Adatara Kogen Snow Resort

Hey guys just wanted to post out to you and say that winter is FINALLY coming to an end. It has been quite bitter cold out this way and living in it was no joke!!! Especially mind you that I have to commute by bike everyday to work rain or shine, hot or cold!!!!! All of these shots were taken on the cell phone. Quality isn't too shabby........



Some of the co-workers and I decided to jump to a ski resort for some winter fun. I never really snowboarded before so this was my chance to get started. We took a one day trip out to Adatara Ski resort. This year was one of the coldest seasons in Japan and you can tell by the pictures that the snow was soft and fresh.

Morikawa-San my fellow co-worker training up on the same tool as I for work. Shidara-San above.
If you really look most of the folks here are my same hanging partners that I went on a trip with to some other destinations last year. You can find those posts on your left.
It was a very sunny and clear day. It was actually warmer than I thought. I layered up, after doing some research online on what to wear and what not to wear. Later in the day I had to give up a couple under shirts because I was sweating.


Miyaki-San and Morikawa San are above they were on ski's.
Takeuchi-San, has been snowboarding for quite a while so he was showing me some basics on how to snowboard.

The lift was real cool, it was a little tricky trying to get off since the lift never stops. Getting on was a piece of cake but when it was time to exit you have to slide off the chair on a small slope away from the chairs. With the snowboard, both feet are strapped on the board so to move around or even walk (hobble) you remove one foot from the board so landing back on your feet from the lift was a bit awkaward. I routinely fell (safely) but one thing I didnt do was cause the lift to stop moving like some other newbies out there........whew!!!
I was getting better and better as the day progress. I will say all logic that you learned using a skateboard is almost tossed out the window when using the snowboard. It was great fun, although I have quite a few bumps and bruises along the way. Speed down the hills was amazingly fast and almost scary. If you look at the picture above the hill just curves downward quickly.

After a few trials on the base trails we had taken the second lift further up the mountain. You see the background in the picture above. Very beautiful and you can see for miles. It was actually better for us all to go further up the mountain, it wasn't nearly as crowded as the lower hills.


A couple more last minute lessons breaking bad habits before they start.
There I am in action how about that!!!!! Its harder than it looks I will attest to that.
Okay I was ready for a break, I landed a little hard on my knees this time. OUCH!!!!! What sucks is that my feet are strapped in so breaking my fall was painful either on my butt or on my knees. I will say that the snow tastes good, I had a mouthfull of that too.....
Yes I know my lips are chapped on this picture but dammit I still look sexy.

I had a great time and it was so much fun, especially with the guys being patient with me for the first half of the day. By the end I was on my own and actually doing pretty good. It still is a bit tricky for me to even out my turns but it only gets better the second, third time around. We stayed until about 5 by then the sun was falling and it was time to beat the rush home and jump into a nice hot tub and soak!!!!!

jjc