The ski resorts in Japan are appreciated by having some of the deepest, lightest powder around. Winter extremely strong snow – some areas have had more than 12 feet of snowflakes this week – there should be a skier or a snowboarder dream.
Ski terrain in Japan this winter is “Super Great and Super Gnusan”, Austrian professional skier Tao Kreibich, 27, said in the video about a recent trip in the country. “You can do some crazy things.”
Yes, but …
While many of the 500 Japanese ski areas Have a season of inscriptionsThe giant snowmaking brought to the challenges that diminished profits and set up security problems.
“Heavy snow is also joy and concern” for a resort workers, said Shinichi Imoto, a spokesman for the Washigataka ski resort, who sees some of his biggest slopes in the decade. “There are concerns if it doesn’t fall and worries if it falls too much.”
Some of the resorts had to close the elevators Give crews more time for a shovel. Road closure interrupted access to potential visitors. In some places more skiers and snowbiarders than usual She lost herself in the hinterland or stuck in the avalanche.
Operations have returned to normal in many ski resorts throughout the county. But the effects of snowstorms last month – which led to the closure of the school and the cancellation of trains and flights – they still feel.
In the KagG ski resort, several hundred miles by road northeast of Washigatake, the number of visitors was reduced this year even though the snow was good and abundant, said Cazuto Harasawa spokesman.
Unusually heavy snow forced the resort to close six times last month. The closure of a nearby highway, combined with a height on the resort, did not help. “We experience a record snow and our staff is exhausted, so please understand,” the resort said on social media At the end of February.
Snow was also forced by Snow Resort Gala Yuzawa, about 12 miles along the Kagura road, to close on the day at the end of February – his first closure in more than 30 years of work. A spokesman for Takashi Onozuk described the snowfall this season, which is about two and a half times last year, as a “honest level of disaster”.
The buyers were satisfied with the quality of the snow during the recent cold shoot, he said, adding: “Still, it is difficult for workers.”
Even if skiing, parking lots and other areas can be cleaned, strong snow is safety risks on trails and in areas to return.
Treasing crashes usually take into account many death cases in the United States, according to data from the National Association of Ski Areas. Other causes of death include avalanche and fall into deep, loose snow around large trees.
In Japan, the northern island of Hokkaido reported about 28 cases of people stranded in the mountains, while the hinterland has been more than twice the previous season since the end of January, according to local police. This information was assembled before the beginning of February, when Obihiro, the city in the southern part of Hokkaida, received 50 centimeters of snow over 12 hours, national record.
Mr. Kreibich, an Austrian skier, knows a little about the risks of skiing from the runway.
He and the cameraman, Gabriel Koschier, 28, flew to Japan in early February, because the snow in the Alps was not particularly good at the time at the time. They went to the resort in the Hakuba valley that she had Hosts events For the 1998 Winter Olympics.
They introduced themselves to the highest resort sites and hiking uphill, looking for untouched terrain. “Although I haunt snow all over the world, I don’t think I’ve never seen so many snow anywhere,” he said in a telephone conversation.
Although the sun was shining and the dust was exceptional, Mr. Kreibich and Mr. Koschier began to see cracks in the snowflake as they slid over the wind, almost without trees without trees. Mr. Kreibich said he also noticed that the snow under his feet felt “a little strange.”
Then Mr. Koschier slid almost 1000 feet in the avalanche. He survived, poignant but unharmed. Although the moving snow was deep enough to be buried, he slid to him, not underneath him.
After finding Mr. Koschier’s skis, the couple returned to the resort on a gentler ground. “From that moment on, we were happy to get down and make it easier,” Mr. Kreibich said.
That night they toasted happiness for that.
