Niseko Now: Thursday 19th January 2017
- Jan 19, 2017
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 1cm
Snowfall at base this season 368cm
Posted on Thursday 19th January 2017 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Just slightly over 1cm of fresh snow at my measuring point this morning but I notice the report below is mentioning 10cm of fresh at Niseko base. It is snowing lightly here at the moment
Wind is an issue at the start of the day and top lifts are affected. See below for more on that as of 8:30am.
So, about the next decent snowfall... I wouldn't expect much before Sunday, but as that day ends it is looking promising. Onegai shimasu!
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Niseko Avalanche Report:
Niseko base 6am: -５℃, 10cm snowfall but large development of snowdrifts. Moiwa800m: strong winds with snowdrift developments. Annupuri 1150m: -10℃, N20m/s, windswept. Hirafu1250m: -10℃, strong winds. Kamui cape lighthouse: ENE8m/s, 1016hPa, 0.5m waves.
Snowdrifts are developing drastically as the passing low-pressure is generating strong north-easterly wind. 60cm thick slabs are sliding with pressure test at 800m elevation. Trigger layer being Jan 17th pre-low pressure snowfall. However, developing snowdrifts and heavy wind-loads can collapse and slide without any predominant weak layers. The overall snowfall amount is small, however highly wind-affected snowdrifts and cornices are very unstable. The avalanche risk is very high today. The hazard level will remain high a while after the wind calms down, better not go out of bounds today. Hazardous conditions in surrounding mountains too. Gates opening is undecided. Please respect the ski patrol’s decision and do not duck ropes.
Some troubles have occurred between hikers walking in a closed ski resort and the cat operation company running in there yesterday. Under the Japanese legislation, no ski resort operators have the right to ban people from hiking up Public Park areas, even if these hikers were interfering the CAT’s running course, machine operators have heavier safety responsibilities than walking people.
This information is issued for the sake of resort users stepping out of bounds, as well as for the same people recreationally entering Niseko’s surround mountains. Municipality areas, national forest or Hokkaido forest have no differences in the mountains, and snowcats and snowmobile are severely restricted in National park areas. We’re hoping no further troubles would occur on this matter.
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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 due to strong winds.
Niseko HANAZONO Resort
All three lifts appear to be planned to be opening as normal.
Niseko Village
The Niseko Gondola and top Wonderland Chair lift are on hold at the start of the day due to strong winds.
Niseko Annupuri
The Annupuri Gondola and top Jumbo Number 4 lift are on hold at the start of the day due to strong winds.
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Official resort snow depths as of Thursday 19th January 2017:
Niseko Grand Hirafu & Hanazono
Top - 260cm
Base - 100cm
Niseko Village
Top - 200cm
Base - 120cm
Niseko Annupuri
Top - 220cm
Base - 120cm
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Night skiing is planned until Monday 20th March 2017 at the Niseko Annupuri, Niseko Grand Hirafu and Niseko Village resort areas. There is no nighta in the Hanazono area.
Niseko Now 2016-2017 season |
Data as of Thursday 19th January 2017 Total snowfall at base so far 368cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 47 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 77cm reported on 11 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.