scot

Quote: Originally posted by veronica: Did you get to see the ice monsters? I did actually. They were absolutely amazing. I'm glad I risked bringing my camera along that day. They were almost worth the trip just by themselves, with great skiing as a free bonus =). -Scot

BTW in case anyone reads the above -- I did not have internet access at Bokunouchi, oops. Had a good time at Zao though. Nothing real challenging but still had a great day of skiing with good powder on the slopes and more falling almost all day.

Kintaro, thanks for all the info. We got a room at the accomodation listed here for Zao Onsen (Bokunouchi, http://www.snowjapan.com/e/hotel/viewhotel.php?hotid=72) starting tonight (Monday) and my wife will take the bus & train back to Sendai on Tuesday (her meeting is not until noon). We're just heading off to the train for Yamagata from Tokyo now, so we'll be in Yamagata this afternoon where I will be trying to figure out where to rent skis. I think I'll have internet access at Bokunouchi and I'll check back on this thread later today. If you're riding at Zao on Tuesday I'd love

Any advice on ski rental in Japan? Am I likely to be able to rent for a reasonable price at the resort or should I rent nearby, like in Yamagata, before I head to the resort?

First of all -- fantastic site here. You guys do great stuff and I would be totally lost here without you =). On to the point. I'm an intermediate/advanced lifelong skier in Japan for a trip with my non-skier wife. We've found a way for me to fit in a day or possibly a day and a half of skiing while she is visiting a client in Sendai next Tuesday (1 Feb 05). I've looked over the list of resorts and reviews for Yamagata prefecture and noticed that the most popular resort (Zao Onsen) seemed to get somewhat mixed reviews. However, I'm guessing that for my one day of skiing it's stil