The Final Finale Day #7 Tsugaike

Saturday March 3rd, 2007

My snowboarding season and career in Japan has come to an end. I don't know the next time I'll strap in or strap on. It's a sad day. I said my farewells to Nagano, the mountains and the ski hill. It's been (mostly) good to me! And to top it all off, I had an unforgettable last day!

Today's group was some third+ years and a few Japanese friends. My final day on the hill was full of fun, friends, food, and a few falls...well, watch the video that's posted in the side bar, and make sure the volume is on! That exlains it all. Here are a few pics! And now, I really should start that paper! EEK!

Another beautiful sunny day! Although the temp was well above freezing!

What? How did that happen?

A random (and very friendly) bear on the hill!

Tasty kebabobs after boarding! Oh my!

An automatic highway flag waiver! I'm gonna miss these guys!

(not on the ski hill, but part of the randomness of the day)

Day # 6 Tsugaike

Sunday, February 25th, 2007

You can't teach an old dog new tricks....routines are just to hard to break! Five of us loaded into Tomo's car at 7am. Our only option given the weather...Hakuba! The cheapest and best option in Hakuba...Tsugaike! So that's where we ended up. The lines were long because it was a beautiful Sunday morning!! But by mid-afternoon the hills were quiet and there were no lift lines and it was still beautiful!! We spent the day roaming around the upper backside, exploring our favorite forest runs. We finally made it to the lake side restaurant for lunch. Earlier in the season we tried to get there, but with the weather being foggy, we couldn't ever find it. There wasn't any powder, but the snow was cut up enough that it had a soft layer on top that held the edges. The day felt good overall! It wasn't till the end of the day that I hit an icy spot, caught my edge and hit my bum pretty hard. But that's to be expected! We're holding out for 1-2 more weeks of boarding! Pray for a bit more snow and cool temps! My tulips are about to bloom! Eek!

Here are a few pics from the day!

Is this legal in other countries--a baby strapped to a skiers back?? It seems so so dangerous! And really, what's the point? If you can't find a babysitter, you shouldn't strap the kid to your back and hope for the best. If the kid wants to be outside, let him/her build a snow man or go sledding! Or pay for ski lessons!

I'll never understand the child safety laws in Japan. That goes for seat belts (the lack of), car seats (where are they?), bicycle helmets (elementary & high school kids are exempt), and skiing with a kid on your back! Oh my!

Day # 4 Tsugaike Kogen 栂池高原

Saturday morning 8 of us piled in cars with all our gear and headed for Nagano. With the weather conditions as warm as they have been, it's not even worth considering anything at a lower elevation. We didn't even see snow until we were about 20 minutes from Hakuba. It's sad, but at least we can still board. And luckily, it had been snowing all night and snowed most of the day! So there was a wonderful layer of powder to play in. It was my best day yet. After I got my board waxed and adjusted my left bindings, I was able to do right turns again! Hurray! It was such a good day, we only stopped once for lunch. Nobody needed any breaks, nobody complained of sore feet or needing to adjust anything. Everyone was genki and we all wanted to enjoy the powder as long as possible! Pray for snow at Seaside!!



Here are some pics:

Snowboarding To Date

Day #1

Mt. Hood Ski Bowl on New Year's Day!

Anglea, Evie, and Katherine drove up for a day of fun at ski bowl. Okay, so in actuality, I think it was a painful day for A & E because they were learning. And it was raining. But we had a good time and enjoyed a few really good runs. A day on the hill is never complete without a few good stops for drinks/snacks. Ski Bowl has a great little "warmer hut" on one of the runs with a massive wood burning fireplace! It was fun to just sit and catch up with the girls.

Day # 2

Tsugaike in Hakuba, Nagano

Linea, JP & I jumped in Bertie (the VW Beetle) and got on the road by 7am to enjoy a day in Hakuba. Normally, we aren't big Hakuba fans, but there is NO snow at lower elevations this year and so we had to make the 2 hour drive up into the mountains! The snow was good, but not a lot of powder. It was a bit cold and windy, but we managed a full day for our first day out in the Japanese Alps. But like day #1, one of the best parts of boarding is making a full-day experience of it. We had a lovely lunch of gyudon (a beef rice bowl) in a quiet little restaurant on the side of the hill while catching up after our winter trips to the US, Canada and Vietnam!

(sorry, no pics)

Day # 3

Charmant Hiuchi Resort, Niigata

After a late night out catching up with friends after winter vacation, 7 of us gathered outside our apartments and packed the boards, gear and our sleepy selves into two cars and headed for Charmant. With a base of 190cm, it has more than Hakuba! It's known for it's powder runs, but because there has been no new snow and the temp is consistently above freezing, all those runs were closed. So we stayed on the groomed courses and practiced our "skills" or lack there of in my case. I'm still in warm-up mode. It's kinda sad and pathetic. But I have a rental board and crappy boots...and I just can't make a right turn. I absolutely can not go from my heel to my toe! I fall everytime!! It's so frustrating. I'll try adjusting my board bindings...but maybe I've just lost it. Maybe I'm just not inspired this year! And to top it off, the snow kinda sucks. It isn't like last year. I just want to go back to Seaside, where I know the runs like the back of my hand! Where is the snow???? I haven't had to dig out once!

On another note, we ran into a "friend" on the slopes. He saw us in the parking lot and literally bolted over to give us a big bear hug. After that we didn't really have anything to say to each other. ha ha ha

Amy-chan, guess who??