Niseko Now: Thursday 17th December 2015
- Dec 17, 2015
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 2, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 18cm
Snowfall at base this season 152cm
Posted on Thursday 17th December 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Now this is much better!
This morning I have a nice 18cm of fresh snowfall to report from here around my base in Hirafu and no doubt there will be more of it up there on them there mountains. My friend up there just gave me a call and put it at 25+cm.
Snow is forecast for the day today, but what's this... sun?! Yes, there's a fair bit of blue sky to be seen and the sun shining down on us as I write this report. Hmmm. Hopefully it's a break in the snow clouds rather than a clearing up situation. I believe the forecast! Which tells us to expect snow clouds to be over the region over the next few days.
It doesn't feel windy here now but hear that there's stronger winds at higher altitudes.
There are no significant changes in lift operations this morning as far as I can tell. But it is definitely a big improvement on yesterday in terms of snow.
Still, we need lots and lots more...
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Niseko base 6am: -2℃, light breeze and 20cm of crystal snow. NE8m/s wind, 20cm snowfall at 600m altitude. Coastal data: Benkei cape NNE11m/s, Kamui cape N11m/s, 1003hPa, 3.6m waves. NNW10-15m/s at 1000m elevation.
Cornices and snowdrifts have drastically developed under the strong 20+m/s wind overnight and are unstable in leeward south facing slopes above 800m.
Surface slab slides of 30-40cm thickness from Dec 12th layer are very likely to occur in those slopes.
Snow is still shallow, beware of hidden stumps and bamboo grass when skiing off-piste. Gates are still closed, please respect the Niseko Rules.
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Resort specific news as of 8:20am - subject to change during the day
The lifts market with an asterix (*) below are planned to be open for night skiing
Niseko Grand Hirafu
Lifts planned to be running:
- Ace Family pair*
- Ace Number 2 Quad Center Four (for transport)
- Ace Number 3 pair
- Hirafu Gondola (for transport)
- King Number 3 triple (on hold due to strong winds and fog)
- Holiday Number 1 pair
- Swinging Monkey
Courses planned to be open:
- Family
- Beginners access
- Center
- Shirakaba
- Kogen
- Boyo
- Holiday
- Rinkan (lower part)
- Jumbo
- Connecting Course
Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Lifts planned to be running:
- Hanazono Number 1 quad
- Hanazono Number 2 quad
- Hanazono Number 3 quad
Courses planned to be open:
- Parallel
- Silver Dream
- Stairway to Heaven
- Setsuzoku course
- Crystal Garden
- Yotei Sunset (ungroomed)
Niseko Village
Lifts planned to be operating:
- Niseko Gondola
- Community Chair*
- Banzai Chair*
Niseko Annupuri
Lifts planned to be operating:
- Annupuri Gondola
- Jumbo Number 1 quad*
- Jumbo Number 2 pair
- Jumbo Number 3 pair
Courses planned to be open:
- Utopia
- Shirakaba
- Paradise
- Junior
- Family
- Silver
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Official resort snow depths as of 17th December 2015:
Grand Hirafu / Hanazono:
Top - 145cm
Base - 45cm
Niseko Village:
Top - 65cm
Base - 30cm
Niseko Annupuri:
Top - 60cm
Base - 40cm
Niseko Now 2015-2016 season |
Data as of Thursday 17th December 2015 Total snowfall at base so far 152cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 11 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 20cm (30th November) November 2015 snowfall 61cm reported on 4 days December 2015 snowfall 91cm reported on 7 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.