S'now Fun

Wassup! The weekend before last we went snowboarding at Happone up in Nagano, site of the 1998 Winter Olympic games. Nice trip and wonderful accomodations at the Rosenheim Lodge, but the conditions were pretty bad in that the snow was slushy the first day, then frozen the following morning. Most of the slopes are definitely intermediate to advanced, so being that I hadn't gone snowboarding in three years and that the conditions were pretty bad, I felt like a beginner! I even busted my ass hard on an icy path the second day. I thought I fractured my coccyx! I'm still sore. Not to mention, when you do "extreme" sports in Japan, whether it be surfing or snowboarding, everyone believes they are an expert, so the slopes (and beaches) are jampacked with aggressive "experts" all rushing to muscle their way through the crowds, trying to make the hundreds of thousands of yen they spent on tolls, lodging, and the season's most fashionable equipment and accessories all worth it. If you take up any of these activities, don't think that the typical polite Japanese demureness still applies. Prepare to do battle!

Anyway, enjoy our pics!



Shabu-shabu at Rosenheim

Traditional Japanese beer...uh, tea ceremony