Niseko Now: Monday 26th December 2022
- Dec 26, 2022
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 15cm
Snowfall at base this season 308cm
Posted on Monday 26th December 2022 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
It is still curiously not as cold as we expect it to be. I believe it is raining in places not too far away from us, just a bit lower down in town, and we can do well to avoid that. (That Hirafu webcam image below looks... kind of wet, doesn't it?)
But anyway, it has been snowing lightly outside my place as I write this, and there is snow to report since yesterday morning. It has been on and off with the most yesterday morning and late last night. My measurement is 15cm. Seems like there might have been more on the north side of the mountain.
Various forecasts seem to indicate a return to colder conditions from around later Wednesday and still a chance of some clearer skies at times before then. I'm guessing conditions might be a bit heavy before then.
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Mountain base: +1℃, 15cm wet snowfall in 12h. Moiwa 800m: -2℃, westerly 8m/s, 25cm snowfall in 12h with snowdrifts. Annupuri 1000m: -3℃, westerly 10m/s, bad visibility, 30cm snowfall with snowdrifts. Coastal data: Benkei cape NE11m/s, Kamui cape ENE5m/s, 1007 hPa, 3.5m waves.
Warm air snowfall continues with rain below 300m elevation. The freezing level lies around 700m and wet new snow accumulated with snowdrift development above 800m. Niseko Village Gate11, Moiwa Gate 6 will open today. Follow the ski patrol’s instructions when stepping out of bounds. Snowpack is still low along the creek line, but is in pretty good shape. Carefully pick your route. It is highly recommended to wear a helmet and an avalanche beacon. The new snowdrifts formed by the past few days’ NE wind above 1100m are still unstable. Make sure to anchor yourself with a rope when conducting pit-checks and rutschblock test. The avalanche risk remains very high at the Backbowl’s high sidewalls. Refrain from accessing from Goshiki side. Avalanches occur when the conditions align and does not depend on the amount of snowfall. They are natural phenomena and won’t be an accident as long as nobody is in its path. Have a great day.
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Ski area information for Monday 26th December 2022
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.
Official snow depth numbers in brackets show the change since previous report.
Niseko Tokyu Grand Hirafu
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 25cm
- Base: 25cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 230cm (+10cm since yesterday)
- Base: 90cm (+10cm change since yesterday)
Lifts:
- Ace Family quad [* open until for 7:00pm for night skiing]
- Ace Number 2 quad (Center Four) [* open until for 7:00pm for night skiing]
- Ace Number 3 pair
- Hirafu Gondola
- Holiday Number 1 pair
- King Number 3 quad
- Swinging Monkey
Courses:
- All courses are now open except Large, Miharashi and Dynamic
- Super and Furiko are temporarily closed due to avalanche hazard
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Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 18cm
- Base: 28cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 170cm (+14cm since yesterday)
- Base: 142cm (+18cm since yesterday)
Lifts:
- ON HOLD AT START OF DAY
- Hanazono Number 1
- Hanazono Number 2 quad
- Hanazono Number 3 quad
- Hanazono Symphony Gondola [* open until 7:00pm for night skiing]
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Niseko Annupuri Kokusai
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 10cm
- Base: 10cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 135cm (+5cm since yesterday)
- Base: 105cm (+5cm change since yesterday)
Lifts:
- Annupuri Gondola
- Dream Number 1 quad
- Jumbo Number 1 quad [* open until 7:30pm for night skiing]
- Jumbo Number 2 pair
- Jumbo Number 3 pair
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Niseko Village Ski Resort
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 5cm
- Base: 0cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 100cm (+5cm since yesterday)
- Base: 95cm (+5cm change since yesterday)
Lifts:
- Niseko Gondola
- Village Express
- Community Chair [* open until 7:00pm for night skiing]
- Banzai Chair [* open until 7:00pm for night skiing]
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Niseko Moiwa Ski Resort
Lifts:
- Number 1 pair lift
- Number 2 pair lift
- Quad lift
Niseko Now 2022-2023 season |
Data as of Monday 26th December 2022 Total snowfall at base so far 308cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 29 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 21cm (17th December) November 2022 snowfall 17cm reported on 5 days December 2022 snowfall 291cm reported on 24 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.