17 Jan - Powder

The 35cm of new overnight snow between 1600m and 1900m was pretty nice today, even on southern aspects. Easy skiing consistent powder that was fast because it was thin. The sun remained covered nearly all day, though it was bright through the clouds at times. The temperatures were cool, -10C at 1900m at 1330hrs. Steeper south slopes have a sun crust under the storm snow that was formed on Wednesday. We had limited visibility and could not see any recent avalanche activity, though there was a little minor cracking in the unsettled storm snow in the morning. This storm did not bring a big load - winter just wont behave like it normally does in Hakuba - so resort skiers may be suffering, but the mountains have some very nice snow on them right now. Hopefully the wind stays off it.