Ok so my last post describe the absolute failure on day one of our ski trip in Japan.

Long story short, we took the big gondola to the very top of the mountain thinking it would be fine due to all the nice, simple green lines trickling down to the bottom. Only to find out it was false advertisement and they were notoriously difficult.

We ended up walking down and sliding down for 3 hours, at which point my legs were absolutely wrecked and my already damaged back was becoming a bigger question. My mood was shot, and I felt like the entire trip was ruined by this devastating mistake. I no longer had the strength, really, to continue.

But continue, we did!

Instead of wrapping up and going home, we decided over lunch to push on. We still had a few hours left - and there was night skiing if we could manage too. At this point, I was still struggling to stand up from the restaurant seat, but once I was in a standing position, it was... manageable.

We decided to go on the low, most beginner-friendly path. We nervously asked fellow skiers for confirmation that this was indeed super easy, and cautiously hit the lifts, legs still throbbing.

And by jove, I'm so glad I didn't give up. This route was super easy indeed and although sore, I managed to have a great time back in the snow with the icy wind blasting in my face. It was unreal!

But the day was relatively short in the end, and we committed to getting a trainer the next day.

It's not like we can't ski, but personally, I'm self-taught, and I always struggled turning left compared to right, a problem I have always been totally mystified by and inevitably leaves me with a constant fear of a situation where I have to turn left and I simply can't. I also struggled for a long time to properly brake.

We both really just wanted to fight away the fear. The fear wasn't there before. But the more we fall or take dangerous paths, well, that experience came with caution, we started to learn the potential consequences of carelessness.

We were getting worse, in a way.

So we got ourselves a coach - a 19 year old French Canadian and, long story short, he solved all our problems in 2 hours.

Some bits were actually kind of annoying how simple the solutions were, even as basic as 'just look at the trees' or 'think about the direction you want to turn'. Unbelievably these things worked. It was like I'd never ridden a bike before or never had any concept of balance or coordination.

Clearly I do, but not in the context of skiing for some reason??

Anyway, the lesson was fantastic and although exhausting, by the end of the evening my muscles were fully flexed and warmed up, feeling oiled and comfortable.

The next day was there to test out our new found skills, how to weave through the snow like a professional. We were ultimately building up to conquering that mountaintop we once failed so miserably.

To our disappointment though, we didn't have the time for it. We wanted to give it a shot but realised it was not on the night-ski path, and the gondola had already shut down as early as 3pm. We lost our chance!

Which, of course, means that there will 100% be a next time. Maybe next year, maybe 5 years from now. But one day, I will conquer that low-level green ski route. And then I'm going red, and black.

Then I'll die happily. Not before, not after.

The incredible Hokkaido Powder

Fun fact, Japan is the country that gets the most snowfall in the world. And you can see it. We went to a place closer to Tokyo last year, Nozawa I think, and it was amazing. But actually we were there during an unprecedented heat wave so any real skier would say it sucked. We were happy with it though.

Going to Hokkaido though, holy crap what a difference. Not only was it world famous for its snow amount, but its snow quality. The 'powder' snow is unique in its texture, its dryness, and skier and snowboarders all over the world hunt it like hungry hounds.

On top of that, we saw the area received record snowfalls before our arrival! We got the BEST of the BEST of the BEST!!

Look at that bathroom!

If not for how popular the area was, how late we would often get up and go, and how we were nowhere near ready for going off the beaten paths, we would have enjoyed snow like no other in history.

Anyway here's some awesome pics with minimal commentary:

Yotei Mountain

This is a famous volcano for its striking resemblance to the even more famous volcano, Mount Fuji. This one is the source of inspiration for the new upcoming samurai game, Ghost of Yotei, and I'm very happy I got to see it before release haha:

Waiting for the wife to be trained

In action!

My favourite route by far! Cruisin'

Ever been waist deep in snow?

So what's next? Well, skiing has definitely become a part of our winter life. Maybe no every single year, but a lifetime, absolutely. But I still lack the skills to do a full gliding stop, and I haven't had nearly enough time to master the lessons learnt. Other than that 2 hour session, I'm completely self-taught.

So, more lessons. Longer ski holidays. More red lines! Faster!

Then I'll be happy.

=)

[//]:# ([//]:# (!worldmappin 42.82637 lat 140.80285 long Mount Yotei! d3scr))