Niseko Now: Friday 1st December 2017
- Dec 1, 2017
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 16cm
Snowfall at base this season 204cm
Posted on Friday 1st December 2017 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Ho ho ho! It's December!
I have lots to report this morning, so let's get to it.
First of all... fresh snow. It's a very nice start to the month with 16cm of fresh snow to start things off. Good quality stuff too with temperatures keeping very low... it's really cold out there.
As I am writing this, it is generally very cloudy with light snowing right now in places, though not so in others - I see some sunshine over on the Hanazono webcam. The forecast, though, is snow for today, tomorrow and indeed regular snowfall right through well into next week.
Excellent.
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Today sees Niseko Village open for the season and they have their Gondola and the Banzai Chair lift operating.
Today is also the debut of the new Ace Family Quad lift at Niseko Grand Hirafu. And if you are one of the first 150 people getting there this morning you will get some kind of 'present'. (Sorry, I know I'm probably too late with that particular piece of information!) This new quad lift replaces the Ace Family pair lift and doubles the hourly riding capacity to 2400 folk. Both the base starting point of the lift and the top station have also changed position - the top now extends to the Sen-no-ki course by the upper area of the Family course.
The Dai-ni-no-kabe and Kogen courses are no longer open at Niseko Grand Hirafu this morning; not exactly sure why that is.
The previously mentioned new Dream Number 1 quad lift at Niseko Annupuri is also scheduled to start moving today.
...and then tomorrow sees the opening of Niseko Hanazono resort area.
Great to see the official Niseko Avalanche Report starting up again. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu to all involved in this great work.
Phew! All action at the moment! Have a good one and see you tomorrow.
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Niseko Avalanche Report:
Niseko base 6am: -8℃, 15cm snowfall, light breeze. Moiwa800m: NW10m/s, 100cm snowpack, snowdrifts developing. Annupuri1000m: 140cm snowpack. Coastal info: Benkei cape NW12m/s, Kamui cape W6m/s, 1015hPa, 1.7m waves.
We’re starting the Avalanche info as the winter has come earlier than usual. The resorts are opening, however out of bounds area are still restricted for skiing. The snowpack is building steadily, however bumpy terrains are not fully buried. Be careful as they’re hard to see when the light is low. Bamboo and bushes are still thick out of bounds. Snowdrifts are building slowly above 800m as the winter weather pattern continues. Avalanche risk is relatively low today. Do not duck ropes, please respect the Niseko Rules.
The 21st Niseko Avalanche Meeting will be held at the Niseko Station Warehouse from 6pm on the 5th Dec. This event is organized by the Niseko Avalanche Accident prevention Committee. A lecture by Mr. Satoru Yamaguchi from the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience is schedule. Anybody is welcome to come participate.
A First Aid course by Japanese Society of Mountain Medicine will be held at Kanro no Mori from 1st to 3rd Dec. The latest medicinal approach to mountain related first aid will be taught by Dr Kazue Ooki.
Be safe out there and have a great season.
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Friday 1st December 2017
What's planned to be open today in Niseko (subject to change):
Niseko Grand Hirafu
Lifts operating:
- Ace Number 3 Pair lift (8:40am until 3:30pm)
- Ace Number 2 Center Four quad lift (8:30am until 3:10pm)
- The new Ace Family Quad lift (8:30am until 3:30pm)
Courses open:
- Shirakaba
- Center Course
- Green
- Detour for beginners
- Kokutai
- Alpen
- Super (upper)
- Furiko
Niseko Annupuri Kokusai
Lifts operating:
- Annupuri Gondola (8:30am until 3:15pm)
- Jumbo Number 1 quad lift (8:30am until 4:00pm)
- Dream Number 1 quad lift (9:00am until 4:00pm)
Courses open:
- Utopia
- Shirakaba
- Paradise
- Junior
Niseko Village
Lifts operating:
- Niseko Gondola (8:30am until 3:00pm)
- Banzai Chair (8:30am until 4:00pm)
- Community Chair (8:30am until 4:00pm)
Courses open:
- Can ski from top to base
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Official resort snow depths on Friday 1st December 2017:
Niseko Grand Hirafu & Hanazono
Top - 185cm
Base - 70cm
Niseko Annupuri Kokusai
Top - ?cm
Base - 50cm
Niseko Village
Top - 120cm
Base - 50cm
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Remaining planned season opening dates:
Niseko Hanazono:
Saturday 2nd December 2017 until Sunday 8th April 2018
Floodlit 'nighta' skiing schedule:
Saturday 9th December 2017 until Sunday 18th March 2018
Niseko Now 2017-2018 season |
Data as of Friday 1st December 2017 Total snowfall at base so far 204cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 12 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 29cm (20th November) November 2017 snowfall 188cm reported on 11 days December 2017 snowfall 16cm 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.