Niseko Now: Thursday 7th January 2016
- Jan 7, 2016
- 4 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 14cm
Snowfall at base this season 357cm
Posted on Thursday 7th January 2016 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
Oh dear, I noticed yesterday afternoon that fairly soon after I had posted my morning report (when I was saying that all resorts were planning on being open as normal), wind was affecting some lifts around the resorts.
Over at Annupuri early on it was the top Jumbo 4 lift; at Hirafu it was the top King Number 4 and Ace Number 3 lifts; and at Niseko Village the top Wonderland Chair. Later in the day around lunchtime the Annupuri Gondola and Jumbo Number 3 lift at Annupuri also stopped, with the Jumbo 3 lift starting up again fairly soon after. Hanazono also stopped their top Hanazono 3 quad mid afternoon. So, in the end we were affected by the wind. Sorry about that! I always try and give you the latest available information at the time of posting my report, and around 8:30am is usually a good time to be able to do that. But conditions (both nature and resort operations) can of course change quickly and alas I am not online all day doing live reports.
Anyway, on to this morning and I have another respectable 14cm of fresh snow to report to you from by my base here in Hirafu.
It's nice and cold and there seems to be less wind on mountain this morning, so fingers crossed resorts and lifts will be open as planned and able to stay all open for the day.
It should be another excellent day out there and the forecast remains regular snowfall right through the coming week. Things are shaping up very nicely.
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This morning I thought it would be quite interesting to check out the Hirafu Ace Number 2 Quad lift webcam early in order to see when people start lining up for it. The first people in the queue seemed to arrive just before 7:50am and by 8am the line was long enough for it to fill the webcam image. That lift starts moving at 8:30am. I am referring to the third webcam image that can be found here by the way.
I may be wrong but I'd be surprised if there were many ski resorts in Japan where people are queuing for a ski lift over 30 minutes before it opens.
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Niseko Grand Hirafu will start their 'Early Morning' (*rumours of it being re-named 'Early Moaning' are unconfirmed right now) service from January 9th and that should continue through until 31st January 2016. Basically they start up the Ace Quad lift Number 2 earlier than normal from 8am to 8:20am with the Super, Furiko, Green, Alpen and Sen-no-ki courses open. A special ticket is required for that 20 minutes and it costs 500 yen - it can be bought from the .Base lift ticket counter. Note that normal lift tickets will not get you a ride on the lifts during this special early time.
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Niseko Avalanche Report:
Niseko base 6am: -7℃, 15cm snowfall, no development of snowdrifts. Moiwa 800m: NW8m/s, 60cm of snowdrifts. Annupuri 1150m: -12℃, WNW15m/s. Coastal data: Benkei cape NNW12m/s, Kamui cape WNW10m/s, 1019hPa, 2.1m waves.
Typical winter pressure distribution is generating intermittent westerly wind with snowfall above 600m elevation. Looking at snow cat’s fracture test, the newly formed 50cm thick slab’s shock propagation is relatively small, showing that the snowdrifts are developing while stabilizing itself. The overall avalanche risk is relatively small in areas below 1000m elevation. The storm is stronger above 1000m and the wind-chill can easily lead to hypothermia. Wool base layers are recommended when touring.
Gates 3 (Hirafu peak) and 2 (Annupuri peak) are scheduled to open today. Please follow the ski patrol’s instructions. Traversing across under cornices is as if trying to deliberately triggering an avalanche. DO NOT! Many hazards are present in the mountains, but can be avoided if you are aware of them and stay prudent. Never underestimate the dangers, always remain humble and think safety first. The snow is in a wonderful condition today.
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Official resort snow depths as of Thursday 7th January 2016:
Grand Hirafu / Hanazono:
Top - 270cm
Base - 120cm
Niseko Village:
Top - 190cm
Base - 110cm
Niseko Annupuri:
Top - 140cm
Base - 100cm
Niseko Now 2015-2016 season |
Data as of Thursday 7th January 2016 Total snowfall at base so far 357cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 27 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 24cm (26th and 28th December) November 2015 snowfall 61cm reported on 4 days December 2015 snowfall 244cm reported on 17 days January 2016 snowfall 52cm reported on 6 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.