Niseko Powder in January 2014: 2.3 Metres of Snow in Nine Days

In January 2014 a skier who posts on YouTube as Yari S spent nine days in Niseko, on the Japanese island of Hokkaido, and counted 2.3 metres of fresh snow in that time. His video edit, 2.3 meters in 9 days – Niseko Powder Skiing 2014, shows exactly what that looks like: chest-deep turns in the trees, roofs buried under white blankets and streets lined with walls of cleared snow.

The Niseko powder video from January 2014

Yari S published the edit on 27 February 2014. He filmed it on a GoPro HERO3 Black and a compact Sony RX100, then cut it together in GoPro Studio and Adobe Premiere. The mix of helmet-cam riding and town footage gives a good feel for daily life in a resort where it seems to snow almost every day.

Why Niseko gets so much snow

Niseko sits in Shiribeshi Subprefecture in south-west Hokkaido. In winter, north-westerly monsoon winds pick up moisture over the Sea of Japan and drop it as snow when they hit the Niseko mountains. The result is light, dry powder that keeps falling day after day through midwinter. Annual snowfall figures quoted for the area run well above 12 metres, which puts Niseko among the snowiest ski areas on the planet.

The skyline is dominated by Mount Yōtei (1,898 m), the volcanic cone that rises east of town. The skiing itself happens on Niseko Annupuri, which tops out at about 1,308 m.

Niseko United: four resorts on one mountain

Four linked ski areas share Annupuri and sell a joint All-Mountain Pass under the Niseko United name:

• Grand Hirafu
• Hanazono
• Niseko Village
• Annupuri

Together they run 30 lifts, including six gondolas, and 73 marked trails, split roughly evenly between novice, intermediate and advanced. The unified lift-ticket system dates back to 1993, when it was the first of its kind in Hokkaido, and night skiing is available too.

Planning a Niseko ski trip

The season runs from late November to early May, with January and early February the deepest and coldest months. New Chitose Airport near Sapporo is the gateway, about two and a half hours away by road. Book early for January, when demand for beds peaks.

Off-piste terrain is reached through the Niseko Rules gate system. Go through the gates only when they are open, wear a helmet and carry an avalanche beacon, ideally with a probe and shovel too, and check the official Niseko Avalanche Information before heading out. Ducking ropes can cost you your lift pass, and backcountry rescue is charged from ¥100,000.

For more Hokkaido riding, see Niseko Snowboarding: A Thirteen-Day GoPro Diary. To compare snow totals elsewhere, look at a record snow depth in Colorado or browse seven ski destinations worth the trip.

Related reading

• Tateyama’s Snow Corridor and the Alpine Route
• Takachiho Gorge: Rock Columns, Manai Falls and the Gokase River
• Arashiyama’s Bamboo Grove: Sound, Light and a Kyoto Walk
• Japan’s Former Gulliver’s Kingdom Theme Park in Photos

Sources