Niseko Now: Saturday 24th November 2012
- Nov 24, 2012
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 15, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 15cm
Snowfall at base this season 66cm
Weather overview Cloud
Wind
Light
Temperature -4C base / -8C top
Visibility Fair
Posted at 9:42am on Saturday 24th November 2012 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here.
Good morning from Niseko.
I think the people who were out on the slopes yesterday will have all had a good day, and it was good to see a fair amount of terrain open as well for the first day. There was quite a crowd ready for the first lifts of the season. As I mentioned yesterday, the lifts moving at Hirafu were the Ace No 2 Quad Center 4 and the Ace No 3 pair lifts, and the same lifts are operating today. Runs that were open were the Center course as well as Alpen, Green and Kokutai courses. Not bad at all, how things can change in less than a week!
Yesterday I mentioned how things started off clear early morning but it was clouding over when the report was being posted... soon after, the snow was coming down again and it was snowing for the morning and only clearing up in the early afternoon. As per forecast, it was a very cold night and this morning is noticeably the coldest morning so far, it definitely feels it. Not much above -3 degrees. Since yesterday there has been about 15cm of fresh snowfall in village and the resort has increased their official snow depth numbers from 90cm to 115cm up top so we are already officially well over 1m.
With snow falling again this morning and those continued cold conditions, it should be very nice conditions out there today.
In other resort news, Niseko Annupuri yesterday announced that they will be opening on Sunday - so that's tomorrow. They plan to have the Annupuri Gondola and the Jumbo No 3 pair lifts operating. The Gondola will start taking people up the mountain at 9:00am and both lifts will close at 3:30pm. Special lift prices of 2000 yen for adults and seniors, 1000 yen for children (same as at Grand Hirafu) - these prices valid until 30th November. Courses open will be Utopia course, Shirakaba course, Family course and Junior course.
Niseko Now 2012-2013 season |
Data as of Saturday 24th November 2012 Total snowfall at base so far 66cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 5 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 20cm (19th and 21st November) November 2012 snowfall 66cm |
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.