Sometimes there can be too much Powder!
I got this photo from Kubota san at the photo shop on the main street into the village. The photo was taken just outside his store in memory from the 60s. He told me the story that it had snowed in Nozawa every day for a month and then we got hit with some of those huge 100cm dumps and the village basically got completely buried! No one could get in or out and even in the modern 4wd’s of today there was no way you were getting around the town.
Nozawa was declared a natural disaster zone and the National Guard were called in to help the locals clear the streets and restore life in the village. There must have been some amazing Powder skiing!
We have had a few big seasons since that and at times have felt like the snow was never going to stop and we were never going to be able to dig our way out the front door! The season before last was a bit like that when we got 3 meters of snow in 4 days in December and people were literally drowning in the slopes with no base and so much Powder! 2012 was also of the scale for the amount of snow we had and was on the roof clearing snow more than I can remember any season.
The long term reports from the Japan Meteorological Agency for the coming season is looking good and they are saying with the La Nina system expected this year that we could be in for a cold and snowy season in Nozawa ahead. Whether or not we get a fall like this one will have to wait and see….
Check out past reports on the side of the Lodge Nagano Site by dates Lodge Nagano Snow Reports