Niseko Now: Saturday 18th February 2017
- Feb 18, 2017
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 8cm
Snowfall at base this season 514cm
Posted on Saturday 18th February 2017 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Things are much improved this morning.
There's not as much fresh snowfall as we would like, but still a good 8+cm of on the ground here at base (more up top of course) and it is much, much colder. In fact it really is cold this morning, not just 'colder'. Resorts are reporting temperatures as cold as -18C at the top! Those extra layers will be needed today.
So conditions should be improved this morning, and with snow on the forecast for today and indeed over the next few days so they should be continuing to improve. There's a lot of people here out enjoy that snow though, so we need decent snowfall under normal circumstances to top-up things. So we're still looking to that big snow to come for a good old proper reset.
Top lifts affected by wind at the start of the day - see below for more on 8:30am status.
Yesterday I got caught up with a few things and wasn't able to prepare my answers. I'll try to get them done over the weekend and post them in the report on Monday.
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Niseko Avalanche Report:
Mountain base: -11°, 10cm new snow, snowdrift development. Moiwa 800m: -9°, NW18m/s, 20cm new snow, snowdrift development. Annupuri 1150m, -19°, W20m/s, snowdrift development. Hirafu 1250m, -18°, 20cm new snow, snowdrift development. Coastal data: Kamui Cape:W14m/s, 1010hPa, wave 3.3m, Benkei Cape: NW20m/s.
Cold air is flowing into the area, isobars are close together and snow drifts are developing rapidly with the strong NW wind. Above 800m upper Mikaeri Bowl, 1000m Osawa cornice slope, most places in Backbowl and East ridge cornice slope, the avalanche risk is high. Gates 1, 2, 3, 4 will be closed. Gates 5, 6, 8 are yet to be decided. Please respect the patrols decisions and follow their advice.
There is frost layer from the 17th Feb under the new snowdrifts. Yesterday this layer was just wet snow but it is expected to be the fracture layer on surface slabs today. Snow conditions are different to from yesterday, SE steep slopes will fracture easily and some slopes are very dangerous. Most accidents occur right after storms. If conditions are right avalanches will always occur no matter how much snow there is. Don't be overconfident and make cautious decisions without overestimating the safety of conditions at the moment. The snow in the forest is good.
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Resort specific opening news at time of writing (subject to change during the day):
Niseko Grand Hirafu
The top Ace Number 4 and King Number 4 lifts are on hold at the start of the day.
Niseko HANAZONO Resort
All three lifts appear to be planning to operate as normal.
Niseko Village
The top Wonderland Chair lift is on hold at the start of the day.
Niseko Annupuri
The Annupuri Gondola, Jumbo Number 3 and Jumbo Number 4 lifts are on hold at the start of the day.
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Official resort snow depths as of Saturday 18th February 2017:
Niseko Grand Hirafu & Hanazono
Top - 310cm
Base - 120cm
Niseko Village
Top - 280cm
Base - 140cm
Niseko Annupuri
Top - 315cm
Base - 140cm
Niseko Now 2016-2017 season |
Data as of Saturday 18th February 2017 Total snowfall at base so far 514cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 64 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 152cm reported on 18 days February 2017 snowfall 71cm reported on 10 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.