Well the teperatures have been consistently cold now for about a week and are staying cool with continued cool air masses from the North. The Hakuba mountains received a few centimetres of fresh snow over Friday night. The snow line came down the lowest yet to 1000 metres and this snow line can still be seen on the shaded North faces. Winter is upon us and we can look forward to the resorts opening in early December this year.

For those who could not wait for the resorts to open Tateyama has become the place to be. This weekend saw about 1000 snow enthusiasts hiking and riding the 1 meter of snow that is covering the slopes up in the Tateyama mountains. The snow was light and made for great riding. Tateyama closes after next weekend for the winter before reopening in the Spring again for great spring snow.