Niseko Now: Sunday 1st December 2013
- Dec 1, 2013
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 5cm
Snowfall at base this season 128cm
Posted on Sunday 1st December 2013 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
So we are now into December and the second day of the season here.
To recap, looking at our reports (the info can always be found on the bottom of the report pages), we observed 123cm of snowfall during the month of November. That's here in the base Hirafu area. As those who have followed our Niseko Now reports before will know, we also keep an eye on the official snowfall statistics coming from Kutchan town, and for November 2013 they had reported 99cm. It's expected that the base area will get more than the Kutchan reading, and of course that there will be more up on the slopes too.
Anyway, it was great to get out there yesterday. There's still some sasa still poking through on the runs. Some of the usual characters turned up for opening and there was a bit of a party feel going on, with limited operations not dampening spirits.
I'm seeing 5cm of snow since my last report this morning. Snow depth numbers at the resorts don't seem to have changed apart from 10cm being added to the upper slopes at Annupuri, and I am this morning hearing of 10cm or so fresh. It's just cloudy at the moment and no wind. All calm.
From today Niseko Grand Hirafu are operating the Ace Family lift as well as the two lifts they had open yesterday.
As planned the Community Chair and Banzai Chair lifts at Niseko Village are moving this morning.
And Niseko Annupuri are also opening the Gondola at 10am this morning and the Jumbo Number 3 lift at 10:15am.
Still very limited operations, but good to see more open up.
Another look at the forecast and a few sprinklings aside it's looking quite dry up through the end of the coming week. We'll keep an eye on that.
Official snow depth numbers:
Grand Hirafu:
Top - 100cm
Bottom - 60cm
Niseko Village:
Top - 60cm
Bottom - 30cm
Annupuri:
Top - 60cm
Bottom - 48cm
Niseko Now 2013-2014 season |
Data as of Sunday 1st December 2013 Total snowfall at base so far 128cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 10 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 30cm (12th November) November 2013 snowfall 123cm reported on 9 days December 2013 snowfall 5cm reported on 1 day |
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.