Pursuing Powder Snow

Today I met these snowboarders on my way to work and they talked about their favorite places in Shiga Kogen.

Will Koh and Alex Lee, both 27 years old, are Malaysian and live in Australia. They are spending 2 weeks in Shiga Kogen snowboarding and so far, their favorite place is the run which starts at Terakoya, at the top of Mt. Higashitate and you can choose to go through Takamagahara or Ichinose Family. It’s where they found the best powder snow.

They like Shiga Kogen because it’s a huge resort and you can find courses for snowboarders of all levels.

Will and Alex were very happy because today started cloudy and cold, and it seems that they will have fresh powder snow soon.

Snowboarding....

Some days ago I met these 2 guys at Yokoteyama’s bakery. Since they spent a whole week in Shiga Kogen snowboarding, it was nice to chat with them and learn about their favorite places.

Matt Richards、23 & Chris Alexoulas, 23

Chris Alexoulas is Australian and was traveling with Matt Richards, who is from Canada but is living in Australia, both 23 years old. Richards had been snowboarding in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United States and many places in Japan and they like Shiga Kogen because here is so huge that you can spend a whole week and still find new places to go and have fun. Also, they liked the powder snow and lift system. Although they had some difficult in changing buses because they don’t speak or read Japanese, but I guess this is part of the experience about“being in Japan” and I think they were great, because they only took the wrong bus once! Speaking about Japanese experiences, they loved relaxing in the onsen after coming back from the mountains, cold and tired, and said it’s really refreshing. They decided to come to Shiga Kogen after some research and they arranged the entire trip easily on the internet.

After a week snowboarding in Shiga Kogen, I asked about their favorite places and they told me that the places they had most fun was the Yakebitaiyama area and the Yokoteyama area as the view from the top of Yokoteyama is really worth seeing. Also, Shibutouge area, which is the other side of Yokoteyama, is really good for snowboarders.

Chris and Matt loved Shiga Kogen’s scenery and just thought it is a little too quiet at night and want more parties next time!

International Ride

This is the view inside the Shiga Kogen Shuttle bus this morning.
People from New Caledonia, Australia, France, Hong Kong and also, Japan!

They are lucky because today we have fresh snow and the day is beautiful outside!

About 17 cm of snow overnight and a gorgeous blue sky.
Enjoy!

Great chat in the morning

This Friday started with a light snow but the sun is shining from time to time too.

This morning I had the chance to talk with these nice guests.
She’s from Osaka and he’s Australian. They spent 5 days in Shiga Kogen and it was very interesting to talk to them.
Frank Hujber, has spent most of his 63 years-old chasing the snow season everywhere in the world. From Canada and US to many countries in Europe, he’s skiing everywhere and every time it is possible. Also, he worked as a ski instructor in Australia.
So, with this huge background, I had to ask him what is the best thing about Shiga Kogen, and he said here is the most beautiful place he had ever skiing in his life! In these 5 days, he and his Japanese friend skied through all Shiga Kogen. They completed the challenge card in 3 days and proudly exhibited they “Shiga Kogen ’08-’09 Challenge Master” pin. From all Shiga Kogen, he especially liked the view from the top of Yokoteyama, where they spent the last 2 days skiing.
Hujber skied in Shiga Kogen last year and enjoyed so much his stay that he wanted to come back here this year. Also, he told that he definitely will be back as soon as he can. Unfortunately, it was a short ride by bus to talk about his experiences in the snow field so, the last thing he want to say is remind us that life is to short so we all should enjoy it as best as we can, spending as much time as we can doing what we really love to do. He knows what he’s talking about!
It was really nice to meet them! And I hope to meet them again!

Indoor: increase the temperature!

Everybody happy to know outside it was snowing... and Sunday morning will be perfect to snowboard and ski.

So, nothing better than have fun and know people from everywhere...

Kind of a International Party in Shiga Kogen...

Guests from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan and New Zealand on a hotel pub last Saturday, in Shiga Kogen.