Niseko Now: Saturday 6th December 2025
- Dec 6, 2025
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 1cm
Snowfall at base this season 71cm
Good morning. It's the first weekend of the ski season.
We have a lot of cloud around this morning but some glimpses of blue sky in places too. Hopefully a fresh dose of snow will be with us from Monday.
There's some more lifts moving this morning along with more course areas available. Please see the list below. (I'll do my best to keep that update and correct each report, using official sources).
In particular, today sees the debut of the new 'six pack' gondola at Niseko Grand Hirafu as they open that lift as well as the King Gondola. I hope to go and check it out myself soon.
I'm keeping the Niseko Village data off the info list below this morning. They have an upper mountain snow depth of 0cm and new snowfall of 30cm this morning. So, yeah, they aren't in the groove yet. It's early season, I'll give them some slack. (And, is 'WE' wind a thing?! That's what Hirafu is reporting this morning). I'm really hopeful that the ski areas will put some importance on the updating of their info each morning. Not just for me and what I do every morning, but for all of their customers.
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Mountain base +2℃, cloudy with no new snowfall, snowpack 30cm. Coastal weather: Benkei cape WNW14m/s, Kamui cape SW17m/s. Niseko Hanazono 1000m: SSE12.3m/s, -3.6℃. Dec 6th layer recorded.
The upper sky wind is blowing strong, however it hasn’t brought much snow as anticipated. We’ll have to wait for the next Low-pressure to come. The wind speed remains high above 1000m elevation, developing cornices and snowdrifts in some areas. These cornices are highly likely to break. Surface slab avalanches of up to 40cm thickness are to be expected in leeward slopes just under ridgelines.
Beware of the groomers’ terrain undulation. The light is flat and the unevenness is hard to see. Be careful not to overspeed and crash. One injury now can ruin your whole season. Have a nice day.
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Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
Peak: 0cm
Base: 3cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
Peak: 90cm
Base: 45cm
Lifts:
Hanazono Number 1
Hanazono Number 2 quad
Hanazono Gondola [to mid-point]
Courses:
Mango Salad
Silver Dream
Juicy Fruit
Parallel
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Niseko Tokyu Grand Hirafu
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
Peak: 3cm
Base: 0cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
Peak: 100cm
Base: -cm
Lifts:
Ace Gondola
Ace Number 3 pair
King Gondola
King Number 3 six
Courses:
Center
Junbo
Rinkan (lower)
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Niseko Village Ski Resort
Lifts:
Upper Village Gondola
Village Express
Community Chair
Banzai Chair
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Niseko Annupuri Kokusai
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
Peak: 30cm
Base: 20cm
Lifts:
Dream Number 1 quad
Jumbo Number 1 quad
Courses:
Paradise
Junior
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Niseko Moiwa Ski Resort
Lifts:
Number 1 pair
Number 2 pair
Niseko Now2025-2026 season |
Data as of Saturday 6th December 2025 Total snowfall at base so far 71cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 11 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 21cm (4th December) November 2025 snowfall 29cm reported on 7 days December 2025 snowfall 42cm reported on 4 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.