Niseko Now: Tuesday 17th January 2023
- Jan 17, 2023
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 12cm
Snowfall at base this season 511cm
Posted on Tuesday 17th January 2023 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
I have measured another 12cm of fresh snow since yesterday morning.
It is cold again this morning with ski areas reporting a temp of -13C to -15C on upper areas. It is more like -8C down at base early morning.
Currently it's cloudy with light snow falling and visibility looks generally fairly decent. More steady snow incoming over the coming week, hopefully heavy at times (Friday?).
I feel we could do with a few days of some decent snowfall numbers to properly get back on track.
All lifts are opening as planned this morning.
---------------
Niseko Avalanche Report
Mountain base -10C, 8cm snowfall, good visibility. Moiwa 800m: -11.4C, WSW5.7m/s, 10cm snowfall. Annupuri 1100m: -14.8C, W4.9m/s, 10cm snowfall. Mizuno no Sawa -13.3℃, NNW1.7m/s. Hirafu Hanazono: -14.3C, WNW0.4m/s, 15cm snowfall. Hanazono#3: -11.5℃, N3.9m/s. Coastal data: Benkei cape NNW8m/s, Kamui cape SW8m/s, 1020hPa, 1.7m waves.
The isobars are spread out but still laid out in a wintery pressure distribution. A light wind is blowing above 1000m elevation and the snowdrifts are growing slowly. The tracked out slopes are recovering slowly. The overall avalanche risk is low in all elevation today. The tree-runs have also been more or less reset with new snow. Beware of old tracks and bushes. Sluffs are likely to slide in steep slopes. Avoid riding simultaneously and stopping at the bottom of the gullies. There are many people in the same gully. The Backbowl is not a safe place to ski during this time of the season. If a deep layer avalanche occur from leeward slopes above 1000m, the debris will sweep down the whole valley. It is not a place where beginners/visitors should be taken casually. Many cases of people falling into the creek at Moiwa Hell’s gate are being reported. It is much safer to go around near Annupuri’s Junior course and the connecting cat track. The Niseko Rules have been implemented for the sake of all resort users. Going out of bounds from the resort is still technically prohibited by the Japanese Chair lift operations regulations. The Niseko Rules has been set in place in order to protect the freedom to ski out there. Please understand the meaning of these Rules and respect them. Always be prudent in the mountains. Cracks are opening everywhere.
---------------
Ski area information for Tuesday 17th January 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, weather permitting.
Official snow depth numbers in brackets show the change since previous report.
Niseko Tokyu Grand Hirafu
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 20cm
- Base: 20cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 280cm (+5cm since yesterday)
- Base: 100cm (no change since yesterday)
Lifts:
- Ace Family quad [* open until for 7:00pm for night skiing]
- Ace Number 2 quad (Center Four) [* open until for 7:00pm for night skiing]
- Ace Number 3 pair
- Ace Number 4 pair
- Hirafu Gondola
- Holiday Number 1 pair
- King Number 3 quad
- King Number 4
- Swinging Monkey
-------
Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 20cm
- Base: 15cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 200cm (-7cm since yesterday)
- Base: 170cm (+10cm since yesterday)
Lifts:
- Hanazono Number 1
- Hanazono Number 2 quad
- Hanazono Number 3 quad
- Hanazono Symphony Gondola [* open until 7:00pm for night skiing]
-------
Niseko Annupuri Kokusai
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 10cm
- Base: 10cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 140cm (no change since yesterday)
- Base: 120cm (no change since yesterday)
Lifts:
- Annupuri Gondola
- Dream Number 1 quad
- Jumbo Number 1 quad [* open until 7:30pm for night skiing]
- Jumbo Number 2 pair
- Jumbo Number 3 pair [* normally open on weekends and holidays]
- Jumbo Number 4 pair
-------
Niseko Village Ski Resort
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 145cm (no change since yesterday)
- Base: 135cm (no change since yesterday)
Lifts:
- Niseko Gondola
- Upper Village Gondola
- Village Express
- Community Chair [* open until 7:00pm for night skiing]
- Banzai Chair [* open until 7:00pm for night skiing]
- Wonderland Chair
-------
Niseko Moiwa Ski Resort
Lifts:
- Number 1 pair lift
- Number 2 pair lift
- Quad lift
Niseko Now 2022-2023 season |
Data as of Tuesday 17th January 2023 Total snowfall at base so far 511cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 45 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 22cm (2nd and 16th January) November 2022 snowfall 17cm reported on 5 days December 2022 snowfall 336cm reported on 27 days January 2023 snowfall 158cm 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.