Niseko Now: Friday 2nd February 2024
- Feb 2, 2024
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 13cm
Snowfall at base this season 692cm
Posted on Friday 2nd February 2024 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
At 8:30am I measured 13cm of fresh snow and wiped off my measuring point. There's probably going to be more there already as it has continued snowing and as I write this at 10am it is snowing quite heavily. (I'm writing this from Hanazono. It doesn't look like it is snowing as much over at Village). There's lots of those folks in bright orange wear too, so put on your sunglasses before you look at the image below!
We expect snow through the day today.
Alas, top lifts aren't moving at the moment due to wind. And neither is the Annupuri gondola according to the official site. Hopefully tomorrow will be calmer...
In case you missed it, I posted a season review kind of thingy yesterday.
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Mountain Base 5am: -8°, 5cm new snow, calm. Moiwa 800m: -12.7°, WNW3.4m/s, 15cm new snow, cornice and snowdrift development. Mikaeri 764m: no data. Annupuri 1100m: -14.9°, WNW7.0m/s. Village 1000: -13.4°, WNW6.4m/s. Hanazono 1000m: -14.3°, NNE4.6m/s. Hanazono 3 : -11.2°, NNW0.8m/s. Coastal data: Benkei Cape:NNW18m/s. Kamui Cape N7m/s, 1020hPa, wave 2.1m
The atmospheric pressure gradient will temporarily relax and it will be relatively calm at 800m. Expect intermittent wind and snow storms to continue into the afternoon though. Cornices and snow drifts are starting to stabilise, however on SW slopes above 1000m slabs are insufficiently compacted and there is the risk of over 50cm deep avalanches all day. Gate openings are still to be decided. Please respect the patrols decisions. Be careful on steep leeward slopes and knolls at all elevations where heavy amounts of wind blow snow have deposited, even below 800m. Careless stimulation could trigger an avalanche. Do not stop in the valley or gully bottoms, this is where an avalanche will run. If you are not there, there will be no avalanche accident. Conditions are similar on surrounding mountains. People have been seen brazenly ducking ropes to go out of bounds. Respect Niseko rules. Is your beacon on? The snow in the trees is wonderful.
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Individual ski area information for Friday 2nd February 2024
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 and subject to change.
*** TOP LIFTS ON HOLD THIS MORNING ***
Niseko Tokyu Grand Hirafu
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 20cm
- Base: 20cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 330cm (+20cm since yesterday)
- Base: 120cm (no change since yesterday)
Lifts (scheduled):
- All lifts apart from King Number 1 pair and King Number 2 quad (normal operations)
- The Ace Family quad, Ace Number 2 quad (Center Four), Hirafu Gondola and Holiday Number 1 pair lifts are scheduled to be open until 7:00pm
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Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 17cm
- Base: 12cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 260cm (+10cm since yesterday)
- Base: 197cm (+2cm since yesterday)
Lifts (scheduled):
- All lifts
- The Hanazono Symphony Gondola is scheduled to be open until 7:00pm
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Niseko Annupuri Kokusai
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 210cm (no change since yesterday)
- Base: 180cm (no change since yesterday)
Lifts (scheduled):
- All lifts
- The Jumbo Number 1 quad lift is scheduled to be open until 7:30pm
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Niseko Village Ski Resort
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
- Peak: 246cm (no change since yesterday)
- Base: 163cm (no change since yesterday)
Lifts (scheduled):
- All lifts apart from Country Road
- The Upper Village Gondola, Village Express and Banzai Chair are scheduled to be open until 7:00pm
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Niseko Moiwa Ski Resort
Lifts (scheduled):
- All lifts
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Floodlit night skiing is planned daily until Wednesday 20th March 2024.
Night skiing is usually until 7:00pm at Hirafu, Hanazono, Village and until 7:30pm at Annupuri.
Niseko Now 2023-2024 season |
Data as of Friday 2nd February 2024 Total snowfall at base so far 692cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 61 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 62cm (8th January) November 2023 snowfall 120cm reported on 11 days December 2023 snowfall 247cm reported on 24 days January 2024 snowfall 298cm reported on 24 days February 2024 snowfall 27cm reported on 2 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.