Niseko Now: Tuesday 20th December 2022
- Dec 20, 2022
- 5 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 15cm
Snowfall at base this season 273cm
Posted on Tuesday 20th December 2022 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
There is more fresh snow to report again this morning. I just measured 15cm.
The (ungroomed) Challenge course at Annupuri is now open as the mountain continues to open up. We are still waiting for the top lifts (and all connections) to open, but the mountain is mostly open outside of those.
It seems it will be getting milder and calm over the next few days. And then we'll get more snow again by the end of Thursday. It looks like it is going to be snowing over Christmas. As everyone knows, Santa loves Niseko*, so no doubt he'll be pumped to hear that.
As you probably (and hopefully) know, I like to avoid the overuse of superlatives and over-excited comments. Still, we are currently enjoying some beautiful December conditions. It's exciting to remember that the season has really only just started. May the rest of the season continue this way!
* The Santas that appear at other ski areas are all clearly fakes. ;)
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Following my comments about night skiing yesterday, some people wrote in with some interesting points.
After the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the Japanese government closed down nuclear plants around the country. The subsequent call for less electricity to be used may have been a factor in earlier closing times around 2012.
Also, there did indeed used to be more terrain open for night skiing at Hirafu. The Rinkan course was available by the side of the King Number 3 quad lift. Unfortunately, after closing that, I believe they removed the lighting. So there's not much chance that might return.
It seems I am not the only one to hope that the ski areas in Niseko might extend the night skiing times again in the future. Night skiing can be a fantastic experience when the snow is in top condition and the weather is good. (I'm not as keen otherwise).
Due to these comments today, I will wait until tomorrow to post that other trivia I promised.
By the way, it's always lovely to hear from folks. At the same time, though, I am sorry, but I really cannot reply to all Niseko-related questions sent in. You get about as much of me as I am able to give with these reports every morning!
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Mountain base: -7℃, 10cm snowfall in 12h, calm and good visibility. Moiwa 800m: -10℃, NW10m/s, 20cm snowfall with snowdrift development. Annupuri 1000m: -12℃, westerly 8m/s, 20cm snowfall, snowdrift development, good visibility. Hanazono peak: -12℃, calm, 20cm snowfall. Coastal data: Benkei cape NNW12m/s, Kamui cape W8m/s, 1016hPa, 1.8m waves.
The isobars spread out and the wind has started to calm down. The wave height is stagnating within 2m and the wind around 10m/s. Intermittent snowfall continues dropping 10-20cm of new snow. Strong cold air mass remains. The general avalanche risk is low according to observations and weather data. The new snow is too light and dry due to the cold temperature, making it difficult to groom above 1000m elevation. The snow amount is plenty however the caterpillar digs to the ground in steep slopes. It will take some more time to open the peak chair lifts and gates. The snow quality is nice, but still insufficient. Bamboo and bushes are still thick below 800m elevation and creek lines are difficult to ride out. It is highly recommended to stick to the course side powder at the moment. Gate 7 (A-sawa) is scheduled to open today. Always use gates to go out of bounds. Do not duck ropes. The 25th annual Niseko Avalanche Meeting will be held at the Niseko Chomin Center at 4pm Dec 23rd. Details can be found at the Niseko Town Office website. The snow is good again today.
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Ski area information for Tuesday 20th December 2022
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: 20cm
- Base: 20cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 200cm (+10cm since yesterday)
- Base: 90cm (-5cm since yesterday)
Lifts:
- Ace Family quad
- Ace Number 2 quad (Center Four) [* open until for 7:00pm for night skiing]
- Hirafu Gondola
- Holiday Number 1 pair
- King Number 3 quad
Courses:
- All courses are now open except Large, Konayuki, Miharashi and Dynamic
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Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 10cm
- Base: 17cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 140cm (+5cm since yesterday)
- Base: 105cm (no change 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: 15cm
- Base: 15cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 145cm (+10cm since yesterday)
- Base: 110cm (+5cm 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
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Niseko Village Ski Resort
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 10cm
- Base: 10cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 115cm (+5cm since yesterday)
- Base: 110cm (+10cm 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]
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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 Tuesday 20th December 2022 Total snowfall at base so far 273cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 24 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 21cm (17th December) November 2022 snowfall 17cm reported on 5 days December 2022 snowfall 256cm reported on 19 days |
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.