Niseko Now: Sunday 1st January 2023
- Jan 1, 2023
- 5 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 8cm
Snowfall at base this season 361cm
Posted on Sunday 1st January 2023 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Happy New Year, everyone.
I've had my traditional hatsu-toast (first toast of the year) and am ready to get going!
Just over 8cm overnight and light snow has been falling (in places) early morning, though it is generally quite bright and I can see hints of blue sky too. No clear views of Mt Yotei for the new year, though, at least at the start of the day.
It feels cold this morning and the snow looks good. Snowfall should be continuing at varying rates over the next several days.
Annupuri are opening their Panorama and Marchen runs from this morning. So gates aside, pretty much everywhere is open now... weather permitting. At the start of the day today the Niseko Annupuri gondola and top lift is on hold due to wind, though other lifts appear to be opening as planned.
I am in the middle of preparing my thoughts on the season so far, and they should be ready to post tomorrow. The site now presents the numbers that I traditionally look at, in some ways making my review redundant. Still, I enjoy thinking about the season and comparing it with previous seasons once a month. I feel it helps keep things in perspective.
(By the way, I had kept the 'Large and Dynamic courses are closed' note on the list below after they had opened. My mistake, sorry about that. I am going to go back and edit so that the information is correct. I have also taken out the 'number of lifts operating' info that I had recently added - with some lifts generally not opening, that could be seen as misleading).
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Mountain base -2C, 8cm new snow, mild blizzard. Moiwa 800m: -5.8℃, WSW8.8m/s, snowdrifts developing. Annupuri 1100m: -8.4C, W7.3m/s, snowdrifts developing. Mizuno no Sawa 1000m: -6.9C, NNW3.4m/s. Hanazono 1000m: -6.9C, SSE0.8m/s, 10cm new snow. Mountain Peak: -10C, light winds, good visibility, 10cm new snow. Coastal Data Cape Benkei: NW16m/s. Cape Kamui: WSW12m/s, pressure 1013hPa, waves 2.0m,
Strong winds and snow on the sea and mountains following a weak front. The pressure gradient is expected to increase this morning along with increased snowdrift development at all elevations. After 10am expect the avalanche risk to sharply increase on 40deg slopes and around knolls due to slab formation in the strong winds. Best to not go off course today even if the lifts can run. Avalanches can happen anywhere if the conditions are right. One condition where surface avalanches occur is when a snow slab forms on a slope. The main cause of this is wind, however the sun can also cause surface slab formation. The 1998 Spring Falls avalanche occurred under these conditions. Heavy snowfall can also cause avalanches. So many accidents occur during periods of heavy snow and wind, where large amounts of snow rapidly accumulate on leeward slopes. The 31/12 layer is expected to be a future weak layer, the danger varying depending on elevation. Best to stay off SE facing sidewalls above 1000m. From observations some deeper layers like the 12/23 layer are stable, but be vigilant. All gates are closed. Please follow the patrols instructions. Many people are ducking ropes, this careless behavior causes out of bounds accidents. Happy new year.
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Ski area information for Sunday 1st January 2023
The below snow depth and snowfall numbers are manually checked each morning from official sources.
Lift information is the planned operations for the day at the time of writing.
Official snow depth numbers in brackets show the change since previous report.
Niseko Tokyu Grand Hirafu
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 5cm
- Base: 5cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 250cm (-5cm since yesterday)
- Base: 100cm (no change since yesterday)
Lifts:
- Ace Family quad [* open until for 7:00pm for night skiing]
- Ace Number 2 quad (Center Four) [* open until for 7:00pm for night skiing]
- Ace Number 3 pair
- Hirafu Gondola
- Holiday Number 1 pair
- King Number 3 quad
- King Number 4
- Swinging Monkey
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Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 5cm
- Base: 10cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 180cm (-6cm since yesterday)
- Base: 150cm (-3cm since yesterday)
Lifts:
- Hanazono Number 1
- Hanazono Number 2 quad
- Hanazono Number 3 quad
- Hanazono Symphony Gondola [* open until 7:00pm for night skiing]
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Niseko Annupuri Kokusai
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 10cm
- Base: 10cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 130cm (+10cm since yesterday)
- Base: 110cm (+10cm change since yesterday)
Lifts:
- Annupuri Gondola
- Dream Number 1 quad
- Jumbo Number 1 quad [* open until 7:30pm for night skiing]
- Jumbo Number 2 pair
- Jumbo Number 3 pair
- Jumbo Number 4 pair
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Niseko Village Ski Resort
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 0cm
- Base: 0cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 120cm (no change since yesterday)
- Base: 110cm (no change since yesterday)
Lifts:
- Niseko Gondola
- Village Express
- Community Chair [* open until 7:00pm for night skiing]
- Banzai Chair [* open until 7:00pm for night skiing]
- Wonderland Chair
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Niseko Moiwa Ski Resort
Lifts:
- Number 1 pair lift
- Number 2 pair lift
- Quad lift
Niseko Now 2022-2023 season |
Data as of Sunday 1st January 2023 Total snowfall at base so far 361cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 33 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 21cm (17th December) November 2022 snowfall 17cm reported on 5 days December 2022 snowfall 336cm reported on 27 days January 2023 snowfall 8cm 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.