Niseko Now: Saturday 21st December 2019
- Dec 21, 2019
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 9cm
Snowfall at base this season 230cm
Posted on Saturday 21st December 2019 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Good morning everyone and welcome to the weekend.
I have measured another modest amount of snow this morning, I am measuring 9cm. It's bit by bit at the moment, rather than serious dumps, though nice quality snow for sure and all is welcome. As always we can expect more than that higher up and a friend of mine who gets to be up there early tells me around double what I measure down here. (I'm not in the least bit jealous of him. Honestly).
This morning it is cold and light snow has been falling, but it is easing off now and in some directions some breaks in the cloud are appearing.
It is the weekend before Christmas. What might be called the first 'peak' of the upcoming peak season is nearly upon us. More and more people are arriving by the day. There are highly expectant folk, and rightly so. After all, they have been promised the best powder in the world... (not by me, of course). And of course, it goes without saying that everyone hopes that every visitor gets to have a fantastic time while they are here in Niseko.
So it is good to see some mid-mountain runs re-opening at Hirafu for the weekend. The King Number 1 pair lift is also operating from today. Top lifts are still not available and there are still areas that can't be accessed, so we are by no means there yet.
We can also hope for gradually more snowfall building up and for the whole mountain to be open fairly soon. (Please).
And who can forget Santa-san's forthcoming appearances!
-----
Niseko Avalanche Report
Mountain base 6am: -7℃, 3cm snowfall in 12h. Coastal data: Benkei cape WNW13m/s, Kamui cape SW16m/s, 1021hPa, 1.9m waves. Annupuri 1000m snowpack: 80cm.
The wintery pressure distribution resulted in a light snowfall, relatively consistent above 1000m elevation and the snowpack has grown slightly. The wind has blown the new snow from the western side to the eastern side of the mountain, as Hanazono seems to have the most amount of new snow, however a thin layer of light snow can be found throughout the mountain.
A new low pressure is advancing through the afternoon and temperature is forecasted to rise during the day. Light is weak again and the terrain is difficult to see, ride carefully.
The out of bounds area is still closed. Please obey the ski patrol’s instructions and respect the Niseko Rules. The mountain condition is slowly getting better.
2 anemometers have been installed at two location in Hanazono yesterday, and 4 more locations to follow. Data collection will start soon.
-----
Niseko Grand Hirafu
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 155cm
- Base: 60cm
Ski lifts operating:
- Ace Family quad
- Ace Number 2 Center quad
- Ace Number 3 pair
- Hirafu Gondola
- Holiday Number 1 pair
- King Number 1 pair
- King Number 3 quad
- Swinging Monkey
Courses available:
- Family
- Sennoki
- Alpen
- Detour for beginners
- Green
- Shirakaba
- Center
- Kogen
- Boyo
- Ni-kabe
- Kokutai
- Holiday
- Rinkan (lower area)
- Jumbo
-----
Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 95cm
- Base: 40cm
Ski lifts operating:
- Hanazono Number 1 quad
- Hanazono Number 2 quad
- Hanazono Number 3 quad
-----
Niseko Annupuri
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 90cm
- Base: 60cm
Ski lifts operating:
- Annupuri Gondola
- Dream Number 1 quad
- Jumbo Number 1 quad
- Jumbo Number 2 pair
- Jumbo Number 3 pair
Courses available:
- Utopia Course
- Silver Course
- Shirakaba Course
- Paradise Course
- Family Course
- Junior Course
-----
Niseko Village
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 90cm
- Base: 50cm
Ski lifts operating:
- Niseko Gondola ON HOLD
- Upper Village Gondola
- Village Express
- Community Chair
- Banzai Chair
Niseko Now 2019-2020 season |
Data as of Saturday 21st December 2019 Total snowfall at base so far 230cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 23 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 21cm (6th December) November 2019 snowfall 85cm reported on 10 days December 2019 snowfall 145cm reported on 13 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.