Niseko Now: Saturday 7th December 2024
- Dec 7, 2024
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 14cm
Snowfall at base this season 96cm
Posted on Saturday 7th December 2024 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Good morning from Niseko.
It is still snowing and this morning I have another 14cm to add. With some rather windy conditions, it's one of those mornings when there is more/less than that in places.
More snow is expected across the coming days, hopefully with less wind.
Oh, and welcome back to the Niseko Avalanche Reports!
A big thank you and yoroshiku in advance for all the effort put into them.
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Mountain base 6:30am: 20cm snowfall in 12h, wind affected snow. Moiwa 800m: -9.3℃, average NNW9.5m/s, 25m/s gusts at 4am. Hanazono 1000m: -11.5ど, wind direction n/a, 25m/s gusts at 4am. Coastal data: Benkei cape NW17m/s, NNW25m/s at 4am, Kamui capeW2.6m/s, WNW25m/s at 4am, 1009hPa.
The Sea of Japan is in a very rough condition due to the strong winter pressure distribution. The wind has started to calm down, however the wind slabs formed in the past 12h have developed dramatically and the avalanche risk in leeward slopes above treeline (800m elevation) with heavy snowdrift formation is high. 120cm thick slides are expected in the Backbowl’s high slopes area until this afternoon. The off piste areas are still closed due to lack of snowpack. Please respect the Niseko Rules. Many of the avalanche accidents are caused by collapsing snowdrifts that developed quickly under strong winds. The visibility is poor. Drive safely.
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Individual ski area information for Saturday 7th December 2024
The below snow depth and snowfall numbers are manually checked each morning from official sources.
Lift information is the planned operations for the day at the time of writing.
Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
Peak: 20cm
Base: 20cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
Peak: 98cm (+13cm change since yesterday)
Base: 75cm (+10cm change since yesterday)
Lifts:
All four lifts are now operating
Courses:
Juicy Fruit
Yotei Sunset
Parallel
Mango Salad
Silver Dream
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Niseko Tokyu Grand Hirafu
Official 24 hours snowfall (reported by the ski area):
Peak: 20cm
Base: 10cm
Official snow depth (reported by the ski area):
Peak: 130cm (+20cm change since yesterday)
Base: 50cm (no change since yesterday)
Lifts:
Ace Family quad
Ace Gondola
King Gondola
King Holiday pair
King Number 3 quad
Swinging Monkey
Courses:
Family
Sennoki
Alpen
Beginners access
Green
Kogen
Boyo
Holiday
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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: 55cm (+5cm change since yesterday)
Base: 30cm (+10cm change since yesterday)
Lifts:
Dream Number 1 quad
Jumbo Number 1 quad
Courses:
Paradise
Junior
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Niseko Moiwa Ski Resort
Lifts:
Number 1 pair lift
Number 2 pair lift
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Night skiing
Floodlit night skiing is planned from Saturday 14th December 2024 until Wednesday 23rd March 2025.
Niseko Now 2024-2025 season |
Data as of Saturday 7th December 2024 Total snowfall at base so far 96cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 13 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 18cm (5th December) November 2024 snowfall 38cm reported on 8 days December 2024 snowfall 58cm reported on 5 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.