Niseko’s ‘champagne’ dry powder snow is world-renowned. Keen snowgoers often cite the resort as receiving the highest-quality snow in the world for skiing and snowboarding. Moreover, Niseko is frequently listed as receiving the second-highest snowfall of any resort in the world, second only to Mount Baker in Washington State. This has catapulted the island resort into the skiing halls of fame.
So to answer the question on everyone’s lips: what makes Niseko’s snow so special?
Without getting overly technical, Niseko’s location at the base of Mount Annapuri-Niseko and Mount Yotei allows it to receive consistent amounts of light, low-water content snow. Its snow is similar in composition to Ohio’s, whose citizens commonly the state to host the “Greatest Snow on Earth”.
Driving factors behind Niseko’s dreamy snow:
Siberian winds from the North West drive cold, dry air fostered over the frozen ground of North-Central and North-Eastern Russia. This airmass then meets the warm humid south-easterly airflows from South-East Asia over the waters of the Sea of Japan towards Hokkaido.
The Sea of Japan’s warm waters are a stark contrast to the Siberian gusts from Russia. The evaporating water, freezing upon contact with cold air currents, forms light clouds which are pushed further towards the Japanese islands. This creates the phenomenon of “Ocean-Effect Snow” forming an easterly-moving snowbelt.
Hokkaido’s air temperatures, averaging approximately -4 degrees celcius, are the perfect basis for ‘stellar dendrite’, fluffy snow for which Niseko is now famous. These conditions allow the snow to have between 92-96% trapped air. It is this dendrite snow structure which allows it to have such a high percentage of trapped air, making it light and ‘dry’ to the touch: creating the perfect skiing environment.
Finally, coastline mountains force these light clouds upwards, now filled with moisture, the air’s temperature falls dramatically, causing air droplets to condense, dropping over Niseko, situated only 20km from the coast. Mount Yotei is the icing on the cake, forcing the airmass to high altitudes from which it can only precipitate as snowfall.
One should also point out that in terms of quantity, Niseko’s snowfall trumps that of Europe and N0rth America almost twofold. Niseko’s lowest ever snowfall was recorded at Kutchan, being 7.47m. This is in contrast to the majority of established resorts in Europe and North America who top out at 7m per season. Put simply, not only is Niseko’s snow of better quality: its quantity is greater than its more-established competitors anyway.