Niseko Now: Tuesday 7th March 2017
- Mar 7, 2017
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 21
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 9cm
Snowfall at base this season 613cm
Posted on Tuesday 7th March 2017 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
And good news this morning with 9cm of fresh snow on the ground outside my place near the base of Hirafu. It's cold too. Yey.
From what I can gather a lot of that has been since early morning (pre-toast) and hopefully it will continue to build up during the day today with snow showers forecast - though the forecasts don't seem to be forecasting major dumpage. They are sometimes wrong of course. It has been coming down quite nicely post-toast and I am guessing that is the reason that I am seeing more than what is in Avalanche Report below.
Snow clouds should be with us through this week though so regular top-ups should be happening. Whether they will be enough for a proper reset or not is something we'll have to wait on. Let's see.
In fact, I will be a responsible reporter and go out there to do some investigating myself this morning. :)
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Niseko Avalanche Report:
Niseko base: -8℃, light breeze with 5cm crystal snowfall. Moiwa 800m: -9℃, 10cm snowfall. Annupuri 1150m: -13℃, W8m/s, 5cm snowfall, poor visibility. Hirafu 1250m: -13℃, light breeze, no snowfall. Kamui cape lighthouse: SW8m/s, 999hPa, 0.8m waves. Benkei cape lighthouse: NW16m/s.
First snowfall in a while and the mountain is blanketed by a thin coat of fresh snow. According to the observations, the avalanche risk is low, however shallow slides from March 6th are to be expected in 35+ grade slopes above 800m elevation. Please do not underestimate the risks as, although shallow, these slides are fast and powerful enough to sweep you down the slope. All gates are scheduled to open however will be subject to the wind and visibility. Please respect the ski patrol’s decisions.
The ski patrols and avalanche institute are working hard for maintaining a balance between accident prevention and freedom to ride.
Sorry to hear that people are complaining to the town office about what we do.
Beware of sudden weather changes.
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Official resort snow depths as of Tuesday 7th March 2017:
Niseko Grand Hirafu & Hanazono
Top - 330cm
Base - 135cm
Niseko Village
Top - 315cm
Base - 140cm
Niseko Annupuri
Top - 315cm
Base - 140cm
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Night skiing is planned until Monday 20th March 2017 at the Niseko Annupuri, Niseko Grand Hirafu and Niseko Village resort areas. There is no nighta in the Hanazono area.
Niseko Now 2016-2017 season |
Data as of Tuesday 7th March 2017 Total snowfall at base so far 613cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 75 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 36cm (16th December) November 2016 snowfall 110cm reported on 14 days December 2016 snowfall 181cm reported on 22 days January 2017 snowfall 152cm reported on 18 days February 2017 snowfall 160cm reported on 19 days March 2017 snowfall 10cm reported on 2 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.