Metabo Oyaji

No relation to you, Ms. Rocks?

2014 FIS Freestyle Fukushima Mogul Competition at Grandeco, 5 April:

I wonder if they will consider extending their season with all this snow. Strange year in general for snow fall. Slow start, but doesn't seem to want to quit, either.

Baby Cheese, from the exclusive Family Mart Collection, with Ichido Ha Tabete Itadakitai Kunsei Cheese, in the Grandeco gondola:

Shirely yer not complainin'! Merely an observation. For example, here is a photo that could have been taken in every other storefront in Aizu-Wakamatsu:

Yikes, mid-winter storm conditions at Grandeco today:

What's with the new sub-titling font being used by Houdou Station? Looks like some kind of comic font...

What operating system are you using?

Scarily strong winds on the Ban-Etsu this evening. Supposed to snow lightly tonight and tomorrow; no snow in evidence yet in Aizu-Wakamatsu, though a veritable storm of of Haruka Ayase posters all over the place. Dust on crust tomorrow, perhaps? I'll take it!

Or late-season.

Those lake reflection shots are spectacular, especially this one: That one alone beats a thousand face shots.

Ha ha, not surprised you'd like the dog-friendly aspect. That pension was a big reason I chose Appi in the first place. Also wanted somewhere big enough to warrant spending a few days there. Some time would also like to check out Geto and Shizukuishi.

I could imagine that, snowdude. You're up off Yatsugatake, right? Looking down on the areas around it.

Devastating riposte, TK.

This Saturday will be my 10th. Actually pretty respectable, by my standards. Much better than I thought it was going to be, at least.

Nice. That's the old Olympic mountain, right? Did you ski the old downhill course?

Cheers, folks. Yeah, it does not seem really your type of scenery, muikabochi. More of the "on top of the world, looking down on all the ants" kind of thing. Actually quite nice to stand there and take it in in person, but not necessarily the most interesting when rendered photographically. And it was indeed pretty quiet, due to the time of year and week (Sun.-Wed.) I guess. The T-bar is pretty good, actually. Well, its location is, anyway.

Pension Mutti: Did I mention the food?　Every meal excellent: The second night's dinner was an amazing washoku spread -- the one time I didn't bring my camera to the table. Local Iwate sake, Washi no O. The pension owner disclaimed that Iwate sakes are not generally that well-known, but this one (a very small brewery) was quite good. To be sure, I tried it every night there: Omiyage for the pup, compliments of the pension owner:

Permanently closed course on Second Gelaende side: Upper Ootaka course: Upper Hayabuse course: Sailer side: Top of Nishimori Gelaende: Poma lift seen from pair lift: Not our pup, just someone found hanging out around the base building entrance: Inside the Red House:

In addition to the skier-only courses, there is a nominally boarders-only park area, but they do allow sufficiently gnarly skiers in there too, so not quite a fair balance (no, I did not consider myself gnarly enough to enter): On a skier-only lift: The Red (?) House on-hill restaurant: T-bar:

Appi Kogen, Iwate Visited Appi Kogen for the first time. Late March, following a snowfall; the weather changed during our stay from from winter to pure spring conditions. The ski area is mostly arrayed around the peak of Maemoriyama. The main base area is at the bottom of the Central Gelaende, with the Sailer Gelaende to looker's left of that, and the Second Gelaende to the left of Sailer. To looker's right of the Central Gelaende is a single lift going up the adjacent Nishimoriyama. One feature of this ski area is a skier-only zone between the Central Gelaende and the Nishimori Ge

Good to know.

660 cc, innit?

I hope this is not considered off-topic, but I would just like to take this opportunity to say: Tsugaike Kogen

Haven't fired a gun since I was a kid, skeets and targets. Never hunted animals with a gun, though have slaughtered chickens with an axe. (Yes, they really do run around after their heads are cut off.) Wouldn't trust myself with a gun now, though -- sharp pencils scare me now.