It's a beautiful morning here in Niseko. The sun is out and it definitely feels like spring, some clouds in the sky but very nice weather. Yesterday we saw mostly overcast with a tiny bit of infrequent sun. Now the temperatures are warm and the snow seems to be melting rather quickly. The warm air definitely has it's work cut out for it - snowbanks are still well over head high in most places. Looking at the peak right now, it seems to have attracted some cloud.

Backcountry information is the same as yesterday. If you find good snow, ski it! There should be some north facing high elevation spots.

We are still hoping for snow in the forecast. The town seems active still and there's plenty of people around partying with they anxiously wait for the snow if they are not out there enjoying the spring-like conditions. Keep those fingers crossed and enjoy the day.

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For those of you interested in those JMA snowfall numbers for Kutchan that we have been reporting on every now and again.... we are in the 13th day of March and so far the official snow fall number for Kutchan is just 11cm. Ouch. Last year it was 201cm for the month so it's fair to say that we have a lot of catching up to do. Remember also that is for Kutchan town so not snow on the mountain that we have reported each day. Hopefully the second half of March this time round will bring us more snow fall than we have had so far this morth (obviously!) It's not out of the question though, so let's just see how it all pans out.

Grand Hirafu / Hanazono:
Top - 410cm
Bottom - 200cm

Niseko Village:
Top - 450cm
Bottom - 190cm

Annupuri:
Top - 480cm
Bottom - 200cm