Niseko Now: Friday 20th December 2024
- Dec 20, 2024
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 2cm
Snowfall at base this season 249cm
Posted on Friday 20th December 2024 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Just a few cm of snow to report this morning again as we wait the the next big incoming. As of 8:30am it is snowing lightly.
Hanazono ski area is reporting 16cm of snowfall at base since yesterday. I have not observed anything like that and it seems... unlikely. (I should point out that I am not actually there, but still).
Anyway, that next big incoming looks due for Sunday and Monday, though we might have a nice and sunny Saturday before that arrives. It should be a fine day to be out enjoying all the lovely snow we already have.
The report below is saying that Gate 7 should be open today. At the beginning of the day the Annupuri gondola seems to be delayed (not sure why) and we still wait for news on those top lifts to get moving.
My many apologies for continuing with the night skiing thing, but I couldn't help but notice some interesting comments from my reporting colleague in the Hakuba Now report yesterday. It seems the Hakuba Goryu ski area down there is also enjoying charging some funky prices for lift tickets. It's spreading! Their night skiing is also 5,500 yen (at the ticket window). But at least that ski area is open until 9:30pm!
OK, I promise that is my last comment on the subject. For this year. ;)
By the way, if you do read my daily reports, I recommend checking out some of the other regional reports on SnowJapan. I try to read them all every day and it's really interesting to see what is going on in other popular places around Japan.
It would be great to have reports from some more western regions, too. I know SnowJapan would love to be able to offer such things, but it's difficult finding suitable silly and daft people on location that are prepared to post the things every morning for 5+ months. Doh!
Here they are.
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Mountain base -6℃, slight snowfall, good visibility but can’t see the moon. Moiwa 800m: -9.1℃, NW8.8m/s, 15m/s gusts from 4am are starting to develop cornices and snowdrifts. Hanazono 1000m: -11.5℃, SSE2.4m/s, slight snowfall. Coastal data: Benkei cape NNW15m/s, Kamui cape WNW12m/s, 1016hPa, 2.1m waves.
The wave height started to rise before dawn and a storm is picking up in the mountains. There’s not much snowfall, but the strong wind is carrying the snow and making cornices grow. The avalanche risk will rise in 30° leeward slopes as the windload will form slabs. Keep an eye out on the snowfall transition. Gate 7 is opening today. Make sure to use the gate to access this area. Loose snow avalanches and sluffs are to be expected in Higashi-One area due to the recent abundant & awesome snowfall. Even if the formation of obvious slabs cannot be observed, sometimes an avalanche can start when the weight of the surface snow exceeds the shear stress within the snowpack.
Accidents are mostly caused when windload slabs fracture and let go, however storms are not the only factor that generates unstable slabs. It is important to not blindly believe textbook knowledge. Beware of sudden weather changes. Have a nice day.
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Individual ski area information for Friday 20th December 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.
Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
Peak: 10cm
Base: 16cm (really?)
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
Peak: 175cm (-5cm change since yesterday)
Base: 145cm (-3cm change since yesterday)
Lifts:
All four lifts scheduled to be operating
Courses:
All courses scheduled to be open
Gondola open until 7:00pm
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Niseko Tokyu Grand Hirafu
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
Peak: 10cm
Base: 5cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
Peak: 210cm (-10cm change since yesterday)
Base: 120cm (no change since yesterday)
Lifts:
Ace Family quad (open until 7:00pm)
Ace Gondola (open until 7:00pm)
Ace Number 3 pair
King Gondola (open until 7:00pm)
King Holiday pair (open until 7:00pm)
King Number 3 quad
Swinging Monkey
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Niseko Village Ski Resort
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
Peak: 160cm (no change since yesterday)
Base: 120cm (no change since yesterday)
Lifts:
Niseko Gondola
Upper Village Gondola (open until 7:00pm)
Village Express (open until 7:30pm)
Community Chair
Banzai Chair (open for night skiing until 7:30pm)
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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 (open until 7:30pm)
Jumbo Number 2 pair
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Niseko Moiwa Ski Resort
Lifts:
Number 1 pair lift
Number 2 pair lift
Quad lift
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Night skiing
Floodlit night skiing is planned daily until Wednesday 23rd March 2025.
Niseko Now 2024-2025 season |
Data as of Friday 20th December 2024 Total snowfall at base so far 249cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 25 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 23cm (16th December) November 2024 snowfall 38cm reported on 8 days December 2024 snowfall 211cm reported on 17 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.