First Ski Trip in Japan

I had a chance to go skiing for the first time in Japan last weekend. Some coworkers invited me on a day trip out to Kagura Ski resort in Niigata prefecture.

It was actually a fairly warm sunny day in Tokyo when we boarded the Shinkansen at 8:04. It would take us about an hour and a half to reach our stop. About an hour into the trip we had yet to see any snow on the ground, then we went into a tunnel. Five minutes or so later we emerged and the ground was covered as far as we could see with at least a foot of snow. 

By the time we reached our station we were in the middle of a snow storm. The snow would stop around 2pm and Kagura would end up getting about a foot and a half to two feet of snow.

Here's the shot from the base of the tram, in the morning.

Actually getting up to the main ski area required taking this tram, a chair lift, then a long Gondola. Kagura actually features over 4000 vertical feet of descent. Although much of this is fairly  easy terrain. Here's the shot looking down back towards the base of the gondola.

Unfortunately the peak of the mountain seemed to be closed that day and apparently there is some really great off piste terrain here as well. While I didn't get a chance to check that out this time, it wasn't hard to find fresh tracks on the trails. The more difficult runs had barely been skied at all.

Overall I can't complain that my first day out was a powder day.

Also here's a vending machine for beer

And the tram illuminated at the end of the day

I apologize for more iphone shots, I forgot my real camera.