Niseko Now: Monday 1st January 2024
- Jan 1, 2024
- 7 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 16cm
Snowfall at base this season 383cm
Posted on Monday 1st January 2024 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Happy New Year to everyone!
I have already enjoyed some 'hatsu-toast' (first toast of the year; a long-held Japanese tradition going back centuries, maybe) and am now ready for 2024 to get going.
The New Year starts with another very nice layer of fresh snow - I measured 16cm - and some fine weather as the lifts open for the day. There has been a bit of sun and it is quite bright at the moment, though some very light snow is falling in places too. Very pretty.
Hanazono is reporting 12-13cm of fresh snow, Hirafu is reporting 10cm and Village is, er, 'reporting' 0cm. Just ignore that.
Exciting news that the top lifts at Niseko Village and Hirafu are going to be open from this morning. Hurray! We're getting there. (I can't fine any news about the top Annupuri lift yet).
A fine reader commented on the regular pleas (in the Niseko Avalanche Report) for people to refrain from ducking ropes and disregarding the rules. As the report yesterday pointed out, many people are ignoring them. Ducking ropes is not a new phenomenon, of course, but perhaps it is happening more and increasingly causing kerfuffles. My viewpoint is that when you are a visitor to a place, you should abide by the laws and rules of the land (and, in this case, your hosts, the ski areas and patrol). You might disagree with them and think they are silly-billy, cruelly holding back your innate gnarliness for no good reason. But it is the decent thing to do. Additionally, apart from potentially causing problems (and wasting other people's time) at that moment, selfishness may make things worse for everyone in the long run.
That's what I think, anyway.
To the reader who commented: I am not directly involved in that kind of thing, but I will mention your idea to a friend who is. (And thanks).
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Mountain base 6am: -6C, 20cm snowfall in 12h, snowdrifts growing up to 60cm. Moiwa 800m: -12.4C, N3.9m/s (max 25m/s at midnight), snowdrifts and cornices growing. Mikaeri 764m:-11C, strong northerly winds and snow, large snowdrifts developments. Hirafu Hanazono 1000m: -12.3C, NNE7.7m/s (max 25m/s at 1am). Hanazono#3: -10.2C, NNE4.6m/s. Coastal data: Benkei cape ENE8m/s, Kamui cape E3m/s, 1021hPa, 1.7m waves.
Happy New Year. The wind calmed down during the night with 20cm of new snowfall that reset the slopes. Good snow, however the northerly storm last night made snowdrifts and cornices grow heavily in slopes above 800m. Looking at observation data and weather transition, the avalanche risk is extreme in slopes above 1000m elevation, especially the Backbowl. Better not approach from Goshiki area. The snow in the trees is good, but beware of heavy snowdrifts. Gate#7 “Ee Sawa” is opening today. Refrain from ducking ropes to access the area, or you will lose your lift ticket. Getting the gates #2, 3 and 4 ready to go, but please hold off for now. The Niseko Rules are implemented in all Niseko resorts, please follow and respect them.
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A message from SnowJapan
Happy New Year!
2024 is SnowJapan's 25th year. A quarter of a century!
I still remember first putting together a simple webpage version of the printed guidebook I had made introducing the ski areas in Yuzawa and Myoko here in Niigata Prefecture in the mid-to-late 1990s.
So much has happened since then, of course, including about six major site redesigns.
So much has changed, including the site's dramatic increase in size, scope, and usage.
Also, the 'inbound market' has become a thing. Believe it or not, it really wasn't back then! (Side note: it still isn't noticeable at many local remote ski areas, so there is still much of that kind of adventure left if you want to find it).
Many of you might also remember the Forums. They were a lot of fun and proved valuable for many, but unfortunately, they became something of a burden behind the scenes. From our position, while the decision to turn them off in November 2014 was tough at the time, it proved to be the correct one and significant for the well-being of the site (and to the benefit of its wider audience) as a whole.
Then, there was the more recent period when COVID abruptly halted international travel. It was, of course, a problematic, worrying and uneasy time for everyone. SnowJapan continued to operate and be updated as usual throughout that period. Site usage stats show that many of you were still reading our reports from overseas, even if you unfortunately couldn't visit Japan.
I took that quiet period to start SnowJapanHistory in 2020. Since I first came to Japan, I've always been interested in the ski areas in my region and beyond. And I had often wondered what to do with information about ski areas that closed (and indeed ones from much further in the past). Simply deleting that information from SnowJapan and wiping it from memory seemed wrong. Still, there wasn't really anywhere appropriate within SnowJapan to keep that information. Starting the history project and discovering the many fascinating stories really took my interest in the history of skiing in Japan to a new level and has given me a new appreciation for the whole subject. (There have been many fun trips to take photographs of locations, too).
That project also helped inspire some aspects of the latest SnowJapan redesign launched in 2022.
But for all the things that have changed, some things have stayed the same.
The most important is this website's basic concept, focus, and values that keep it on track. SnowJapan enjoys being 100% independent. We don't have any obligations to anyone in how we run things. No one has any influence over our content. Also unchanged is that we are not here to persuade you to visit Japan (though many people have told us how they came to Japan after using the resources on SnowJapan).
The ongoing aim is to offer trustworthy and honest information and almost to be a countermeasure against all the hype and marketing messages (not to mention a fair amount of incorrect and misleading information) that are out there. If anything, that outlook actually becomes more stubborn as time passes.
I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the trusted reporters who tirelessly provide our daily updates throughout the winter. Doing it every day for 5+ months is a big ask, and with so many people reading them, it's a real responsibility, too.
Also, a thank you to everyone who has been friendly towards and supported SnowJapan over the last two and a half decades.
SnowJapan is a year-round (and essentially never-ending) project. There is always something to update and something to try and improve. We love doing what we do and as long as it's fun... here's to the next however many years!
Back to this season, and while it got off to a promising early start in some regions, it has since (generally) slowed down as we wait for the Japan-like heavy snowfall we all love. It's still relatively early, so hopefully, the snowfall will come soon and be consistent through the season.
Thank you for reading, and all the best for 2024, wherever you might be reading this from. If you visit Japan this winter, we hope you return home with fine memories of the country.
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Individual ski area information for Monday 1st January 2024
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 and subject to change.
Niseko Tokyu Grand Hirafu
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 10cm
- Base: 10cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 210cm (no change since yesterday)
- Base: 85cm (+5cm since yesterday)
Lifts:
- Ace Family quad (until 7:00pm)
- Ace Number 2 quad (Center Four) (until 7:00pm)
- Ace Number 3 pair
- Hirafu Gondola (until 7:00pm)
- Holiday Number 1 pair (until 7:00pm)
- 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: 13cm
- Base: 12cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 155cm (+7cm since yesterday)
- Base: 115cm (+10cm since yesterday)
Lifts:
- Hanazono Number 1
- Hanazono Number 2 quad
- Hanazono Number 3 quad
- Hanazono Symphony Gondola (until 7:00pm)
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Niseko Annupuri Kokusai
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 140cm (no change since yesterday)
- Base: 110cm (no change since yesterday)
Lifts:
- Annupuri Gondola
- Dream Number 1 quad
- Jumbo Number 1 quad (until 7:30pm)
- Jumbo Number 2 pair
- Jumbo Number 3 pair
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Niseko Village Ski Resort
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 150cm
- Base: 100cm
Lifts:
- Niseko Gondola
- Upper Village Gondola (until 7:00pm)
- Village Express (until 7:00pm)
- Community Chair
- Banzai Chair (until 7:00pm)
- Morino Chair
- Wonderland Chair
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Niseko Moiwa Ski Resort
Lifts:
- Number 1 pair
- Number 2 pair
- Quad
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Night skiing
Floodlit night skiing is planned daily until Wednesday 20th March 2024.
Night skiing is usually until 7:00pm at Hirafu, Hanazono, Village and until 7:30pm at Annupuri.
Niseko Now 2023-2024 season |
Data as of Monday 1st January 2024 Total snowfall at base so far 383cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 36 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 31cm (18th December) November 2023 snowfall 120cm reported on 11 days December 2023 snowfall 247cm reported on 24 days January 2024 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.