[Anyone here ever worked at a resort in Japan?]

In answer to Ocean. If you worked 4 a ski-field and are caught going out of bounds you would most likely instantly lose your job. I don't recommend working for a ski-field as usually days-off are very limited and generally the better the snow the fewer you get. Working for a nearby hotel or something is more practical. If you have a season pass and are working somewhere else you just need to be weary. If caught you should get a warning before anything major happens such as losing your pass. I did write some further details about where I worked but it has since disappeared and I can't be stuffed writing it up again.

[Anyone here ever worked at a resort in Japan?]

My first season was at Freeden Fort Hotel which is just below the first lift at Ski Jam Katsuyama. I can't speak highly enough of the place as everything was laid on. Lift pass, accommodation and food(was great but overindulged at times)was all taken care of. My work included waitering, yukikaki(clearing snow)and bartending but more often than not the guests partyed in their rooms so that gave cocktail making practise time. This hotel was awesome to work 4 and they offered to pay any female workers airfare from New Zealand. By the way, if anyone is prepared to offer likewise for this coming season to me I'm open 2 offers. I had a hugely kind japanese guy ring around a host of ski-fields on my behalf. You do need to perservere or have some contacts, I also prepared my C.V. in japanese. As with ski-fields on earth theres always some negative and the snow wasn't always great. But, occasionaly there was powder, a reasonable super table top and a few knarely tree runs. In answer to Ocean-as I was working at an independent hotel(I wouldn't recommend working for a ski-field)so going out of bounds wasn't a bigie. I had a couple of epic runs under the lift and the liftees would get fired 4 doing likewise. Last season I was at Furano and once had the sirens go off at me but it just makes ya go that bit quicker. Furano was great 4 free-riding. On a sick pow day a run down kuma-otoshi will seriously make you not want to work again. From some accounts the snow is the best in the world and it's as close as u can get to surfing on snow. Only problem is the snowfalls are not as often as I'd like. The decision to destroy the park was a shocker and snowboarders are second fiddle here. I was at Edel Wermer hotel 5 mins from bottom of Kita-no-Mine gondola. They were friendly enough but the conditions were less than ideal. I had to pay 60,000 my season pass, my wage was 100 yen less, I had to make a contribution to dinners which were not as tasty as Freeden Fort and accommodation was a hassle. A positive was I largely only worked after 5.00pm so my days were freed up. Theres bound to be other hotels out there like Freeden Fort but it would be hard to beat. I do have a ni-kyuu qualification but I don't see the language as a major barrier. After all, a lot of the work isn't rocket science such as washing dishes and serving food. You just learn faster in this kind of environment but obviously a basic understanding of japanese would be better. If your japanese was in the early stages going with a friend would be more suitable. If you get stressed out there is no better thearpy than being able to go boarding every day. The ironical thing about snowboarding in Japan is I hardly ever had to wait in queue. While the queues in New Zealand can get ridiculous-this season I once waited over 40 mins at Cardrona.

[What's the season like down there then?]

Was a wicked start to the season with Coronet actually having some powder. Since it's returned to concrete peak and we're getting picture perfect day after day. There's probably more chance of sushi getting thrown away for free than it snowing again. Treble Cone is where it's at, 20-30cm of fresh POW seemed like a early christmas a few weeks back. But you do have to hike your arse off to get amongst most of it. There's some pretty unreal terrain even though the snow maybe not always be on par with the nihon variety. I think you'd be crazy to buy a new board here-some fields would more appropriately be called rock fields. All in all it's been a helluva lot of fun so far but I'm not overly gloating as a financial miracle would have to happen for me to wing my way over for your next season-and that'll be more gutting with japan's over supply of powder there for the taking.

[Is Japanese language difficult?]

There are some aspects of japanese which make it quite easy. Notably the pronunciation which is certainly easier than that of english. A solid base will get you far so those not into study may find it harder, although at the same time their oral skills may be quicker to develop. Best advice I can give is to work on a ski-field for at least a season and your ability can only sky-rocket. More importantly you can combine learning the lingo with having wicked powder at your doorstep every morning.(nothing gets better than that) Beats traveling 2 hours a day to get up slopes as I'm presently doing in New Z at present. Sort out a hotel where you can work soley at night and have accommodation, meals, liftpass, onsen entry and the list goes on of benefits you can get provided-I tell ya.

[Absolutely most frustrating thing about Japan resorts]

I can't work out the logic that because of a couple of serious injuries they decide to close off a park at Furano. Does this mean if similar injuries occur on the main course the whole ski-field gets closed? maybe it's better not to get an answer on this one.