Tenki Diary 5 Jan 08

24 hours to 7am today: Overnight low temp of -8C. Thankfully it is getting a little cooler in the night as compared to the European Alps, Hakuba has been consistently warm. It hasn't really been cold yet, in fact, of the 500cm of snowfall since 21 Nov, only 150cm remains after settlement and melt.  The snowpack is yet to see real lasting powder below 2000m, but it is early days yet. Unfortunately the forecast for the next month holds a 60% chance of above normal temperatures.  Makes riding (genuinely) steep terrain in the morning much easier - as soon as I get a chance to tour some.

During the day today we rode NE facing heavily treed terrain in the Sarakura area and found very stable snow during the ascent, descent and snow profiles.  Max altitude was only 1200m.  Winds were moderate from the NW. Several people were coming out of the Happo north face exit track and it seems it has been ridden quite frequently in the last day.

We had a good day exploring a new backcountry line and earning some ok turns in tight trees. All self propelled, no lifts at all.  The riding could have been better, but it was a purposeful mission into an unknown area to find out more, not to get guaranteed great lines. After a few trips into Sarakura we are getting a small feel for what works and what doesn't.