A weather-model figure, worked out the same way for every ski area, and lower than what actually falls. Use it to compare ski areas, not against the resort’s own totals. How we measure →
Snow 24h
0 cm
Next 24h
0 cm
Temperature
4°C
Max wind
35 km/h
Elevation
189–943 m
Across
4.0 km
Updated: 10 Nov 2026, 12:15
We do not show a snow depth here. The weather model we use reports snow lying on the ground — it knows nothing about grooming or snowmaking, and it is not the base depth a ski area publishes. In Japan we can check our figures against 234 weather stations. Outside Japan there is nothing to check them against, so we do not print a number we have not verified.
7-day outlook
Date
Weather
Snow (cm)
Low / high (°C)
Wind (km/h)
Tue 10 Nov
Drizzle
0
1 to 7
35
Wed 11 Nov
Snow
0
−1 to 4
29
Thu 12 Nov
Cloudy
0
−1 to 9
23
Fri 13 Nov
Cloudy
0
0 to 9
25
Sat 14 Nov
Cloudy
0
−2 to 6
30
Sun 15 Nov
Drizzle
0
−2 to 10
22
Mon 16 Nov
Drizzle
0
3 to 11
15
Score breakdown
Fresh (48h)0/40
Forecast (24h)0/25
Snow quality0/20
Wind3/10
Base2/5
The five add up to the 100-point Powder Score: more fresh snow, more on the way and colder air all push it up. How we measure
Cerro Castor, in Argentina, runs from 189 m at the base to 943 m at the top. Its mapped area is about 4.0 km across, with 40 marked runs and 11 lifts (about 29 km of piste in all).
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 147 cm of snowfall a season, 1,699th (tied) of 3,069 worldwide and 12th in Argentina. It swings a lot from year to year: the biggest winter, 2019 (203 cm), brought more than twice as much as the leanest, 2016 (85 cm). Snowfall days average −2.5°C at mid-mountain, and its snow-quality score ranks 11th of 13 in Argentina.
Runs and lifts
Counted from the runs and lifts drawn on OpenStreetMap, within the boundary of the ski area. These are not the resort’s own published figures.
Marked runs
40
Run length
29km
Lifts
11
Vertical
754m
Top 943 m · base 189 m
Run map
NoviceEasyIntermediateAdvancedOtherLift
North is up. Runs are coloured by difficulty; black lines are lifts.Slope shape, difficulty and lift types
The shape of the mountain
Longest run on the map2.6 km
Steepest pitch30°measured over at least 30 m
Average gradient of the runs11.4°
Which way the slopes face
North0%
East8%
South65%
West26%
Only 8% of the vertical on the runs descends to the north or east. The most common direction is south (65%).
Modelled from weather data the same way at all 3,069 ski areas we cover. These are not the resort’s own published figures.
Seasonal snowfall
147cm
per season
Worst of 12 winters
85cm
The middle winter of the 12: 147 cm. The best: 203 cm.
World rank
1699
of 3,069 worldwide
Rank in country
12
of 13 in Argentina
Elevation rank
13
Highest to lowest, of 13 in Argentina. The centre point sits at 649 m, 962 m below the national median.
Quality rank
11
of 13 in Argentina
Temp when snowing
−2.5°C
Japanese median: −3.6°C
Rain days
9%
Japanese median: 16%
Days over 5 cm
4%
Japanese median: 15%
Wind when snowing
24km/h
Average daily peak, 10 m above ground across a model grid cell; not the wind on ridges or lift tops
Dryness32
Frequency11
Freedom from rain78
Calm when snowing (model grid)90
The tick marks the median across every Japanese ski area we measure. All four bars run the same way — longer is better.
The quality score leaves out how much snow falls (it uses temperature, frequency, rain and wind).
When it falls, and how winters differ
Month by month
The most snow falls in August. September brings 95% of July’s snowfall. That is a gentler fall than the median for ski areas in Argentina (61%). For skiing, though, the amount matters more than the share: September brings 35 cm, less than the median of 56 cm.
32cmJun
37cmJul
43cmAug
35cmSep
Average snowfall by month, last 12 winters
Winter by winter
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 147 cm, and 6 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2016 with 85 cm; the biggest was 2019 with 203 cm (2.4 times as much).
159
85
196
133
203
173
143
175
130
151
102
108
’15’16’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26
Snowfall each winter (June–September total). The dashed line is the average; the numbers mark the leanest and the biggest winter.
Map
The weather map, and where it sits among nearby ski areas.
Niseko is 526th in the world for snowfall. Zermatt is 554th, Jackson Hole 924th, Aspen 1,201st. Measured identically across 3,069 ski areas, the names everyone books and the places it actually snows turn out to be two different lists.