Niseko Now: Saturday 8th December 2012
- Dec 8, 2012
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 15, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 10cm
Snowfall at base this season 200cm
Weather overview Snow, cloud
Wind
Strong
Temperature -7C base / -12C top
Visibility Fair
Posted at 9:43am on Saturday 8th December 2012 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here.
Yesterday, more of the mountain managed to open up after my initial report, with the Ace Number 3, the King Number 3 lift and the Center Four lifts eventually moving at Hirafu. For those that made it out though and braved the winds and snow, there were some really nice snow conditions to enjoy.
This morning there is another 10cm plus of fresh snow to report in the village. It's a generally cloudy and overcast kind of morning here with better visibility than we have had, and it is remaining cold at around -6 degrees now, while the snow is holding off for the moment. Winds have calmed down as well allowing for the ski lifts to operate as planned for the morning.
We have more lifts moving this morning and today is the first day of the season for the Hirafu Gondola and the Hanazono resort area. In fact we have all three gondolas operating today.
Hirafu are commenting that 26 of their 30 courses are now open with Hanazono reporting a snow depth on upper slopes of 220cm. The Kogen course now has a fair few items to play with in their Free Ride Park, so if table tops, boxes and rails are your thing, that's the place to head to.
Snowfall is still on the forecast through into middle of next week and we might have to watch out for the wind again tomorrow and Monday.
Niseko Now 2012-2013 season |
Data as of Saturday 8th December 2012 Total snowfall at base so far 200cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 18 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 25cm (2nd December) November 2012 snowfall 118cm reported on 11 days December 2012 snowfall 82cm reported on 7 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.