Japan Powder Camps

The transfer to the airport was due to leave at 11.45am.  I was happy for a long lie, long shower, slow pack and a big breakfast before leaving.  However, Warren had different things on his mind.  Powder skiing and photography.  We passed others in the group who had cleverly packed the night before and were having a leisurely last mornings skiing.  Whilst we were about to head out on a photo shoot which usually takes up a whole day and a lot of energy. 

We popped our head in the Patrol hut and let the guys know we were heading off limits and patrol man Yoshimi Saito very kindly escorted us. For some silly reason, I took the lead and started the boot pack.  Nobody complained!  However, after a bit of time, I stopped and gave the signs that I wasn’t up for taking the front and Warren overtook and then Yoshomi overtook Warren.  We kept stopping and with our best sign language hinting that we were going to immediately use the area below to shoot photos. However, he wasn’t having any of it.  He kept pointing over the mountain, obviously trying to tell us he knew of a better place.  We followed him further, keeping an eye on the time as we couldn’t explain to him that we had very little time to explore.

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However, we arrived at where he wanted to show us, and it was great.  I tried very hard to contain my excitement.  It was absolutely beautiful and the snow was deep and soft.  It was perfect shooting conditions.  We shot and shot and got deeper and deeper.  We were both in our element and completely forgot about time.

It was getting dangerously close to the time our bus leaving for the airport and there wasn’t another one that day!  However, we kept saying, ‘just one more’.  Near the end, before the long traverse out, we knew we had overshot our safe time and we were dangerously close to missing the bus.  We hadn’t even packed!  We followed Yoshimi who made the boot pack all the way out.  At the end he laughed with relief at finishing the long and tiring climb out of the deep snow.  We wanted to tell him how happy we were with him.  We tried to offer him money but I think he took offence.  In the end Warren just hugged him!  I thought it quite funny because it wasn’t something I had ever seen Warren do before, and the patrol hugged him right back laughing heartily. So I joined in and gave him a huge hug too.  No words were needed.

Then panic set in as the moment of exhilaration was over.  It was 11.30am, the bus was at 11.45am and we had to get on the lift to the 8^th floor and pack.  Warren ran to reception with the skis and poles and I went up to the room and started throwing everything into the bags with no order whatsoever.  What a mess!  Jon came up to the room with Warren and we all ran to the bus with the bags.  We got on the bus in a shambles! 

We had an hour to the airport and no way of getting to our clothes to change.   It was hysterical on arrival at the airport in Sapporo.  We got into departures and everyone looked in amazement at Warren who was fully kitted out in his ski kit, including his ski boots which I at least managed to get out of.  Warren headed through the airport in his ski boots to the toilets to get changed, whilst I unpacked the mess and started to pack our bags.  I could feel all the staring eyes on us.  It was priceless!  We got on the flight sweaty, smelly and wiped out. Got to Osaka where we had a hotel booked for the night and went for Japanese food for yet another final time. 

That was the real end of our trip.  First thing in the morning we were flying back to Heathrow.  Roll on next year!!  Due to the success of this year and an amazing achievement with our Japanese relations, we have already set dates for next year’s course.  10^th – 21^st February 2010.  Hope you can join us!

Everyone picked the wrong day to be skiing with hangovers!!  It had been snowing consistently all night and the powder was nice.  It was a final Freeskiing day, so some made it up the mountain and some didn’t.  James Mutter from Furano Tourism drove Warren, myself, Neil and Felix a one hour’s drive to Kamui to ski.  On the way we got the chance to see some of the local areas and passed a tiny ski resort which was dominated by a huge Japanese Buddhist statue, the ‘Kannon‘ which towers over the piste.

We arrived at Kamui, the tiny private resort owned by ski legend Takaya Maeda who is actually the father of the guide who took us off the back of Furano the other day.  He is well into his 60’s and still ski’s every day, the deep powder in his resort.  He has designed his resort for likeminded skiers with every type of skiing from a downhill course, to accessible off piste tree skiing to regular pistes and moguls.

The sky was blue and everything was white.  Every branch on every tree was covered in a layer of snow which sparkled brightly against the blue sky.  It was breath taking!  Warren and I started to hike up over the back.  The skiing on the first hike wasn’t challenging at all, but the powder was very good.  After the descent, we took the gondola back up to the restaurant at the top where we had been told by the group who had visited a few days earlier, that the Australian owner made the best pies.  We had a pie and then Mark Weston (the main man with the pies), told us where we could find some better and steeper ski areas where nobody else would have skied.  We headed over there and trekked through the forest for ages in the deep snow until we found what we were looking for. 

There was so much to do!  We shot for a while until we had lost height. Then we started to head back to the resort.  It was a long walk out as we had gone quite far out of resort, but the silence and the colours were beautiful.  After about 20 minutes we got back to the resort and did it all again!  We bumped into Chuck on the second time round.  He was an Australian guide who had taken us skiing up the Asahidake volcano last year.  It’s a small world!  Amazing who you bump into in the middle of nowhere.

Eventually we realised we had really overshot the time we had intended getting back, and James, Neil and Felix would have been waiting for us.  The lifts were closed and it was starting to get darker, so we decided it was time to head back.  Once back, James took us to meet Mr Takaya Maeda.  He was one of those people you look at and see someone who has done it all.  He showed us his one leg that was much shorter than the other due to the amount of times he had broken it skiing.  There were powder shots of him all over the walls.  He didn’t speak a word of English but James translated and we all bowed and laughed a lot.  What a legend!

We got back to the hotel in time for dinner and very tired.  A last Japanese meal was had with the group.  The hotel did their best to make it a good one to end on.  We will miss it!

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It was a pretty cold day today.  Some weather was obviously on its way.  We had a guide (Takaya Maeda) and two ski patrol (Yoshimi Saito and Yoshio Takahashi) provided by Furano again to lead us into the normally non-accessible terrain. After a transceiver check, we headed over to the lift.  The lift was closed due to the wind. However, amazingly the patrol and lift guys turned it on for us to get up to the top of the mountain and turned it off again to stop anyone else getting on it.  This was the kind of treatment that made the group feel really special.  A big thank you once again to the resort and the patrol!

 
Today really hit home to everyone at how lucky we are to be given this exclusive permission and how amazing it was to feel like we were setting history! It was very special. Kind of link Heli Skiing without the Helicopter cost!!  We headed off under the barriers again into the off limits, off piste terrain.  The patrol stood extremely professional and scanned the area for any potential hazards.  One of the patrol was on a pair of Volkl Kuro which got great respect from the group!

 
The traverse in was very exposed to the wind and it was cold with the wind chill.  The group were pretty quiet for the 10 minute traverse not knowing what to expect, mostly expecting a wind crust and some technically difficult skiing. However, it was totally the opposite.  Once into the trees and on the descent, the snow was powder soft. Jon said ‘that he had ‘never been so pleased to see loads of trees to get out of the Siberian wind’.  We were no longer exposed but protected by the trees, and the fun began again!

 
A quick stop for lunch and then back out again.  Warren and the guide studied the map and this time decided to ski a different side of the mountain where not even Warren and myself had skied before.  It was a nice little area and good one to finish on.  More trees and deep deep powder.  What a way for the last coaching day of the trip to end!

 
Everyone was very sad that the Academy days had come to an end.  It had been a fantastic trip with the best group of people, and certainly everyone will be keeping in touch and planning ski trips together again.  Some are already planning to come to Japan with us again next year!
 
At the end of the skiing, we all headed off to the Ningle Terrace which was a few hundred metres from the hotel. The terrace is a walkway in the woods hosting about 10 tiny chalet style craft shops.  It was beautiful.  It looked like a Christmas Card setting!  The snow was falling quite heavy and the little chalets were lit up in the dense forest.

 
We stopped off at a coffee house where you grind your own coffee.  There was a big window behind the bar which looks out into the forest of Silver Birch. Some of us took off to buy silver Snowflake necklaces which a lady was hand making in one of the craft huts.  Others took off for a shower to prepare for the night of Karaoke ahead.

…And what a night it was.  Everybody got in the mood after a few (many) drinks at the Uta Dorobo Karaoke Bar which translates as the Song Robber.  Karaoke is hugely popular in Japan and you cannot leave there without taking part in it at least once. The whole group got involved in Karaoke until the early hours.  It was the perfect ending to the Academy coaching course and an ending that left many people with sore heads for their freeskiing day on Saturday.

From the words of Jules ‘Fabulous skiing aside, there were more great moments ‘off-piste’ - the friendly dance off with the locals, and the killer Karaoke night in Furano.  Great crowd and great fun!’  That about sums it up.

A short bus trip was taken this morning to a small private resort called Kamui, one of ‘Asahikawa’s best kept secrets’.  As it was privately owned, there were no limits of where to ski, and off piste skiing was both accessible and acceptable.  There were also 10 perfectly groomed pistes for both beginner and experienced skiers.  The snow was really good today and everything was absolutely covered.  Due to Kamui’s positioning, being nestled in the hills and sheltered from the winds, the powder snow is protected and with the no-off piste restrictions, there really is a lot to do.  The trees looked mystical today, like something out of a fairy tale.   

 
As today was a Freeski day, the whole group were free to ski at their leisure wherever and with whomever they liked.  Most of the group took this opportunity to take photos of each other skiing.  It was a good chance to put into practice what was being coached ll week.  Tom and Rob joined the group in the fun and the sun and let rip!  A quick lunch was had at an Australian owned mountain restaurant.  The owner Mark Weston proudly presents the most delicious hot Aussie pies, which were a nice change from the delicious Sushi and noodles being eaten every day on the mountain.  After getting pied up, it was back up the mountain for some more fresh tracks.

 
Sadly it came to an end and at 4pm the group met back at the private bus and headed back to Furano for dinner and an early night in preparation for the next day’s coaching and off piste guiding.

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Just when everybody thought it couldn’t get any better!  We met with our guide named Eto, and two ski patrol who were provided by the resort of Furano to look after our group for the day in the off piste terrain. Warren ran a transceiver check with everybody in the group before we accessed the off piste terrain. He talked about the area, what to look out for, potential dangers, general ski etiquette and also about respecting the mountain. He spoke highly of the patrol, and the job they were doing for the mountain.  This instilled confidence in the Patrol for what we were doing which seemed to make the whole operation work really smoothly.

We are the first Powder Camps ski coaching organisation in history to ever be granted this exclusive permission to run our camps off piste in Furano, so it was good to be able to show the Patrol the level of what was being performed by the Academy coaches.  They were very happy and were positive and patient throughout the entire day, despite the language barrier.

Then the moment we had all been waiting for, the patrol lifted the barrier and off we all went into a wilderness of trees and untouched powder.  Our guide Eto (Hiroshi Etori) led the way with Warren and the two patrol (Yoshimi Saito and Mitsuo Morita) took the back with Rob moving from middle to back.  The walk in was breath taking.  The trees were coated in powder.  Everything was whiter than white. It was truly magical. Everybody had grins from ear to ear, and the fact that they were the first group to ever do this made the whole experience even more thrilling.  A shared experience to remember forever.

In the winter in Furano, cold winds blow in from Siberia across Japan’s Okhotsk Sea and dump on average of 30-40 feet of some of the lightest powder snow in the world.  The trees in the out of bounds areas protect the snow from any wind and the cool temperatures prevent it from warming and getting heavy.  The snow is some of the best in the world to ski and our guide knew exactly where to lead us to the best.

It wasn’t too long a walk before we arrived at the spot Eto was leading us to.  He looked down through the dense powder filled forest and glanced back at us as if to say, well this is it.  I got first tracks – a photographers prerogative!  I positioned myself for the keen bodies about to descend their best ever run.  It was a playground in paradise! One after the other, the group choose their own line.  Nick said ‘The skiing in Furano was special.  Not only because the powder was superb and the trees and environment so beautiful but the fact we were priviledged to be off-piste skiing there.  It was ceremonious’.  Once we got to the bottom of one descent, we traversed high to another, repeated this and did it again and again until there was no more to descend.  We arrived at the foot of the valley and followed a frozen stream through the silent, empty forest to the resort. 

The ski back was like a fairground ride.  We followed the valley through the trees really picking up some speed.  We were taking compressions, jumping branches, riding up banks, and the sounds of everybody laughing, whooping and cheering in the silence of the wilderness was really nice.  At the end, we arrived at the spot where Warren and I showed ‘Thanks’ to a sign on our arrival back and we re-enacted for a last photo before lunch, at great comparison from Warren’s original shot in 2008 to finally achieving his wish of bringing his Academy groups here in 2009.

During lunch, Eto headed up ahead of the group to put the boot pack into a hike he had planned for the afternoon.  We met up with the Patrol again who opened up the barrier to let us through, guarded it for a bit to make sure nobody followed and then took the back.  Warren took the front and guided the group along a 15 minute walk to the boot pack on the hike Eto had put in. Eto and Warren remained in radio contact constantly to meet us in the right place in the vast area. Planning had to go into this earlier where Warren and Eto studied a topography map together, and discussed where the best snow would be after the recent weather.

I don’t think anyone thought that the morning could be beaten, but the area we were in was absolutely magical.  It was like something out of some fairy tale movie!  The shapes formed by the branches of the trees decorated by powder white snow was fascinating to look at.  It was some of the most pretty scenery any of the group could have dreamed about.

 

We arrived at a 20 minute hike up a ridge which gave us a bit more height and descent and got us into the deeper and better snow up top.  This time, the guide and the patrol just looked at us and told us to go at our leisure. They now had confidence and trust in the Academy course and in the ability of all the skiers, so freedom was given to let rip!  Everyone spaced out and descended in their own line at their own pace.  Everyone finding their own bit of fresh powder. Once again, nobody could stop smiling at the end of the afternoon and all were ready for a night of celebration!

James Mutter from Furano Tourism had organised a night out for us in the centre of Furano. We had sushi for dinner in a Japanese restaurant and then headed into town.  James had arranged a two hour free bar for us at the Dream House Kingyo Bar.  I don’t know if he realised what he was letting himself in for!  Everyone let their hair down!  Dean was a 20 year old in a 40 year old man’s body!!  His style of break dancing was both entertaining and hilarious.  He took the floor and led everyone into a dance off with some local hip hop braniacs.  Felix didn’t let anyone down in their expectations of his dance manoeuvres either…and Warren!!!…well!!

A good night was had by all, and tomorrow seemed so far away.

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We went for an earlier start today on 1st lift as we were finishing early at 2.30pm in order to get our private transfer coach to Furano.  Yet another good day of skiing and a day for errors also.  I think tired legs and heads were to blame.  The prize wipe out of the day went to John who whilst skiing very neatly and confidently, didn’t appear to be looking where he was going.  Or perhaps it was a blind dip that saw him disappear totally from view on his video run!  One turn he was there, the next he was gone.  Warren moved the camera around the area scanning for John.  It was hilarious!  The rest of the group above him were intending to follow his line, but decided against it.  

After another good day of powder, we headed back to the hotel to get the transfer to Furano.  The transfer was approximately 4 and a half hours.  It was a great journey and gave everybody a chance to see all the local towns and villages on the way.  It was amazing how many ski resorts we passed.  Apparently there are somewhere in the region of 700 ski resorts in Japan! 

Warren, Rob and Tom made good use of the time on the coach by assessing each person in their groups individually through a one to one video analysis session.  We stopped off at a service station half way where everybody delighted in a new button on the toilets.  There was some interesting food selections, most of which created a childish behaviour!  We arrived at the new Prince Furano hotel in Furano in time for dinner.  We were met by hotel Manager Scottie who provided us with numerous free drink coupons, and made everybody feel at home.  James from Furano Tourism joined us for a drink after dinner and filled everybody with excitement as he talked about the exclusive access to the off piste terrain in Furano that was granted by the resort for the Warren Smith Ski Academy. Felix Milns, freelance ski journalist and expert skier, had arrived to join us for the latter part of our trip.  Watch out for his and Neil’s articles in the near future!

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Oh what a day!!!  The words of every individual on the course was that this was simply the best day’s skiing any of them had ever had.  It had dumped over night and was still dumping.  In the morning there was so much snow coming down and absolutely no visibility, so they had closed all the linking lifts between Annapuri, Niseko Village and Hirafu.  This didn’t stop us accessing all of the mountain though.  Warren got his skis over his shoulder and led everyone into a hike.  Tom and Rob took the middle and the back of the group so that nobody took a wrong turn in the low visibility. 

It was an exciting hike as in the most exposed area at the top of it was very windy and the snow was horizontal.  To the majority of the group, it was the most extreme conditions they had actually headed up in.  Nike said ‘The hike was like an Arctic expedition.  It was brilliant!!’  Once at the top and after a 15 minute walk across the mountain we reached the other side where Warren assured everybody the wind would not have affected because of its aspect.  He was very right!

The powder was deep and delightful!  We bounced around in it for a while having fun together and then separated into our smaller groups with coaches Warren, Rob and Tom.  Again we headed for the trees, beautiful Silver Birch, some of which were not very well spaced out and some that were nicely spread apart.  Warren’s group of advanced skiers and ski instructors (Levels 4 and 5 on the Academy Level’s system) headed for the tighter trees.  This meant using the technique the coaches had been working on for the last few days, to the best of everyone’s ability.  Tom’s group who were advanced intermediate and advanced skiers (Levels 3 and 4 on the Academy Levels system) also went into the tighter trees but took it a little slower.  Rob’s group who were advanced intermediate skiers (mostly Level 3 with a couple of Level 4 skiers) went in search of fresh powder on more open trees and powder pockets on the sides of the pistes.

Skilfully everybody bounced around the trees with rhythm, sometimes for the camera as the odd run was filmed to be analysed later by the coaches and also for memories to have forever.  We had a couple of hilarious wipe outs.  At one point, Matt took off from the top of a tight tree run with great confidence and speed, however he hit a compression without being prepared and his skis stayed in the spot whilst he was ejected up into the air and down again, head first in the snow.  I think I laughed the hardest, it was the funniest thing I had seen in ages.  However, karma smacked me back in the face and as I casually skied to the bottom of the run where the rest of the group were waiting and watching. Before I knew it, I was upside down in a pile in the snow.  I still don’t have a clue what happened!!

At the end of an amazing day, Warren’s work ethic and patience were thrown out the window as he looked down at the most amazing silver birch filled, powder deep heaven and he looked round at the group and said “**!$*’ it!!…Lets just rip it up!”  And he took off at full speed, skilfully, powerfully and speedily bouncing round the trees and throwing masses of powder up in the air around him, enjoying every last moment.  The group looked on and took this inspiration and turned it into magic.  At the end of the run, when everyone looked back at the little space between every tree, nobody could believe what they had just done.

It wasn’t all over though.  We reached the bottom of the Hirafu resort and found the paths and roads to be covered in snow.  The whole group skied down the main road in search of a Après Ski drink hole.  Neil English photographed the group skiing down the road, James managed to ride it Switch (backwards). Rather than Saki (check spelling) the group opted for a Guinness in an Irish Pub (when in Rome!), and then headed up for some night skiing.  It was astonishing!  The whole of the ski area of Hirafu was lit up with flood lights stronger than those at a football stadium.  Even off piste areas in the trees were lit up with the lights created an enchanting almost magical effect.  It was almost easier to see the contours and contrast of the snow with the dark sky and the shadows created on the powder snow by the lighting.  Ellie said of the evening ‘The night skiing was an amazing experience, powder, powder and more powder!  Can skiing get any better than this?!  Thank you Warren for bringing us here!!’.

The whole group were skiing at their leisure, not thinking about coaching and technique anymore, but enjoying the moment.  It was a playground where we bumped into each other in the trees, frequently saw James fly off something in the air and land in the soft powder.  There was nothing but laughter and excitement in the air and the weirdest thing was that the darkness almost seemed to exaggerate every sound and make you use your hearing more. It was thrilling.  Jules said ‘ The night skiing; it was the best days skiing ever!!  First powder and trees all day then the most amazing night skiing too!’.  By 8pm everybody had finished skiing and headed back to the restaurant for some dinner.  Everybody was completely wiped out but in a good way.  Tomorrow we are transferring to Furano, so skiing starting skiing earlier at 8.30pm and going onto 2.30pm still getting a full day. We’ll then be getting our coach.  Can’t wait.

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Skiing was the order of the day today.  It was interesting conditions due to the rain the previous day and the high winds also, but the snow was dumping and it was nice and cold.  Perhaps –10 to –15 with the wind chill.  The Academy coaches led us over the mountain to access areas that they knew hadn’t been exposed too much to the wind.  They headed into the trees there to the best snow. 

We found pockets of powder between the trees and had some great fun weaving in and out of the Silver Birch.  Skills for tree skiing were the focus of the day and it was impressive to see the way everyone turned out at the end of the day.  There was a bit of tree hugging in the beginning and some extremely hilarious moments.  However, the technique by the end of the day was looking tight and everybody was exhilarated at the end of it. Steve said it for everyone when he ‘That was awasome, that’s the best days skiing I’ve ever had’. 

Mt Yotei, the dormant volcano sitated in the Shikotsu-Toya National Park was visible today in breaks of the falling snow.  The wind was blowing the smell of sulphur in our direction.  It was a pretty sight but quite something else on its odour!  Tony was eager to get a picture of Mt Yotei with blue sky and it teased all day, but ‘Holiday Dad’ did it.  (Note: Annie and Tony are known as holiday mum and dad on the Academy courses because they look after everyone so very well!!)

Everybody worked hard and headed back to the hotel.  After a video analysis session, everybody headed out for a touch of night skiing.  It was quite cold but nice none the less.  A couple of foxes were seen on the snow casually walking around like they were used to the skiers.  I managed to film one of them in the morning which I was really happy with. After another delicious dinner, a quick drink at the hotel bar and then straight to bed.  Night night.  

Blimey, what a day!!  Nobody could have predicted it.  With Europe having the best season in about 10 years, Japan was having the freakiest weather in about 40 years!  We woke up to a raging storm and rain.  Everybody got up the mountain the same to make the most of it and not wimp out.  After about half an hour it was decided that the day off would be taken early – today!  And everyone decided to have a day of Japanese culture instead.  And we met some fantastic locals.  Zoe said ‘The Japanese are just so beautifully friendly - my first trip to Japan has been a revelation; culture, sush and skiing - my idea of heaven’.

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There is a free shuttle bus that runs all day circulating round all three resorts, so we decided to take that into Hirafu, stopping off at the Hilton for a Sake or 2 whilst Neil English, the well known ski journalist who was accompanying us, checked in to the new hotel to test it. Japanese busses are more on time than Swiss trains!  Some of the group came in perfect time to get it to the Hilton.  They were bang on time for its leaving time and as they got to it, it left!!  Another half an hour had to be waited for the next one!  So time went past and then they rushed out to get the next bus well in time, got on it, went to the Hilton, met everyone in there, had a drink and then got the next bus to Hirafu.  So second time lucky, they were all heading into town.  It was after a few minutes that someone pointed out the mountains were on the wrong side of the bus!!  This bus was headed back to the Annapuri Northern!!!  Everyone got out at the hotel, had another drink – getting slightly tipsy by now, waited the half an hour and got another bus into Hirafu (3rd time lucky!!). This time the bus was right.   

So the start of this cultural afternoon didn’t start off as expected.  The Fridge and the Freezer were the downfall of the day!!  The Fridge is a small and funky little bar tucked away in the back streets of town.

A few drinks were had in there, and then it was off to the Ice bar.  Another ‘cool’ little bar, constructed out of ice.  The drinks were served extra cold in glasses made out of ice.  No need for ice cubes on this occasion.  The DJ there was really on it with the music, and the vibe was good.  Japanese partying!  It was highly enjoyable! 

Eventually everybody made it back to the hotel just in time for dinner.  It’s Valentine’s Day by the way, so there had to be some romance.  In Japan, Valentine’s Day is actually the man’s day. Jessica Geldart from the Niseko promotion board informed us that the girl has to treat her man good and chocolates must be given to all men. There is a ‘Wives day’ in March by the way, so it’s not all that bad. Myself and Warren took off to the Sushi restaurant, and were shortly joined by Ski Academy coach Rob Stanford who didn’t even think that we might be trying to be escape for a romantic meal for two!  So it was a romantic meal for 3 and nobody is letting Rob forget it!! The sushi was incredible.  

We sat at the bar watching it being prepared in front of us. We sat next to Mr Miyagi from the Karate Kid (dead lookalike!) and his wife, and Warren tried his chop stick fly catching skills.  Mr Miyagi didn’t take him up on his feat.  Great night!  Happy Valentine’s day!

Today was planned as a Freeride day for everyone to get their ski legs on.  What an enjoyable day it was.  Everyone cruised and took off into their little groups.  There are 3 main parts to Niseko; Annapuri, Niseko Village and Hirafu, the latter being the main centre of Niseko and where most of the bars, restaurants and shops are.  There are a lot of Australian’s in Niseko.  Only an 10 hour flight away from Australia, the slopes of Japan are closer to them than the European slopes.   

After exploring the 3 ski areas, we stopped off for a traditional Japanese lunch in Hirafu.  It took a frustratingly long time to decide where to eat as there were so many restaurants – one of the Academy coaches, Tom, was on the lookout for a burger or pizza.  Not readily found in any of the Japanese restaurants.  After traipsing around for half an hour trying to find a Sushi restaurant that sold pizza, we decided it was a lost cause and Tom and James would have to settle for rice and noodles before we all starved.

We found a great traditional restaurant, nothing flash but it was the real deal.  We had to get our ski boots off to sit cross legged or on our knees on the floor around the table in the restaurant.  Green tea was served and it was the best green tea any of us had ever tasted.  The food was fantastic and a great lunch was had by all.   

We decided to get the bus back instead of getting ski lifts back.  We stopped off in the newly renovated Hilton for a beer and then got back to our hotel, the Annapuri Northern Resort in Annapuri.  Dinner was an amazing Japanese buffet.  Tom and James had rice and noodles again….no not really!!  There is actually a lot of Japanese food that doesn’t involve seafood!  It started to snow this evening so everyone got to bed early excited about tomorrow.