Although no skiing was involved, there was snow, and lots of it.

If any hikers/climbers have ever wondered where the water comes from at some of the huts in the mountains, this is the answer for one...

When: June 28th and 29th, 2009
Where: Northern Alps

It all begins with a short climb to the Mizutori Sawa ...





And the tunnel commences with a little chainsawing, digging, and snow dumping...









And keeps on continuing...



With a short break for lunch...






To be continued....

Part II:

And at the end of day 1, the tunnel has reached the 10m mark..





Capped off with another beautiful sunset...




On Day 2, the remaining 4m of the tunnel are finished...



And at the end, water is struck...



Next, the cable is strung and the hose attached...





And finally the water flows to the storage tanks...



...supplying enough water for over 10,000 people over the next 4 months.

O-wa-ri

Brilliant !! HS you really are good at this. Be a photo journalist ... your photos are Sha-Shin as the japanese call it.

Fantastic. Thanks.

Yes thanks Scott - very interesting/

Very interesing!
They your friends up there doing that?

brilliant work.
A question - how do you know where to tunnel?
Another? - why is the water not frozen?

Excellent

Looks like fun!

Cheers for that interesting report Scott.

^^ Thanks guys




The tunnel gets dug in the same spot every year. It's kind of tough to see in one of the pictures, but there's a sort-of natural dam at the end of the tunnel where the melted snow (water) accumulates. From late June to late Aug it doesn't usually drop below freezing, so the snow is continually melting. However, by early Sept the flow does start to slow down, and usually in mid-Sept the last of the snow has melted. The hose and wire then get taken down until the next year when it get dug yet again.

Great story Scott.

I have to say, in a very positive way, that this sort of enterprise is typically Japanese.

Scott-san,

Love the lunch break photo.. I bet nothing beats eating a bento in the open air surrounded by mountains!

so, when do sub-zero temps begin to creep back in on the Northern Alps?
I for one am already tired of the heat and humidity and can't wait for reports of first snowfall on the highest peaks of Japan..

I know we're still 4-5 months away from that though.. ho hum..

Must get a bit edgy when the chainsaw bar gets close to the rock face.

Excellent report. Thanks.

^^^ Yeah, the chainsaw has been know to nick the rock wall on occasion so we usually bring an extra chain or 2

Temps will usually drop below 0 as early as late Aug, but it doesn't really start to get cold till mid Sept - then the white stuff may start falling and sticking.

Sweet

Some really climbing in there.
Great stuff Scott.
Season owari?

Simply awesome pics there! Good to see the snow doesn't go to waste once we've had our fun from it.

That looks like a lot of fun.

Missed this one. Really interesting thanks for sharing that Hotaka.