfall 50cm 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.