IrishOboe

February 3-5 I went to Nagano-ken with the YETI group for a weekend of skiing. I had planned on ski on Saturday and recover on Sunday, but I had so much fun I decided to ski another day. Since Kofu hadn’t been getting much snow I couldn’t believe how much snow there was in Nagano. It was piled so high and that wasn’t from the plows! The trees were all weighed down and buildings were completely surrounded. We stayed at an enchanting hostel with lots of personality. It was snowed in and you had to go through a snow tunnel to get into the complex. I love the way the Japanese deal with shoes, but it makes even more sense when you have to wear muddy snow boots. Leave them at the door and the whole place is clean and warm!

I shared a loft with some girls, and due to a miscalculation, a few boys. We managed to work it out, though. We were served breakfast and dinner and at our party the owner brought us cake and ice cream. Yum!

I borrowed Courtnay’s skis, which were much shorter than I’ve used before, but they worked well. The boots were a little too small, so I was in a lot of pain by the end of the two days, but I’m nearly healed now. The first day I skied nearly all by myself on the “easy” trails. I noticed there was an easy trail from the top of the mountain so I took the 15 minute gondola right up and it was COLD at the top of the mountain! I really thought my face might get frost bitten even though I had goggles. The trail was actually a bit scary in places and I discovered that beginner does not mean fool proof. Most of the way down was narrow with one side being the mountain and the other being a cliff! I managed to make it nearly to the bottom then I realized two things. First, the bottom was not where I had started so I was at another part of the mountain somewhere. Second, the green trail was blocked off and the only way down was a red trail. I had only been skiing for an hour since the second time in my life five years ago. It was very, very scary it me. It was SO steep! Luckily I saw a man taking private instructions and he looked even less comfortable than I did and he was taking it nice and slow down the mountain. That gave me the courage and I made it! I discovered that there’s a bus that goes between the different trail ends (that’s how big the mountain was!) so I hung out in the lodge and had some ice cream . . . Hm, yeah.

By the time I got to the main slope my feet were killing me so I took them off while I had some ramen. That’s a good lunch on a ski trip! I stuck with the lower slopes the rest of the day and they challenged me enough. One path continually licked me in that I always fell at some point. That might have been the clincher for skiing the second day. I had to conquer it! I might say that I was a more daring skier than many because I didn’t mind picking up speed. The problem was that sometimes I picked up too much speed and couldn’t stop. I think it’s more fun than always going very slowly in a ‘v’ back and forth, but perhaps it’s not as smart . . .

The second day I did manage to lick that hill by the end of the day. I skied most of the day with Jonathan (CIR in Kofu). Chelsea, Jonathan and I had planned to take the long beginner slope together but it was closed due to high winds. We didn’t discover this until we were at the top of the mountain, though. We debated going down the red trail but it was so windy and snow was blowing everywhere and we couldn’t see anything and I wasn’t comfortable at all. We took the gondola down and soon after that they closed the whole top of the mountain. It’s a good thing we didn’t try it!!!

We had Subway for lunch. Hm. Roast beef. It’s good! It’s been half a year since I’ve had one. Hm, as bad as deli meat is for you I think twice a year might not be a bad way to enjoy life. I’ve learned to live without much meat here. It sure makes meat taste great when I get to eat it, though! It was almost worth the $9 price tag . . .

Jonathan and I had a good time trying out the red trails at the bottom of the mountain. Skiing is great fun but I won’t let myself get hooked because it’s too expensive of a hobby. Kyudo is a better place to put my interest right now!

As a farewell I requested to do the one green slope that had troubled me the day before. I did the hard stuff no problem but as I sped down the end some snowboarder cut in front of be and I fell. So, with just enough time for one more run I had to try again! Talk about pressure. Olympians don’t know what it’s like! Haha, well, I played it safe and wasn’t sorry. It certainly was a great weekend. I sadly couldn’t enjoy the onsen because it was WAY too hot. I couldn’t even keep a foot in. Oh well.

I rode home with Adam and we got back late on Sunday. Even though I enjoy weekend trips they exhaust me so much! I’ve taken two weekends just to chill at home since then. I guess it’s good that my budget only allows for one trip a month then!