A villager exits the cooking onsen after recent heavy snowfalls
Base at top: 330 cm
Temp at Top: -8 Degree
Base at Uenotaira station: 245 cm
New snow since close: 20 cm
Weather: Clear
The storm is over. Delivering a parting gift of 20cm overnight there are now clear blue skies and bright sunshine above the mountains. A bluebird powder day. In the valleys we have a dense but spectacular sea of fog. Bring the camera up today as there will surely be some amazing views with fresh snow frosting the trees framed by a backdrop of piercing snow clad peaks. To recap from the past week we have received a grand total of 385cm from the entirety of this run of snow. It is remarkable to have such a prolonged run of heavy falls and we are now well set up for the long season ahead. The skiing today will be good, best early as temperatures are forecast to climb during the afternoon. When this happens the best snow will be found on north facing slopes and shaded valleys such as Nagasaka, Challenge and of course, Yamabiko. Some slopes may become sun affected and heavy especially on the lower mountain.
Yesterday we had some unusual weather patterns. While heavy snow continued to fall, adding another 20cm throughout the day, temperatures were surprisingly high, hovering at -5c up top and 0c in the village. This made the snow heavy going and vastly different from the perfection of Monday. Nevertheless it was still much more fun than working so who can complain. As expected the mountain was nicely uncrowded.
According to the forecast we should have a few days of variable weather and overnight snow showers. Light snow is expected overnight tonight before a partly cloudy afternoon for tomorrow. Friday will warm a touch before heavy snow moves over the region once more overnight into Saturday. Further moderate to heavy falls are expected into early next week.
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