Snow Report January 30th

Lodging in Hakuba – From Budget Accommodation to Luxury Hotels

The links below are Hakuba accommodation options that have good reputations. The best way to make a reservation is by email, and use
easy-to-understand English. You can find the email address of each lodging option through the links below.
During holidays, most hotels are booked far in advance– so make your reservations early to get the
best options.

Evergreen Outdoor Center is in Wadano-Mori, accross from the Mominoki, and next to La Neige and Morino Lodge.

If you need help making an accommodation booking, we suggest Ski Japan Holidays.

Hakuba Hotels

››La Neige Higashi-Kan

››Sierra Resort

››Mominoki

››Tokyu Hotel

››Hotel Goryu Kan

››Hotel Viola

›› Hotel De L’aile

››Villa Hakuba

››Grove Inn Skala

››Hakuba Alps Hotel

››Taigakukan

››Terry Hotel

››Yamano Hotel

Hakuba Lodges

››Morino Lodge

››Powderhouse

››Bear’s Den

››Pension Nochigo

››Pension Meteor

››Pension Penke Panke

Hakuba Backpackers

››Snowbeds

››Hakuba Alps Backpackers

››Hayaokidori

››Yamago

››Lodging

Getting Around Tokyo

Links to lodging and services useful for all budgets in Tokyo and the surrounding area,

boardintokyo.info

Snow started to fall straight, no wind, to the ground again early this morning and snow flurries will continue through out the day. The temperature is mild and the snow is a little heavier than yesterdays 20 cm, therefore, there hasn’t been a lot of accumulation in the valley. Some deep powder this morning on the resorts with one of our riders finding about 20-30 cms on Goryu but base measurements from Goryu haven’t shown an increase yet… possible settling in the snow or just to much for the patrol to get out to the weather plot. Tsugaike Kogen Ski Resort is measuring 15 cm over night and are reporting for the top of the gondola a base of 245 cm, -6.3 Celsius air temp. , calm to light winds out of the South West and 500 m visibility with snow continuing to accumulate.

Expect soft and fluffy out there today and all day long as the slopes are full of snow but very scarce on people riding in it. Lift lines, No… Sweet Lines, Yes!

Roads are slippery so take it slow and easy the powder will still be there after lunch.

Snow Pack Synopsis:

It has been 2 and a half weeks now since the creation of the January 12th Rain crust. Since then there has been a lot of things going on in the snow pack. The guides at Evergreen have been following the metamorphosis of crystals around the ice crust and the bond of grains above and have seen faceting taking place in side and around this crust witch has been breaking down the crust but also creating weak bonds to the crust. Compression tests have been producing moderate to hard results at the Rain Crust / Facet interface than can be anywhere from 2 ~ 3 m deep in the Alpine to 60 cm deep at tree line and possibly even shallower at scoured ridge crests. Since then we have seen multiple weak layers produced and have seen generally poor bonding between these layers causing instability in the snow pack. As a result of these multiple weak layers and general trend of crusts and facets (sugar between biscuits), the pack continues to be generally unstable.

Backcountry Travel Advisory:

Steep Alpine bowls and steep slopes at Tree Line are still very unpredictable and should be avoided if you are not willing to accept the large risk that is associated with these slopes at this time. For areas of better stability and less risk look to moderately angled slopes in simple terrain at or bellow tree line. Settlement and bonding below tree line have created a relatively stable pack across the board in the Hakuba valley but that does NOT include steep open terrain or gullies that may produce slab avalanches and will definitely produce slides in the new snow that has fallen over the last 2 days. The 30 + cm of new snow that has come down with no wind and is laying over a layer of surface hoar frost that was produced 3 nights ago pre the new snow falling. The surface hoar is sitting on sun crust on southern slopes and will produce slides that run far and fast with continued accumulation of new snow. Be aware of increases in wind speed and the associated loading of lee slopes as wind changes direction to North Westerlies and picks up as the High pressure system that is approaching hits some time early tomorrow morning.

Avalanche Hazard:

Alpine: High
Tree-line: High
Below tree-line: Considerable