Too short a time in Nozawa... we have to go

We were quite sad to leave Pension Schnee and Nozawa Onsen. We were made to feel at home by the fabulous owners and staff of Pension Schnee. From organising the dentist for me to a gift of home made apple jam when we left, the service and friendliness was wonderful. Pension Schnee is true ski in ski out accommodation. The food is awesome with generous servings. We didn't go hungry. The toast and the apple jam in the morning just topped it off for me.
Thanks to Miuki, Miki, Tomo, Hoshi and Mr Furukawa for making our stay so pleasurable.

Nozawa Onsen - the videos

Here's a few short vids from our day on the snow. The longest one goes for about a minute so they shouldn't be too taxing. Of course my favourite is the last one because it has me in it. Come to think of it the first one has me in it too. And third one has a special place in my heart. Or maybe it is the alcohol talking?
By the way. Tomorrow, if we can program the GPS, we're making the short drive to Yudanaka, another onsen town, to see the snow monkeys (macaques) and stay in another ryokan with onsen. Hopefully it won't make the rash worse.

PS. Even with the freed wireless broadband here at the hotel it has taken a while to upload these videos. The whole time I've been sitting here in the restaurant looking out the large picture windows watching the snow gently fall (see the last post for a picture). This is very nice or, in Japanese, totemo suteki.

The flute man is back

Tonight we've been treated to an impromptu concert at Pension Schnee by the flute man. By we I mean me and half a dozen Japanese guests. 8.30 and all the other Australians, and Michelle, have gone to bed. This blog doesn't write itself you know and that is the reason I'm still sitting in the bar tapping away as a Japanese musician on the flute plays such classics as Near, Far, Wherever You Are... from Titanic. It is nice really. Or could that be the Asahi beer or sake or Irish Whiskey or Japanese Whiskey talking?

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.

Free sake, the man on the flute and fireworks

We met the flute man while putting our boots on in the drying room. He's the one who mentioned the free sake.
Well there was free sake. After a couple of speeches on a stage in the snow the flute man got up and played a few songs like Georgia On My Mind. We then shuffled up the hill a little way to watch old Olympians ski down the mountain in period costume. After that came the kids with torches and then the fireworks. It all took about 2 hours which is a bit long in the cold and the snow and I still have my rash. But now it is time to do the laundry.