Good-bye winter!

We enjoyed one last ski trip to the wonderful mountains north of Nagano to enjoy our last ski trip of the season. Even though it was a below average year for snow, Shelley and I decided to check out what Hakuba would be like as a weekend trip from Tokyo. Thanks to the wonderful Shinkansen (bullet train) and excellent bus connections we were able to zip up to Hakuba on Friday night and come back on Sunday evening.

We stayed at our previous lovely pension tucked in the woods and headed up onto the slopes the next morning at a leisurely time hoping that sun would melt some of the ice. Of course the first challenge is to figure out your route UP (!!) through the veritable forest of gondolas, chairs, quads, entrance gates etc. to make sure you head up to the highest spot. 

To keep us entertained in the line-ups, snow sculptures of various anime characters.

We got to a wind-swept, cold and icy top after a series of 6 different lifts up. 

And of course, before getting too cold or too tired... time for a little "pick-me-up" at the top lodge over-looking the valley. Check this view out. Do you see how high this was?

This area really did have some dramatic Japanese Alpes vistas.

And, ah yes, little tree platforms to better enjoy the view and have a quick lie-down.

From the top of the lift was a very quick scramble up to the top of the mountain with, of course, its own little shrine to welcome us. 

We were thrilled to meet up with Yosh Ono, our friend who was an exchange student with my cousins in Wilmington, Delaware back in the 70s. He has kept in touch with the family since then and we really enjoyed catching up with him, skiing some turns and discussing Japanese history over drinks. 

We totally enjoyed watching the last rays of the afternoon descend upon the valley after another fun weekend of skiing in Japan. We realize that this winter we have been to 9 different ski hills here so have gotten a real taste for some of the variety that Japan has to offer.