| 24, December, 2024
68-Year-Old Snowfall Record Broken in Japan!
The early December 2024 snowfall in Japan hasn’t seen a better start since 1956! Resorts like Niseko and Hakuba have reported almost 6 meters of snow. Christmas is upon us and winter has a long way to go yet, but it sure has been a phenomenal opening to the season.
With so much powder snow so far, Japanese mountains make for a compelling choice in the 2024-2025 season and beyond. We hope this sparks your excitement as much as they have ours!
Niseko: The Powder Capital
Niseko, located on Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido, is renowned for some of the world’s most reliable snowfall and has continued to receive heavy snow dumps since the start of the season. Kutchan Town recorded 142cm of snow on December 17th, while the base in Higashiyama recorded 281cm of cumulative snowfall a couple of days later. Just to put that in perspective, the mark at Higashiyama was only 79.5cm on the same day last year. Niseko’s accumulative snow fall up to December 24th is at 316cm and there is more coming in the forecast over the Christmas holiday too!
Hakuba: The Japanese Alps
Not to be outdone, Hakuba Valley also saw excellent early season conditions as well! Top stations at Hakuba 47, Goryu, and Happo-one reported snowdepths at about the 2 meter mark. Most lifts and courses are currently open, and according to the forecast, Christmas looks like it will be a sunny day, later evolving into a wintery mix come the new year.
See you up on the slopes!
Here are two takes from JSE’s own team members at Niseko. Ben Thorpe eagerly shared, “From a snowfall perspective, this is the best start to a winter we’ve had that I can remember in the last 15 years!” while Oliver Sparks added, “The most significant snowfall in nearly two decades in Niseko is absolutely breathtaking; you have to come and see it for yourself!” Hope you have had the chance to carve fresh tracks of your own!
Sources:
https://skiasia.com
https://360niseko.com