The day has arrived!

Two lifts are moving at Niseko Grand Hirafu this morning and the season in Niseko has officially started. Hirafu are saying that they have 90cm of snow on the upper slopes and 45cm on lower slopes. The Ace No2 Quad (Center 4) and Ace No3 Pair lifts are the ones taking people with wide smiles up the mountain as I write this.

As I mentioned yesterday, Annupuri are not opening today as they wait for more snow to get things going.

No new cm of snowfall to report since yesterday but it's keeping cold and still under zero. It was quite a clear morning earlier on but there are more clouds around now as the lifts open and probably even some more flakes of snow are due to fall, but likely nothing major.

It was fun to see the resort prepare for opening yesterday and last night - having the lights on last night only added to the excitement. The village is certainly suddenly seeming busier but that is mostly with people involved in the local businesses making final preparations for the season. For those clever ones that have already got their preparation in place, I'm sure they will be making up some of the numbers of people out on the slopes in this early season phase.

There's a rather familiar look to the weekly forecast as it stands at the moment... the chance of snowfall on most days. I'm good with that. Looks like it is going to get very cold indeed tonight before perhaps warming up slightly at the end of the weekend and into Monday - though warm is perhaps not the best choice of words!

Have fun.

Official Resort Snow Depths

Grand Hirafu / Hanazono:
Top - 90cm
Bottom - 45cm

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Planned resort opening dates:

As soon as possible
Niseko Annupuri

1st December
Niseko Village

8th December
Hanazono