Niseko Now: Sunday 27th December 2020
- Dec 27, 2020
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 14cm
Snowfall at base this season 348cm
Posted on Sunday 27th December 2020 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Another decent amount of fresh snow to report to you this morning. I am measuring 14cm. Right now it is generally overcast and no snow falling. A chance of light snow at times today and tomorrow with a chance of heavier snow over the last few days of the week.
This morning wind doesn't appear to be affecting lift operations and all of the planned lifts are operating at the start of the day, with the Jumbo Number 3 at Annupuri and Morino Chair at Village starting up.
The mountain is mostly open now, though those top lifts at Hirafu, Village and Annupuri and associated terrain are not yet available.
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Benkei cape: NW14m/s, Kamui cape: W11m/s, 1021hPa, 2.4m waves. Hanazono1000m: -14.4℃, S4.1m/s, Hanazono720m: -11.3℃, NW8.8m/s. Moiwa800m: -11.1℃, strong wind, good visibility, large development of snowdrifts. Annnupuri1100m: -14.8℃, WNW7.5m/s. Kutchan weather station: -6.1℃, W3.5m/s, 89cm snowpack. Moiwa base: -10℃, 20cm new snowfall, strong wind but good visibility.
The wind remains strong at the edge of the high-pressure. Cornices and snowdrifts have drastically developed during the storm that lasted until this morning. The wind is forecasted to calm down, however cornice slopes and snowdrift-loaded slopes above 800m elevation have high risk of avalanche throughout the day. The snowdrift slabs will start stabilizing after the wind drops down below 10m/s in the afternoon.
Many of the avalanche accidents occur during and just after storms. Avalanche accidents frequently occurred in Niseko during the 1980s and were due to the extension of the chairlifts up to 1150m elevation. Higher chairlifts made it easier to access O-sawa and the Backbowl and the number of people skiing those bowls went up, and unlucky people were caught in an avalanche. Better stay away from those gullies today. When observing and testing the snowdrift slabs, they might look dense, firm and stable at first look, however looking at the snowfall transition and overnight weather data we can evaluate that the avalanche risk is very high today.
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Planned ski area operations: Sunday 27th December 2020
The below information is manually checked each morning and believed to be correct at time of report.
Niseko Grand Hirafu
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 230cm (+20cm)
- Base: 130cm (+10cm)
Ski lifts operating:
- Ace Family quad [*]
- Ace Number 2 Center quad [*]
- Hirafu Gondola
- Holiday Number 1 pair
- King Number 3 quad
- Swinging Monkey
All courses open except:
- Large
- Dynamic
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Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 163cm (+3cm)
- Base: 110cm (+5cm)
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 the ski area):
- Peak: 150cm (+10cm)
- Base: 110cm (+0cm)
Ski lifts operating:
- Annupuri Gondola
- Dream Number 1 quad
- Jumbo Number 1 quad [*]
- Jumbo Number 2 pair
- Jumbo Number 3 pair
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Niseko Village
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 150cm (+15cm)
- Base: 100cm (-5cm)
Ski lifts operating:
- Niseko Gondola
- Village Express [*]
- Community Chair [*]
- Banzai Chair [*]
- Morino Chair
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Night time operations are available in the Niseko Grand Hirafu, Niseko Village and Niseko Annupuri areas until 7th March 2021.
Lifts marked [*] are scheduled to be operating during night skiing, until 8:00pm.
There is no night skiing in the Niseko HANAZONO area.
Niseko Now 2020-2021 season |
Data as of Sunday 27th December 2020 Total snowfall at base so far 348cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 27 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 32cm (10th November and 15th December) November 2020 snowfall 62cm reported on 6 days December 2020 snowfall 286cm reported on 21 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.