On Monday, all was still right with the world. Perfect weather and great snow for two runs far away from the pistes. The weather forecast was very unfavorable, so we had to hurry. By midday, the powder fun was over and 35 mm (= 37 liters / sqm) of rain in 24 hours was the result of a warm front. Snow was already falling again on Wednesday, but unfortunately it got very cold first and so everything was frozen solid.
Rain in Hakuba is nothing unusual, only the frequency has increased in recent years. Climate change?! On Thursday and Friday it was more "dust on crust" and not exactly exhilarating skiing.
Then Saturday came and with it the day on which we were all brought back to reality. Great weather early in the morning and so our thoughts were already far away from the slopes and once again inspired by the desire for long descents. The avalanche report didn't sound too good, but we didn't have any other data (more on this at the end). The wind was already clearly noticeable on the drive to the ski resort and once we reached the top, it turned out to be a full-blown storm. Nevertheless, nothing stopped us from carefully planning our descent. We knew that a crust of rain and wind drifts weren't exactly the best conditions, but "you know how it goes..." The descent was a dream - so let's do it again. After the second descent, we saw an avalanche in the distance, but we were blinded by the desire for snow and even made a third descent. Everything went well. Back at the lodge, we had a rude awakening: Our colleagues had ventured into slightly steeper terrain and just seconds before we were due to leave, a huge avalanche broke loose under their feet, shooting 500 meters into the valley and reaching category 3. A lot of luck was involved, as the avalanche site was just below the boys. In the evening, our colleagues were totally shocked, as they had never been so close to a major accident. It was clear to everyone that we were all very lucky. The "red flags" that day were impossible to miss and yet the stable snow cover, which was our advantage for almost the entire month of January, blinded us. We all agree that none of us will be going there again for the time being. The rain crust is still there and doesn't seem to be changing. Sunday was then skiing in the forest and anything below 35 degrees steepness. We were all extremely afraid of making a mistake.
The photos of the 7th week in the Gallery
Instead of country and people, a few words about the avalanche report and the like
This year, for the first time, there is a report on Friday and Saturday morning, valid for the respective day. Unfortunately much too late. Last year we still had hourly weather data such as temperature, wind force and wind direction from various measuring stations in the region. This year there is no data available at all. Simply gone and nobody knows why. Only a good friend runs an unofficial website with daily updates and his observations. These are a great help, but in no way comparable to the data we are used to at home.
I wish you all many good and, above all, accident-free descents off-piste!
Text: Patrick Fux
