Tenki and Yuki Diary 19 Feb 08

Know the weather = know the snow pack = know the stability.  For previous weather and snow reports use the Diary link at the top of the page.

Steep Deep Japan Hakuba  weather data for the 24 hours to 7am for 860m asl Max temp +1C, min temp -12C and  -11C at 7am. 0cm of new snow in the last 24 hours.  Barometer is steady at 920mbar and the skies are at last clear and blue this morning.  Wind aloft is light from the SW thru NW.  The clear night had produced 1mm surface hoar at 860m asl.

Field observations:  Yesterday we travelled to 2000m in the backcountry on south aspects.  The snow was very stable and deep and soft. Clear morning skies and sun followed by afternoon clouds and cooling produced a 2cm sun crust on south aspects.  The wind was variable from SW or NW with light snow transport at times.  Cornices are not as big as expected and we found no hard slab on south aspects (there was not much slab at all on south aspects, soft or hard). My Japan Avalanche Association report can be found here.  Another report for Happo BC filed by a guiding operation is here.  I strongly encourage people to use this very valuable JAN resource.

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