TR: Rusutsu Feb 4-8

[Jyves 0]

My fiancee and I left Osaka Monday afternoon, leaving from the newly built Kobe airport. Everyone in Kansai is wondering why the area needed another airport but I guess Kobe's mayors had a few contributions to pay off after the elections (or at least, that is what has been suggested). The flight to Chitose was half empty and we had an hour or two to kill at the airport before the bus pick up to our hotel at Rusutsu resort. We had some soba noodles and a small rice bowl topped with sashimi, accompanied by a local brew. A great start to an even better week. We arrived late at the hotel and quickly went to bed, not wanting to waste any useless energy watching TV.

 

The next morning welcomed us with beautiful blue skies and relatively good conditions. Sadly it had not snowed significantly in the past week or so, therefore the off-piste was all tracked-out. Fortunately, it started to snow, dump I should stay, in the afternoon so that by the time the lifts had closed late afternoon, a good 20-30cm of pure white delight had fallen. By 2:00 P.M. very few people were on the slopes (something that happened all other days as well) so we had freshies everywhere. That night, we went to bed early to make sure to get on the gondola over to Mt. Isola early the next day.

 

We woke up that morning with blue skies. Perfect weather to enjoy fresh powder turns, especially on my fiancee's birthday! We enjoyed powder all day long, riding between trees most of the day. We had first tracks under the Isola 3 chair and our tracks were discernable for most of the morning. We had to stop a few times because my feet were hurting, especially the right one where I seem to be developping a 6th toe. We were amongst the last people to leave Mt. Isola that day, exhausted but elated by the day's riding.

 

In the evening, we had dinner at the French restaurant of the resort. We had a seafood salad, some grilled fish with a citrus sauce, a steak, cheese and desert. Perhaps not as satisfying as the all-you-can-eat crab dinner we had the night before, but the atmosphere was certainly more fitting for a birthday.

 

The next day, we went on a back-country tour with the help of a local guide. It was my present for my fiancee's birthday. We had to climb quite a bit and it took us nearly four hours to the top. The day was splendid and gave us amazing view fo the surrounding mountains and snow-covered trees. I took some pictures with a disposable camera, my digicam's focus being broken by water damage I fear. The ride down was pretty intense at time, providing some epic powder turns, but we had to do quite a bit of traversing and hiking to get back to the hotel. The next time we go on such a tour, I'll be better informed on what to ask for on such a tour. We were quite happy with it, my fiancee feels quite proud about her accomplishment, but it could have been better nonetheless, not that we regret anything.

 

Finally Friday we enjoyed resort riding again in the morning, still finding patches of untracked powder in my areas. We sooner than later we had to come back to get on the bus back to the airport. There, we had some ramen, bought obligation-souvenirs (in Japan, you are expected to buy some souvenirs, usually snacks, for your co-workers to 'apologize' for taking some holidays) before boarding the plane back.

 

As with our first trip there, we really enjoyed Rusutsu. While not as big as Niseko, it has far fewer customers, making the whole experience much more enjoyable. It has been voted Best Small Ski Resort by The Great Skiing & Snowboarding Guide so maybe it will not stay so peaceful for long. We have certainly observed more Australian visitors this time around.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

pics, pics we want pics!!!

[Jyves 0]

As I've said, my digicam doesn't work. When I develop them, I'll see if I can scan them and then put them up, but usually scans do not offer great resolution (mine at least) and take a lot of memory.

[me jane 0]

Sounds like a perfect trip!

When you take them into the photo shop just ask for a CD aswell and they will scan the negs and put them on a disc for you.

[NoFakie 45]

Nice TR.

 

I lived in Kansai until 2000. So they built Kobe Airport in the end? There was so much opposition to it.

[Jyves 0]

 Originally Posted By: me jane

Sounds like a perfect trip!
When you take them into the photo shop just ask for a CD aswell and they will scan the negs and put them on a disc for you.

Perfect? Well, more powder would have been better, but really, I can't complain.

And thanks for the CD suggestion, I didn't know they did it. Will inquire about the price...

As for the airport, Mr Wiggles, there is still opposition to it and they figure it's gonna take like a 100 years to recoup the costs.

[Kingofmyrrh 0]

Nice report, gotta love Rusutsu.

[thursday 1]

wow, glad you managed to get a guide at last. Always carry a backup camera, ALWAYS. Even a fone cam is better than no cam.

[blutek 0]

We just had 5 days at Rusutsu finishing Wednesday 12th - did it dump down on our departure day - still had a great time.

[indosnm 0]

Blutek, had you had 5 days from the 12th you would have been on of the happiest campers around!

 

I gotta check out Rusutsu soon.

[Jyves 0]

For those who wanted pics, I've added some on my page.

 

http://www.snowjapan.com/e/insider/photo_section.php?userid=Jyves&category=1

 

(thanks for the link SJ, I hadn't thought of it )

 

They're very low res, with a throw-away camera, so please do not expect too much.

[SnowJapan 178]

And here's a link to them Jyves

 

http://www.snowjapan.com/e/insider/photo_section.php?userid=Jyves&category=1

 

Thank you!