The Ultimate.

I was woken yesterday morning by screams and cheers in the hallway. The powder day finally arrived. It had snowed all night. Lots of it. And it was still going throughout the morning. Despite soreness and pain and weariness, everybody was up and energised, scoffing down breakfast and bolting out the door to catch the early bus.

Almost everybody in town decided it would be a perfect day to travel to Cortina, a small resort that is the furthest away, but is renown across the land for receiving three times as much snow as the other resorts. When it snows 30cm in Hakuba, you can expect 1m at Cortina. What we knew is that it requied two buses to get to, with a swap at the main bus depot. What we didn't know is that we'd have to fight off a thousand other powder hunters to get a spot on the second bus. We only just managed to get on, I sat on the front step by the door. Many others had to keep waiting.

On arrival, we were welcomed by a massif eight storey hotel that feels so out of place in Japan and comes straight out of the shining. It oozes scary haunted mass axe murdering indian burial ground mysteriness. I think Dracula lives in the basement. I will never ever stay in a place like this. I like living.

So, to the snow. It was beautiful. Deep, dry, light, soft. And it kept snowing throughout the day. The main runs were tracked out early, so it became hard work to ski through. The deep powder gets chopped up by ski and board tracks and forms waves and bumps all over the place. It isn't too much of a problem as the powder is a dream to ski through, but its just hard work as you bounce around. I'm a fairly fit individual, but i was sweating, puffing and sucking in deep breaths after 20 metres. It can be difficult to turn in thick powder, as your skis are stuck under the snow. You need lots of strength in the legs and lower back to get your skis turning. It is actually easier to ski the thick stuff on steeper trails. When you turn on steep slopes, gravity is your friend as the snow falls away from you with awesome mini avalanche effect. On a gentler slope, you try and turn,  the snow is like 'I'm not moving, I'm pretty comfy here actually' and instead you just fall over.

Powder days are about finding hidden secret runs, often through some trees, where there is still smooth fresh snow, or finding a steep section where the powder is light and fluffy. Under a chairlift is often a powder  goldmine.

Some gentle runs i never saw my skis. Most of the time the snow came up to my knees. At times, I'd make a turn and the snow would come up to my waist. On occasions, in a really deep pocket on a steep run, I could feel it rising over my inside shoulder as i turned. And the sound. Its all about that sound. It sounds so different in powder. It's a deep roar. I love it. I didn't need an ipod today. The snow provided the soundtrack. And I didnt stop for lunch. It kept snowing, so i kept going. It made the whole trip worth it. Just for that one day.

I also took some other photos. Mostly of trees. Because they're beautiful and stuff...