Myoko Now: Wednesday 27th February 2013
- Feb 27, 2013
- 3 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Myoko region of Niigata
New snowfall at base 0cm
Snowfall at base this season 1283m
Weather overview Partly sunny with some rain
Wind
Light
Temperature -
Visibility
Great
Posted at 10:40am on Wednesday 27th February 2013 This is an archived report. The latest Myoko Now report can be found here.
Thanks to the SnowJapan team for helping out over the past two days - and, yes, I have some interesting information, following our report for today.
The bad news first: it is raining very lightly right now. Hardy enough to dampen a coat, really (makes that snow nice and smooth, too), but it is definitely going to be getting warmer over the next three days or so. Probably be turning back to snow by the weekend, but in the meantime let's hope the sun stays out and we can just pretend that it's fun spring skiing for the time being. Winter is definitely not over yet. Not much wind at the moment, either, so it could be a nice day for a ski.
I've been out for two days because of a rescue operation here in Myoko. A very experienced guy - somebody like a lot of good, solid backcountry skiers - just got too close to a cornice. Following all the snow and wind we've had, the cornices on the local peaks are huge and very unstable. He was more than two meters away from the edge, and the whole thing came down, taking him and a lot of snow with him. He hit a tree, started sliding headfirst, got himself into a better position (legs downhill), and rode down several hundred meters in what became a small avalanche. And then he dug a snow cave and stayed there for two days, because the winds and snow and logistics made it impossible to get a group out faster. He was lucky; he had the right gear, a radio, good clothing, and came out with a broken rib, a contusion on his leg, and some mild frostbite on his fingers (he'll be hurting in a few days, but he won't lose his digits).
It was a happy end, but it reminds all of us who go in the backcountry the the rewards are high, but there are risks we can't afford to ignore. If you're going off the groomed slopes, even "just over there", you need to have avalanche gear on you, excellent clothes in case you get stuck, and some good friends to keep an eye on each other. We see too many people with no gear, no sense and cotton clothes all skiing/boarding at the same time in questionable terrain. Anything goes wrong, they all go down together.
As a wise older guy here said, you can talk about taking responsibility for yourself, but the instant you get hurt or worse, you're no longer responsible - somebody else has to help you. Snow rescues are tough, hard work, and this time left a few rescuers with frostnipped fingers and faces (my neighbor's cheeks turned dark brown, and are now peeling off).
Don't stop going in the backcountry; do be safe, do it right and plan ahead!
Myoko Now 2012-2013 season |
Data as of Wednesday 27th February 2013 Total snowfall at base so far 1283cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 56 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 73cm (10th January) November 2012 snowfall 17cm reported on 3 days December 2012 snowfall 334cm reported on 12 days January 2013 snowfall 508cm reported on 21 days February 2013 snowfall 433cm reported on 20 days |
All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Myoko. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report.