Niseko Now: Wednesday 6th November 2024
- Nov 6, 2024
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
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Posted on Wednesday 6th November 2024 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Hello again!
I don't have much to report regarding the weather, but I thought I'd just post a few more pre-season thoughts.
We have a new gondola lift at Hirafu this season, which will be fun to check out. I will talk about that more in a future report.
One thing that is causing some discussion once again this season is prices, or specifically, price increases. So I'll talk about that a bit today.
A Niseko United lift ticket bought at the ticket office window this season (and valid at Hirafu, Hanazono, Village and Annupuri) will cost you a handsome 10,500 yen. A ticket for just Hirafu and Hanazono, is 9,500 yen. To give you an idea of how prices have changed in the last few years, that Hirafu-Hanazono ticket was 6,600 yen during the 2021-2022 season.
Nearby Rusutsu Resort seems very keen to win the 'most expensive ski resort lift ticket in Japan' competition. A main season full price one-day ticket there costs a whopping 14,500 yen (!)(!!). In 2021-2022, that was 6,500 yen... and that was considered really expensive at that time. That's pretty wild. I'm pretty sure no new ski lifts or major facilities have been added since then.
(* It's important to note that cheaper tickets are available online).
While lift ticket prices are indeed increasing at many (most?) ski areas around the country again this season, the average is probably more like 5,000-6,000 yen at decently sized ski areas.
I feel it is worth pointing out again the very fun fact that there are some tiny ski areas in Hokkaido that are literally free to use. (Check out the ski area listings on the site to discover them). Note: they might not be gnarly.
It seems clear that the big famous ski areas up here are continuing to further focus on targeting the overseas visitor market.
So, let's premium lift ticket prices! We can only hope that the snow conditions will be similarly Niseko-tastically premium for us to all enjoy and be satisfied.
The ski areas here plan to open on Saturday 30th November 2024.
Three and a half weeks to go... I am getting more excited by the day!
Niseko Now 2024-2025 season |
Data as of Wednesday 6th November 2024 Total snowfall at base so far 0cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 0 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 0cm November 2024 snowfall 0cm |
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.