Niseko Now: Sunday 9th February 2020
- Feb 9, 2020
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Niseko region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 6cm
Snowfall at base this season 583cm
Posted on Sunday 9th February 2020 This is an archived report. The latest Niseko Now report can be found here
It is another very cold morning. Annupuri are reporting a temperature of -19C up top as of 6:44am. It's -13C here. Brrrrrr.
This morning I can report 6cm of fresh snowfall down here at Hirafu base. It is cloudy with some light snow falling.
If they can de-ice in time, I'd expect all of the lifts to be moving as planned this morning!
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Niseko Avalanche Report
Mountain Base: -12.0°, 15cm in last 24hrs, 5cm new snow in last 12hrs. Moiwa 800m: N 354deg 7.0m/s , -14.1°, snowdrift development. Yu no Sawa 1000m: N 2deg 4.1m/s, -16.8°. Niseko Village 900m: NNW 350deg 3.2m/s, -15.9°. Hirafu 1000m : NNW 350deg 7.3m/s , -17.0°. Hanazono 720m: NNW 340deg 5.4m/s, -17.0°. Coastal data: Benkei Cape:N14m/s. Kamui Cape NNE 7m/s, 1016hPa, wave 2.7m. Annupuri 1000m: snow depth 175cm.
Above 800m wind peaked overnight at 10pm and 4am at around 20m/s. It has dropped to around 12m/s from the north now. Although snowfall has been small, snowdrift development has been significant, up to 50cm depth. From observation snowdrifts(soft slab) are starting to stabilise, avalanche risk is medium. Above 900m snow is variable and some wind crust can be found, generally the mountain is reset with good snow though.
Peak gates are expected to be open. We highly recommend you to take beacon, probe, shovel, short rope, emergency food and wear a helmet. Accidents on cold days like today have an added danger - Hypothermia – can cause a death even after rescued. Once you go through the gates you are not in the ski area anymore. Always make cautious decisions. Beware a sudden weather change, frostbite. Snow in the trees is a bit heavy but still good. Have a good day.
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Niseko Grand Hirafu
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 270cm
- Base: 120cm
All lifts are normally operating EXCEPT:
- Ace Number 1 pair lift (normally rested)
- King Number 2 quad lift (normally rested)
All courses normally open
Lifts scheduled for late operations:
- Ace Family quad until 8:30pm
- Ace Number 2 Center Four quad until 8:20pm
- Hirafu Gondola until 8:10pm
- Holiday Number 1 pair until 8:30pm
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Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 205cm
- Base: 130cm
All lifts are normally operating
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Niseko Annupuri
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 180cm
- Base: 115cm
All lifts are normally operating
Lift scheduled for late operations:
- Jumbo Number 1 quad until 8:30pm
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Niseko Village
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 200cm
- Base: 120cm
All lifts normally operating EXCEPT:
- Country Road Chair (normally rested)
Lifts scheduled for late operations:
- Annupuri Village Gondola until 8:00pm
- Village Express until 8:00pm
- Banzai Chair until 8:00pm
Niseko Now 2019-2020 season |
Data as of Sunday 9th February 2020 Total snowfall at base so far 583cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 59 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 33cm (21st January) November 2019 snowfall 85cm reported on 10 days December 2019 snowfall 207cm reported on 21 days January 2020 snowfall 224cm reported on 20 days February 2020 snowfall 67cm reported on 8 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.