21 Jan - AST course

I was inside all day teaching the classroom component of an AST Level 1 - so do not have any backcountry observations to offer. It snowed most of the day in the valley, seemingly starting out relatively dry and getting wetter. Almost raining at valley bottom by 5pm. The Japan Avalanche Network released another Hakuba Avalanche Bulletin for Saturday, this time with considerable danger rating for below treeline in acknowledgment of the warmer and weaker snow at lower altitudes. For the sake of comparison, once again take a look at the satellite shot for today and compare it to the image I will hopefully remember to post on perhaps Thursday next week when the Siberian thing is back on (technical terminology there).