mike richards
Yep, it was a good season
THERE can be almost no doubting that if one of the main goals on your skiing holiday is to get untracked powder, you should be coming to Niseko. Local weather watcher Mike ‘Pow’ Richards collates his own snowfall data and has been keeping meticulous record for the past three seasons. According to Mike, at the time of going to
Niseko roars back in late February
FEBRUARY began a little quietly with only a few snowfalls and one aberrant day where all of Japan was hit with an amazing warm snap. On that day temperatures in Tokyo reached over 22 degrees, and Niseko received a day of steady rain. While resorts often take a long time to recover from rain, the ensuing massive snowfalls covered up the frozen base
December: in like a lamb, out like a lion
IN this column last issue we spoke about the slow start to winter '08/'09 and how a season could go from average to amazing in the space of a week. Well, it happened. Between the December 20 and year’s end a storm moved through and dumped more than two metres of powder. Official Kutchan stats said 246cm had fallen for the month, the
Storm primes Niseko for weekend opening
NISEKO is under a half a metre of snow thanks to the first major storm of the season, with the resorts almost certain to open within the next few days.
About 50cm has fallen at village level over the past 24 hours and weather agencies are predicting moderate to heavy snow for the remainder of the forecast period.
There is
Another early dump buries village
THE forecast said light snow at village level, but no one expected the 5-10cm that piled up all over the village overnight.
By late last night there was already a thick, albeit wet layer of fresh snow on cars, and roads were completely
First village snow with powder up high
NISEKO'S ski season is unofficially open after significant snowfalls overnight left up to half a metre of powder up high, with locals hiking up for first runs.
It unexpectedly started snowing at village level across Niseko at about
