Next time it snows here in the UK and the roads are brought to a standstill...

[Karlos]

... by a few poxy inches of snow, feel righteous in your frustration and anger

After all, it wouldn't bother the Japanese one iota. Have a look at what they contended with here on the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine route...



Nope, that is not a Photoshop job, which was my first thought when I saw it as a joke on "Very Demotivational", it is in fact entirely real. In places along the route, snow up to 20 metres deep (allegedly, none of the images look that deep) was cleared :-o

The thing which gets me about it is just how neat and precise the path carved along the road is.

Wouldn't like to see what it's like when it starts to melt, my guess is that road becomes a natural river :lol:

More, including a video of a drive along this amazing "snow corridor" here:

http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2010/12/deep-snow-really-deep-snow.html

[adz]

That snow road must've been carved by Ninjas!

[ddniUK]

Whoa! Where did they pile up the cleared snow!!?

edit, I just saw the huge snow blower on the posted video!

[Karlos]

That snow road must've been carved by Ninjas!

That or a large anime-style cartoon character which exulted "I'm a firin' mah lazorr!" shortly before emitting a massive burst of blue hot plasma from it's mouth, vapourising the snow out of the way...

[Plaz]

Wow, looks like Japan figured out a new use for the wave motion gun.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty-1zWsXFNs

Plaz

[djrikki]

Yeah great photo, seen one before posted on http://www.netweather.tv, although this is taken at a different angle can see more of the road.  I love photos like the one you have attached; really highlights the extremes that other countries have to contend with.  Yeah I generally agree with your sentiment about a few inches, but in the UK its generally 'a few cms' and the country grinds to a halt - although this season where I live we got to measure it in inches for a change. lol

Final day of November 2010 was quite unique here in Lincolnshire, have to go back to my childhood to remember so much snow.  Got 14 inches (over a foot) dumped on us overnight.  Suffice to say there was no way I could make it into work that morning.

Love snow, just don't get it often enough- unlike our American cousins who seem to get a picturesque Xmas and Winter each and every year.

PS: Anyone else struggling to reach AW.net at this moment in time?

[Rob]

The thing that gets me in the UK is when you're on a dual carriageway with one lane that is completely clear and the other has some snow on it.  Everyone stays on the clear lane pussy footing along like its the one with snow on it.

[kvasir]

That or a large anime-style cartoon character which exulted "I'm a firin' mah lazorr!" shortly before emitting a massive burst of blue hot plasma from it's mouth, vapourising the snow out of the way...

I take it they play too much Pokemon in the UK, too?

[odin]

Tsk. Everybody knows that's how it really is in Japan.

[Hattig]

We don't really have much investment in harsh winter equipment in the UK, except maybe in the highlands, etc. It's an exception, so despite the fact that billions can be lost for business from a few days of snow, spending a few hundred million on the required hardware to keep things running ... well, maybe those businesses would want to put the cash up, eh?