I would imagine from a reading perspective, this is the most boring part of any trip, reading about someone’s skiing each day is about as interesting as talking about toenail cuttings…! Which is why I’ve just been posting about dogs and shrines, pictures are far more fun!!! Also, dogs on snow… what is there not to love?!
Each day begins for me with a walk. It’s an interesting time of day to see the village. No tourists are up and out about walking at 6am, so you get to see the true pulse of the place. It’s actually a very busy time in the village, people are cooking eggs in the cooking onsens, scraping ice or snow, some are walking their dogs, a lot of people are heading off to the Onsens for their morning wash. I’m not sure what the deal is here, I’m sure most houses have their own bathrooms, but the onsens are free and such a great way to start or finish your day. When you catch a group of ladies in there together, they are chattering about. You can hear the guys from over the wall gossiping away. If anything, the blokes are more chattery than the ladies. It’s community, it’s a meeting place, it’s where you catch up and debrief on all things I guess. I was in the famous O-Yu Onsen (repeated pic below) yesterday and just about fried myself. There were two pools to chose from, so I headed to the one that looked like it still had the cold tap going. I gingerly lowered a foot and leg in, by this stage, I’ve got my butt flashing to the onsen world on a very odd angle, so I am absolutely committing to dipping the rest of myself into the broiling water. At this point, I coil into a ball in the water…..wondering a which point my skin will peel off! In a ball, not all areas of skin are getting direct contact with the hot, hot, hot water!There are three or four ladies in the other pool…. They are stretched out, luxuriating, almost cutting laps (if you could do that in an onsen..). I looked like I’d hit the water like a prawn and curled in on myself! After a minute or two, I’ve launched out of there and splashed a bucket of ice cold water over my affected self. Not wanting to appear soft, I’ve had another go at the onsen, I turned up the cold tap and practically dunked myself in under it. The same prawn affect occurs. I sit there wondering how long until I can get out to save face…. This repeats one more time. I have made a good go of this onsen. I have tried…. It was freaking hot!
I dry off and go through my ablutions, meanwhile, the lady who was just about doing laps, hops out, dries off and gets changed. Once we are both respectfully dressed, I ask her in broken Japanese if she speaks English, “a little” she says (which probably means she’s fluent!). I ask which was the cooler pool, it’s a challenge as a newcomer to know if you jumped in the right one. She points at the one I was in and says that it was the cooler of the two! Arigato! Holy moly, these mountain Onsen ladies are made of tough stuff!
The forecasted Siberian Front has not come in yet, that appears to be coming into affect for my last day on the snow (Tuesday). I’ve bought some hand warmers in advance, because I suspect that I will turn into some type of frozen block in that type of weather. Big Al and I have skied in colder, we hit -40 in the USA. It was unpleasant!
I’m not sure how many people know that I learned to ski as a late 20’s something, with a broken elbow in Wyoming. Sounds exotic doesn’t it?! Instead, it means that I’m an exceptionally cautious skier. You will literally NOT see me head off piste, head down a black run, wind up my speedometer too far. I am no hero and I have ZERO interest in utilising my travel insurance. I’ve broken enough bones to know that I have no interest in experiencing a) it again or b) experiencing it in another foreign country. I warm up, I stretch, I take a few green runs before I hit any blues. I stretch, I cool down…. I onsen (when I’m not being an Onsen Prawn!). I literally Nanna the hill. Though I can cope with pain, I have no interest in invoking it here. Today I was sitting next to a Japanese gent, who I asked in broken Japanese how his day was going. He replied that it was good. Then he launched out in English, “I only speak a little” (code for fluent!), he was 77 (looked about 28…) and retired. He was out with his grandchildren, who had launched further up the hill. I was super proud of him, I want to be doing that at 77. When we got to the top off the lift, he zipped down the hill like an Olympic speed skier, and I shook my head, I suspect he could out do his grandchildren! He definitely out did me. Good on you!
Today I started my ski day with a walk and yoga. Yoga just proved to me that I have bashed myself around in inappropriate ways! There were grunts happening on moves that are usually smooth for me!
Dinner: chicken kebab, Nozawa Pickles Shumai Steamed Dumpling, Blooming Garlic with miso dip + 1 small(er) beeru 2,000 yen $22
Temperature: -5 degrees Celsius (up top)
Snow depth: 1.60m
Snow Forecast: The clouds have nestled in amongst the Nozawa Onsen mountain range and it will be cloudy all day. Tomorrow will bring freezing temps and snowfall all day. The snow showers will get heavy by the afternoon, continuing on into the evening. The forecast states atm we should have a metre of fresh snow by the end of Tuesday.
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