soubriquet 0 Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 Thanks very much SnowJapan for two passes for Yamagata Zao Onsen. Here are some snaps. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 nice one Soubs Link to post Share on other sites
sunrise 0 Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 Oh wow, you really got them this time! Looks like you had a great time! Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 Originally Posted By: soubriquet Love this one. A real 'Wish I was There' moment. Link to post Share on other sites
HoTRoD 2 Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 Fantastic. I really do want to go there. What was the snow like? Link to post Share on other sites
SerreChe 2 Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 Was thinking the same about this picture. Beautiful pic, well done Soub. Zao looks flat though... Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 wow, so many monsters. Bit scarey. Link to post Share on other sites
2pints-mate 0 Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 Lovely. It just looks different from other resorts I have been to in Japan until now (admittedly not a huge number). Link to post Share on other sites
HoTRoD 2 Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 It sure does look very dramatic. Link to post Share on other sites
Zaoman 0 Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 Nice photos soubriquet. Great place. Highly recommended. Come and visit. Link to post Share on other sites
quattro 1 Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 looks really cool there. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 what actually makes those monsters? more than snow drift. Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted March 11, 2008 Author Share Posted March 11, 2008 OK. Just got back from 2 days at Appi, thanks SnowJapan for the free tickets. Sunrise, the first day was a bit rugged, but I got an early start on the second and conditions were fantastic. HotRod. It was snowing heavily on the way there, and it stopped when I arrived. Very misty at the top though. Day 2 I dug out the powder skis and had a great morning of fresh powder in the side country. It was fresh and light enough for an old man with a bad knee to feel like a real hero. Sereche, you dog . Volcanic terrain (like Zao) is never going to be as steep as metamorphic terrain (like Hakuba). It's still an interesting mountain to explore though, with lots to surprise and delight. It's very different from my other Japan experience, 2pints, but that's not necessarily saying much. thursday. They are trees coated with hoar frost. The top of the mountain is pretty much shrouded in cloud most of the winter. It freezes out when the supercooled water drops seed onto the trees. I was lucky to get a clear morning. I also had a thick layer of frost build up on my ski poles, the first time I've seen that. Link to post Share on other sites
SerreChe 2 Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 Sorry Soub, could not help it ;-). Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted March 11, 2008 Author Share Posted March 11, 2008 It was a very interesting contrast to ski 2 days at Zao last week, and 2 days at Appi, this. Zao is quite poorly laid out and difficult to navigate. There is no way to avoid walking in some places. This particularly affects the boarders, and the savvy locals were all using leads to take their boards for a walk . The town itself is unplanned, with steep and narrow streets, and of course the hydrogen sulphide hangs heavy in the air. Appi is well planned, easy to navigate and generously laid out. However, getting around the mountain at Zao is a challenge. The terrain is highly varied, and you get a real feeling of exploring the mountain. Turn a corner, the slope, the piste and the vista change dramatically. Appi is steep at the top, middling in the middle and flat at the bottom. Pistes are wide, with very little change in slope. Not wishing to bag it, but monotonous comes to mind. I'm sure it would great on an epic powder day, but you really need the conditions to be right. Zao would always have something to offer even if the snow was poor, but we get an awful lot of snow in Yamagata. An added bonus for me was that soubriquette managed to find some time for Zao. It was her first day off since November, weekends included. Link to post Share on other sites
Ken of Kentropolis 0 Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Fabulous. Thanks for sharing that soubs. Link to post Share on other sites
sunrise 0 Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Nice. I'm not surprised that one pic made it to the photo of the moment.... Link to post Share on other sites
2pints-mate 0 Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Quote: I also had a thick layer of frost build up on my ski poles How cold was it up there soubs? Looks great, I really will go there next year. I will. Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted March 13, 2008 Author Share Posted March 13, 2008 It wasn't particularly cold. Minus 2-3 was about it, just the freezing fog (cloud) was falling out as ice. I've had it happen in the UK, riding a motorbike in freezing fog. When I got off the bike after about 30 miles, sheets of ice cracked and fell off me. Never skiing though. This trip to Zao was an eye opener. After 4 years I'm starting to build a picture of Tohoku skiing, and this was by far the best so far. There's more to see though. There's also a trick to the navigation, which can't be read from the piste map. Wild horses can't drag the information from my lips, but maybe a bottle of red will Link to post Share on other sites
BillTheBinMan 0 Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 I'll have to remember that. Great photographs, looks like a good place to be. Link to post Share on other sites
beanbag 0 Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 That place looks fantastic. Pity it is (or seems to be) not near any other major places. Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted March 14, 2008 Author Share Posted March 14, 2008 That's true, Tohoku ski jo's are generally fairly small. Zao is the biggest I've been to yet. It does attract a lot of visitors from Korea and China though, because you can fly direct to Sendai International, and it's less than an hour by bus from there. Link to post Share on other sites
daver 0 Posted March 16, 2008 Share Posted March 16, 2008 nice soubs! i was getting all nostalgic over those photos. soubs is bang on with that mountain, lots of strange planning problems, and the mountain can be flat. there are tricks to riding it properly. BUT, if you know how it is a real treat. Link to post Share on other sites
HeatherLocklearRocks 1 Posted March 16, 2008 Share Posted March 16, 2008 What's with the strange planning and lifts there then? I've heard that more than a few times... Link to post Share on other sites
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