Shane (and Michelle) on the snow at Nozawa Onsen

Breakfast at Pension Schnee and then we hit the slopes. It looks like it has been snowing much of the night and it hasn't stopped today. At about eleven we need a break from the skiing. It is hard work. We haven't done it for 6 years. There's a Mos Burger place up here. Mos is a Japanese burger franchise. After that it is back to the slopes and it still hasn't stopped snowing.
We went to the top of the mountain and worked our way down a bit and saw that the way back to the village was the Forest Trail. 5 km. What a bitch. Icey and slow but at least we can say we've done a 5 kay run. Yeah, I know other resorts may have longer runs but not in Australia. We were a bit knackered after that so we grabbed lunch at one of the restaurants up here. Fried chicken and chips.
We went to the top again but it had gotten colder and the breeze had picked up and the snow was coming in sideways so we decided to finish up with the run near to Pension Schnee. A couple more runs here and we called it a day. We only have one day skiing in Japan but what a day. A bit of powder and some really nice runs. Not much in the way of crowds either.
We met some Aussies from Brisbane also staying at Pension Schnee. Very sociable. They've kindly shared a bottle of scotch with me so I'm a little bit warmer tonight than other nights. Warmer, if you hadn't guessed, is a euphemism for pissed.
Just as an aside. We're coming back here. The snow is awesome. It is cheaper than skiing in Australia. One day's lift pass is only 4600 yen. We hired all our gear, jacket, pants, skis and poles, for another 5000 yen. What a bargain. Pension Schnee is ski in ski out and in a fantastic location is also reasonably priced by Australian standards. Their "bottomless" toast and home made apple jam for breakfast is worth the price of admission alone. The service from the staff here has been awesome too. Oh yeah, we're coming back.