Japow! Back with a vengeance. We woke to a ton of fresh snow down at Togari Onsen after yesterday evening’s storm had continued through the night. Reports from local reports of Myoko, Madarao, Togari, Nozawa, Yuzawa, etc all ranged from 50cm to over 80cm+ this morning.
We started the day with a team-building driveway speed shoveling session, with first lifts at Tangram the key motivator. In typical Japanese fashion, the roads were largely clear and easy to drive despite the huge snowfalls overnight, and the continuing snowfall all day. We arrived at Tangram in time for the first chairlift, and it was hands down the best day of the season.
Sorry, photos are limited today as not only was I having too much time riding, but at -10c plus a strong wind, I did not feel like taking off my gloves too often. This is an unusually cold day for this area, and I was wearing a few more layers than normal.
Sadly, shortly before 2 pm, the number 1 lift at Tangram was closed for the day. This is unusual, and I failed to understand the explanation, except that buses were provided to return guests to Madaro so I expect this was a mechanical issue. We chose to make a quick exit and arrived at Togari Onsen by 2:30 pm in time for several laps of the upper lifts before lifts closed at 4 pm.
A great day was ended with a positive change in the short term forecast, with the current storm now expected to continue for the next 5 days. Bring it on!
