Niseko Now: Sunday 9th December 2018
- Dec 9, 2018
- 4 min read
Updated: Dec 4, 2025
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 20cm
Snowfall at base this season 165cm
Posted on Sunday 9th December 2018 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
And a good happy Sunday morning to you all.
This morning I have measured an additional 20cm of fresh snowfall here at base and it has continued to fall and it continues to be very cold.
Hold on a minute though - just after 8:00am there has been blue skies opening up and the sun was even starting to shine through. But as this report nearly goes live at 8:30am the clouds are moving in again. I guess it is perhaps just a temporary break. So quickly changing conditions early on this morning - that's what you get when you are posting a 'snapshot' report!
Snow is on the forecast and continues to be over the coming week so we should be enjoying regular snowfall.
At the Hirafu base area, the Ace Family quad is joining in the fun along with the Family course and the lower area of the Sen-no-ki course now becoming available. There isn't quite enough base yet for the Holiday Number 1 lift to open as yet. Hopefully that will be soon. It means that there's a small area open at base along with the upper mid area of Niseko Grand Hirafu, with a chunk of 'not open yet' in the middle and top of the resort. If you venture up to that upper area that is currently open, you still need to get the Ace Number 2 and Hirafu Gondola to come down at the end of your fun. You can ski down to base at HANAZONO via the Silver Dream course.
Over at Annupuri, they are going to be operating their Jumbo Number 1 quad lift from this morning. Courses available there are Utopia, Shirakaba, Paradise, Family and Junior and you can now ski back to base.
Over at Niseko Village... honestly, I am not sure. They are being very shy with such information. But operating lifts remain the same.
Anyway the snow should be a lot of fun today, especially early on with this period of clearer conditions. Remember it's still not mad deep, whatever slinky marketing types might tell you so care needed to things popping up out of the snow still especially in the lower areas.
That's it. I'm off out there!
-----
Niseko Avalanche Report
Niseko base 6am: -9℃, 20cm snowfall in 24hours, weak storm. Sea of Japan Benkei cape NW13m/s, Kamui cape W 12m/s, 1018hPa, 2.1m waves. NW15m/s at 1100m elevation, cornices and snowdrifts developing.
A mild storm is persisting under the typical winter pressure distribution. The snow is so light it won’t push the bamboo-grass down. Bushes are still present all around the mountain. The snowdrift development continues above 800m and the soft-slabs formed at knolls below the ridges and the cornices are likely to slide at 60-80cm thickness. Looking at the weather transition and the current conditions, the avalanche hazard is high at the west-ridge and Backbowl’s east facing slopes.
Surface slab avalanches are very likely to occur during storms. Better make conservative plans and decisions and avoid being injured at the start of the season.
The snow is excellent today. Beware of frostbite and enjoy your day.
-----
Ski resort operation information: Sunday 9th December 2018
The below information is manually checked each morning and believed to be correct at time of report
Niseko Grand Hirafu
Part open
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 135cm
- Base: 60cm
Ski lifts operating:
- Ace Family quad
- Ace Number 2 Center Four
- Ace Number 3 pair
- Hirafu Gondola
- King Number 3 quad
- Swinging Monkey
Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Part open
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 85cm
- Base: 55cm
- Not updated for today at time of report
Ski lifts operating:
- Hanazono Number 1 quad
- Hanazono Number 2 quad
- Hanazono Number 3 quad
Niseko Grand Hirafu & Hanazono Courses open:
- Family Course
- Sen-no-ki (lower area)
- Shirakaba Course
- Center Course
- Beginners Access
- Jumbo Course
- Rinkan Course
- Yotei Sunset
- Parallel Course
- Silver Dream
-----
Niseko Annupuri
Part open
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 80cm
- Base: 50cm
Ski lifts operating:
- Annupuri Gondola
- Dream Number 1 quad
- Jumbo Number 1 quad
- Jumbo Number 3 pair
Niseko Annupuri Courses open:
- Utopia Course
- Shirakaba Course
- Paradise Course
- Family Course
- Junior Course
-----
Niseko Village
Part open
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 80cm
- Base: 50cm
Ski lifts operating:
- Upper Village Gondola
- Community Chair
- Banzai Chair
-----
Night time operations are planned to begin at the Niseko Grand Hirafu, Niseko Village and Niseko Annupuri resort areas from Tuesday 11th December.
There is no nighta at the Niseko HANAZONO area.
Niseko Now 2018-2019 season |
Data as of Sunday 9th December 2018 Total snowfall at base so far 165cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 14 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 25cm (23rd November) November 2018 snowfall 84cm reported on 8 days December 2018 snowfall 81cm 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.