[Slow start to snow in Hakuba?]

January 26th is Australia Day - or "Straya Day !!" if you are of the Bogan Persuasion.... I hear it is also an international day of shame for our country and its drunken antics at many resorts in Japan.......

[Slow start to snow in Hakuba?]

Regarding Pies' experience with "Book Now for March Bottomless Powder" and the associated marketing hype, I have to say a massive thank you to SnowJapan daily snow reports for exposing me to reality of Japan ski resort conditiions - you guys are actually responsible for shifting my wedding forward by 2 months so that we could have better snow conditions for our Honeymoon!!

 

My wife was originally keen on booking our venue for a mid March wedding with a follow on honeymoon in Japan, that is until I spent untold hours/ days/ weeks absorbing data from over 10 years of your daily "now" reports for various resorts in Honshu & Hokkaido......

 

"Don't worry about it" she said - "Japan in March will be better than anything you have seen in Australia" ....

 

Over several weeks I continually chipped away at her objections to my proposed alternative of a January wedding, by constantly presenting her with March snow data from your reports and slipping in the odd comment along the lines of "We're not getting married in March just so that we can go on our honeymoon to the Powder Capital of the World and experience Freeze-Thaw conditions, chance of rain etc etc etc"

 

So as luck would have it, my lovely wife saw the light thanks to my persistent whining, backed up with facts gleaned from your diligent reporting and archives !!!

 

Married January 26th - not due to any particular patriotic inclination,(at least we'll always get a public holiday for our anniverary and I'm less likely to forget the date.. ) ---- followed by honeymoon in unbelievable snow conditions the likes of which my wife & I have never seen before ( despite her having spent a season in Canada, and my watching countless youtube vids saying increadulously "how can you possibly ski / board in stuff that deep?!?!?! ")

 

Moral of the story - Thanks Guys:you are responsible for my wedding date and subsequent honeymoon that changed my life and literally BROKE MY FREAKIN FRAGILE EGG-SHELL MIND !!!!!

[Warm hands and feet!]

I got some "outdoor" wool socks from Kmart pretty cheap, they're kinda thick(ish) but super comfy,

 

I boarded ( & Mrs Boolugu skied wearing the same socks ) in Niseko late jan/early feb and did not get cold feet.

 

Mid-price range ( $100 ) gloves from Mountain designs generally performed admirably, felt the cold one afternoon when the temp was about -17 and there was some pretty gnarly wind going on which bit through pretty sharp....

 

One thing i noticed which was kind of weird - on the coldest days during gondy / chairlift rides or when we stopped at the base and had a quick ciggie break between runs, the gloves kind of became stiff, maybe from transpiration freezing on the outside as the gloves "breathed" .... strange feeling it was

[WINTER FORECAST 2013/14]

Have to say I love reading the banter regarding long term seasonal forecasts on the forums, it's a nice way to gee up the excitement levels as we get closer to the season which we are all hoping fbrings record cold temps & voluminous snowfall !!

 

As to the scientific method and measurable degree of accuracy, both of these factors are highly questionable in the predictions I see posted( except for Pie Eater who seems to nail it with his uncanny ability to predict the EXACT conditions of winter well in advance- year in, year out )

 

Meteorological agencies such as BOM and JMA will only ever predict the weather long range according to the probabilty of conditions being below, average, or above average - based on comparing numerous model forecasts which involve so many dynamic and complex interactions that it takes supercomputers and expert weather scientists to even guess what the weather may end up being kind of vaguely like for the coming season (within a specified range of probablity....)

 

 

Anytway, in the spirit of a fair contest and for genuine entertainment value, for those of you in the predictions business how about a providing a forecast which can be verified in a measurable way--- lets get specific:

 

------ When will the base snowpack depths crack the 1m and then 2m mark for both Niseko & Hakuba at village level ?-------- ( winners are deemed to be those whose predicted dates are closest to the dates of the Snowjapan daily resort reports )

 

 

( maybe SJ could even offer some sort of prize for the winner to add incentives....???)

 

The champions of this challenge will be crowned the Supreme Weather Overlords sometime during the next winter ( and the losers will be mocked, vis-a-vis: Iron Chefu !!! )

 

Carry on - let the games begin!!!

[Good night skiing resorts]

Wife & I did our honeymoon in Jan / Feb 2012, stayed at Niseko Village. For our final night we went over to Hirafu for one last Nighta session and found it to be busier than NV was during the day!!

( To be fair it was the end of CNY )

 

Am devestated to hear that they will be stopping the King triple nighta - I was super keen to head up there but Mrs was not so inclined due to -15 and windy conditions ( plus we were pretty well blissed out after our 12 days of goodness)

 

Was looking forward to checking it out next year ......