Niseko Now: Tuesday 24th December 2019
- Dec 24, 2019
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 7cm
Snowfall at base this season 248cm
Posted on Tuesday 24th December 2019 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
It's Christmas! (I'll say that again tomorrow, just so we're all catered for).
This morning I have measured 7cm of snow to add to my reports. It is another cold morning, though not as cold as the start we had yesterday which was extremely brrrrrr.
I have checked and added a few more courses that are now open at Hirafu. Large areas of the mountain are now open - though we are not yet fully open and those top lifts at Hirafu, Village and Annupuri are not moving just yet. We need more snow for that and it is certainly true that we still have less snow than we expect as we enter the last week of December. Still, I see that many other ski areas in other regions of Japan are struggling to even get open, which is somewhat worrying to see. A slow start does not mean that it is destined to be a slow season all round. (Well, hopefully!)
Hirafu are now operating their Gondola until 8:10pm, the Ace Number 2 Center Four lift until 8:20pm and the Ace Family Quad and Holiday Pair lift until 8:30pm.
Santa-san will be out on the slopes today. And tomorrow too. As I said before, Niseko is of course the place that he chooses to ski. Or snowboard. Apparently he might have a sack of presents with him.
Regular snowfall is still forecast over the next week - regular being the word there, rather than huge dumpage. Perhaps we will need to wait until over the New Year for that.
Anyway, let's enjoy what we have and everyone take care out there.
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Moiwa Mountain Base 6.00am: -8°, 3cm of new snow in the last 12hrs, 600m light wind snow, poor visibility, snow drift and cornice development. Coastal data: Benkei Cape:WNW16m/s. Kamui Cape WNW12m/s, 1018hPa, wave 1.8m. Hirafu 1000m: -14.1°. Hanazono 3 elev 720m: -10.9°, W3.7m/s
We are currently in a winter weather pattern, the atmospheric pressure gradient is a bit steeper and a strong snow wind is blowing above 800m. The avalanche risk on the leeward side of knolls and cornice slopes above 800m is high throughout the day due to the snowdrift/cornice development and the snowfall trend. Visibility is also poor, don't accidently trigger a slope. Avalanches are predicted to fracture on the 23rd Dec layer at a depth of 50cm.
During times of snowdrift growth, they can easily collapse on weak layers which can trigger a surface avalanche. The snow on the groomers is good again. Visibility is poor, be careful reading the snow surface or going too fast. Watch out for frostbite, its cold. Please listen to the patrols directions. Have a good day.
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Niseko Grand Hirafu
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 170cm
- Base: 70cm
Ski lifts operating:
- Ace Family quad (until 8:30pm)
- Ace Number 2 Center quad (until 8:20pm)
- Ace Number 3 pair
- Hirafu Gondola (until 8:10pm)
- Holiday Number 1 pair (until 8:30pm)
- King Number 1 pair
- King Number 3 quad
- Swinging Monkey
Courses available:
- Family
- Sennoki
- Alpen
- Super
- Detour for beginners
- Green
- Furiko
- Shirakaba
- Center
- Kogen
- Boyo
- Ni-kabe
- Kokutai
- Holiday
- Rinkan (lower area)
- Jumbo
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Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 114cm
- Base: 62cm
Ski lifts operating:
- Hanazono Number 1 quad
- Hanazono Number 2 quad
- Hanazono Number 3 quad
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Niseko Annupuri
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 95cm
- Base: 65cm
Ski lifts operating:
- Annupuri Gondola
- Dream Number 1 quad
- Jumbo Number 1 quad (until 8:30pm)
- Jumbo Number 2 pair
- Jumbo Number 3 pair
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Niseko Village
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 90cm
- Base: 55cm
Ski lifts operating:
- Niseko Gondola
- Upper Village Gondola (until 8:00pm)
- Village Express (until 8:00pm)
- Community Chair
- Banzai Chair (until 8:00pm)
Niseko Now 2019-2020 season |
Data as of Tuesday 24th December 2019 Total snowfall at base so far 248cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 26 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 21cm (6th December) November 2019 snowfall 85cm reported on 10 days December 2019 snowfall 163cm reported on 16 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.