Got too much snow this year?

In reference to this article, in which we introduced a Japanese post office mailing snow, we would like to show you how much snow the Japanese can have to send around by mail. On seeing this picture, I wonder the following: How does the snowplow look like? Which valley gets flooded in spring? Why is the line steep and straight exactly to the top without any overhanging? Why did no-one get the idea of digging a cave into the snow? Will everything collapse if you do? Is this normal? Read on for the answer!


The Mountain is called TateYama (立山) and the road has its own homepage, they have a tour on that special sector that they clear for tourists, opening in April and the maximum snow height can be 20 meters! If you want to visit the tour check out this page: The snow is naturally like that, there is no extra added by anybody. Its in center Japan, called Hokuriku, near Chuubu. The joke: You can join the team cleaning he road, but you have to pay for it. And then, you can pay again to visit later :-) So 15 people have to work 40 days to clean the road with standard tools. There is an opening ceremony at the start of the season. There is even a video contest and you can see some of the videos how they clean the road...