Japanese ski resorts take pride in having some of the deepest and lightest powders. A very heavy snow winter – there were over 12 feet of snow packs this week – it should be a dream for skiers and snowboarders.
This winter, Japanese ski resorts are “super large and super gnarly,” Austrian professional skier Tao Kleivic, 27, said in a video about his recent backcountry excursion. “You can do some crazy things.”
Yes, but…
Many of Japan's roughly 500 ski areas are undergoing banner season, but giant snowmen have reduced profits and led to challenges that have raised safety concerns.
For resort workers, “Heavy snow is a joy and worry,” said Shinichi Imoto, a spokesman for Washigatake Ski Resort, who has seen some of the biggest drifts of the decade. “If it doesn't fall, there's concern and there's concern if it's going to fall too much.”
Some resorts had to close the lift to give crews more time to raise the shovel. Road closures block access to become visitors. In some places, more skiers and snowboarders are lost in the backcountry or stuck in avalanches than usual.
Operations have returned to normal at many ski resorts across the country. However, the impact of last month's snowstorm has led to school closures and cancellations of trains and flights, but it is still felt.
Visitor numbers have been declining at Kagrasky Resort, hundreds of miles on the road northeast of Oakgata, despite good and abundant snow, spokesman Kazuto Harasawa said.
An unusually large amount of snow forced the resort to close six times last month. The closure of the nearby highway, coupled with the resort's mile high elevation, did not help. “We've been experiencing record snow and our staff are exhausted, so please understand,” the resort told social media in late February.
Snow also forced Yuzawa Snow Resort, about 12 miles on the road from Kagura, closing for a day in late February. Spokesman Ono Kojima explained the snowfall this season. This is about 2.5 times the “honest disaster level” from last year.
Customers are pleased with the quality of the snow during recent cold snaps, he said, “But that's difficult for workers.”
Even if you can clear ski lifts, parking and other areas, heavy snow poses a safety risk to trails and backcountry areas.
Data from the National Ski Area Association shows that crashing into a tree tends to explain many of the ski deaths in the United States. Other causes of death include avalanches, falling into deep, loose snow around large trees.
In Japan, Hokkaido's northern island reported 28 cases of people stuck in the mountains while backcountry skiing in late January, more than twice the previous season, according to local police. The data was compiled by early February, when Obihiro, a city in the southern part of Hokkaido, received 50 inches of snow in the national record of 12 hours.
Austrian skier Kleivic knows a bit about the risks of skiing from Piste.
He and photographer Gabriel Cosher, 28, flew to Japan on a whim in early February as snow in the Alps wasn't particularly good at the time. They headed to the resort in Hakuba Valley where the event was held for the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.
They took the elevator to the resort's highest point, hiked uphill for an hour, searching for untouched backcountry terrain. “I was chasing snow all over the world, and I don't think I've seen much snow anywhere,” he said in a phone interview.
The sun was shining and the powder was exceptional, but Kleivic and Kosher began to see the cracks of snow as they slipped over the wet ridgeline of snow. Kleivic also said he noticed that the snow under his feet felt “a little strange.”
After that, Kosher slid nearly 1,000 feet in the avalanche. He survived, was upset but not injured. The moving snow was deep enough to fill him, but he was sliding above it, not underneath it.
After they spotted Mr. Kosher skis, the pair returned to the resort with mild terrain. “From that point on, we were happy to just get off and take it easily,” Kleivic said.
That night they toasted the sake vigorously.
