Good morning.

It was a fine day yesterday and today we are going to be seeing more sunshine and fine weather. There are a few small clouds around (including one being worn as a hat quite fashionably by Mt Yotei), but generally it is just blue skies and sun.

It's going to warm up in the next few days - temps in double digits at base tomorrow! That's obviously not great, but beyond that there's some very tasty looking snow due to be falling later in the week and over the weekend which should really get things kicking off.

Good on Niseko Grand Hirafu and Niseko HANAZONO for keeping us all posted on which courses are open. But, what about that rather useful info, Annupuri and Village folk? I am trying to find it, without any success. Lift operations are good to know, but so are 'courses open'...

The operating lifts remain the same this morning. You still need to get the gondola or lift back down at Hirafu but can ski down at Annupuri and Hanazono. Niseko Village are still keeping operations to their lower areas.

Anyway, as promised...

A look back at the season so far: November 2018

This season I again plan to post a monthly recap at the beginning of every month, just so I can gather my thoughts on the season so far and make some comparisons with previous years. And as I always note first up, there’s often more behind the headline numbers, but it’s always interesting to see how the season is shaping up compared with previous ones.

So here we go! (Note this commentary considers events up until the end of November).

First up, this is how much snowfall I have measured myself here near the base of Hirafu over the last seven years in the month of November. Same place. Same ruler. Gradually older reporter!

November 2018: 84cm
November 2017: 188cm
November 2016: 110cm
November 2015: 61cm
November 2014: 30cm
November 2013: 123cm
November 2012: 118cm

November 2017 was very special, and while it would be fab if it were the norm, it was always going to be a very high target and be pretty difficult to follow up on.

The first snowfalls arrived late in Hokkaido this season - please see my previous report explaining all of that - and so in the end 84cm arriving in the last 10 days of the month is a number we should probably be pretty happy with. Especially as many other regions of Japan are still (not so) patiently waiting for any kind of decent snowfall to arrive.

It feels a bit odd to quote myself but I kind of like what I wrote this time last year:

"Check out November 2014. What the heck was going on there!? Rubbish." :)

As I also noted last year, December 2014 came back in style with me recording a whopping 5m+ of snowfall after that shaky start.

Here’s how much snowfall I have recorded in the month of December over the last 6 seasons. The numbers in brackets show the total snowfall observed (by myself) up until the end of December in each season.

December 2017: 406cm (594cm)
December 2016: 181cm (293cm)
December 2015: 244cm (308cm)
December 2014: 519cm (549cm)
December 2013: 275cm (398cm)
December 2012: 418cm (536cm)

As you can see, last season not only did we get a great start in November, but we also enjoyed an excellent December too with over 4m of snowfall. Niseko-tastic! (Book Now! etc!)

Lastly, here are the numbers that the Japan Meteorological Agency report from their observation station in Kutchan town:

November 2018: 104cm
November 2017: 169cm
November 2016: 171cm
November 2015: 35cm
November 2014: 41cm
November 2013: 99cm
November 2012: 98cm

Kind of interesting that their number is higher than mine.

No doubt there will be ups and downs and various stories coming from this season too. We’ll just have to take the season as it comes, hoping that we can have a December like we did in December 2014. Would be good if the talk of a 'danto' (mild winter) in Japan are wrong too.

Let’s excite December!

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Someone asked how things are after the strong earthquake in Hokkaido a few months ago. Folk living in the area that was badly affected are still having to deal with stuff but I think most people in Hokkaido pretty much got back to life as normal very quickly soon after. I believe tourism suffered somewhat, but generally - things are normal. It's not an issue here.

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Ski resort operation information: Monday 3rd 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: 105cm
- Base: 50cm

Ski lifts operating:
- Ace Number 3 pair
- King Number 3 quad
- Swinging Monkey
- Ace Number 2 Center Four (for transport, last down at 4pm)
- Hirafu Gondola (for transport, last down at 4pm)

Niseko HANAZONO Resort
Part open

Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 105cm
- Base: 50cm

Ski lifts operating:
- Hanazono Number 1 quad
- Hanazono Number 2 quad
- Hanazono Number 3 quad

Hirafu & Hanazono Courses open:
- Shirakaba Course
- Center Course
- Rinkan Course (lower area)
- Beginners Access
- Jumbo Course
- Yotei Sunset
- Parallel Course
- Silver Dream

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Niseko Annupuri
Part open

Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 70cm
- Base: 40cm

Ski lifts operating:
- Annupuri Gondola
- Jumbo Number 3 pair
- Dream Number 1 quad

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Niseko Village
Part open

Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 70cm
- Base: 50cm

Ski lifts operating:
- Upper Village Gondola
- Community Chair
- Banzai Chair