HelperElfMissy 42 Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Firstly, thank you very much to SnowJapan for hosting so many incredible competitions and giveaways throughout the season. You guys do an incredible job of bringing together this vibrant community. The give-aways form an important part of this dynamic, providing exposure for accommodation providers and resorts, as well as tempting us to try somewhere new. I would also like to thank Tony (TJ Oz) from White Horse for his generous hospitality, for making the effort to come and have a drink with us on more than one occasion and for the great restaurant recommendations. And lastly we would like to thank the sensational Sean and Sarah from Double Black. For this young and dedicated Hotham couple nothing was too much trouble. Thanks you for making us feel like part of the family. After the worst storms in Perth for 50 years, and a plane delayed by an hour and a half we were finally on our way. And that was where we left the difficulties behind us. Travel from Perth to Hakuba could not have been easier. We took the Narita Express from Terminal 2 to Tokyo Station, quickly transferred to the Asama Shinkansen (signs were SO easy to follow) and were collected at Nagano Station by the sensational Sean for an easy trip in the Double Black Shuttle bus. One for Cheeseman - cheese heading to Nagano on the Asama Shinkansen Double Black is a great lodge, with a really friendly atmosphere. Our room had lovely outlooks, private ensuite with bath and a really comfortable bed. We were the last guests of the season, which I thought was a shame as there was still so much left to offer of the season. The bar and restaurant was a nice place to hang out and in peak season I reckon it would be jumping. It also offered Male and Female Onsen’s, and a very generous sized drying and ski storage room. Thursday the 25th of March. Sean took us to Happoone, and came out with us for the first run. Unfortunately we do not have many photo’s from that day as the weather was not really with us. The first run was the best run of the day, and we were thankful we got on the mountain early. It was a thrill to see all the infrastructure from the Olympic’s, and getting photo’s of the Downhill start meant we ended up feeling completely retarded amongst the big moguls. We were amazed by the size of the restaurants on mountain. The sheer number of seating was more than I have seen anywhere, and that includes Niseko, Rusutsu and Zermatt. It was pretty empty when we were there, but does it EVER get full? It is huge! We called it a day early, rain, poor visibility and tired travelers meant the Onsen was more attractive than the mountain by about 1.30pm. Onsen, and an easy afternoon saw us refreshed and out for dinner at Zen. Lovely staff and some friendly locals who were very encouraging of the Gaijin getting into the Horse Sashimi! Friday the 26th of March. Was plenty of snow!! Sarah dropped us at Hakuba 47 in the morning, and we were very excited that the weather was playing ball. It was snowing, but the rain was gone, thank goodness. It was a day of extremes, and I was just amazed to be able to go top to bottom progressing through a good layer of fresh dry snow, to hard packed a little over half way to the bottom, to soft sugary, but very ride-able, slush at the very bottom. We spent the entire morning up high in the Alps-Daira area, loving every minute in the dry fresh snowfall, playing in and out of the piste finding some joy and some pain, but always a lot of laughs. Both Papa and myself remarked at how much Goryu/47 reminded us of Rusutsu. We ran it in from the top corner of the Alps 4th chair to the base at Iimori for lunch at the fabled MOS Burger. I was more impressed with the resort than the burger, fella’s … sorry, but the MOS Burger didn’t really do it for me. Would you choose this... Over this....? The piste was a bit hard packed and visibility not so great as we came down the Champion Dynamic Course, so we took the Woody Course instead of trying the expert course - and that reminded me of the track we took off the mountain in Zermatt each day, except for here it was about twice as wide and with a safety barrier on the ’drop’ side. Much nicer!!! Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted March 31, 2010 Author Share Posted March 31, 2010 Not only was there every condition conceivable on the one mountain, there was every condition on the one run. We decided to follow Route 1 in the afternoon, and ended up on Route 6 because we just couldn’t see where we were going. We found our way back to Route 1, and when we popped out below the cloud the view was absolutely breathtaking. And especially so as only 100m further up the mountain we would have been lucky to see our hands in front of us! We ticked off every lift, with the exception of a couple of the beginner lifts in the Toomi zone and the Iimori Zone area(piste looked a bit on the patchy side there), and ticked off almost every groomed run. A fantastic day. We would gladly spend the day at 47/Goryu again. Dinner at Hie, thanks for the recommendation TJ! We loved the Yukke, the Basashi (Horse Sashimi) and baked avocado! Plenty of Sake consumed also. Would eat there again in a heartbeat. Saturday brought us a travel day, but we could not go to the airport without first stopping to see the spectacle of the Sakura opening! We dumped our baggage at the Cloak room near Gransta at Tokyo Station and then jumped on the subway back to Ueno for a good 3 hour walk to flower and people watch. It was a good way to break up 3 hours of travel to Tokyo and 10 hours of travel to Perth. A number of months ago the question was asked “What is the shortest time you would come to Japan for?†Asked and answered. Four days. Two days on the snow. It really was a flying visit, and we said there is no way we would bring the entire family for such a short time, but we enjoyed the pace of it for the two of us, for a change. Thanks to everyone who has helped make my love affair with Japan over the past 3 years so special, and especially to those who made this first trip based on Honshu so memorable. Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 178 Posted March 31, 2010 SnowJapan Admin Share Posted March 31, 2010 Very glad that you had fun Mamabear. And thank you for the comments, we will continue to do our best at doing what we do. These things wouldn't happen without the co-operation of the places that donate the prizes, so a big public thanks to them too. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Nice report Mamabear! Sounds like you had a lot of fun in that short short time. [You put my current 'not putting enough effort into getting out there even though I live closeby' into shame! I need to do something about that.] PS Need to get the cheese shot in that thread for Cheeseman. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 what a delightful report. Whereabouts in Hokkaido is that? Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Looks great, both on and off piste. The bed on tatami looks unusual, but comfortable. Cheese looks good, too. Quote: sorry, but the MOS Burger didn’t really do it for me. That's ok, you're forgiven. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 nice MB even altough you didn't make it to Yoyogi!! Next time, come in late Jan, Feb, check out Hakuba again, Shiga Kogen (I personaly fell in love with this place this NY's), Kagura, Zao, Nozawa, Myoko and the countless others that are here....although I SOOOOOO loved Niseko!! Link to post Share on other sites
SantaCruz 0 Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Nice report MB! Looks like a solid place. Link to post Share on other sites
stemik 14 Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Great report - I am glad you enjoyed the mountains here. Actually - i think I saw you guys at Iimori Rest House! Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted March 31, 2010 Author Share Posted March 31, 2010 From MOS Burger Stemik we actually sat for quite a while watching a beginner snowboarding lesson with about 10 Japanese teenagers/young adults in it. It was a lot of fun to just watch as they learned their first turns. I got all excited for them thinking about how some of them would look back on that as the day the bug bit hard in future years. Link to post Share on other sites
TJ OZ 0 Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Glad to hear you had such a great time Mamabear. It was nice meeting you and the +1 and good to hear you got to see the sakura. The first time I saw them I finally understood what all the fuss was about. Link to post Share on other sites
r45 4 Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Bed and chairs on tatami sure does look strange. Good to hear you had fun after coming from so far for so short a time Mamabear! Link to post Share on other sites
TJ OZ 0 Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Originally Posted By: Metabo Oyaji Looks great, both on and off piste. The bed on tatami looks unusual, but comfortable. We did this at the first hotel and we had news crews coming in every week. I didn't realise it would cause such a stir. My thoughts were that I love the look and feel and design of the tatami and shoji but it is difficult getting up off a futon the morning after a day on the mountain. Good for the experience but on a 2 week holiday it is just too hard. Link to post Share on other sites
stemik 14 Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Originally Posted By: Mamabear From MOS Burger Stemik we actually sat for quite a while watching a beginner snowboarding lesson with about 10 Japanese teenagers/young adults in it. It was a lot of fun to just watch as they learned their first turns. I got all excited for them thinking about how some of them would look back on that as the day the bug bit hard in future years. yeah iimori is really good for teaching & learning. I was teaching 2 little kids there when I think I saw you. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted March 31, 2010 Author Share Posted March 31, 2010 So Stemik....tell me....why is it that beginner lifts are always the most difficult to get off?! I don't think I have fallen off a lift in well more than a year, and I have ridden a bucketload of lifts in that time - but I smacked down something shocking getting off the Milky Four Lift!! Was quite hilarious. Papa and I have a theory that the beginner lifts are made more difficult as a right of passage .... hee hee .... "let's see if they come back for more after these?!" Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted March 31, 2010 Author Share Posted March 31, 2010 Originally Posted By: TJ OZ Originally Posted By: Metabo Oyaji Looks great, both on and off piste. The bed on tatami looks unusual, but comfortable. We did this at the first hotel and we had news crews coming in every week. I didn't realise it would cause such a stir. My thoughts were that I love the look and feel and design of the tatami and shoji but it is difficult getting up off a futon the morning after a day on the mountain. Good for the experience but on a 2 week holiday it is just too hard. I loved the tatami mats on the floor, and it really gave a soft feel under be-socked foot. I have never actually stayed anywhere with tatami mats before - so it was a nice thing to have. But I really appreciated the comfort of a western bed. I had a futon for the first 10 years of our marriage - and I can tell you it was dang near impossible to get up out of bed 9 months pregnant with any kind of grace. I must also add that the Doona's/Quilts (whatever your preferred descriptor is) were AWESOME! They were so thick and fluffy!! I have never seen such thickly padded and fabulous a doona before. We came home to our (what was when we bought it) luxury warmth weight 4/5 doona and immediately decided to go buy a new one! Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Like you need really warm doona's in Perth MB! It never gets cold in Perth!! Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted March 31, 2010 Author Share Posted March 31, 2010 Originally Posted By: Go Native Like you need really warm doona's in Perth MB! It never gets cold in Perth!! Rubbish GN! In Winter we are often below 5C overnight, have had some quite low daytime temps as well. The biggest issue for Perth is that people and houses are not equipped for the cold weather. People do not own decent warm clothing, and their homes let in drafts, and usually have lovely big single glass panes to let out all the heat. In winter I LOVE sticking a great big fluffy doona on the bed - rather than crank up the artificial heating (just dries everything out). I turned the heater off in our room at Double Black also - was far too hot with it on. I would much rather be a tad chilly and then snuggle under the warm Doona. Doona's rock! Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Oooh 5 degrees. That's T-shirt weather up here! Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted March 31, 2010 Author Share Posted March 31, 2010 Just because you benefit from the updraft over Siberia, doesn't mean the rest of us don't get cold sometimes! I have occasionally had to take the credit card to my own windscreen in Perth - it may not have been white and fluffy - but still all iced up, and COLD. I reckon the coldest place I know on a Perth's Winters night is Rugby Training at Harvey Field, the home of Cottesloe Rugby Union - on Broome Street overlooking the ocean. When those storms roll in it is hellishly cold! Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Alright I'll concede you guys occasionaly get a little on the chilly side and that my idea of cold is decidedly altered after spending so many winters in Hokkaido. During early Feb this year we had a week where it barely got above -10 and down around -20 overnight. Now that's what I call pretty fresh. When I was in Canada there was a week in Edmonton where it barely got above -30 and I'd definitely call that rather cold. There's some towns in Siberia that average about -49 in January and that is definitely bloody cold! Perth in it's coldest month has an average max of 18 degrees and an average min of 8 degrees. Lowest temp ever recorded in the CBD is something like -1. That's a pretty mild winter you got there MB. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted March 31, 2010 Author Share Posted March 31, 2010 Yeah it is mild .... but when the majority of residents are wearing boardies, Bintang singlets and black rubber thongs (flip flops people!) - it's a bit on the nippy side. I honestly don't know why, but I have actually felt colder standing by the Rugby field in Perth, than I have wandering through heavy snow in Hirafu. Go Figure. I usually explain it away as appropriate attire making the difference. But my father was really ANTI going on a snow vacation because of his memories of being so cold in the UK as a kid. But when we took him to Thredbo last July he was amazed at how he wasn't actually cold, even when it was snowing. Maybe it is the howling wind and wet wet surrounds making it FEEL colder in Perth. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Originally Posted By: TJ OZ Originally Posted By: Metabo Oyaji Looks great, both on and off piste. The bed on tatami looks unusual, but comfortable. We did this at the first hotel and we had news crews coming in every week. I didn't realise it would cause such a stir. My thoughts were that I love the look and feel and design of the tatami and shoji but it is difficult getting up off a futon the morning after a day on the mountain. Good for the experience but on a 2 week holiday it is just too hard. Yeah i like the Japanese look, tatami floor and shoji. But I'm done with sleeping on the floor, finally get a bed on Sunday, I can't wait!! MB the futons you slept on in Oz will be very different to actual Japanese futon. Japanese futons are simply mats lying on the floor. Usually what we call futons in the west, is more like a sofa-bed style, with wooden slats etc. For what it's worth, when I go snowboarding, I'm that tired that I will sleep anywhere and often enjoy sleeping on the futons and using a bag of plastic pegs as a pillow!! Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted March 31, 2010 Author Share Posted March 31, 2010 Yes Tubby - you are correct ... our futon was permanent and did not fold or roll up - and it was a low bed, slat base with headboard. We also paid for an upgrade "woose" mattress, with a foam insert in the middle to make it a bit softer. But take it from me - there is no sleeping on a hard futon with plastic peg pillows at Double Black. The bedding is excellent to say the least - and I am a bit fussy about my bedding. Solid and supportive with great comfort levels. NOTHING I would change about the beds at DB! Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 yeah For sure. It looks real nice. Western futons are still better than Japanese ones......I really can't wait until Sunday and I can sleep in a bed regularly again!! Link to post Share on other sites
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