Niseko Now: Monday 29th January 2018
- Jan 29, 2018
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 15cm
Snowfall at base this season 828cm
Posted on Monday 29th January 2018 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Happy Monday morning to you all.
It's the start of another week and we are of course not in the very last bit of January 2018. Including the 15cm I am adding today, my observed snowfall haul for January here at base so far is 234cm. With a few more reports to go, what will that number get to? O-tanoshi-mi-ni! I plan to post my monthly review by the end of the week.
OK, so there's another decent layer of snow; it's still snowing nicely as I write this report and it is another very cold morning. Visibility is looking rather limited out there on the mountain at the moment but I expect conditions will be worth being checked out.
We are now in peak season. And with that, of course, we expect peak conditions. The month of February is also 'peak', and includes the popular Chinese New Year holidays around the middle of the month. With so many people around over the next few weeks we are going to be needing that regular refresh of snow, so let's hope Nature delivers.
As the report goes up at 8:30am, the top lifts appear to be opening as scheduled this morning. Hurray!
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Niseko Avalanche Report:
Niseko base 5.00am: -10°, 15cm new snow, light winds. Moiwa 800m: -10.6°, W4m/s (at 10pm last night N0.7m/s, 11.00pm:W15.6m/s), major snowdrift development. Annupuri 1150m: -17°, NW10m/s, 30cm new snow, snowdrift development. Hirafu 1250m: -18°, NW10m/s, 20cm new snow. Coastal data: Benkei Cape:NW14m/s. Kamui Cape: WSW9m/s, 1016hPa, wave 1.5m.
Low pressure snowfall preceded the passing of low pressure system last night followed by a strong westerly wind which caused rapid snow drift development. From tests snow drift growth on leeward slopes above 800m is more than 100cm and unstable. There is possibility of powder avalanche fracturing about 60cm on 28th Jan or deeper layer at Kozan no sawa side wall and lower West ridge around 1100m, Osawa cornice slope at 900m and Higashi One cornice slope 1000m. This current weather pattern creates heavy slabs which fail instantaneously and travel at high speeds. The avalanche risk on leeward slopes effected by wind is high.
There is 20-30cm of good snow in the trees. All gates are expected to be open. Please listen to the patrols advice before going out the gates. Cornices collapse down the slope, don't ride carelessly near them or rest under them to get out of the wind. Have a safe day. Beware of frostbite.
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Monday 29th January 2018
Resort specific information (operations subject to change):
Niseko Grand Hirafu & Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Lifts scheduled to be operating:
- All lifts apart from King Number 2 should normally be operating
Official snow depth:
- Top: 430cm
- Base: 210cm
Niseko Annupuri Kokusai
Lifts scheduled to be operating:
- All lifts should normally be operating
Official snow depth:
- Top: 310cm
- Base: 200cm
Niseko Village
Lifts scheduled to be operating:
- All lifts apart from the Country Road Chair lift should normally be operating
- 'Early Gondola' service from 7:30am until 8:30am (Niseko Gondola). On February 3rd-4th. 1,400 yen special ticket required.
Official snow depth:
- Top: 310cm
- Base: 200cm
Niseko Now 2017-2018 season |
Data as of Monday 29th January 2018 Total snowfall at base so far 828cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 62 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 38cm (21st December) November 2017 snowfall 188cm reported on 11 days December 2017 snowfall 406cm reported on 27 days January 2018 snowfall 234cm 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.