Niseko Now: Thursday 14th January 2016
- Jan 14, 2016
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 15cm
Snowfall at base this season 460cm
Posted on Thursday 14th January 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Good morning from Niseko where we have another 15cm of fresh snow on the ground.
Yesterday I spent most of the morning at Hirafu and over at Hanazono. The conditions were fantastic out there, lots of deep snow to be played in; and lots of people playing as well. There was even a bit of sunshine at times in the morning but the snow clouds prevailed for most of the day, though it wasn't heavy.
This morning the snow has been back and it is still snowing, though just lightly at the time of writing this report. There seems to be more of a wind around this morning and the resorts are reporting fairly strong wind up on the mountain so there's a chance that it may affect lifts today - though starting the day with the intentions of being open as planned.
The forecast still shows a possible break in the snowfall around Sunday though that probably won't last long as we should be back to snow early in the week. If anything, early next week the snowfall may get heavier!
Getting bored of all this snowfall? No, didn't think so!
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From this morning the 'Deep Snow Forest' (深雪林間) course will be open at Niseko Annupuri - meaning that all of their courses are now open. It's an ungroomed course, 400m in length and fairly close to base with a steepest gradient of 34 degrees and average gradient of 24 degrees. The resort describes it (in Japanese) as a tree run and off-piste course for advanced riders. Definitely worth a look I would say if you are gnarly enough. If you aren't gnarly enough just pretend you didn't know, or say you went somewhere even more gnarly.
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On the main NHK news last night they were headlining that there would be a piece on the economic effects of the 'mild winter' this year. Here was me thinking we would get an interesting in-depth look at how ski resorts are being affected in different regions around Japan... only to get a report on the price of cabbages. And daikon radishes. It was rather odd, perhaps a bit like the season. (For those of you interested, cabbages are apparently down 34% in price compared with last year. I can't remember the number for the daikon).
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In more serious news, it is very sad to hear about the avalanche incident over in the French Alps. A time to perhaps remember once again the potential dangers that are always close by with this sport that we love. Not that we should ever be forgetting those of course. Let's take care out there.
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Niseko Avalanche Report:
Niseko base 6am: -7℃, 20cm of broken crystal snow with snowdrifts development. Moiwa 800m: W15m/s, 40cm snowfall with snowdrifts. Mikaeri 740m: -9.48℃, W6.7m/s, snowdrifts and bad visibility. Annupuri 1150m and Hirafu 1000m: strong westerly wind with large development of snowdrifts. Benkei cape: NNW14m/s, Kamui cape NW11m/s, 1008hPa, 1.5m waves.
The wind picked up as the low-pressure system moved east, snowfall also picked up from 4am, generating large development of cornices and snowdrifts. 45cm thick surface slab avalanche are likely to occur in 800m knoll terrain. The storm is forecasted to calm down around 10am, however avalanche risk will remain high all morning in steep valley slopes above 800m elevation. Peak gates 2 & 3 will be closed at least until noon. Please follow the patrol’s instructions. Stay away from Osawa cornice area and Higashi-One cornice area, and do not duck ropes when gates are closed. Gates are the only access point to the out of bounds area. Conditions have changed from yesterday and hazard level is higher today, heavy load of unstable snowdrifts are present in some aspects and are highly likely to slide with riding stimulation. Cornices and knolls are signs to avoid.
Most accidents occur during and just after storms. The snow in the tree runs is good, but depth is uneven. Beware of collision and falling in cracks that are hard to see from above. Respect the Rules and have a safe day.
Niseko Now 2015-2016 season |
Data as of Thursday 14th January 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 460cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 34 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 24cm (26th and 28th December) November 2015 snowfall 61cm reported on 4 days December 2015 snowfall 244cm reported on 17 days January 2016 snowfall 155cm reported on 13 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.