As snow now covers the peaks in the Niseko region it was time to hike up the mountain from Grand Hirafu, take a closer look at the snowline and see how the groomed runs have been prepared for the coming season.
After the recent weather we’ve been having, yesterday’s forecast of a fine day was all that was needed to motivate the early rise.
This year the resort has done an great job trimming down the runs that will be regularly groomed throughout the season. Sennoki , Alpen , Furiko were all very easy to hike.
Snow was observed at the top of Center but unfortunately the 1000m Hut was not open…..
The temperature was 0.5C and compounded by strong northerly winds.
Higher up on the mountain there were patches of icy snow but not enough to get excited about at this stage.
To recognize what a great job the resort has done cutting the scrub back – especially the tough Sasa bamboo that covers nearly all native forests and untended land in Hokkaido – take a look at the cutting out of the runs.
Hirafu waits for the first snow…when will it be!??