Niseko is a ski resort area, near Mount Yutei (the Hokkaido version of Mount Fuji). It is famous for its powdery snow. It is also an area that is full of Australians. So, it's a foreigner friendly area. There is lots of English, Western style food and other goods. It's about a 2.5 hour bus ride from the captial, Sapporo. Our plan was to stay in Niseko for 4 days and then go spend 2 days in Sapporo, before coming back home.
December 23rd
We arrived in Niseko, checked into our hotel, and figured out where we were going to rent out stuff. It was a snowy paradise! We rented our gear, got it all sized up and ready to go, and I went to the vending machine for a can of ice cold, liquid courage.
Marta has, I think, been snowboarding for 10 years, so she is really good. Cody has been doing it for about 2 years, and he picked it up pretty quickly from all his years of skateboarding. And then there's Jeremy, who also picked it up quickly last year while we were on the mountain. So, needless to say, I was a bit nervous. To be honest, I was terrified of screwing up. Jeremy LOVES snowboarding now, and I really wanted to learn so that it could be a hobby we enjoyed together.
The liquid courage helped a little, I wasn't so tense when strapping the board to my feet for the first time. Also, I didn't drink enough to feel buzzed, so I wasn't being stupid.
The first time wasn't so bad, I fell down a hundred times and wanted to give up more than I remember. But, it was okay for the first night. We were only out there a couple of hours.
On the hike back up the hill, we spotted a pizza place that looked good, so we stopped there for dinner. It was SOOO yummy!
Then, we went back to the hotel, had a few drinks, and after that I experienced my first Japanese onsen experience. Perhaps the 'onsen' explanation should be a blog of it's own.
December 24th
We got up somewhat early and had breakfast. The hotel fee includes a buffet style breakfast. I'm not a big fan of having fish and mushy scrambled eggs, but there were a few things that I could get down, like some miso soup and rice.
Even though it was like 10:00 in the morning, I still had my can of liquid courage before going down the hill. I did better this time. Marta and Jeremy both tried very hard to teach me a few things. The thing is though, it's hard for someone to tell you how to do it. It's more learning through practice that gets you familiar with where to put your weight and so on. So, I got a little frustrated. I also felt bad for keeping everyone from going up the mountain, by having them stay on the little baby slope with me.
This day was good though, I learned a few things. I felt more confident, but I was SOOOO sore.
I don't think I was sore from falling, I think I was sore from trying to get up. It's hard to stand up, in the snow, with your feet strapped onto a board, at an angle without just falling back on your ass!
We ordered pizza to be delivered from the same restaurant, and hung out in the room, until midnight when they let off fireworks from the top of the mountain for Christmas. Too bad it was snowing so hard you couldn't really see the fireworks.
December 25th
After calling our family to wish them a Merry Christmas Eve, and having the yummy hotel breakfast again, we realized that the weather wasn't as great as we would have liked it to be. It was kinda raining and some of the snow had melted a little. The bunny slope was kinda icey. But, we went down anyway. I finally had the courage to go up the ski lift, but failed to ride down the steep part at the top. I unstrapped the board and slid down on it like a sled. It was fun :o)
As the day went on, the weather got better and I was starting to get excited about my progress. Marta, Jeremy, and Cody went up the mountain a bit and ended up on some black diamond courses that were, from what I hear, pretty scary. But, I think we all had a great time.
That night, for dinner, we found a Nepalese restaurant and had Christmas dinner there. We were all so sore and exhausted from the 3 days of snowboarding. Cody had fallen while on one of the black diamond runs so he had a really stiff and painful neck. Dinner was great, the restaurant was new and really neat, it was in a yurt style building. The owner said it had been imported from Colorado.
After dinner we spotted this really cool ice bar. We went inside. The drinks they were serving were made of ice. The drinks were a little expensive, like 1,200 yen for the first drink and the glass, and then 500yen for refills. It was really cool. Everything was made from ice, even the chandellier.
After that, we stopped at the convenience store, grabbed a Christmas cake, and headed back to the hotel for a little more wine and some R&R.
December 26th
Before I go on, I have to mention the toilet. We stayed in a Japanese, Ryokan style hotel. The room itself didn't have a bathroom or a shower. You had to bathe in the Onsen area, and you had to use the toilet in a community bathroom. So, this toilet was literally two inches from the wall in front of it. I don't even think a tiny Japanese person would have been comfortable in there, but you should have seen me in there. I'll leave out the descriptions. It's better in verbal story form anyway. But, it was horrible
and hillarious.
That morning, I had Christmas cake for breakfast.
We went out for our last day on the mountain, and it had snowed SOOO much the night before. And, it was very cold and blizzardy, so it was hard to see and stay warm.
I was so tired, so I only made it down one time before calling it quits for this trip, I found my way to this awesome bar, and had a nice buzz going by the time Cody, Jeremy, and Marta were finished going up and down the mountain a few times. It was a great place, and the food was so yummy! I wish we had found that place our first day there!
All in all, snowboarding was a blast! I am so glad I tried and I'm looking forward to the trip we are taking in February with Kyoko and Tadahiro! We will have a great time!
By 5 o'clock that day, we had turned in our equipment and were on a bus to Sapporo. Niseko was great, I'd love to go back for a third time.
