IT’S official. Tomorrow it will be game on for the 09-10 season!
At 8.30am tomorrow, the highly anticipated switching on of the lifts will finally take place, kicking off what will surely be another epic, powderiffic season in Niseko.
It’s been dumping the past few days, which has ensured the lifts are able to open on time. At the moment, snow depth at peak level is at around 75cm, while there is about 45cm at the bottom.
Skiers and boarders will tomorrow be able to ride Grand Hirafu, catching the Alpen Quad (Ace Quad Lift #2 Centre 4), then go up higher on the Ace Pair Lift #3.
At the moment, skiers and boarders will only be able to ride to the bottom of the Ace #3, then they must download on the lift to base level. But fingers are crossed that there will be enough snow to allow for riding all the way from top to bottom, which is what happened last year.
A steady stream of locals have already been spotted walking up the main street to pick up their season passes – an exciting time for any skier or snowboarder as they face the prospect of racing to the lifts to see who can get first tracks of the season tomorrow.
But those even keener have already been spotted hiking up the mountain for their own freshies weeks ago.
Powderlife would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone all the best on and off the mountain this winter. May the powder gods smile down on you all!
Keep an eye on our daily snow report and all our weather feeds at www.powderlife.com/niseko-snow-report.