Patrick Fux, who has been providing us with great powder pictures from Japan over the past few weeks, had left Japan for British Columbia, Canada, shortly before the dramatic earthquake and subsequent tsunami and the nuclear disaster that was omnipresent in the media. None of Patrick's friends or the Hakuba Powder crew were harmed. Nevertheless, the reports from the news naturally make all the powder experiences and problems that you can have as a freerider much less important. Nevertheless, we have decided to bring you the last three episodes of the Japan-Canada winter trip.
The Monday of my 9th week of skiing in Japan was a day for depression. It rained up to 2500 meters and Hakuba's areas only go up to 1800 meters. It rained all night and all day. Without further ado, we went on a shopping trip to Nagano.
On Tuesday, the optimists went looking for powder while the pessimists stayed in bed. I joined the pessimists. Equipped with radios, we received the latest snow reports. Nothing exhilarating and the expected call came at 11: "Can you pick us up by car? We're completely soaked!" Back at the lodge, we prepared a 5-course meal and the day was saved.
No large amounts of fresh snow had fallen on Wednesday either, although heavy snowfall had been forecast. I couldn't get the boys out of bed, so I took the Australian group that had recently arrived with me to Cortina. On the way up, as so often this winter, expectations were rather low. Nevertheless, we were rewarded with good fresh snow, even if the rain crust was clearly noticeable. But at 11:30 a.m., my mood suddenly deteriorated as the Ski Patrol closed the main lift due to the increasing risk of avalanches. Another half an hour later, the last useful lift was also closed and that was the end of the fun. Back at the lodge, we continued to improve our cooking skills and rounded off the day with plenty of alcohol.
Thursday brought winter back: it got very cold and 30 cm of fresh snow fell, locally it was even up to 60 cm! Again, the question arose as to where we should go. The avalanche risk was high, so it was clear that we had to go skiing in the forest, otherwise everything would be closed or too dangerous. In the area, we had to wait until the area opened further up and so we wanted to dig a snow profile to get some insight into the situation. At least that was our plan, but as we approached the slope everything happened very quickly: a crack and all the snow below us came off. It was then clear where to go and we spent the whole day in the deep snow in the forest - and mostly stayed below 35 degrees slope gradient. A successful day for us - the other groups were pretty unlucky. The whole area they had chosen was first closed and only opened briefly around midday before closing again due to a storm. Although we were only 10 km away, we felt almost no wind: Hakuba and its weather phenomena?
On Friday, the conditions were as they should always be, but can't be: More fresh snow overnight and very cold temperatures to boot. The wind didn't let up and so it was clear that we had to head back to Cortina. There we were surprised: we didn't find the expected light deep snow, but a type of snow that we had never experienced before: The snow was creamy, airy, grippy - somehow not really describable. Strange snow, but great for riding! I can't remember ever racing through the woods so fast. We had an incredible amount of fun all day and were all constantly on the road with beaming faces. Almost everyone, at least, because those from the Powder Lodge who had opted for the Happo area were surprised by icy slopes and miserable conditions in the backcountry. And again, the 10 km distance decided heaven and hell.
On Saturday, we found powder heaven on earth. On Friday evening, we had searched for the ultimate powder solution for Saturday in a blitz. I really wanted to get to know something new. Without further ado, we set off at 6 a.m. and reached Nozawa after just over two hours' drive. What awaited us there exceeded our highest expectations. The best knee-deep and sometimes even waist-deep, light, untracked powder snow! The waiting times at the lifts were long, but thanks to an area expert in our group, we were able to explore the area away from the crowds. In Nozawa, off-piste skiing is strictly forbidden and punishable by a fine of up to 1000 dollars. Nevertheless, we were able to enjoy the best day of the whole season without any worries. Even my rating system reached new heights with 9.5 out of 10 possible powder points.
On Sunday, we did everything wrong: we were surprised by an unforecast foehn storm, the snow cover was weak and we had taken a snowboarder who was too weak, so the day took a bad turn. After an hour's ascent, we were able to ski down in great deep snow. Unfortunately, the way back to the area was hell. We sank up to our waists in wet snow. The poor snowboarder was completely exhausted and we had to climb up to 45 degrees with the snowboarder in tow, on a rope. The summer road was not as good to ride on as usual, but was littered with avalanche cones from the last few days. All in all, that was bad enough. Then a second group called to ask if everything was okay, because the snow cover of the descent we had just made had collapsed due to the additional weight of the following skiers and turned into a large avalanche. Had we just been lucky or was the rise in temperature that extreme?
This was a situation that you won't find in any avalanche book. I'll probably look it up again in the PowderGuide Avi book and be ashamed of myself. A snow profile might have stopped us from descending, as another group had done before us.
All in all, it was a brilliant time. If the earthquake disaster hadn't happened so soon afterwards, it would have been one of the best times of the trip.
