We were all pretty excited for our first day of skiing. Between us, Matt and I could count the days we'd been skiing on one hand, so we were pretty much all beginners at this sport. We were bundled up and ready for whatever the day would throw at us!
Our hotel was only a quick walk to the ski lifts but we were so thankful that there was a moving sidewalk for the portion straight up the hill. We would need all the energy our legs could give later in the day!
We got all our gear and then the boys and I caught a ride over to our ski lesson. I'd booked 3 hours with an instructor so we could all get a solid start. I was irrationally afraid of falling and breaking something!
Everything in Japan has happy jingles. The train, the subway, and even our snow ski ride! We were enjoying the song as we made our way to the next stop.
Our guide Lily was awesome. She showed us the basics and then took us to the baby slope. Like literally a place where the kids could play in a bouncy castle.
Thankful it had a magic carpet so we could ride the tiny hill and get help back up! Practicing walking in the skis was exhausting.
Lily had a great sense of humor and laughed at how Ben would fly straight down the hill without even attempting to stop and how Alex could only turn left and not right. I surprisingly kept it together and learned to turn and stop.
We all had a few stumbles but picked it up quickly. The weather was fantastic and the sun was so warm we were quickly shedding layers of clothing. Turns out all we really needed was a silk shirt, fleece, and waterproof jacket. Sometimes I even took my gloves off if I was getting too hot!
Lily decided we were ready for some real runs and took us all the way to the top on the long gondola ride.
The fresh snow from the day before was beautiful and the views from the gondola were just gorgeous!
This particular green run is 10km long! We spent nearly an hour going down and the kids each had a few spills, but overall it was a ton of fun and left us so excited for more. We did learn without poles so later on when we had something in our hands for balance it felt even easier.
We stopped so Lily could show us a natural spring where she sometimes gets a drink. Just as I was laughing at Ben not to go swimming, he accidentally stepped in and flooded his boot!
After a really productive and exhausting morning, we were so ready for lunch. The food was amazing. Japanese curry and katsu, soup, udon, and other hearty choices.
Just as we were coming out from lunch, we ran into the Richardsons and had such a fun afternoon skiing together. The top of the green run was the snow park, with all kinds of jumps, hills, and a few half pipes and there were so many combinations of runs we could try. It was endless fun.
It was difficult shopping for ski clothes because 1. we live in the tropics and choices are extremely limited and 2. I had no idea how to pick. Alice was a ton of help in guiding me through the necessities, but I didn't realize how nice it would be to have unusual colors. Alex got a yellow jacket because it was the only one in his size. He was so easy to spot all over the mountain because it was unique! Alice had blue pants so I learned to spot her as well.
I was having a really great day and then suddenly my foot was killing me. I was still halfway up the mountain so I had to ski down, desperate to get the boot off. I got into that ski shop as fast as possible, probably made some ugly noises as I got my foot free, and then I hobbled next door for a very well deserved beer. Thankfully, I didn't have that problem again and was able to enjoy all the rest of our time skiing!
Our other reward - the onsen in our hotel! There are a lot of public onsen (hot spring) bath houses all over the village but you are expected to go in without clothes and sit with strangers. I was much happier to visit one of the two private rooms on the hotel ground floor where we could go as a family and wear our swimsuits! The hot mineral water did amazing things for our tired and sore muscles.
No shoes inside the hotel. You leave them at reception and wear thatch slippers everywhere.
Dinner with the whole gang! We were SO TIRED and I was thrilled that this delicious pizza place was two doors down and didn't require any extra effort to get there or back. I don't think I could have walked up or down another hill that day.
Day 2 dawned with clear skies and perfect weather. We knew how to dress this time and didn't have to shed anything extra. The walk to the slopes was always interesting. The steaming onsens smelled a little bad but always looked interesting. We did see people bringing their eggs to boil them in baskets because onsen eggs are a popular dish in Japan.
Ready for a fun day ahead!! You can tell Alex is behind us by the yellow jacket! And Ben was on the lift ahead, so we got to watch him break his poles at the top of the lift when he forgot to pick them up. We had a good laugh, realized the ski store was right at the bottom of the lift, and sent him back down to replace them. Thank goodness they're pretty expendable and only cost $4 for a new pair.
Family fun time! We really had a terrific time skiing and laughing together. There were lots of greens and the ski park was so much fun we didn't need to try anything harder. Matt and Alex did attempt a few reds to try to get up to the peak, but they were a little icy in the morning and not as much fun as they'd hoped.
Our ski instructor had pointed out her favorite place to get a hot chocolate and I had to agree that this must be the best in the world. Maybe it's the view that makes it taste so good?
I kept seeing people taking pictures under this sign and I wanted my photo op as well with the random street sign at the top of the mountain! Alex, Laura, Ben, Georgia, Zachary, Matt, and Alice
On this particular day, we had all planned to meet up for lunch and an afternoon ski. I think this food tasted better than anything I'd ever eaten because of all the calories I'd burned all morning!
The only time we had everyone together on the mountain - Alice, Ben, Hedwige, Quinn, Zachary, Juno, Egon, Matthew, Georgia, Alex, Mark, Matt, Laura
Turns out we knew another JIS dad in town skiing with his son and we shared a quick sundowner.
Our last morning was also beautiful but the warm weather at the end of the season meant the snow was starting to get softer in places.
We enjoyed some of the pretty runs through the trees before heading up to the snow park. It was amazing how quickly the snow was melting in just a few short days. I guess that's the gamble with spring break skiing - the weather is warm but the snow may not last! We hit the sweet spot and got three amazing days before more rain was forecast the next day.
The mushier snow meant that some of the steeper runs were slower and easier for us and we went down one big wide run over and over.
Naturally, we needed more hot chocolate to keep us energized!
and a few snowball fights!
Matthew was off with his friend Coleman, so Ben and Alex spent the entire morning with Georgia and Zachary.
We did learn that the soft serve ice cream was fantastic. The restaurant had an apple/vanilla swirl that didn't sound so good but quickly became a favorite. And I don't normally even like soft serve.
What an incredible experience. We would have never found this tiny village and its fun ski slopes if Alice hadn't invited us along and it was such a fun trip with friends. The boys loved skiing and Alex has asked weekly when we can go again. He's already got our next spring break planned out!
I was so happy that we all had a fun time and no one got hurt! All of the guys had some spills here and there and ate at least a little snow. Amazingly, I never fell the entire time. I may have been the slowest on pretty much every run, but I happily went at my own pace and enjoyed every minute. Three days was perfect because we had a great time but we were fully exhausted and ready for a break. We turned in our skis, collected our bags from the hotel, enjoyed one last soak in the onsen, and then took the bus to the shinkansen, to the subway, back to our hotel in Tokyo.
