nozawa onsen

Zao, Myoko, Nozawa – Snowboarding the next chapter

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Finding it difficult to collate and write about the copious amounts of food I’ve eaten in Tokyo so I’m going to keep that on the back burner for now and carry on with my other updates.

So after my last snowboarding post I’ve returned to Myoko Kogen, Nozawa Onsen and also went to Zao Onsen for the snow monster festival.

Myoko and Nozawa brought much the same back country and tree run riding pleasures as they did before and now seems a distant memory. Fun times with friends.

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Zao was a change of scene and the annual snow monsters festival provided the ideal opportunity to ride a new mountain range. This time we went with Tokyo Snow which also provided an opportunity to meet other people. My recently expatriated friend Jolyn was also here with people from Google so there was a fresh set of people party with. Ben and I managed to get up to the snow monsters after navigating our way through what I had worked out to be the quickest route. Those plans were quickly scuppered when we were told at one of the main lifts there was a 40 minute wait.

We eventually made our way to the top of the resort on a beautiful blue sky day to see the natural beauty of the Snow Monsters. The fir trees, that typically catch a lot of snow, are also subject to heavy snow filled winds which cause the trees to be encapsulated in a crusted snow. These are so heavy they cause the weaker parts of the trees to bow and eventually form what looks like monsters. An amazing freak of nature when a whole forrest turns into something out of a fantasy novel.

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Snow conditions weren’t great for riding, but they were ideal for a hike to the top and taking some beautiful photos of Ben within the snow monsters and others of me with Ben’s finger.

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Might have been a bit cheeky, but rather than walk down we rode down by the side of the monsters.

On returning back to Tokyo a friend who will remain nameless snowed me a video of them riding through the snow monsters.

New year in Japan

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Very randomly Zoe, a friend from London had moved to Tokyo and was also in Nozawa Onsen with her friend and mother so we caught up over a few drinks.

Luckily not too heavy a night as it was pretty eventful new years eve boarding that followed.

I decided to join some of the significant better riders to try improve my skills. One of the regular boarders decided to switch to piste skis for the day, but the pack had opted to hunt for some back country powder anyway.

A few runs in and we had to walk a fair bit at the bottom so we looked for some other routes down. Unfortunately this untracked run ended in a twisted skiers knee. She wasn’t able to walk out the pretty steep entry we just dropped in on and the walk out was definitely too long. The snow was about waist deep, so between the other snowboarder and skier we made a makeshift sledge with snowboard and two ski poles. I attempted to flattened what felt like 100m of steep and deep snow so we could haul the casualty up. Two of us pulled while the other pushed from behind. An hour and a half later, and a few renditions of eye of the tiger to keep spirits up, we managed to finally get back to a tracked route (see video below) and then the piste where we were able to call the piste patrol for medical attention and skidoo ride to the bottom.

I caught up with Ben for a very late lunch and a couple of afternoon runs before the obligatory onsen, dinner and nap to try shake off the jet lag before the New Year celebrations.

Dinners continue to be a massive spread of assorted Japanese and J Style western foods

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The locals put on a firework display at the base of the gondola every year. As we arrived some people were night skiing down and the announcements over the speakers was only hurry them off the mountain.

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A great atmosphere and pretty impressive firework display and champagne helped us see in the new year in style.

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I sincerely wish you all a great 2014 and that it is full of things that will make you lives more complete and happy x

First taste of Japanese Snow

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After a pretty boozy night out getting to know the rest of the tour group we are woken at 7am by a tanoy announcement in Japanese for what I think is the breakfast call.Still pretty jet lagged, but the thought of hitting the mountain gets me up. I fuel up and get set up.IMG_8830

Discover the most amazing honey and butter combo disposable dispenser. I’ll let the photos do the talking: IMG_8831 IMG_8833 I had been pre warned about the dated infrastructure here compared to Europe/US and low and behold there was a 2 man calf chopper waiting for us. Most of the regulars shoot off by I spend the morning with Ben while he finds his feet. IMG_9015We hit some pretty cool piste runs and a bit of park and it definitely as great as everyone said it would be. Wide pistes with nice dusting of snow.

We hit a late lunch by the top of the gondola and have the most amazing steak and rice and ramen for lunch. All the steak in Japan seems to have incredible marbling which makes it just melt in your mouth (and probably solidify in your arteries).

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Another cool contraption is the auto beers dispenser that pours the perfect head:

We catch most of the others at lunch. Ben sticks to the piste for the afternoon whilst I follow 3 others including Ricky the organiser on some back country runs. I stack it a few times getting used to the thigh deep powered and dodgy small branches of trees, but have an incredible time. Getting out of such deep snow when falling is a challenge, but I soon get the hang of rolling and getting up. Starting to feel the jet lag a bit more, knowing full well I have the season ahead of me and not wanting to over do it I decide to call it a day. Lifts close early here (3.30pm) so had a decent innings. onsenWe head for the onsen when the others return which was an experience in itself. For less than 3 quid you get to soak in some amazing natural hot springs which have a pretty powerful sulphur smell. There are some free onsens in the town, but the temperature is not regulated and the facilities are pretty basic. A quick rinse before opting for the outdoor onsen and a nice long soak with all hanging free relaxes the muscles after a hard days boarding.On reflection a very interesting cultural difference. On one side you have a very conforming, obedient and fairly private society that rarely appears to break the rules that thinks nothing of baring it all in front of strangers; in comparison back home you have a pretty liberal and more controversial society that covers up all modesty without fail. Even in a changing room.

Tokyo Gaijin – Nozawa Onsen

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So I learn Gaijin is anyone who is not native Japanese and the group we are joining will be mainly Gaijin who live/work out of Tokyo. Should be a good opportunity meet some people and expand the social circle.

The first destination we are heading to is a Hot Spring (Onsen) town where we will be joining the tour 2 days late. Just the thought of a nice hot soak after a long hard day’s boarding has got me excited. Can’t f-king wait!

Still 100% dependent on Ben getting us there we need to some how get to the Tokyo JR Station which is on the mainline rail network. We can either drag our now reduced luggage through the metro network or try find a cab that will fit our snowboards.

We head out to look for a cab, but everything that drives by seems the same jazz as at the airport: inadequate to cope with the sizeable boardbags.

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We test our luck and flag one of them down. The same trial and error protocol is executed with the driver first trying to fit the board bags across the back seats. Ben and I look at each other as if to say “where the hell are we going to sit?”. Ben tries to suggest dropping the seats down, but the taxi seems to be LPG and has a jock off tank between the trunk and the back seat. He tries to angle one of the bags into his trunk and to be fair wasn’t far off. Then as if by magic he whips out a random length of strap and proceeds to tie his boot lid down. 

IMG_9019I acknowledge Ben’s comment from earlier about just letting them get on with it. I was pretty amazed at the lengths this guy went to just to ensure he was able to service our needs whilst in the middle of the main road (taxis seem to pull in anywhere!). The first of many experiences where the Japanese will go to any lengths to try and accommodate you.

IMG_8816The taxi drops us off right outside Tokyo JR station and we buy tickets for Nagano from there a bus transfer to Nozawa Onsen. We miss the next train by literally minutes, but doesn’t seem so bad as the next one is in 30 minutes. At Nagano we realise that we’ve just missed a bus by 15 minutes and the next one isn’t for another hour and a half!

We are in no real rush so Ben manages to locate a tiny little restaurant that specialises in Unagi a short walk from the station.

We drag our bags over and the proprietors move mountains so we can be seated and our cumbersome luggage accommodated. I try to sit down on the tables which appear lower than normal western standards and struggle to fit my thigh between the top of the chair seat and the underside of the table top. A nod of acknowledgement from Ben from the other side of the table that he is having the same issue puts a smile on my faces and I make myself as comfortable as possible. The owner brings over a menu of which there appears to be 2 options, regular or large. Ben orders us 2 large and they proceed to bring over the standard, hot flannel, tea and little dishes of pickled vegetables.IMG_8823

The main dish arrives and its first of many amazing eateries Ben takes me to. Never had such soft, flavour packed and plentiful Unagi. The side dish of softly poached sweet apple pieces balance out the flavours really well.

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We head to the coach stop a little early to queue for seats and Ben assures me the coach will leave on schedule. The coach driver got on the bus after loading everything with 30 seconds to spare. With 10 seconds to go he pokes his head out the door to see if there are any passengers running for the bus and pulls off smack on time. Amazing. Though I will always wonder if we would have still left on time if someone had been running for the coach with 10 pieces of luggage.

Managed to sleep most of the journey so didn’t take any photos, but what I did see, as I drifted in and out, was a crisp sun lit flat landscape with a mountain range in the distance, all of which was covered in snow. We arrive in Nozawa Onsen and located our lodge and sleeping quarters. Was fairly surprised that it was basically a room with tatami mats laid out with futons and blankets by the people who were already staying there. 

We are soon joined by our roomies: Mai-Chan the crazy, but adorable Swiss educated Japanese girl, Xue the German Chinese with a very British education and Shane the Ozzie snowboard extraordinaire.

I get to hear their adventures from the days riding which get me excited for tomorrow. I get the call of nature so venture to the gents and get more than I bargain for in my first J toilet experience. The actually facilities in the lodge seemed fairly basic with the cold mountain air coming in through an open window. Thought this was going to be primitive. But when I sat down and was greeted by a nice warm seat. I definitely need me one of these!

IMG_8829When I was finished I couldn’t find the flusher, but did notice a Knight Rider like console to my right. I surveyed my options and though the icon with the flowing water might be my best bet. A warm jet of water then proceeded to clean my poo poo hole. Genius really! I continued to sit there thinking this may come to a predetermined end when the water started to get cold and thought I better do something here. I then hit the button with the person’s head (don’t ask the logic behind this decision, because I have no idea). As another jet of water then proceeded to target my testicles it dawned on me that the image on the button was that of a women and this feature was to clean women’s bits. I sort myself out and head back to the room to share my water closet adventure with my room mates who are in stitches.