Niseko Now: Wednesday 1st January 2020
- Jan 1, 2020
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 15cm
Snowfall at base this season 307cm
Posted on Wednesday 1st January 2020 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Happy New Year everyone!
今年もよろしくお願いします。
The year begins with fresh snowfall. Hurray!!
Again, kind of modest really in terms of numbers so far, but there has been 15cm of lovely snowfall so far and I suspect more than that in places due to the wind blowing it around.
It is continuing to come down nicely. It is also a very cold morning so we need to wrap up super well before heading out.
I see a lot of folks already lining up for that first lift at Hirafu. Come on, give us a wave!
There'll be more fresh snow to report tomorrow.
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The early morning Annupuri gondola operation was cancelled this morning due to the weather conditions.
I suspect other lifts might be affected today, but as of 8:30am the official site appears to be overloading and not being very responsive - so I can't confirm anything this morning. Perhaps too many drinks last night?
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Mountain base -11℃,15cm snowfall in 12h, moderate strong wind and snowing. Moiwa800m: NW8.7m/s, -12.4℃. Hirafu1000m: ENE3.3m/s, -15.2℃, Hanazono720m: NNW6.8m/s, -12℃. Benkei cape: WNW19m/s, Kamui cape: WSW17m/s, 3.4m waves. Annuppuri 1000m snowdepth 105cm.
Happy New Year. Stormy weather under the wintery pressure distribution. Snowdrifts have are developing, 30cm at 600m elevation, up to 80-100cm in some places around 800m elevation. The developing snowdrifts are extremely unstable. Avalanche risk in cornice slopes and knolls above 800m elevation is high today. Potentially triggered from Dec 31st layer. Tricky snow conditions in windward crusty slopes. Please ski carefully. The storm is forecasted to persist today. Be cautious and do not push it too far today.
It is still not allowed to access the out of bounds from the ski resort. Please respect the Niseko Rules. The avalanche hazard in strictly off limits areas such as Haru No Taki is very high. Do not cross boundary ropes.
We’re finally seeing a decent snowfall. Beware of frostbites. Have a great New Year’s day.
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Niseko Grand Hirafu
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 190cm
- Base: 65cm
Ski lifts operating:
- Ace Family quad (until 8:30pm)
- Ace Number 1 pair
- Ace Number 2 Center quad (until 8:20pm)
- Ace Number 3 pair
- Hirafu Gondola (until 8:10pm)
- Holiday Number 1 pair (until 8:30pm)
- King Number 1 pair
- King Number 2 quad
- King Number 3 quad
- Swinging Monkey
All courses now open EXCEPT the following:
- Onsenzawa
- Large
- Konayuki
- Miharashi
- Dynamic
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Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 120cm
- Base: 70cm
Ski lifts operating:
- Hanazono Number 1 quad
- Hanazono Number 2 quad
- Hanazono Number 3 quad
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Niseko Annupuri
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 115cm
- Base: 80cm
Ski lifts operating:
- Annupuri Gondola
- Dream Number 1 quad
- Jumbo Number 1 quad (until 8:30pm)
- Jumbo Number 2 pair
- Jumbo Number 3 pair
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Niseko Village
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 115cm
- Base: 80cm
Ski lifts operating:
- Niseko Gondola
- Upper Village Gondola (until 8:00pm)
- Village Express (until 8:00pm)
- Community Chair
- Banzai Chair (until 8:00pm)
- Morino Chair
- Country Road
Niseko Now 2019-2020 season |
Data as of Wednesday 1st January 2020 Total snowfall at base so far 307cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 32 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 21cm (6th December) November 2019 snowfall 85cm reported on 10 days December 2019 snowfall 207cm reported on 21 days January 2020 snowfall 15cm 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.