Niseko Now: Monday 28th December 2015
- Dec 28, 2015
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 24cm
Snowfall at base this season 256cm
Posted on Monday 28th December 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Good morning from Niseko.
My report is going to be a bit on the shorter side this morning as I need to get myself to Sapporo.
I have another 24cm of fresh snowfall to report to you as the plenty refills continue with easily more than 30cm higher up. And it keeps on snowing and is due to for most of the coming week. Brilliant!
There might be wind issues today again up there, it looks like early morning the situation is quite similar to how things were yesterday.
It should be a very excellent day on the slopes and I hope you can enjoy it.
See just how quickly things can change? ;)
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Niseko Avalanche Report:
Niseko base 6am: -8℃, 30cm of crushed crystal snow, ne snowdrift development. Moiwa peak: NW15m/s, -10℃, large development of snowdrifts and cornices delaying grooming operations. Annupuri 1000m: NW25m/s, snowdrifts growing and poor visibility. Coastal data: Benkei cape WNW20m/s, Kamui cape W16m/s, 1013hPa, 3.0m waves.
The isobars on the pressure distribution chart are still tight and the storm is persisting above 600m. Some cornices’ overhangs have grown up to 5m in Moiwa 800m area, snowdrifts up to 2m in some knoll terrain. Both extremely unstable and easily collapsing. According to observations and snowfall transition, the avalanche hazard is very high and surface slab slides of up to 1m thickness are likely to occur in 800m leeside knolls, open steep slopes and areas with large cornices development. Avalanches are natural phenomena that only become an accident if human beings are in the way. Know where/what/when needs to be avoided. Slopes conditions are ever-changing, a slope that was good yesterday may be in critical condition today. Always be prudent and humble in the mountains. The snow in the trees is deep and little heavy due to the wind. Gates will start to open once the storm calms down and the snowpack stabilizes. Please respect the Niseko Rules.
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Planned resort operations (subject to change due to weather conditions during the day)
The lifts market with an asterix (*) below are planned to be open for night skiing
Niseko Grand Hirafu
Lifts planned to be running:
- Ace Family pair*
- Ace Number 1 pair
- Ace Number 2 Quad Center Four* (for transport)
- Ace Number 3 pair
- Hirafu Gondola*
- King Number 1 pair
- King Number 3 triple
- King Number 4
- Holiday Number 1 pair*
- Swinging Monkey
Courses planned to be open:
- Family
- Beginners access
- Center
- Shirakaba
- Green
- Kokutai
- Ni-kabe
- Alpen
- Sennoki
- Kogen
- Boyo
- Rinkan
- Jumbo
- Dynamic
Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Lifts planned to be running:
- Hanazono Number 1 quad
- Hanazono Number 2 quad
- Hanazono Number 3 quad
Courses planned to be open:
- Connecting
- Parallel
- Silver Dream
- Stairway to Heaven
- Setsuzoku course
- Crystal Garden
- Yotei Sunset (ungroomed)
Niseko Village
Lifts planned to be operating:
- Niseko Gondola
- Community Chair*
- Banzai Chair*
- Morino Chair
- Wonderland Chair
Niseko Annupuri
Lifts planned to be operating:
- All lifts planned to be operating
Courses planned to be open:
- Champion
- Utopia
- Shirakaba
- Paradise
- Junior
- Family
- Dynamic
- Silver
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Official resort snow depths as of Monday 28th December 2015:
Grand Hirafu / Hanazono:
Top - 245cm
Base - 90cm
Niseko Village:
Top - 180cm
Base - 100cm
Niseko Annupuri:
Top - 105cm
Base - 80cm
Niseko Now 2015-2016 season |
Data as of Monday 28th December 2015 Total snowfall at base so far 256cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 18 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 24cm (26th and 28th December) November 2015 snowfall 61cm reported on 4 days December 2015 snowfall 195cm reported on 14 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.