Niseko Now: Saturday 5th December 2015
- Dec 5, 2015
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 2, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 14cm
Snowfall at base this season 94cm
Posted on Saturday 5th December 2015 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
14cm of fresh snow to report to you this morning from my base area here in Hirafu and it feels like a cold wintery morning out there.
I was hoping for more - the news last night was warning us of up to 80cm of snowfall in parts of Hokkaido by the end of today. I do like those warnings, especially when they are right - and perhaps with more snow falling today we'll get bigger numbers. Anyway, it was very windy overnight and still is and this wind means that the snow has been blowing about and been 're-distributed', so in places there's more than that. Certainly expect more accumulated on the mountain. Niseko Grand Hirafu have adjusted their snow depths this morning to 125cm up top and 50cm at base.
From today more of the mountain is going to be open. It is the first day of the season for the Hanazono area, and more lifts and runs at Niseko Grand Hirafu and Niseko Annupuri are going to be open this morning. I have added details, as much as I can get them at the time of writing this report, in the details below. Hopefully wind won't mess around with those plans.
We still have snow forecast for today, tomorrow and hopefully into Monday too.
---
Resort specific news as of 8:30am - subject to change during the day
Niseko Grand Hirafu
Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Lifts planned to be running:
- Ace Family Pair
- Ace Number 2 Quad Center Four
- Ace Number 3
- Hirafu Gondola (for transport)
- King Number 3 triple
- Swinging Monkey
- Hanazono Number 1 quad (for transport)
- Hanazono Number 2 quad
- Hanazono Number 3 quad
Courses planned to be open:
- Family Course
- Beginners access
- Center Course
- Jumbo Course
- Parallel Course
- Silver Dream (upper part)
- Yotei Sunset (ungroomed)
Niseko Village
Lifts planned to be operating:
- Community Chair
- Banzai Chair
Courses planned to be open:
- Banzai Course
- Next Stage
- Final Fling
- Shaky Knees
Niseko Annupuri
Lifts planned to be operating:
- Annupuri Gondola
- Jumbo Number 1 quad
- Jumbo Number 2 pair
- Jumbo Number 3 pair
Courses planned to be open:
- Utopia
- Shirakaba
- Paradise
- Junior
- Family
---
'Nighta' should be starting on Saturday 12th December 2015
---
Official resort snow depths:
Grand Hirafu / Hanazono:
Top - 125cm
Base - 50cm
Niseko Village:
Top - 50cm
Base - 30cm
Niseko Annupuri:
Top - 50cm
Base - 30cm
Niseko Now 2015-2016 season |
Data as of Saturday 5th December 2015 Total snowfall at base so far 94cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 7 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 20cm (30th November) November 2015 snowfall 61cm reported on 4 days December 2015 snowfall 33cm 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.