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 covered.
It continued throughout the night accumulating enough to slide off roof tops, and continued consistently throughout today.
Thunder storms late last night brought thick, hail-like balls of snow which thudded against windows and roofs, which closer to midnight turned to light flakes.
Mad Mike Richards hiked up for another solitary ski this morning, enjoying Niseko’s ungroomed main runs without another soul in sight – arguably a rare privilege indeed in Niseko in this day and age.
‘He said the powder up high was ‘very dry’ and the base ranged between 40-80cm deep, with about 20-30cm coming down with last night’s storm.
"I skied top to bottom today with barely a scratch to the bases," he said.
"It’s a lot spongier now – last week it was deeper but today I was staying on top and not hitting much underneath.
"Last time I had to ski on the roads but today I was on the piste all the way top to bottom.
"We’ve still got 17 days or so before opening day so we’re setting up a nice base – the groomers are good to go."
With more falls expected to hit town on the weekend there might be more people making the hike to get their first powder fix of the season.
Temperatures are expected to warm up tomorrow before cooling down again for the weekend with more snowfalls forecast.
If this keeps up the whole mountain could be primed to open when lifts start turning on November 22.
Add your pics by emailing them to [email protected].