What an amazing feeling waking to blue skies and fresh snow in Hakuba this morning. After yesterdays 20 cm snow fall of light powder the skies have cleared and the powder hounds will be out in force on the Hakuba Resorts today. There is no wind to speak of and temperatures are cool so all that great powder snow will stay light and fluffy on all aspects well in to the day. Groomed courses will be soft and fast this morning. Make sure you have -8 wax or graphite wax on your boards for the best ride.
Later in the day we should see it start to cloud up and we will most probably receive some more snow from the afternoon as flurries start again. This does not look like we will be receiving as much snow as yesterday but every little bit counts.
Avalanche Warning!
You may have already heard of the avalanche that happened at Tsugaike Ski area. This was a slide on the resort that slid from permanently closed terrain and ran across the cat track that was also closed due to avalanche hazard. There was a group of beginner snow boarders that ducked the rope into the cat track and was struck by the size 2.5 slide on the cat track. All people were found however 2 of the victims were taken off the mountain yesterday in comas and all reports state that they are still in coma.
The lesson to be learned here is that signs posting avalanche danger mean it! Stay out of these areas as it is not just yourselves that you are putting at risk it is others on slopes below as well.
Avalanche Hazard as of Feb 4th:
Alpine: High
Tree line: High
Below Tree Line: Considerable