Niseko Now: Thursday 14th December 2023
- Dec 14, 2023
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 2cm
Snowfall at base this season 162cm
Posted on Thursday 14th December 2023 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Sometimes you think it's snowing really nicely and imagine that the cm will be piling up... but it doesn't. Other times, you hardly notice the snow falling, and all of a sudden there's a nice new layer on the ground. Yesterday was one of the former. It seemed to be snowing quite well at times, which was great, but there's just not much of a result in terms of new cm.
Curiously, Hirafu is reporting 20cm of new snowfall at base and 10cm up top. (Hmmm). (That would be good).
But let me take a brief moment to thoughtfully stroke my chin whilst looking suitably contemplative.
Anyway, I have just a couple of cm to add to my own report, as seen by my eyes.
There is a lot of cloud this morning, it is quite windy and (very) light snow is falling in places. Thankfully it is keeping quite cold.
The snow is still due to start from later Saturday onwards. Please let it happen! Not only will it make everyone here happy, it will hopefully make these reports a bit easier to put together as everything settles in. Stuff just feel a bit 'weird' and disjointed at the moment.
------------------
Individual ski area information for Thursday 14th December 2023
The below snow depth and snowfall numbers are manually checked each morning from official sources.
Lift information is the planned operations for the day at the time of writing.
Niseko Tokyu Grand Hirafu
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 10cm
- Base: 20cm (?!)
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 80cm (+5cm since yesterday)
- Base: 10cm (-5cm since yesterday)
Lifts:
- Ace Number 2 quad (Center Four) (8:30am-3:10pm) * used for transport only
- Ace Number 3 pair (8:40am-3:20pm)
Courses:
- Center Course
------------------
Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 7cm
- Base: 5cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 70cm (+5cm since yesterday)
- Base: 40cm (+10cm since yesterday)
Lifts:
- Hanazono Number 1 (8:30am-3:00pm)
- Hanazono Number 2 quad (8:30am-3:00pm)
- Hanazono Number 3 quad (8:30am-3:00pm)
------------------
Niseko Annupuri Kokusai
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 0cm
- Base: 0cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 40cm (no change since yesterday)
- Base: 10cm (no change since yesterday)
Lifts:
- Dream Number 1 quad (8:30am-4:00pm)
Courses:
- Beginners run by the lift
------------------
Niseko Village Ski Resort
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 15cm (no change since yesterday)
- Base: 0cm (-5cm since yesterday)
Lifts:
- Upper Village Gondola (8:30am-4:00pm)
- Village Express (9:00am-4:00pm) * used for transport only
- Community Chair (8:30am-4:00pm)
- Banzai Chair (8:30am-4:00pm)
------------------
Floodlit night skiing is planned from Saturday 16th December 2023 until Wednesday 20th March 2024.
Niseko Now 2023-2024 season |
Data as of Thursday 14th December 2023 Total snowfall at base so far 162cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 19 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 25cm (1st December) November 2023 snowfall 120cm reported on 11 days December 2023 snowfall 42cm reported on 8 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.