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Epic Snow Walls from America to Japan

See towering walls that dwarf people and even tour buses
Related: Blizzards, Earth, Winter

By SKYE Editors Mar 19, 2013

  • Alamy
    1 of 15

    On Japan's Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, huge walls of snow tower over a 1,640-foot sightseeing path. The area sees an average 23 feet of snow each year and when the snow is cleared from the road, resultant snow drifts create walls 60 feet high. But snow walls aren't unique to Japan. Paths carved through tens of feet of snow create snow walls around the world, from Austria to Colorado. 

    At left, cars pass through Yuki-no-Otani (snow walls) in Toyama, Hokuriku, Japan.

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  • Alamy
    2 of 15

    A tour bus travels the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in Toyama, Japan.

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  • Alamy
    3 of 15

    Snow walls surround the Otani walk in Toyama, Hokuriku, Japan.

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  • TAUSEEF MUSTAFA/AFP/GettyImages
    4 of 15

    Kashmiri porters travel on horseback past walls of snow along the Srinagar-Leh highway in Zojila, Kashmir. The pass connects Kashmir with the Ladakh region.

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  • maty0609/Flickr
    5 of 15

    A car pulls over next to a snow wall in Iceland.

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  • Photodisc
    6 of 15

    A snow-covered road is surrounded by snow walls in Japan's Aomori Prefecture.

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  • balaam/Flickr
    7 of 15

    Snow walls in Toyama, Japan.

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  • Yasu's Photo/Flickr
    8 of 15

    Snow walls line the route to the Nozawa Hot Spring in Nagano Prefecture, Japan.

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  • AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson
    9 of 15

    A man stands in front of a snow wall at the Gross Glockner road in Salzburg, Austria.

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  • Nature's Harmony/Flickr
    10 of 15

    A 13-foot-high snow wall towers over the road in Cedars Mountain, Lebanon.

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  • Tyler Ingram/Flickr
    11 of 15

    Travelers take photos next to a snow wall at the Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia, Canada.

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  • Alamy
    12 of 15

    A truck drives between snow walls near Keylong, India.

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  • iStockphoto
    13 of 15

    Snow walls line a road in the Austrian Alps.

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  • tab2space/Flickr
    14 of 15

    A snow wall in Arapahoe Basin, Colorado.

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  • Alamy
    15 of 15
    Next: 22 People More Sick of Winter Than You Are

    A mountain pass curves through snow walls in Gotthard, Switzerland.

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Comments

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jl78yz125e

I really feel globally warmed!

March 30 2013 at 11:49 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
trvlhawaii

Growing up in Rocky Mountain National Park (Colorado), I've seen snow drifts BUT nothing like these! WOW!

March 30 2013 at 11:23 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
lynnbrown45

Wow didn't know some of these places received that much snow --

The Walls are Amazing

March 30 2013 at 6:06 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
mizzdavis07

I'm a ex-charter bus driver. No way would I have stopped and let my passengers get out. They could have been buried alive if those snow walls gave away and the head lines would have been different, 'tourist and bus buried alive'. All I can say is that God was with them.

March 30 2013 at 5:49 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down Reply
Wasup Crown

that's a lot of "No Yoddling" signs!

March 30 2013 at 1:49 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down Reply
therappinfirefoxthechefprofess

I wonder how much flooding comes when Spring and Summer arrive at these areas.

March 30 2013 at 11:18 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
TimeSharePals

awesome drifts!

March 30 2013 at 10:15 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
karlebach

How do they clear the road?

March 30 2013 at 7:52 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to karlebach's comment
dich123

One way is a big snowblower on the front of a truck.

March 30 2013 at 5:34 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
Raymond Pease

Huh ?

March 20 2013 at 6:45 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

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