Tenki and Yuki Diary 16 Feb 08

Know the weather = know the snow pack = know the stability.

Steep Deep Japan Hakuba  weather data for the 24 hours to 7am for 860m asl Max temp 1C, min temp -8C and  -6C at 7am. 10cm of new snow in the last 24 hours, quite heavy 83kg/m3, equivalent to 9% water.   Barometer steady at 911mbar. Wind is moderate from the west and snow has almost stopped with  few breaks in the clouds.

Field observations:  Yesterday I travelled in the backcountry to 2200m asl in the Tsugaike area.  Very strong gusts from the SW in the afternoon and noticeable windslab on northerly aspects.  The rate of snowfall increased into the afternoon to about 3cm per hour at 1500m asl. I found a lot of stable soft snow between 2100m and 1500m asl on south aspects.  My Japan Avalanche Network public weather and snow stability report can be found here.  Please use this valuable resource provided by JAN.

Please also refer to the Hakuba backcountry travel advisory from the guides at Evergreen Outdoors.