Powder video

Tom put together the latest video. Most of this was filmed over the past two days, and most of the most was filmed on what I'll call "Super Deep Wednesday" (the name having been chosen just now in lieu of other monikers such as "Radioactive Pow Day" or "Nuclear Winter Day" -- don't worry, it wasn't really radioactive snow; we're still safe in Hakuba, and leaving soon).

japan week 5 from tom duggan on Vimeo.

Return of the pow

After a couple of mediocre ski days (dust on crust and ridiculously thick fog on Monday; high avy danger on Tuesday), we awoke Wednesday to more sun and low expectations. Took our time getting to Happo, and then once we were on the lift it started snowing. And then it started snowing harder. And harder. And even harder, to the point where a few runs and lift rides were in total whiteout. Tom, Jon, and Kate and I skied through the end of the day (with a bakery stop for lunch), lapping up the fresh snow in the trees.

Tom making the most of Wednesday's new snow (which, lower down, was not as deep as it looks here)

On Thursday, with high winds forecast for Happo, Tom and Jon and I took a chance on Cortina. Alas, with Patrick leaving the lodge on Wednesday morning to continue his ski season in British Columbia, we were left without a ride to the north end of the Hakuba Valley. So we took a train and a shuttle, and when we arrived at Cortina we found a reported 50 centimeters of fresh snow. It was at least that deep.

Jon, not finding any crust at Cortina

Great skiing in the morning, until the sun turned certain aspects into heavy mush. And then, just before lunch, my binding ripped out of my ski and bent in half. So I have no binding, and no ski. Fantastic. At least I had pizza and an onsen.

I'm none too happy about this

Fortunately, Nick of Hakuba Powder Lodging has a couple pairs of tele skis he never uses, so I can borrow those for the remainder of the trip. One is a pair of old fat skis, which could come in handy tomorrow, as snow is falling once again.

Video!

Tom put together a video of the first week -- Tokyo and skiing.

first week of japan from tom duggan on Vimeo.

Taking in the scenery

Blue skies and warm temps all week have made for beautiful days but, combined with a lack of new snow, have made for less than ideal backcountry conditions. Our ventures into the Happo backcountry keep landing us atop crusty slopes. We’ve therefore largely limited ourselves to skiing ridgelines to avoid avy danger in the sun-baked bowls (watched one wet slide come down a chute around midday today) and scoping out lines for when better conditions return. All in all, that means no great ski photos, but I have snapped some scenery shots of the Japanese Alps.

 Not our tracks on that slope

 That long, flat peak has several ski tracks on it -- we're guessing from TGR

Start of the hike out after skiing the north face of Happo