Snowbunnie

Our friend Tetsuya has been talking on and off about going snowboarding. Our snowboarder friend Kumi finally helped us secure a date with him. Sadly though, this unseasonably warm winter hasn't brought enough snow, and Tetsuya won't board unless there's been a series of snow days. Kumi and I decided to stick it out and go anyway, even though it was actually *raining* in Ichinomiya the morning of the trip! We had a bowl of granola, said bye to Mike (who doubted the snow as much as Tets), and off we went; 40 minutes North on highway 29. We followed the signs and found a FULL parking lot ;)

After forking over about $30 for a lift ticket, we jumped on the 1st ski lift that took us 1/2 way up into the mountains, where we found the rental shop and the 2nd lift to get up to the very top o' the mountain. In the rental shop, I tried on old musty ski outfits til I found the only one that would fit. A humid, dark room and wet ski gear is a disgusting combination. yuck! And the red bibs weren't the cutest. But life is too short to care about being cute & smelling good. So on to the fun!



For the first hour, Kumi ever-so-patiently tried to teach me how to balance and move.
Of course I spent more time falling than I did balancing and moving.



Here's my "in action!" shot! and by that I mean, "wow I managed not to fall on my ass for a second here..."

No but really, after lunch and a couple hours of falling and getting up, I started to get it, and it's sooo fun!

Funniest thing of the day: Even after getting the hang of staying vertical on the slope, every time I got off the lift, I fell,
Causing a dangerous situation for me and the many people coming up quickly behind me. It must have been my 5th time up, when the guy running the lift saw me... we made eye contact, then he walked over to a machine, pushed a button, and slowed that sucker waaaay down for me! Ha! I STILL fell! But at least I had more time to get out of the way :)




Look at the view! It makes all the sore, aching muscles and bruises worth it!
Can't wait to go again. Probably won't in Japan though, seeing as how we've got Spring weather, and we gotta save our yen for new adventures, right?