First time skiing at Zao

A happy New Year to all of you!

Or 明けましておめでとう if you prefer. I hope you all had a good start into 2023, the 5th year of Japan's era of harmony. I had a very relaxed start due to the fact that the university is currently closed to all students. The reason being the extensive entrance examination for all the prospective students. I honestly don't fancy being a high school student right now. Anyway, I went skiing just after Christmas. The university's skiing club that I joined had a two day training session at Zao. What is Zao? Well, thanks for asking. It kind of combines two of my favorite things. It is a skiing resort on the slopes of an active volcano. I wonder who saw that one coming...

It gets even better though. A bus from Yamagata train station takes you to Zao skiing resort in about 30 minutes. Can you believe that? Not only that, but a day pass for all the lifts is about 6000￥, which converts to about 40 €, or $45 US. Pretty good, huh? It all sounds too perfect, doesn't it? Well, since we can't have nice things I made sure that the weather was subpar. Only on a few occasions was I able to see more than 50 meters ahead of me. I thankfully had my camera on hand for those times. Count yourselves lucky.

On the first day we went to a small separate slope with the intention to give the beginners a fighting chance. The slope was very gentle for which I was grateful. I haven't stood on skis for about six years so having the opportunity to get a feeling for it again was desperately needed. Weather on that day wasn't too bad either. Here some impressions:

After spending a whole day on the beginner slope however, I craved MOAR. The second day took us to the proper resort. The whole area has around 50 km of connected slopes, which thankfully provided opportunities to all proficiency levels. After a day of warming up I felt like I could let loose. And damn did it feel good. I couldn't go all out though because poor visibility didn't allow it.

The snow was perfect, the slopes great, the company fun, and look where we had lunch (same building you can see in the distance in the photo above):

It almost felt like I was back in the Alps, almost. Great atmosphere. After lunch we went to the top of the mountain. If you are expecting a great view I am sorry to disappoint. I can however show you a picture of me sitting in the lap of the buddha at the mountain peak.

All this time it was snowing profusely. I have seen pictures of this buddha where only the upper part of its head is above ground. Crazy. I guess I'll be coming back. Another interesting feature of this mountain are the so called Snow Monsters of Zao, a fascinating natural phenomenon. Cold Siberian winds cover the fir trees in this area with freezing condensation. This, in combination with tons of snow fall, completely covers the trees in snow. It makes them look like otherworldly beings. This a picture of the early stages.

I'll get more pictures in February, when they won't look like trees anymore. On our last descent the cloud cover broke and revealed a previously hidden view of the fantastic landscape.

Even the sun graced us with an appearance. Nothing tops a sunset seen from a mountain.

I had a great time with the people from the skiing club, even if communication is still problematic. I am however making progress in my Japanese studies. I am no longer utterly clueless to what is going on around me. I guess I have officially left the toddler state and advanced to kindergarten. Rejoice!

That shall be it for now.

Proschd Neijohr!

Nils