Niseko Now: Sunday 8th December 2019
- Dec 8, 2019
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 9cm
Snowfall at base this season 176cm
Posted on Sunday 8th December 2019 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
A happy Sunday morning to you all from a cold and snowy Niseko.
I guess some of you reading this will be here and enjoying this relatively quiet early season. I enjoyed few hours at Hanazono with a few friends who were worried about coming early season. They seemed suitably impressed after a few runs, especially when the sun said hello.
I am adding another 8cm of fresh snowfall from base, as observed since my report yesterday. So there is a nice new layer this morning to add to what we got.
Today is the first day of the season when pesky winds are going to affect lifts - booooo! As I post this report, at Annupuri, the Gondola and upper Jumbo Number 3 pair lift are both on hold at the start of the day due to wind warnings on the mountain. Other than that it would appear that operations are unchanged for this morning across the mountain. Of course, that could change during the day. (It didn't seem too windy before when I was outside...)
It is going to get milder around Tuesday and Wednesday and there will probably be sunshine, but there is snow lined up on the forecast beyond that.
As long as the snow is never that far away...
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Niseko Grand Hirafu
Part open
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 145cm
- Base: 60cm
Ski lifts operating:
- Ace Family quad
- Ace Number 2 Center quad
- Ace Number 3 pair
- Hirafu Gondola
- Holiday Number 1 pair
- King Number 3 quad
- Swinging Monkey
Courses available:
- Family
- Sennoki
- Alpen (part)
- Detour for beginners
- Green (part)
- Shirakaba
- Center
- Boyo
- Kokutai (part)
- Jumbo
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Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Part open
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 95cm
- Base: 45cm
Ski lifts operating:
- Hanazono Number 1 quad
- Hanazono Number 2 quad
- Hanazono Number 3 quad
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Niseko Annupuri
Part open
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 90cm
- Base: 75cm
Ski lifts operating:
- Annupuri Gondola - ON HOLD AT START OF DAY
- Dream Number 1 quad
- Jumbo Number 1 quad
- Jumbo Number 3 pair - ON HOLD AT START OF DAY
Courses available (*when planned lifts operating) :
- Utopia Course
- Shirakaba Course
- Paradise Course
- Junior Course
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Niseko Village
Part open
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 85cm
- Base: 55cm
Ski lifts operating:
- Upper Village Gondola
- Village Express
- Community Chair
- Banzai Chair
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Night time operations are available in the Niseko Grand Hirafu, Niseko Village and Niseko Annupuri resort areas from Wednesday 11th December 2019. There is no nighta at the Niseko HANAZONO resort area.
Niseko Now 2019-2020 season |
Data as of Sunday 8th December 2019 Total snowfall at base so far 176cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 16 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 21cm (6th December) November 2019 snowfall 85cm reported on 10 days December 2019 snowfall 91cm 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.