Thundercat 60 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 I won't be posting any pics or vids of today because I haven't even got the energy to upload them to computer right now. They would also show next to nothing because we boarded in pretty much whiteout conditions all day. Just wanted to post a quick note about the day I had today. Got up at 3:45am and out the door by 4:30ish. The drive up to Hakuba was pretty uneventful but somewhat painful after exiting at Toyoshina. There was a very light snow falling but for some reason everyone was just crawling along. By the time we got to Hakuba village the snow had picked up a bit and I was starting to look forward to making a few turns. When we arrived at Cortina it was absolutely belting down with snow. There was at least 15cms of fresh in the parking lot and in the 10 minutes it took to get ready there was close to another 5cms on the car! It continued that way for pretty much the whole day until mid-afternoon when it turned into a full on blizzard (which sadly also meant the top lift got closed!). Not so sure about tomorrow. If the wind dies down a bit it's going to be awesome! A little note about the snow quality: - Just to get that tiresome joke out of the way; it was not bottomless - In general: The snow falling was what everyone always hopes for; big, light, fluffy goodness. However, there was nowhere near the same amount of snow as last year at this time. In fact, there are still plenty of hazards off piste like branches and shrubs as well as some very dangerous looking tree wells with even a few of the creeks which haven't been covered yet. - On piste: Although there was a lot of fresh snow from the last two days the top runs that are ungroomed were pretty treacherous. It was knee to thigh deep powder over hard, uneven moguls. That mixed with near whiteout conditions meant the inevitable flip and tumble! Luckily it was pretty soft. The lower runs that are regularly groomed were beautiful. Soft and deep. - Off piste: As I mentioned above, it wasn't as good as I had hoped. Because I've been to Cortina several times when the conditions have been perfect (+60cms of fresh on a +300cm base under clear blue skies) it's a little tough to give an objective view of the conditions (everyone likes something different anyway!). What I can say is that under the fresh snow there is a pretty hard crust so making any hard turns means you have to be careful. I basically found the same conditions throughout the entire resort. My day was a 10 out of 10 (because I'm a positive guy and had a great time!) even though the conditions were probably only a 6 out of 10 (I'm pretty hard to please ). What I hope for tomorrow is the snow to continue, the winds to die down, and the visibility to improve! Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 BM...according to NHK the snow should continue puking but not sure about the wind. Hope it dies down for you. Wish I could get up there. Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Cheers Chris! Me too! I just saw on the local news here that Nozawa got 149cms... today! WTF!! (*don't know if that's true though) Link to post Share on other sites
iiyamadude 6 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Er, no. It was more than likely the current official village snow depth. Link to post Share on other sites
panhead_pete 27 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 See you at Cortina in the morning BM. We will be there about 8am. Look for 4 of us mate. Link to post Share on other sites
Jynxx 4 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 AAAHHHH I wish I was there Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Hey pete! Not sure if you'll get this but we are holding off on rushing over to cortina today. it looks like the top of the mountain is closed right now. I'm going to wait to see if things will eventually open there. I have a feeling that with the reported 55cms and winds that it won't be opened today... fingers crossed that it will! Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 Just to confirm... I spoke with the resort an hour ago and they will not be opening the top lifts today. Going to head to 47/Goryu for an afternoon slide as they said everything was open. Link to post Share on other sites
stemik 14 Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Good call. Tomorrow should be good at Cortina. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Good report BM. It ties in with what a lot of people have been saying. You can have fun out there, but it's been a bit dry so far this winter. It's been cold enough to snow, which is sometimes the problem, but the clouds just haven't been coming this way. I can't remember a New Year's with as little snow. As it happens, my inbox is completely bottomless, so the only one out so far is my daughter. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
panhead_pete 27 Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Well we just got back and whilst the top lifts werent open Id say we thoroughly scored it. It was one of those days, whilst not perfect, you know why you ride. Link to post Share on other sites
seemore 66 Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Photos Pete Seemore Link to post Share on other sites
panhead_pete 27 Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 No pics - too busy riding. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 You didn't take Smelly?! Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Good to hear Hakuba is getting some good snow. Link to post Share on other sites
panhead_pete 27 Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 You didn't take Smelly?! Im kinda over it Muik. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 That's not very friendly. Poor Smelly!! Link to post Share on other sites
tokabochi 9 Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 You didn't take Smelly?! Im kinda over it Muik. How heartless! That's no way to treat a cheese! Did you have an argument? Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 Well, all of the complaints I had about the snow quality were erased by the storm on the 5th. The extra +55cms of snow that day at Cortina buried all of the little shrubs and stuff that were somewhat worrisome. Because of the blizzard like conditions I ended up taking a little break in the onsen to wait for all the top lifts to open. On the 6th I was there bright and early (along with loads of other powder hounds for a totally awesome blue bird deep powder day. We lapped it up all day long and were still finding fresh turns on the last run of the day. I'd say it was a 9 out of 10. The biggest surprise was today (Jan 7th) as Cortina got another 30cms but nobody turned up to ride it. The skies were an even deeper blue than the day before but this time it was me and only a few other people getting turns off piste. Today ranks as one of the best days I've had. 10 out of 10 . I'm going to work on a little video over the next few days to show the trip. I'd write more now but my brain is a shambles... Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Can you do some pics too BM. Onegai! Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 Yep. I took a couple of pics but I haven't picked up my new camera yet so it'll be a mixture of gopro, xacti, and iphone. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Cool. Will look forward to it. (Just not into vid myself) Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 That's great BM. Happo was windy, a little crusty and starved for fresh snow. Quite busy, too. If I were here wIthout the family I would seek better conditions elsewhere. Link to post Share on other sites
iiyamadude 6 Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Cortina always seems to get so loaded! Nice. Link to post Share on other sites
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