Niseko Now: Saturday 31st December 2016
- Dec 31, 2016
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 5cm
Snowfall at base this season 291cm
Posted on Saturday 31st December 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Good morning from Niseko on this New Years Eve morning.
Yesterday I enjoyed a really good 4 hours out in the snow. I found some very nice conditions though it was getting pretty windy out there in the afternoon and unfortunately the wind stopped some of the lifts. Hopefully today wind will be less of an issue. Yesterday was my last ski of the year as well, as I need to get myself off to Sapporo city this morning once the report is done.
So what is going on this morning? Light snow was falling again early on but that has now eased off and it is currently cloudy with more and more blue sky appearing and the sun starting to break through as well.
We have had about 5cm of fresh snowfall overnight here at base. Again, it's good quality snow by the looks, but we could just do with more on the quantity side of things. A look at the forecast shows there's really not much sign of huge dumpage on the forecast so it feels like we are perhaps going to have to make do with smaller installments. As long as they are regular.
There's a good crowd of folk lining up and waiting for the lifts to get going this morning. New Years Eve and all, there's a lot of people here now and there will no doubt be lots of celebrations going on tonight - including official fireworks, torch lit skiing and the like. Lots of people also means that tracks get filled in quicker so those regular top-ups are important.
Early next week I'll take another look back at the season so far.
All that remains for me this year is to thank everyone for reading these 'Niseko Now' reports, the good folk who run and develop SnowJapan.com - and let's all hope that 2017 proves to be a good one. For snow in Niseko, snow in Japan, and of course just generally. I'll see you then. Forgive me if my report tomorrow is a little later than usual... I can foresee some potential 'technical issues'.
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Niseko Avalanche Report:
Niseko base 6am: -5℃, 5cm snowfall in 12hours. Mikaeri ridge 800m: -10℃, W8m/s, 20cm snowfall with snowdrifts development. Annupuri 1150m: -11℃, W10-15m/s, snowdrifts developing. Hirafu 1200m: -12℃, W15m/s, snowdrifts developing on the east side. Coastal data: Kamui cape NW8m/s, 1018hPa, 2.4m waves.
Relatively strong westerly wind persists; cornices and snowdrifts are developing above 800m and are unstable during the morning. The avalanche risk in high elevation cornices slopes and knolls is high this morning. Gates 4 (Hirafu) & 5 (Hanazono) are opening today. Please listen to the ski patrols’ instructions before stepping out of the gates. The snow in the trees is good, but still shallow. Better not stimulate cornices and knolls, accidents mostly happen during and just after storms.
Niseko area has been working on accident prevention in the out of bounds and surrounds backcountry areas. This practice started as a result of necessity, but eventually played a big role on the tourism promotion of Niseko snow season. The Rules respects the freedom to ride, but also values the safety of all resort users. Some of the Niseko mountain area is included in the quasi-national park area. The Japanese Park Law’s fundamental principles bases on the protection of the environment and the adequate use of the land. Niseko Rules obviously respects these principles too.
We would like to point out that, when a private company borrows national/prefectural land to run a business, they should not make selfish interpretations and think they have exclusive rights to using a public land. If they did, they would be standing against the gist of the National Park Law.
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Official resort snow depths as of Saturday 31st December 2016:
Niseko Grand Hirafu & Hanazono
Top - 250cm
Base - 100cm
Niseko Village
Top - 140cm
Base - 100cm
Niseko Annupuri
Top - 140cm
Base - 90cm
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Night skiing is planned until Monday 20th March 2017 at the Niseko Annupuri, Niseko Grand Hirafu and Niseko Village resort areas. There is no nighta in the Hanazono area.
Niseko Now 2016-2017 season |
Data as of Saturday 31st December 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 291cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 36 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 36cm (16th December) November 2016 snowfall 110cm reported on 14 days December 2016 snowfall 181cm reported on 22 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.