Spring skiing

Another fun snowboarding weekend although the weather was really warm, spring skiing style. The side of the mountain we were on was pretty bare on the bottom, we actually had to take a lift up, walk off of it to another lift to get up higher for the snow. It was crazy that just 2 weeks ago, it looks so different! The snow up top wasn't bad though, soft. Kinda nice, easy to ride, but fast! We also paid an extra $5 to access the mountain next to Ishiuchi - Gala Yuzawa. Snow was even better over there but it was too crowded. That mountain actually gets a lot of day trippers cause the the train stops right at it. We rode for a few hours, stopped for breaks and light food along the way, and called it a day fairly early cause it was hot and we got tired. Man we're getting old! I remember the days we would ride all day long until the last lift. Then again, we didn't go snowboarding often and lift tickets are expensive in the Northeast so always wanted to get our money's worth.

Ending the day early also meant I could hit the public bath at the hotel while no one else is in it. We had dinner at the hotel this time, good food - Italian style. Salad, penne, baked chicken, clam chowder, dessert.

We got information and a taxi to the Yuzawa snow festival. That was really really cool. The town holds a festival each year, normally they have snow sculptures but I think because of the lack of snow they skipped that part. They had booths of food including cheap ramen in this huge pot. We'll get pics up sometime. They also had free Sake!! As you can imagine, Kenn and I went to town on that. ;) Then there was the traditional carrying of the shrine. A bunch of town people carry this big heavy shrine down the street and they chant, sing and make a bid to do. Kenn decided to jump in on the action and try to help carry it. They let him in and I took a bunch of pics and videos of it. Such a cool experience, the vibe was really something. Then there was a fireworks display. Big fireworks, but not very many. Lastly, they do this really cool thing every year. A bunch of skiiers come down the mountain single file holding these lit up torches, kinda like flares. The resort is blaring music from the loud speakers as the skiiers trail down against the mountain and the night sky. It was gorgeous.

All in all another great weekend, we skipped riding on Sunday and headed home on the train. The commute is easy and we had all our gear messengered so had no issues.

4 more days to Bali!!!