Mike Pow

DAY 30 : FRIDAY 27 DECEMBER 2013 8 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ Heavy wet snow fell around 8pm last night and then the surface layer froze under clear skies. It made for some interesting turns in Konayuki early on with Ian and Aaron. I spent the day on the Idris Renard skis (175 cm, 116-71-100, r 17m) and Aaron was on the Idris Chamois skis (175 cm, 120-88-112, r 20m) Beautiful handcrafted skis by Tom Greenall and his wife, Kiyoko Yamaguchi in Chamonix, France. Tom is a fellow Welshman who's made Chamonix his home since 2001. I first saw Tom and Kiyoko's skis last

DAY 29 : THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 4 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ The cloud cover burned off early to leave another sunny December day. This was the first day of the season when the backcountry gates opened and local photographer Glen Claydon reported smooth powder and solid stability of the snowpack.

I use snowforecast. In my experience : Very accurate on freezing level, wind speed, and whether it's going to snow or not. Massively under-report the snow quantities.

I was singing it all day

Some crackers in there

DAY 28 : WEDNESDAY 25 DECEMBER 2013 10 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ Season's Greetings from Hokkaido. Growing up in Wales every girl & boy hoped to wake up to the streets and gardens blanketed with snow on Christmas morning even though they'd most probably be receiving a new football or rugby kit, rollerskates, or if they were lucky a bike. After watching Franz Klammer win gold in Innsbruck the previous February I hoped to unwrap skis & boots on Christmas Day 1977. I got a microscope. And after lunch we listened to "A Child's Christmas in Wales" by Dylan Thomas

It was. Magic.

Merry Christmas kokodoko

DAY 27 : TUESDAY 24 DECEMBER 2013 39 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ 14 cm of the new snow had fallen through the day yesterday, with the remaining 25cm of dry, powder falling overnight. Unlike yesterday, it was wall to wall sunshine today. And it was magnificent. I spent the morning skiing Grand Hirafu with Sally Townsend from Sydney, Australia. This was her first time on skis in 2 years and she couldn't have picked a better day to get back on the slopes. Ealy on we skied the Hirafu groomers which had 5-10 cm of new snow sitting on top of a well groomed base. Sally w

Fabulous

Thanks seemore and muikabochi.

Fabulous groomer day at Niseko Annupuri. Merry Christmas.

My pleasure. Had a ball.

DAY 26 : MONDAY 23 DECEMBER 2013 12 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ Started the day solo at the Hirafu gondola, met Kokodoko from the SnowJapan forum on the ride up, and then bumped into Anything / Andy also from the SnowJapan forum as I was clicking in. Spent the first 2 hrs of the day skiing Konayuki and the old lift line with Andy getting deeper & deeper turns each run. The snow was dry, light, and waist deep. And it was still coming down. Andy in Konayuki (and he's on 185cm Line Mr. Pollard's Opus, 144-118-141) Andy at the top of t

Thanks snowdude and muikabochi.

Likewise on both counts

Thanks fruity-sachi and seemore. Thanks for the intel on Rusutsu TubbyBeaverinho.

Good to meet you first thing kokodoko, hope you had a great day.

Looks a beautiful place. Very different from up here on Hokkaido.

DAY 25 : SUNDAY 22 DECEMBER 2013 6 cm in the past 24hrs at MQ I've never been as happy to shovel as I was this morning. The sun was out and the powder was as light as a feather. The Family Run lift in Hirafu was like a zoo, but it was walk straight on to the Hirafu gondola. Did two laps of Konayuki - superlight and superfast powder on a hard base - and then met up with Greg Heptonstall and his mate Chris. We headed over to Hanazono to find some lower angle slopes where you wouldn't feel the crusty base and Legend of Shinya delivered. Chris

Great pics. Smile it's snowing

Heard Nozawa Onsen had 50cm of new today. Anyone get after it?

Elvis? Used to have the Kebab Shack in Hirafu.

Thanks for reading and commenting. Yes Hanazono. It's the line out of Gate 5 that drops down to the road.

It's a day I'd much rather forget. Only kidding it's just after the video clip