Dinner has always been an important event for skiers and boarders. While some may skip breakfast to get out onto the slopes, or blow off lunch if the powder is especially good, by the time the final main meal of the day rolls around, most snow lovers are ravenous! For staff at the mountain working late in the main office, munchies inevitably make an appearance and the vending machine selling instant noodles always does a good trade at this hour. Resort guests on the other hand tend to be of a manner civilized to the point that proper cutlery is required, meaning that dining providing attractive nourishment in the midst of winter to a wide variety of tastes must be provided.

Read on for the seventh installment in this series within the setting journals - if you have not read the introduction & previous articles to this series, please do so via accessing the links at the bottom of this page.

With the cherry blossoms just past full bloom outside in the valley (they were late this year), spring has now arrived to the Joetsu region. Despite the fact that there is more than a month left in the present white season, it is clear to everyone that the best of the snows have now been had.

To pick up where I left off last time, March featured some of the best snow in years…

Updated: Thursday 3rd March 2005, 11:24 AM

Since the last volume of the setting journals came out, bad and good things have happened as follows:

With the main part of the season finished, more than half of the part time workers leave, so regular staff along with 60 (of the 200 at the peak) or so part-timers still around pick up the slack. For me, this has meant a return to setting duties on the mountain. While I covered such duties in earlier volumes of this column, the experience of participating in the daily final patrols as well is new to me. Briefly, the final patrol/run involves heading up on the last Gondola to rendezvous with senior patrol members in order to close down the mountain from top to bottom. I thought that I had learned the process clearly, but several surprises the last time out convinced me otherwise. Firstly, I was relaxing in the Gondola at mid-station and anticipating the last leg up to the top of the mountain when I noticed my colleagues had disembarked. Turns out that we would not be going to the Gondola peak but instead boarding another lift to take us only slightly farther up the mountain. While waiting for that lift to close to the public, I had the chance to visit the underground garage for its chairs (that can be up-loaded/off-loaded) automatically at the beginning/end of each day. After riding that lift up, we were greeted by an anxious boarder that could not find his partner. Rallying the patrol on the mountain to the situation meant being unable to begin closing the runs down. Fortunately, the boarder appeared unharmed after 20 minutes or so and was reunited with a visibly relieved partner. The wait to start closing continued however as the patrol needed to start from the top of the mountain and sweep the area. When the rendezvous did finally occur, we proceeded down the mountain as usual (moving nets & signage to the perimeters of runs so that the groomers could do their thing). The last difference this time around was that we were asked to push snow with our skis towards the center of each run, using a kind of reverse snowplow. Another day toward the bottom of a course we saw a fox wander across one of the runs - I’ve seen many tanukis (racoon dogs) in the area but this was the first time to come across a fox. Fortunately, the fox did not decide to chase me down the slopes as I imagined in my head!

The first of April also saw the amalgamation of the city of Arai (& with it the resort) with Myoko, to form Myoko City. While this union has created all sorts of nightmares behind the scenes in terms of deleting the name of Arai & replacing it with Myoko, in the long run it may benefit the area as Myoko is relatively better known and more established when it comes to recognition amongst skiers and boarders.

When the resort started to actively market to the international community back in the white season of 2001-’02, little preparations had been made operations wise for catering to foreigners. The result was that some of the staff at the time considered these new guests not really part of their duties and would pick up the phone to call yours truly. While I was attending to such guests, in some cases I received little support from those normally responsible in such situations, so two things happened. The first was that some of the more observant of such guests would comment, “You again? Didn’t I just talk with you back at the restaurant a few minutes ago?” Although I would make up some excuse, I could not tell the guests that I was actually shadowing them to nip any communication problems in the bud as they made their way through the services offered in the village. The second was that I realized that if I didn’t want to die of a heart attack from constantly running through the underground tunnels of the resort at all hours of the day, then I would have to develop an online concierge system that would proactively notify resort services of upcoming operations. By such, I mean that when foreigners started using resort services a few years back, they would sometimes catch staff off-guard. For example, a large group of such guests may have walked-in to a restaurant for dinner without reservations on a busy Saturday night. A table would not be available immediately to accommodate all of them, leading to potential confusion. The answer was to create an online booking form for the resort restaurants that asked all necessary questions required to make a reservation on behalf of a group of diners (Time/Date/Smoking/etc…), and ask future guests to complete it prior to arrival. When the form is received, a reservation according to the specifications on it is made, with both the hotel that the guests are staying in and the guests themselves being notified that the reservation has been confirmed. This service came online in July of 2003 (please read the related volume of the setting journals here) & to be honest the following white season (2003-’04) was spent trying to figure everything out! Fortunately, by the start of this white season everything had more or less settled down and I could begin once again to enjoy a life independent of my job during the white season, despite increasing numbers of international guests. Days off taken even during weekends this season could only have been dreamed about a few white seasons back…

The cold and clear night provides some nice views out over the heated plaza from the bay-type windows of the Japanese restaurant belonging to the Restaurant Division. The tables in this part of the restaurant are fitted with built-in hot plates that are designed to heat special pots known as “Nabe”. The ceramic “hot pots” come with a removable lid and are meant to cook food via adding it raw to boil in a seafood-based broth. While all of this comes second nature to Japanese guests, for some international guests this is their first experience with such a dish, and step-by-step instructions from the server is usually required (as opposed to dropping off all the ingredients at the table and then running away!) One international repeater guest was nicknamed the “Nabe King” because he came back so many times that the restaurant had to create a “special Nabe” for each visit. Another time, in the days before the privacy act was introduced, staff members were used as models. For a promotional video a “couple” were shown eating a Nabe. However, when the staff (including the couple), watched the video later, the male model said that the Nabe was so hot it burned the roof of his mouth and he had to summon all the energy he had not to scream out in pain during the shoot!

Just off the main office on the second floor of the village station is where the patrol of the Mountain Division gather each morning and evening for a meeting. In the evening after a long day on the slopes this base serves as a place to change clothes, store/dry/recharge equipment, and hold a nightly meeting. While the meeting is usually held about an hour earlier, today has been a busy day out on the slopes and there are many issues to discuss. A few years back the patrol and I experimented with having an English class at this time but to be honest it did not work that well. Given that the hierarchy of needs developed by Maslow states that one cannot study if they are tired, cold and hungry, in hindsight I should have known better.

A convoy of 6 snowmobiles belonging to the Guest Relations Division returns to the village & completes the first of two night tours offered. Such convoys usually consist of two staff members that drive at the front and back respectively, with guests in-between riding either solo or tandem. For the nights when night operations are in effect on the slopes, these tours are limited to areas where there is no skiing and boarding. This is a good thing, as the snowmobiles are powerful machines that need space and tranquility to be properly and safely experienced.

Also within the Guest Relations Division, is the JR Nagano Station shuttle. The second and last shuttle service of the day has just pulled up to the terminus, having departed from the resort 80 minutes before. The service, used mainly by day-trippers from Tokyo, is also carrying a bunch of expatriate guests due back at the office the next morning. Given that there are many bullet train services daily between JR Tokyo & JR Nagano Stations, these guests should get back into the metropolis for just after 9 PM.  This relatively new service, that I understand is subsidized by the resort, continues to be popular amongst guests that prefer/need to ride the train.  It has definitely sped the access up as well, given that before visitors had to ride a local line through to JR Arai Station (this ride unnerved some first-timers as the train changes tracks one stop before JR Arai Station, with the occasional rider mistakenly thinking that the train was heading back in the direction that it had come). Lately, a local taxi service has also been offering guests arriving at JR Nagano Station charter service to the resort, bringing access to under three hours.

This time of the day represents one of the best times to visit the Aqua Park Pool & Yu of the Hotel Division. The facility, connected to the Inn at Arai, is split over four floors and in addition to the Japanese Baths mentioned previously, houses a neat pool that is half indoors and half outdoors on the third floor. The indoor part of the pool is perfect for swimming laps and the like, and comes complete with a dry sauna and a ramp for specially designed pool wheelchairs. A small tunnel that is part of the pool connects to the outdoor pool, where guests can swim while it is snowing, and also jump into the sunken hot tub there if they would like. Although there was talk of closing off this part of the pool in winter due to the heavy running costs of heating the water, it has yet to be done.

The main office back in the village station is still buzzing with activity. Although staff thin out a bit by this time of day, you can usually still find a member or two of the Sales Division talking away on a telephone. The sales reps at the resort have it tough in my opinion, as during the white season they are not only expected to help out during daily operations, but also conduct regular sales activity. Thus, they will come off the slopes and slip out of snow gear while talking on the telephone, and a half an hour later change into formal wear to either attend a function being held at the resort or meet with clients. Watching such activity always reminds me of Superman, except that character has a phone booth available for such occasions…

Night Operations mean related cash concerns, but obviously the Accounts Division closes for the day. While each service concerned has to come up with an alternative method for handling cash at night, wherever possible they try to cash out in line with the regular times of the Accounts Division. Fortunately, given that most users of resort services at this time of night tend to be registered guests, charges to room accounts usually prove to be more popular than paying cash, especially after a few drinks!

The disaster prevention center of the Human Resources Division is also hunkering down for the night, which usually means dinner and a movie before bed on-site. Usually two members stay nightly, and they split up at this time to lock up various parts of the resort not being used/turn off excess lighting/and set the various security systems in place. Staff still around at this hour in such areas are usually asked to set the security systems on their way out. When I have been asked to do this, it usually means a few nervous moments as a mistake can result in security companies falsely responding to what they think is a break in…

Trio Latino, the Philippine band brought to the resort by the Human Resources Division & based at the Italian Restaurant, is half way through their last set of the evening. At night there is usually a birthday or two to sing for in addition to the regular guests requesting Japanese, Top 40 and the like. In between sets you can usually find the band at the back of the restaurant getting ready for the next set. At times, this means participating in Quality Control (QC) activities. QC in this case means testing freshly made pizza that for some reason cannot be served to guests. Having participated with the band in many such QC sessions when I helped out at the restaurant as a dishwasher, hall staff and the like, it can be said that QC is an integral part of resort operations…

The Lodge Bar, belonging to the Restaurant Division, is having a quiet night tonight following a busy one Saturday. This bar, along with Ohgenashi Lounge at the Inn, are usually open. A few guests are enjoying a nightcap here tonight, and the bartender is mixing drinks accordingly. What is it about Japanese bartenders? Although I also used a cocktail shaker on occasion when I tended bar back in Canada, I never shook drinks for as long or as dramatically as seems to be done in this country. The bartenders also seem to take a great deal of pride and care in their appearance, to a much greater extent than I remember of fellow bartenders back home. Mind you, neither of the bars offer live entertainment (unlike the Italian restaurant), so perhaps the bartenders are putting on a bit of a show?

The vending machines selling beer back at the dormitory belonging to the Human Resources Division are seeing lots of activity, as thirsty residents scrape some change together for the purpose of imbibing. Subsidized beer readily available tends to smooth over a rough day on the job, and these vending machines have proven popular with most of the staff. Workers from overseas quickly adapt to the convenience of having cold beer on demand, and tend to miss such machines the most once they return to their native countries…

Had enough? There is still more to come in the final three hours of this day. The next volume of this mini-series within the setting journals will have to wait however until after the season is scheduled to finish on Sunday, the 22nd of May. Given such, there is still time to have lots of fun on the slopes this season. Just because the cherry blossoms have now come and gone for the most part in this archipelago does not automatically mean that the present white season is over.

This volume of the setting journals is dedicated to the memory of Mr. Noriyuki Seki.