Niseko Now: Sunday 3rd February 2019
- Feb 3, 2019
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 3cm
Snowfall at base this season 733cm
Posted on Sunday 3rd February 2019 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
All clear blue skies this morning. Hurray!
It's keeping pretty cold early on and it is no surprise that a lot of people are lining up waiting for the first lifts of the day to take them to all that lovely snow on the mountain. We should be 'all open' today after a few days of lift disruption.
A lot of folk are coming to enjoy their Chinese New Year holidays here in Niseko at the moment. Today is a fine day to be arriving!
I will post my excite look back at January in the report tomorrow.
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Niseko Avalanche Report:
Mountain Base 6.00am: -4°, no new snow in the last 12 hrs. Moiwa 800m: -5.9, W6.5m/s, cornice development settled. Mikaeri Weather Station: snowdrift development, calm. Annupuri 1120m: snow depth 2105cm. Hirafu Peak: -10°. Mizuno no Sawa: -8.73°, no new snow in last 12 hrs, snow depth 157cm. Suttsu Weather Station: -0.9°, snow depth 44cm. Kutchan Weather Station: -2.0°, snow depth 158cm. Cape Benkei: NW12m/s, Cape Kamui: W10m/s, pressure 1008hPa, wave 2.3m.
The isobars have moved further apart and the sea and mountains are calm. Leeward snow drifts development is stable, on impact there is no obvious weak layer. From observation the general avalanche risk is low. Cornice growth has been massive (bus size), no room for a careless attitude under one of them. If they collapse, giant block avalanche will occur. Do not traverse under or on top of cornices, this could trigger a surface avalanche and with so many people in the valley bottom a serious accident could happen.
Osawa cornice face and Kozan no Sawa 1000m line, avalanche risk is hard to predict. Better not to ride there. Snow conditions are good everywhere. Is your beacon switched on? Niseko respects your freedom to ride outside the resort areas, but has a serious interest in your safety. Please listen to the patrol's advice before going through the gates. Do not stay at the bottom of the valley. Have a nice day.
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Ski resort operation information: Sunday 3rd February 2019
Subject to change due to weather conditions
Niseko Grand Hirafu
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 330cm
- Base: 125cm
Ski lifts operating:
- All lifts should be operating as normal (Ace Number 1 pair and King Number 2 quad lift rested)
- The Ace Family quad (until 8:30pm), Ace Center 4 quad (8:20pm), Hirafu Gondola (until 8:10pm) and Holiday Number 1 pair (until 8:30pm) lifts are normally open during the evening
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Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 230cm
- Base: 190cm
Ski lifts operating:
- All lifts should be operating as normal
- The Hanazono lifts are normally open until 3:50pm (Number 3 until 3:30pm)
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Niseko Annupuri
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 300cm
- Base: 150cm
Ski lifts operating:
- All lifts should be operating as normal
- The Jumbo 1 lift is normally open until 8:30pm during the evening
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Niseko Village
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 300cm
- Base: 160cm
Ski lifts operating:
- All lifts should be operating as normal (Country Road lift rested)
- The Upper Village Gondola, Village Express and Banzai Chair lifts are normally open until 8:00pm during the evening
Niseko Now 2018-2019 season |
Data as of Sunday 3rd February 2019 Total snowfall at base so far 733cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 62 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 32cm (29th December) November 2018 snowfall 84cm reported on 8 days December 2018 snowfall 333cm reported on 26 days January 2019 snowfall 285cm reported on 25 days February 2019 snowfall 31cm reported on 3 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.