Resources, Links, and Course Materials 
Above: Loading Extended Column Test at 1800m in late April, Jilkoot Kw'aan, Southeast Alaska.
Japan Information - Start With This
- I have been working several months a year on a longterm project to expand my Alaskan avalanche business into Japan. For quite a few years now, I have been guiding, consulting, and teaching, but with more work at home in Alaska, I am mostly taking any Japan time as a break, time for me to ride with friends, and work on writing projects.
- I was working on a project to organize educational trips to Japan for carefully-chosen small groups sworn to media secrecy as to where we go. Those groups would go the undiscovered special spots in Japan, which need business but do not need to be ruined by overtourism. We will work with local Japanese guides, visit the best local restaurants, onsen baths, and historical spots. These would not be tours for those who want to maximize their powder consumption, but for those who want to really experience all that Japan has to offer, and who would like to take time to appreciate snow falling quietly in the forest, or a shrine in winter, as well as making some of the best turns of your life! We would ride lifts when that is the call for the day; will skin when that will give us the best day; or we may split the day between lifts and backcountry. This new project is still in the works, but I have passed it on to otherw who have more time. Drop me an e-mail if you're interested.
- I have so many friends wanting to come to Japan now that I wrote up some insiders' hints and other information on travel to Japan and Hakuba. They are intended as a good starting point if you are thinking of going; be sure to read them. They will answer most of your questions about snow travel to Japan.
- Alaska-style mountains with Japan-style snow kept me based in Hakuba, but overcrowding with increasingly-rude tourists in high season has taken me to explore the more remote parts of Japan in the last few years. Nowhere else has mountains quite like Hakuba, and I still love it outside of the January through mid-February high season. The popular spots in Hokkaido and Touhoku are overcrowded too, but I have found some decent and far less-crowded mountains. These northern ranges have longer, colder winters that are less-affected by climate collapse, too. I'm not going to say much online about those special spots; the hype level and visitor pressure directed at all locations in Japan are too high now, and any place exposed online is quickly trashed. Come with my friends on one of our special low-profile trips if you want to visit them!
Japan Information - Miscellaneous Travel Links
- I usually avoid numbered lists online like the time-wasting plague they usually are, but this one of things you learn in Japan is great!
- Here's an online fare calculator from Tokyo Cheapo that lets you determine whether it's best to get a JR rail pass before coming, or to just pay the standard fare once in Japan.
- Here's a great piece with everything you wanted to know, and more, about using the train and subway systems in Japan.
- Here's one on using the highway bus system to get around Japan; a little slower but very comfortable, and usually 40% cheaper than train travel. I use buses whenever I have time and the connections work.
- Another way to get around Japan; 21 day ferry pass! Ferries connect between many major cities.
- Here's a list of travel discounts available to visiting foreigners in Japan.
- Here's a piece on etiquette for the onsen (hot springs bath).
- Here is Tsunagu Japan's guide to smartphone options for visitors to Japan.
- There are finally short-term Japan voice and data SIM cards that will work in any unlocked phone. I have been very happy with mine from Sakura Mobile. Their cards piggyback on the NTT Docomo network, which has the strongest signal in the Hakuba backcountry. You can get their short-term cards for up to three months, or by-the-month SIMs for more than three months. Mine has been quite reasonable; some ¥7,000 for initial fees and the first month; ¥1,400 per month after.
- If you use your US phone, be sure to get international data service added, or you will pay outrageously high rates. They charge too much even with the plan, but you will rack up hundreds of dollars in minutes otherwise!
- Tokyo Cheapo has this writeup on the best ways to transfer money to or from Japan. I have used Transfer Wise; it was much simpler, cheaper, and faster than going through US banks or credit unions.
- For longer term stays in Tokyo, such as doing a term of language study, the Fontana rental agency is great They have guest house (like apartments but with shared bath and kitchen) lodging for a minimum of one month, or regular apartments for a minimum of two months. They are set up to do short-term rentals to foreigners, which are ordinarily very difficult to arrange. The only inconvenience is that they don't do credit cards. The simplest solution is to send the deposit via Transfer Wise.
- The best language school I have found is COTO Academy in Iidabashi, Tokyo. They have a number of formats, including a one-week crash course, and four-week intensive courses.
Japan Information - Hakuba Travel Links
- One of my buddies wrote up this piece on the cost of traveling to Hakuba.
- Here's how to get from the shinkansen bullet train at Nagano station to the bus to Hakuba, if you choose that route.
- Information on Nagano Snow Shuttle direct from Narita Airport to Hakuba.
- Information on the Narita Express (NEX) from Narita Airport to Shinjuku.
- Information on the Keisei Skyliner from Narita Airport to Nippori and Ueno.
- Schedule for the Shinjuku - Hakuba bus, the most practical connection to Hakuba. You can buy tickets right at the Shinjuku Highway Bus Terminal, or online in advance from Willer Express. When reading the schedule, Shinjuku is 新宿, and Hakuba is白馬. The three Hakuba-area stops are Goryu 五竜, then Hakuba Chou (the train station area) 白馬町, and finally the last stop at Hakuba Happo village 白馬八方.
- Here's the link for information on the Hakuba Valley ski lift pass that allows you to buy a multi-day ticket good at different ski areas.
- This is not a travel link, but the Japan Avalanche Network report on the 20230129 avalanche in the Tsugaike backcountry is out. I dropped it into Google Translate, fixed the snow terms and grammar that it usually garbles, and made this 20230129 Avalanche Report pdf in English. Note that we usually ski the ridges on lookers' right, but over the years we have seen the left-side slopes slide so often that we generally stay off them, and we cross rapidly to the open forest slopes on the left side before putting skins on. In recent years, there is more and more traffic there, often carelessly riding with multiple people on the slope at once, stopping to regroup or put skins on in the middle of the runout. Some parties have even been skinning up the runout, cutting left onto the ridge far too high. Beware, the Hakuba backcountry is serious avalanche terrain, and deep persistent weaknesses are more common every year with the wild weather swings we are seeing as climate systems collapse.
Japan (Hakuba) Weather Links
- JMA East Asia satellite, Color IR view; follow link then select most recent date and time (top option), color, and hit play for animation. Starting point for current conditions.
- Japan Meteorological Agency Doppler Radar; very useful view of what is coming; click play for animation of recent images.
- Surface Winds, current Windy global animation; gives a good sense of surface winds and where they are focusing.
- ACT Happo Ike and Norikuradake weather stations, tab at top to switch between them. Norikuradake is the most useful, as it is the closest to free air wind direction and speed; and is the best measurement of how cold it is up high. Happo Ike winds are unreliable, often changing direction and speed as eddies move through. Temperature is closer to what field parties will experience.
- Happo Ike Sanso Weather Station @ 1840m, has useful graphic output when it is working; was not working 2019-20 season.
- Happo One Webcams, the best view of conditions at elevation; Usagidaira works in low light; snowfall can be estimated from texture, tracks, and poles.
- Hakuba Cortina Webcam and Report - Webcam is helpful, though often dark in the morning; needs a light!
- Local highway webcams - lit so they can be seen before dawn; useful for checking conditions early; Tsugaike Bridge is most useful.
- Hakuba Valley Weather and Lift Status Page, more useful for operations, deciding on destinations, rather than forecasting; usually posts late.
- Hakuba Valley webcam page; the most useful single webcam link; has both Happo Usagidaira and top of Tsugaike gondora at Tsuganomori. Use escape key to switch views without reloading main page.
- Tsugaike Lift Status page; handy for deciding destinations.
- Japan Meteorological Agency snow forecasts. New 2019-20, jury still out on their accuracy.
- Happo One Lift Status page; handy for deciding destinations.
- US Navy Worldwide Weather Models Use W Pacific and Polar views > NVG > previous 6 hr precip > all, add 9 hours to Z time. 00 Zulu time = 09:00 local. Great model; starting point for forecasting. Underestimates Japan mountain precipitation. The NVG seems to have replaced the GFS as their main model. Gives precipitation, isobars for wind, and thicknesses as temperature indicators in one view. Northern Hemisphere Polar View 300 hPa is great for jetstream overview, helps to understand climate collapse patterns driven by jetstream loops..
- College of Du Page Next-Generation Weather Lab. Their GFS has a Pacific View that just catches Japan. Again, add 9 hours to Z time; 00 Zulu time = 09:00 local. Select the GFS model, then click Pacific in the little box at the lower left of the sector map that appears. Go to Precipitation > SLP and Precipitation. The Average Cloud Cover model is not available for this sector. The 250 Mb view is good for jetstream. These are very good detailed models, with three-hour intervals rather than six, more detail on precipitation, and they let it run farther into the future than the Navy GFS, though accuracy deteriorates beyond about a week.
- GPV Model Great detail for today and tomorrow; on local time; from Japan Meteorological Agency. Precipitation model is very useful, temperature useful in a general sense; wind is hard to read.
- Norwegian Weather Forecast for Hakuba, the most accurate algorithm-based forecast.
- Japan Avalanche Network, danger reports, accicent and snowpack reports. Make sure you check the area you are interested in; there are reports for several. Danger levels unreliable; often vary widely from our field assessments. Information on Japanese-language courses.
- ACT Avalanche Control Team Japan, reports for Tsugaike ski area vicinity only.
- Medium Range Forecasts for East Asia, good detail, difficult-to-read graphics.
- Windy, formerly Windyty, mainly useful for their access to the ECMWF model and model comparisons. The ECMWF model is otherwise difficult to access.
- NCEP models main page, select Asia and GFS, then look at the timeframe(s) of interest. A little opaque.
- Spot Forecast, a private site we have not really evaluated, but which some avalanche workers have found useful.
- Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly Maps (US, NOAA); useful to check every so often.
- Arctic Amplification paper by Jennifer Francis and Stephen Vavrus - essential information on how global warming is influencing the jetstream and causing this crazy weather. Also recommend you search YouTube for Jennifer's excellent presentations.
Skagway Area Avalanche Weather Links
- Current GOES Satellite image from NWS.
- Northeast Pacific GOES Satellite Animations from GOES NOAA.
- Pacific & N America upper-level water vapor GOES animation from DuPage University. Excellent big picture view at levels that go over the ranges.
- Pacific & N America mid-level water vapor GOES animation from DuPage University. Excellent big picture view at mid level.
- Surface Winds, current Windy global animation, useful for surface winds.
- 24 Hour Precipitation Map, NWS, regional.
- Skagway Observations, NWS, best source for precipitation and current conditions, when it is working. Click Metric at top right of header bar for International standard units. Maintained by FAA, can be called for automated voice with current conditions at 907-983-3194. For FAA maintenance, call 866-297-2236.
- NWS Regional Hourly Observations, for the big picture; but Skagway is missing when it goes down.
- Marine Exchange Weather Station Map, look for Skagway Port on Southeast Alaska section, good independent source for temperature and wind; but no precipitation or sky data; and lacking an International units option.
- Moore Creek Snotel Station Site, good temperature, snow height, and precipitation data that often has a lag but is still useful; from just below treeline at 685 m on the coast side of the pass. The snow height sensor sometimes gives erratic readings; may need maintenance or replacement.
- White Pass RWIS Station, best site for wind, temperature, and webcam; just on the US side of the border. We were stoked that a new contractor had it up and working for start of the 2022-23 season, but DOT seems to have again dropped the ball on keeping the RWIS system running. It has been down most of the winter. It still needs to have an option for International SI units.
- Yukon Avalanche Summit Creek Station, good for wind range and direction.
- Yukon Avalanche Fraser Station, good temperature and snow height data from the inland side of the pass.
- Fraser Webcam - tends to lag a bit; not usable early morning or night, but quite useful in the daytime.
- Skagway area FAA Webcams - if Fraser is down, or if you need other views.
- Carcross Webcam - seasonal; great when it is operating.
- US Navy Worldwide Weather Models, E Pacific > NVG > previous 6 hr precip > all; subtract 9 hours from Z for local standard time. Great model; starting point for forecasting. The NVG seems to have replaced the GFS as their main model. Gives precipitation, isobars for wind, and thicknesses as temperature indicators in one view. Northern Hemisphere Polar View 300 hPa is great for jetstream overview, helps to understand climate collapse patterns driven by jetstream loops.
- US Navy Ensemble Models, not as detailed, but these are a bit more reliable. Useful supplement for big picture outlook.
- College of DuPage Next-Generation Weather Lab - Their GFS and NAM both have Alaska sectors; select the model (NAM for greater short-range detail; GFS for the longest-range forecast), then click Alaska in the little box at the lower left of the sector map that appears. Go to Precipitation > SLP and Precipitation for the most useful view; Average Cloud Cover is a good general cloudiness guide for flying weather and whiteout prediction. The 250 Mb view is good for jetstream. These are very good detailed models, with three-hour intervals rather than six, more detail on precipitation than the Navy models, and they let it run farther into the future, though accuracy deteriorates beyond about a week.
- Windy, formerly Windyty, mainly useful for their access to the ECMWF model's cloud forecasts, and model comparisons. The ECMWF model is otherwise difficult to access.
- Alaska Aviation Weather Unit Significant Weather, easy to read; useful statewide maps.
- NWS Weather Models, the NAM 10m wind and gust models are useful. Click Alaska, then NAM, then loop, then start, then next to go through them hour by hour.
- NWS Regional Zone Forecasts, good resources; check them last so you don't prejudice your model analysis. Skagway forecasts are much less accurate than other towns; Skagway weather is challenging to predict!
- NWS Regional Forecast Discussion - a great peek behind the curtain; information on level of certainty; model agreement; alternative scenarios.
- NWS Experimental Numerical Mountain Forecast, numbers are not too accurate, usually over-predicts precipitation and under-predicts wind, but useful raw model output if not taken too literally. We compare it with our other models.
- Avalanche Canada Mountain Forecast, Including Northern BC and the Canadian side of the White Pass.
- Environment Canada Klondike Highway Forecast, White Pass to Carcross for the section just north of us; generally more accurate than US National Weather Service forecasts.
- NWS Graphical Forecasts for Southeast Alaska, good detail on short-term local winds, moderate accuracy, helpful.
- NWS Monthly Daily Summaries for sites in the region. Click site, daily data for a month, and select year and month.
- NOAA Historical Daily Sumaries for Skagway and Other Climate Sites
- Moore Creek Historical Data
- U of W MM5-NAM Weather Model, start with 36km SL, detailed but not super-accurate for our area.
- NWS Regional Marine Forecast, useful supplement.
- NWS Weather Models, handy supplements.
- Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly Maps (US, NOAA), sometimes useful; may influence storm movement and temperatures.
- Gulf of Alaska Sea Surface Temperature (US, NOAA)
- Yukon Avalanche Association Site
- Mountain Weather .com Alaska Page
- Spot Weather, with various models, including the Canadian ones; graphical meteogram output.
- Arctic Amplification paper by Jennifer Francis and Stephen Vavrus - essential information on how global warming is influencing the jetstream and causing this crazy weather. Also recommend you search YouTube for Jennifer's excellent presentations.
Juneau Area Avalanche Weather Links
- Current GOES Satellite image from NWS.
- Northeast Pacific GOES Satellite Animations from GOES NOAA.
- Surface Winds, current Windyty global animation, useful for surface winds.
- Juneau Airport Observations
- Eaglecrest Report
- Juneau area FAA Webcams - for a variety of views.
- US Navy Worldwide Weather Models, E Pacific > NVG > previous 6 hr precip > all; subtract 9 hours from Z for local standard time. Great model; starting point for forecasting. The NVG seems to have replaced the GFS as their main model. Gives precipitation, isobars for wind, and thicknesses as temperature indicators in one view. Northern Hemisphere Polar View 300 hPa is great for jetstream overview, helps to understand climate collapse patterns driven by jetstream loops.
- College of DuPage Next-Generation Weather Lab - Their GFS and NAM both have Alaska sectors; select the model (NAM for greater short-range detail; GFS for the longest-range forecast), then click Alaska in the little box at the lower left of the sector map that appears. Go to Precipitation > SLP and Precipitation for the most useful view; Average Cloud Cover is a good general cloudiness guide for flying weather and whiteout prediction. The 250 Mb view is good for jetstream. These are very good detailed models, with three-hour intervals rather than six, more detail on precipitation, and they let it run farther into the future than the Navy GFS, though accuracy deteriorates beyond about a week.
- Windy, formerly Windyty, mainly useful for their access to the ECMWF model and model comparisons. The ECMWF model is otherwise difficult to access.
- Alaska Aviation Weather Unit Significant Weather, easy to read; useful statewide maps.
- NWS Weather Models, the NAM 10m wind and gust models are useful. Click Alaska, then NAM, then loop, then start, then next to go through them hour by hour.
- NWS Regional Zone Forecasts, good resources; check them last so you don't prejudice your model analysis. Scroll down about 2/3 for Juneau.
- NWS Regional Forecast Discussion - a great peek behind the curtain; information on level of certainty; model agreement; alternative scenarios.
- NWS Monthly Daily Summaries for sites in the region. Click site, daily data for a month, and select year and month.
- NOAA Historical Daily Sumaries for Climate Sites
- U of W MM5-NAM Weather Model, start with 36km SL, detailed but not super-accurate for our area
- NWS Regional Marine Forecast, useful supplement.
- Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly Maps (US, NOAA), sometimes useful; may influence storm movement and temperatures.
- Gulf of Alaska Sea Surface Temperature (US, NOAA)
- Mountain Weather .com Alaska Page
- Spot Forecast, a site we have not really evaluated, but which some avalanche workers have found useful.
- Arctic Amplification paper by Jennifer Francis and Stephen Vavrus - essential information on how global warming is influencing the jetstream and causing this crazy weather. Also recommend you search YouTube for Jennifer's excellent presentations.
Juneau Area Kiting Conditions Links
- NCAR JAWS Juneau Airport Wind System - the best real-time wind information in the Juneau area; especially good for Wetlands wind.
- South Douglas Boat Harbor Anemometer, the closest station to Sandy Beach. Poorly located; reads low on SE wind and high on NW.
- AML Dock Anemometer, across the Channel from Sandy Beach, not a good launch; reads high.
- Downtown Juneau Anemometer, think this is near or at the Coast Guard station. A ways from good launches; useful for Seawalk area.
- Marine Exchange Anemometer, near the town side of the Douglas Bridge, useful for Seawalk area.
- Southeast Alaska Observations; Hourly regional roundup; includes Juneau stations.
- Juneau Tide Graph - essential reference, especially for the Wetlands, where you need at least 10' of tide on a 14' or higher peak tide to kite.
- Sunrise, sunset, and twilight times, calendar for dawn, dusk, and twilight. Key information for kiting in fall, winter, and spring!
- Point Retreat Anemometer - Far away from the Eagle Beach launch, but the best available. As of May 2013, field reports indicate the anemometer is malfunctioning and reads very low. NW wind is best for Eagle Beach; launch is wind-shadowed in NE wind.
- Mendenhall Lake Hydograph - for monitoring the jökulhlaup glacial outburst floods at Mendenhall Lake.
- Juneau Area FAA Webcams - for monitoring Mendenhall Valley cloudiness for glacier winds, out the road sites, weather and large waves visible.
- US Navy Worldwide Weather Models, E Pacific > NVG > previous 6 hr precip > all; subtract 9 hours from Z for local standard time. Great model; starting point for forecasting. The NVG seems to have replaced the GFS as their main model. Gives precipitation, isobars for wind, and thicknesses as temperature indicators in one view. Northern Hemisphere Polar View 300 hPa is great for jetstream overview, helps to understand climate collapse patterns driven by jetstream loops.
- College of DuPage Next-Generation Weather Lab - Their GFS and NAM both have Alaska sectors; select the model (NAM for greater short-range detail; GFS for the longest-range forecast), then click Alaska in the little box at the lower left of the sector map that appears. Go to Precipitation > SLP and Precipitation for the most useful view; Average Cloud Cover is a good general cloudiness guide for flying weather and whiteout prediction. The 250 Mb view is good for jetstream. These are very good detailed models, with three-hour intervals rather than six, more detail on precipitation, and they let it run farther into the future than the Navy GFS, though accuracy deteriorates beyond about a week.
- U of W MM5-NAM Weather Model, start with 36km SL, detailed but not super-accurate for our area.
- NWS Weather Models, the NAM 10m wind and gust models are useful. Click Alaska, then NAM, then loop, then start, then next to go through them hour by hour.
- NWS Regional Zone Forecasts, good resources; check them last so you don't prejudice your model analysis. Scroll down about 2/3 for Juneau.
- NWS Regional Marine Forecast, we are between Southern Lynn Canal and Stevens Passage; not really properly forecast for, but the marine forecast often gives more detail on timing and strength of wind events.
- NWS Regional Forecast Discussion - a great peek behind the curtain; information on level of certainty; model agreement; alternative scenarios.
- NWS Juneau Forecast Office, useful general resource.
- NWS Monthly Daily Summaries for sites in the region. Click site, daily data for a month, and select year and month.
- Surface Winds, current Windy global animation, good overview for the Gulf; no detail for inner channels.
- Windy, formerly Windyty, mainly useful for their access to the ECMWF model and model comparisons. The ECMWF model is otherwise difficult to access.
Anchorage Area Kiting Conditions Links
- Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center Weather Links Page
- Alaska DOT RWIS (Road Weather Info System)
- Alaska Kiter's Wind Page
Avalanche Course Information - Not Current
- UAS Website and Syllabus - choose semester; search for “avalanche” and PE section to find each course’s information.
- Level 1 and 2 Field Course Information
- Level 1 Juneau Community Course Schedule
- Level 1 Outlying Community Course Schedule
- Level 2 Juneau Community Course Schedule
- Understanding Units, for the Metrically Impaired
- Heliguides 1 Course Schedule
- UAS Fall Level I Syllabus
- UAS Spring Level 1 Syllabus
- UAS Spring Level 2 Syllabus
- SLF White Risk - check out the free trial; go for the nominal fee; the best online tutorial website by far.
- Common Snowpack Tests - video by Bruce Jamieson
- Fracture Propagation in Human-triggered Avalanches - video by Bruce Jamieson
Avalanche Topic Handouts & References - Not Current
- Level 1 - Overview And Urban Avalanches
- All Levels - Rescue
- Level 1 - Terrain
- Level 1 - Snowpack I Mechanics and Weather
- All Levels - Snowpack II Metamorphism
- All Levels - Snowpack III Stability Evaluation & Note-taking
- Level 1 - Human Factor I Risk Management (.mov)
- Level 1 - Human Factor II Decision-making (.mov)
- All Levels - Human Factor for Snowmachine Travel
- Link - BBC Sensation-seeking and Other Personality Tests
- Level 2 - Overview (.mov)
- Level 2 - Rescue for Leaders (.mov)
- Level 2 Metamorphism (.mov)
- Level 2 - Weather (.mov)
- Level 2 - Snow Mechanics (.mov)
- Level 2 - Human Factor (.mov)
- Level 2 - Terrain: Steeps & Sluffs (.mov)
- Level 2+ - Advanced Stability Evaluation (.mov)
- Level 2 - Glaciers & Ice Avalanches (.mov)
Avalanche Field Sheets - Not Current
- AK Block Sizing Table
- Juneau Course Field Map (Black & White)
- Juneau Course Field Map (Large File, Color)
- Terrain Classification Table
- Most-current Fieldbook Checklist/Key Sheets Revision - Preview
- Full-page Aspect Elevation Rose Field Ob's Form
Avalanche Research Papers and Projects - Not Current
Urban Avalanche Maps and Other Resources - Not Current
- Downtown Juneau Avalanche Maps
- Behrends Avenue Urban Avalanche Path Map
- White Subdivision Urban Avalanche Path Map
- CBJ Avalanche Plan
Avalanche Course Cards
- We issue course completion cards which are good for three years. We will renew them after three years if you can show evidence of continuing education, such as another course, attendance at ISSW or educational seminars, work experience, or helping out with research or forecasting programs.
- Replacement cards are available, but due to the high volume of lost-card requests and the necessity to have a new sheet printed up and signed each time, we must charge $25 for this service. If you need one, please provide your name, mailing address, the course you took, and the dates.
Kiting Handouts and Resources - Not Current
- Water and Snow Kite Risk Management and Skills
- AAS About Kiting Page
- AAS Alaska Windjammer Kites Page
- Kiting Alaska Website
- Airtime - kite repair and field repair kits, Hood River
- Side-Off Video - Brian Caserio's one-stop shop for the best instructional and inspirational DVDs.
All photos, text, and images on this website are © Bill Glude unless otherwise noted.
