Niseko Now: Saturday 23rd February 2013
- Feb 23, 2013
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 10cm
Snowfall at base this season 1248cm
Weather overview Cloud
Wind
Varied
Temperature -7C base / -14C top
Visibility Variable
Posted at 8:30am on Saturday 23rd February 2013 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Good morning and this morning I have another 10-15cm of snowfall to report from Hirafu. Some good consistent snowfall over the last week, which is great of course. We probably have a few more days of similar conditions before clearer conditions around Tuesday and the last few days of the month.
It's not snowing right now as I write this but snow showers possible throughout the day.
Some fairly strong winds affecting the Ace Number 4 and King Number 4 top lifts on Niseko Grand Hirafu and the top lift at Niseko Hanazono, otherwise normal operations as planned by the looks of things.
From a look at the Avalance Info below it looks like some of the gates will be closed again this morning.
Not much else to report this morning, it'll be another busy one out there. Hope you can enjoy it.
Avalanche Information
Niseko base 6am: -10C, 15cm of broken particles snow. Moiwa 800m: storng westerly storm and development of snowdrifts. Annupuri peak: ENE17m/s, -16C. Coastal data: NW17m/s, 1.5m waves and 1011hPa.
Typical winter pressure pattern continues and a snowstorm picked up from late night. Development of snowdrifts is drastic and the avalanche risk will remain high during the morning. Potentially hazardous slopes are knoll terrain in 800m SE facing slopes where slabs of up to 80cm thickness could slide. Gates 2, 3 and 6 will be kept closed.
The closing of gates is based on objective hazard evaluation and is determined for the sake of ALL resort users. It is a message for everyone to tell that the area beyond should not be touched. Hiking up from the end of the rope just below gate 6, or traversing all the way to Higashione from gate 5 will only lead many people to do the same and increase the chances of accidents to happen. If an avalanche happens in Moiwa/Mikaeri bowl, it is highly likely to be deeply buried at the bottom of the valley. Higashione has large vertical difference and could lead big consequences. These are the reason for having the gates closed yesterday and today. Selfish interpretation of the rules is neglecting the trust between the users and the resorts and will only lead to a stronger regulation. We strongly demand everyone to respect the Rules if we want to keep Niseko a free & safe place to ride/ski. Beware of cracks and have a nice day.
Niseko Now 2012-2013 season |
Data as of Saturday 23rd February 2013 Total snowfall at base so far 1248cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 83 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 45cm (27th January) November 2012 snowfall 118cm reported on 11 days December 2012 snowfall 418cm reported on 27 days January 2013 snowfall 443cm reported on 26 days February 2013 snowfall 269cm 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.