Gotta make it a fast one today - lots of snow on the ground today and three places to plow!

Real snow today! Just in time for the first "soft opening" at Akakura Onsen.

The first real snow of the year!

A quick note today so we get our snowfall totals in order: the snow has stopped after getting about 5 cm over night (that familiar sound of snow rumbling off the roof sending us off to bed). It's sunny at the moment, the freezing line is about to head up the mountain and rain is forecast. For the moment it's all nice and white and snowy at base level. Very pleasant to look at, even if it's not going to last. Yet.

Just a nice white dusting, but enough to give that tingle to the spine and that snow smell for the nose.

Just a quick note here, as a light dusting of snow is melting under a good strong late-fall sun (not calling it winter until we're covered!).

It's still more than a month until the ski areas have their scheduled openings (and all you people making early-season reservations.

Time to close out the season.... which sort of petered out there at the end without me actually knowing when our last operating resort (Seki Onsen) finally gave up.

We're down to one running area (I think; can't tell from Seki's website or blog), so not only are we at the end of one phase, but one big change today.

No report from the town, as we enter really the last weekend of the season.

An early report today, because there's a race up on the hill and I will be sitting by a gate making sure everything is OK...

Nature has a way of surprising us, doesn't it?

Things are a bit nicer today than yesterday; there is still some fog (which looks to be clearing), and a light dusting of new snow, instead of the rain.

Woke up this morning to the sound of snow sliding off the roof. Snow!