JAPAN SNOW WRAP – Holiday Powdermonium

Yasu, grinning from ear to ear as he stacks his December faceshots Image:: Niseko Photography

Mountainwatch | Japan Snow Wrap

After a shaky start, Winter seems to have finally settled in for both Honshu and Hokkaido. Cold, Siberian storms have been delivering a constant flow of cold smoke just in time for the christmas hordes.

The first few weeks of December started off a little slow, but as we have come to know in Japan, the powder always arrives eventually. December 12 was when it really hit, and it hit hard. By close of business on December 16 over 120 cm had fallen in Niseko, at Village level! Following that storm cycle a few days of warmer temperatures eventuated, though the next storm wasn’t far behind. Christmas Eve delivered another 30-40 cm to ensure a white christmas, and since then it has remained wintery with minor snowfall each day.

To date, Niseko has received 367cm of snow this winter, and is sporting a 220 cm base.

It was a similar story down in Honshu, a 4-day storm brought considerable snow totals of up to 80cm in most areas. This was followed by a few days of warm weather and then another storm rolled through the area as the Christmas Holidays began. Hakuba resorts are now sporting an approximately 180cm base-depth at mid-mountain.

Today on the hill

Up in Niseko it is cold and blue-bird, only 1cm fell overnight, but they are bracing for another lengthy storm-cycle due to hit in the coming days. Down in Hakuba, the sun is out and the temperatures are mild.

In The Forecast

Hakuba:
Up to 30cm of new snow is expected to fall across the weekend, with only a light wind. The freezing level appears to rise slightly next Monday, as light precipitation arrives.

Niseko:
The NW wind will whip up about the peaks over the next few days, as new snow arrives. We can expect to see about 15-20cm of new snow per day, until about this time next week. Break out the fat planks, it’s gonna be deep.

You can just tell how dry it is, floating on clouds Image:: Powdershots

No caption needed Image:: Glen Claydon

Hakuba village, December 21 Image:: Happo One

Japanese dreaming. Image::Yasuyuki Shimanuki

Hakuba forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.

Niseko forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.