It's a cloudy morning here in Hirafu with just a sprinkling of snow since yesterday.

Just over 5cm of fresh snow since my report yesterday.

So we are now into December and the second day of the season here.

Morning and here we are on the official opening day of the season in Niseko with Niseko Grand Hirafu opening at 8:30am this morning.

Good morning from Niseko, and a good morning it is too with a very nice overnight delivery of snow in Niseko.

No official word from the resorts yet but if the snow falls as expected, hopefully we will be looking at openings on Saturday.

We've had more than our share of mild temperatures, rain and strong winds of late.

Nature decided to give us a present overnight and this morning we are treated to 5-10cm of fresh snow down here at base.

Good morning from Hirafu, and I have another 10cm or so of fresh snowfall to report since my last update yesterday.

It is really almost feeling like mid season here with a really good amount of fresh snow since my last report just yesterday.

We are enjoying a rather good start to the season.

The first snow of the season to report in the village this morning with up to 10cm or so in places.

So that was the 2012/2013 Niseko season.

...and it's not quite over yet, as they say! A dusting of snow this morning at base areas though it is more like sleet right now as I write this.