Okie, so Sunday I finished up some stuff at home, packed my bag and gear and headed to the train station. I took the Shinkansen from my city to Iiyama Station. From Iiyama I took a bus (full of Australians) to Nozawa Onsen. The town is basically skiing, relaxing in an onsen or two, eating, and drinking. Almost all the tourists were Australian! And everywhere hires Australians and Canadians.
My hotel was up a hill and I was actually one of the few foreigners staying there (maybe because the booking page is in Japanese?). I was a little worried about having to walk up hill but everyone runs hot spring water on top of the pavement which kept it from becoming a frozen slip and slide.
In the basement of my hotel you could rent skis and each room came with keys to a ski locker and and boot locker (which was the same size as the ski locker but with shelves). This was awesome as I didn't have to lug my ski stuff upstairs. I had selected a Japanese style room (tatami, futon, etc.) and it was very comfortable.
Besides the thirteen free onsen in town, my hotel had one as well (I think every hotel does).
I dropped my stuff off in my room, changed, and sprinted to the basement to grab my gear for night skiing...
Only there wasn't enough snow for night skiing. So I went in search of food and hot springs. It started snowing a little bit.
The next morning I woke up and packed my bags. I left my stuff at the hotel, put on my ski boots and started the trek to the gondola. Up hill. In the sleet. Carrying my skis and a backpack of camera equipment. I made it up the hill! Then a staircase! Then another staircase! And into the gondola with five middle-aged Japanese men. I had booked my lift ticket with my hotel, so I didn't need to stop to buy one in the morning.
The sleet turned back to snow. Between the snow and wind, visibility wasn't good. Not all the runs/lifts were open, but I had a good time. The snow got better as the day went on. The lifts were a bit of fun. Some had no bar, some had a bar, some had a hood that came down, and there was also the gondola. I plan to go back if I can swing the funds/time to get there. If I wanted to push it, I could make it a day trip, cutting out the hotel cost.
Okay, so it's sideways, but this was my pile of gear...
My travel companion...
On the mountain...
These are the cellphone photos. I have to see what I can get off the camera.
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