Nagano Part 1: Snowboarding



This past weekend was full of excitement as we took our first overnight trip in Japan to Nagano, home of the 1998 winter Olympics. Considering Jennifer's difficulty adjusting to the cold and John's love of snowboarding, we each had different attitudes going into the trip:

 

John: excited, unable to focus on anything else as our departure drew near, insisted on giving Jennifer an "Intro to Snowboarding" lesson in the living room on Thursday night

 

Jennifer: excited to see the Olympic site and a new part of Japan, already having difficulty adjusting to the cold so not looking forward to willingly pursuing even more snow, dreading Saturday's snowboarding adventure since past skiing attempts have not been terribly enjoyable

 

Our journey began with us taking the train to Shinjuku Station, where we met up with the rest of our group. This weekend was being coordinated by the Tokyo Snow Club and came recommended to us by some of John's co-workers who were already going on the trip. It turned out to be a wonderful group of people from all over the world, many living in Japan and many working as English teachers.  The 6-hour bus ride to Nagano was fairly uneventful, although it made for a late night. We were delighted to find that our room was western in design and even had a bathroom and shower in the room. Some of the other rooms did not have these amenities and guests had to use the communal "onsen" (bath/hot spring) to bathe (praise God we avoided that).

 

View of the ski slopes closest to our hotel and visual proof of the most snow we've ever seen in one place!

 

Saturday began with an early start on the slopes. John explored the more advanced runs with his friend (Steve) while Jennifer and Steve's girlfriend (Ayumi) enrolled in the "beginners" snowboarding class. The class was a bit slow because there were so many people, but Jennifer appreciated the detailed explanations and assistance from the instructor (also our tour guide). After the class let out, John and Steve returned to help their ladies practice their new skills. We soon found ourselves on the beginners slope where John was very patient and helpful with Jennifer getting her bearings. By the end of the day, she was doing fairly well despite her general fear of going fast (which is evidently not a good thing to fear in this activity). Jennifer then had the chance to watch John carve up the more advanced slopes nearby before he went exploring on some of the other runs with about an hour left in the day. He was so attentive to his new student, even to the point of giving up most of his fast-paced and skillful boarding to help Jennifer...what a guy!

 

After showering, napping and having dinner at the hotel, the tour group arranged a small "party night" for the group which included music, drinks and socializing in a common room at the hotel. Despite being spent from the day, we took advantage of the opportunity to hang out with people a bit before turning in relatively early for the night.

 

In summary, the snowboarding portion of our weekend was awesome! John's anticipation was fulfilled and Jennifer's apprehension was put to rest. John was elated to put more miles on his snowboard in such a noteworthy location and the day far exceeded Jennifer's expectations. In fact, she is willing to say that she had fun and was not cold!

 

Part 2 about our trip to Nagano, the snow monkeys and our late arrival home are coming soon. Until then, here are some pictures and videos from our Saturday in Nagano!



Jennifer's self-sacrificing dive while practicing her new "skills" and careening toward the kiddie enclosure.

John, the teacher, in action.

 

Jennifer, the student, in motion.

All smiles on the bunny hill!

Post-snowboarding socializing with John's co-workers.