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The snow destroyers of Sapporo

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
For a one-time Winter Olympic city you'd think that snow would be held in sacred esteem by its population. Not at all.

The residents of the Japanese city are busy installing underground road-heating systems to melt snow as soon as it falls. This report from Asahi.com. It's all in response to "... the exhausting winter scene of residents risking hernias and heart attacks to clear away snow ..." That is deadly true, and also true in the USA - many people die every winter at their shovels. Maybe they should just go skiing and enjoy the stuff.

It's not all snow-melt in Sapporo, though. Elsewhere in town the magnificent annual Snow Festival is taking place this week - perhaps the finest snow sculptures in the world. Here's the official website.

Anyone been to Sapporo to see this?
ski holidays
 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I spent a week in Sapporo at about this time of year, on business in the early 90s. Of course, I managed to engineer a couple of skiing opportunities. I went to the nearest resort to the city, which is where the (1972?) Olympics were held. I remember it as quite small, with mainly tree-lined runs served (I think) exclusively by chairs. I remember doing the Olympic downhill, which I wasn't really up to at the time. It was snowing pretty heavily, so the piste was fairly forgiving. I remember being incredulous when my Japanese hosts said that my hire boots would need to be ordered ahead on account of my "large" (9 1/2) European feet, but it was true.

I think I must have just missed the snow festival - I dimly remember it being spoken of. There was a truly colossal amount of snow lying in the city throughout my stay (never seen anything like it in a big city), so I can understand the desire for an automated clearing system. I can remember coming a cropper on the pavement several times - where was it now? - ah yes, coming out of the Sapporo brewery at about 2am!
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