Good morning everyone.

Lots of lovely fresh snow to report this morning. Oh yes. I am measuring 23cm of it here around my secret base lair and as always we can expect more than that up on the mountain. Whether we will be able to get up there today and enjoy all that goodness due to winds affecting lift operations - well, that remains to be seen. And I am feeling not likely.

At the start of the day and as I post this at 8:30am, some lifts are already affected by wind and it is forecast to get even more frisky during the day. All of the top lifts are not planned to open as normal. Hirafu Gondola is starting up but the Gondolas at Niseko Village and Niseko Annupuri are now. Expect possible additional stoppages. Doh!

Conditions should be great everywhere this morning so there is still lots to enjoy.

It feels very cold this morning so I recommend some extra toast and getting wrapped up well and ready to jump into that fresh snow early on.

Be aware and take care.

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Lifts that are on hold at the start of the day due to wind conditions

- Annupuri Gondola
- Annupuri Jumbo 4 top lift
- Niseko Gondola
- Wonderland Chair top lift
- Ace Number 4 pair
- King Number 2 quad
- Hanazono top quad

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Why do the official snow depth numbers hardly change, even when there is fresh snow?

My quick total cop-out answer is... ask the ski resorts!

But seriously. There are lots of reasons and the reasons will unfortunately likely vary depending on the ski resort and the way they go about reporting --- and let me be clear that I can only speak with some experience of Japanese ski resorts. Snow gets compacted naturally, it changes over time. And it gets groomed. And it melts.... I would naturally expect more slight adjustments every day, but that just does not seem to happen.

I would just not take too much notice of the official snow depth numbers. They are number that are nice to have as a record and to compare between seasons, but in themselves they don’t really mean much.

The fresh snowfall number that I measure and record every morning is a much more meaningful number to concentrate on and get nerdy about. :)

That’s what I think anyway. Feel free to disagree!

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Niseko Avalanche Report:

Mountain base 6am: -7℃, 25cm snowfall in 24 hours. Moiwa 800m: -9.6℃, W5.7n/s, snowdrift development. Annupuri 1120m: snow depth 185cm (Jan 16th). Mizuno no sawa: 13cm snowfall in 12 hours, 130cm snow depth. Hirafu peak: -14℃, W10m/s, snowdrift development. Kutchan weather station: -6.2℃, 130cm snow depth. Sea of Japan Benkei cape: NW19m/s, Kamui cape W16m/s, 1002hPa, 2.4m waves.

Large and uneven snowdrift developments. If the storm picks up today, avalanches from those uneven developments and weak bonding of snow within the Jan 16th-17th snowdrifts are highly likely to occur in knoll and cornice terrains above 800m elevation. If it slides from the Jan 15th weak layer, the crown could be up to 100cm thick and extremely dangerous. Avalanche hazard is high today.

Gates opening is undetermined, please respect the ski patrol’s decisions. There’s plenty of snow inbounds today. Respect the Rules and have a safe day. Beware of frostbites.

Wonderful tree runs conditions today.

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Ski resort operation information: Thursday 17th January 2019
Subject to change due to weather conditions

Niseko Grand Hirafu
Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 290cm
- Base: 135cm

Ski lifts operating:
- Top lifts affected by wind
- The Ace Family quad (until 8:30pm), Ace Center 4 quad (8:20pm), Hirafu Gondola (until 8:10pm) and Holiday Number 1 pair (until 8:30pm) lifts are normally open during the evening
- The Center Four lift will be open from 8:00am until 8:20am until 31st January 2019 (500 yen charge required).

Niseko HANAZONO Resort

Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 185cm
- Base: 165cm

Ski lifts operating:
- Top Hanazono lift on hold at start of the day
- The Hanazono lifts are normally open until 3:50pm (Number 3 until 3:30pm)

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Niseko Annupuri

Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 265cm
- Base: 140cm

Ski lifts operating:
- Gondola and top lift on hold due to wind at start of the day
- The Jumbo 1 lift is normally open until 8:30pm during the evening

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Niseko Village

Official snow depth (reported by resort):
- Peak: 270cm
- Base: 140cm

Ski lifts operating:
- Top lifts and Gondola affected by wind
- The Upper Village Gondola, Village Express and Banzai Chair lifts are normally open until 8:00pm during the evening

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Night time operations are available in the Niseko Grand Hirafu, Niseko Village and Niseko Annupuri resort areas. There is no nighta at the Niseko HANAZONO resort area.