7 Feb - rain

It rained to perhaps 2100m last night and into this morning. The rain was steady the whole time with about 35mm falling at valley bottom. When I get an up close look at the actual rain/snow altitude I'll say more about the effects. Until then assume it went above treeline just a little. A bit of a bummer, but it happens every season in Hakuba in Feb, at least once, so I tend not to care much myself. However those who chose this week for their holiday here may be disappointed. Avalanche danger at treeline will have gone through the roof with a high likelihood of wet avalanches until the pack freezes again. Cold is coming tonight with steady snowfall for a few days on a the soon to be re-frozen layer. How much falls will determine how how you need to go to get good snow. Worst case is not much new snow plus poor visibility meaning the need to get above tree line and lurk carefully in the murk. I know a place with trees that start above treeline and sometimes gathers a lot of depth when everywhere else is thin. Unless it snows hard, that is where I'll be going on my free days. It is a long distance hump with 1500m vert of climbing required in the day if you want to milk the most out of the zone.