Niseko Now: Wednesday 30th November 2016
- Nov 30, 2016
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 10cm
Snowfall at base this season 110cm
Posted on Wednesday 30th November 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
What about this then? While it is always the most exciting to be able to report heavy snowfall, it's always good to be able to report some blue skies and sunshine as well. (Though admittedly, it's much better once everywhere is open and the season gets going properly, after 30cm of fresh snow overnight...! I know, I can be hard to please.)
Still, with 10cm of fresh snow overnight, it should be a good morning to get in some of those early turns. Niseko Grand Hirafu have added 15cm to the official snow depth up top this morning. Though seemingly resort operations at Niseko Grand Hirafu and Niseko Annupuri remain unchanged.
So yes, there is lots of blue sky around this morning with just a bit of cloud. A lovely morning. It's good and cold too, and calm. Perhaps I will see some of you out there in a short while.
After the fine weather of today, tomorrow is forecast to get milder but we should be seeing a return to snow clouds later in the day and on Friday. After Friday there doesn't seem to be much chance of snow on the forecast with milder conditions again over the weekend and into early next week, but let's deal with that later.
More people are seemingly arriving in the area by the day now, so expectations continue to rise. What will December bring us this year?
---
What should be open today?
Niseko Grand Hirafu plans to be part open from 8:30am with the Ace Number 2 Center Four quad lift taking folk up to the Ace Number 3 pair lift and the open Center Course. The last lift servicing the open run will be at 3:30pm and the last quad lift coming back down to base at 4pm. Lift tickets for 1 day are 2,000 yen for adults and 1,000 yen for children and seniors.
Niseko Annupuri also plans to be part open. The Annupuri Gondola starts moving at 8:30am, taking people up to the Jumbo Number 3 pair lift which is open from 8:45am until 3:15pm. The last Gondola down is at 3:30pm. 1 day lift tickets for this limited Niseko Annupuri opening are 2,100 yen for adults and seniors, and 1,300 yen for elementary school age children.
---
Official resort snow depths as of Wednesday 30th November 2016:
Niseko Grand Hirafu
Top - 110cm
Base - 60cm
Niseko Annupuri
Top - 50cm
Base - 30cm
---
Planned season dates for the four main Niseko United ski resorts:
Niseko Grand Hirafu: partly open already, until Sunday 7th May 2017
Niseko Annupuri: partly open already, until Sunday 7th May 2017
Niseko Hanazono: Saturday 3rd December 2016 until Sunday 2nd April 2017
Niseko Village: Thursday 1st December 2016 until Sunday 2nd April 2017
Night skiing is planned from Saturday 10th December until Monday 20th March 2017 at the Annupuri, Grand Hirafu and Village resort areas.
Niseko Now 2016-2017 season |
Data as of Wednesday 30th November 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 110cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 14 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 25cm (25th November) November 2016 snowfall 110cm 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.