Niseko Now: Sunday 29th December 2013
- Dec 29, 2013
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 20cm
Snowfall at base this season 383cm
Posted on Sunday 29th December 2013 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
20cm or so of fresh snowfall here in the Hirafu village area since my last report. Should be excellent snow conditions this morning, though visibility is limited at the moment due to the snow still coming down.
It continues to get busier, though most everyone here now for New Year will now be here and putting the boots on to get out today. Expect generally busy-ness! And we can also expect snow to be falling for most of the New Year period.
Doesn't feel particularly windy here, but it's another wind affected morning on mountain with resorts noting wind speeds of up to 18m/s (Annupuri), 17m/s (Niseko Village) and 15m/s (Hirafu) before 9am. A number of lifts are not running at the moment due to the wind conditions - check the listings below for the situation as I post this report.
Niseko Grand Hirafu is now up to 2.5m with their official peak snow depth this morning after this latest snow. In the report tomorrow, I'll take a look at the snow fall we have had for the season so far and compare with last year, as well as taking a look at the Kutchan numbers. Let's see how they compare.
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Niseko base 6am: -6C, 20cm of crushed and crystal snow, moderate development of snowdrifts. Moiwa 800m: -10C, NW15m/s, notable development of snowdrifts in Mikaeri area. Annupuri 1150m: NW13-15m/s, -11C, developing snowdrifts. Annupuri peak 1308m: NW15.1m/s, -14.1C. Coastal data: Benkei cape NW18m/s, Kamui cape: WNW13m/s, 2.7m waves, 1002hPa.
Wintry pressure pattern is calming down, however relatively strong snow & westerly wind above 15m/s is persisting above 800m. Snowdrifts are heavily developing in leeward cornice & knoll terrains of O-sawa, Backbowl, Higashi-One and Mikaeri bowl. The snowpack is yet to stabilize and the alavanche risk is high.
Peak gates and gate 1, 4 & 5 will be closed. Many of the avalanche accidents occur during and just after storms. Do not duck ropes to step out of bounds. The snowfall amount is not necessarily related to the occurrence of avalanches, a slope will slide if the conditions allows and becomes an accident if a person is involved in it.
The newly formed slabs will stabilize and become appropriate to ski once some time passes after the wind calms down below 10m/s. However, everyone should keep in mind that there is no 100% safety in winter mountains. The Niseko Rules have been implemented based on past tragedies. We strongly ask everyone to respect the Rules. Please follow the ski patrol’s instruction. The snow condition in the trees and pistes is wonderful.
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Official snow depth numbers and lift news at time of writing:
Grand Hirafu / Hanazono:
Top - 250cm
Base - 90cm
Ace Number 4, King Number 3 and 4, Swinging Monkey, Hanazono Number 2 and 3 lifts not operating due to strong wind.
Niseko Village:
Top - 150cm
Base - 110cm
Niseko Gondola and Wonderland Chair lifts not operating at the moment due to wind, up to 17m/s according to the resort.
Annupuri:
Top - 125cm
Base - 130cm
Gondola and Jumbo Number 4 lifts wind affected.
Niseko Now 2013-2014 season |
Data as of Sunday 29th December 2013 Total snowfall at base so far 383cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 29 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 35cm (14th, 15th and 24th December) November 2013 snowfall 123cm reported on 9 days December 2013 snowfall 260cm reported on 20 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.