Clearing Snow(Shiga-Kusatsu route : R292)

Snow is being cleared.

The wall of a famous snow can be done.
It seems to be low because it snow little this year.

A lot of snows

Enjoy skiing!!

A Perfect Saturday!!!

This Saturday doesn't remind us that is already Spring in Japan in any possible way!
The trees are all snowy again, we had some snow during the day and temperatures registered were below zero just like an ordinary winter day!
It was cold Saturday, but sunny and beautiful! At the end of the day, I was told that it was -5℃ on the ski course...

This is Yokoteyama Kid's Park and Kumanoyu Ski Area on the background.

Kumanoyu Ski courses and Kasadake

The summit of Yokoteyama hiden in the clouds, viewed from Yokoteyama Sky Lift 2.


An hour later, the summit could be seen perfectly. This is Yokoteyama Sky Lift 1.



This is Mt. Kasadake, viewed from Yokoteyama Sky Lift 2.


The Yokoteyama trees are all white again!
Yokoteyama Sky Lift 2.

This is the view from the top of Yokoteyama Sky Lift 2.

From Yokoteyama Sky Lift 3 the trees are even more snowy!

Shibutoge Area

From the top of Yokoteyama Lift 6 Kasadake is beautiful

This is the Yokoteyama Lift 6

From Yokoteyama Lift 6, you can choose a intermediate course, on the left, or a easier one, on the right.

And that's Yokoteyama main course in the end of the day.

Sunny Sunny Sunny!!!

This is how the sky was in the morning and still is a sunny blue sky day! Some people from Canada came here today to enjoy this beautiful day and go out snowshoe hiking. They decided to walk around Yokoteyama where, on clear days, it's possible to see even the Mt. Fuji. Hope they are enjoying the view right now!

Backcountry Ski Tour 2009, the end!

And those are the happy people who are enjoying the last edition of our Backcountry Ski Tour 2009.

We had 6 ski tours and one cancelled this year. Hope you all enjoyed a lot and see you next year!

Sunny Days!!!

This trail leads you to Yokoteyama, completely white yesterday afternoon

and this is Kumanoyu.

The Japan Meteorological Agency　expects sunny days...

Which is great, because yesterday the mountains were covered with a good amount of snow again and you just need to enjoy it in a sunny day! ;)

Saturday morning at Yokoteyama

Saturday started very cloudy at Mt. Yokote... These trees are between the Yokoteyama Sky Lift 2 and Yokoteyama Sky Lift 3.

And that's the view from Yokoteyama Sky Lift 2.

Saturday, March 7, 2009.

10:16 A. M.

Yokoteyama, Shiga Kogen, Joshinetsu National Park, Nagano, Japan.

Shiga Kogen Backcountry Ski Tour 2009

These are the Shiga Kogen Backcountry Tour skiers.

This photo was taken before they start, at the top of Yokoteyama, this morning.

Now they are still skiing anf enjoying this beautiful landscape.

Shiga Kogen Backcountry Ski Tour 2009

Today The Shiga Kogen Backcountry Ski Tour 2009 started.

It will happen more 5 times during March.

Backcountry tour starts at 10:00 A. M. and they ski the whole day, finishing at 17:30.

In this first tour, 57 skiers joined to enjoy this beautiful sunny day in Shiga Kogen.

Shiga Kogen inhabitants

These beautiful dogs live at the top of Yokoteyama, 2305 m. above sea level, at Unnjyo no Yado Yokote Sancho Hutte. It's a lodge, restaurant and also the highest bakery in Japan.

On cold days...

Tempura Udon an gyouza from La Foret, at Yokoteyama.

After hours skiing on the snow...

nothing better than a hot tempura udon!

This is how skiing in Shiga Kogen tastes... very Japanese!

Lots of snow!

A great day for those who were lucky enough to go out and enjoy the snow on Monday!

Fresh snow all day! Bad visibility but a great day anyway!

Pictures from Yokoteyama on Monday.

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!

Conversa surreal no trabalho...

eu: Nossa, você não tem idéia da minha alegria quando encontrei a padaria lá em cima... era umas 9:30 da manhã, eu não tinha tomado café e ainda por cima tinha esquecido as luvas!

Japa: sem luvas? tava uns -7℃ lá em cima na quinta, não?

eu: acho que sim... mas enfim... imagina poder comer croissaint fresquinho e tomar um café quentinho de manhã, depois de 2 meses comendo arroz e tomando missoshiro toda manhã?!

Japa: ah... eu sei como é... sofri muito quando fui pra Áustria... sentia uma saudade da comida japonesa...

eu : Ah... então você me entende... e quanto tempo você ficou na Áustria?

Japa: UMA SEMANA!!!!

eu: UMA SEMANA?!?!?! Só isso!?!

Japa: Foi duro! Senti saudades da comida... só trabalhei...

eu: e nem deu pra passear? Ficou trabalhando num escritório fechado a semana toda?

Japa: não... tive que ficar esquiando na Áustria, a semana toda... foi duro viu...


PS: essa conversa não é ficção!!! Nem a padaria, que fica no topo do monte Yokote, em Shiga Kogen.... é a visão do paraíso pra alguém como eu: com fome, frio e saudades de uma comidinha ocidental :)

o pior é que o meu amigo japonês também estava falando sério!!!

横手山頂ヒュッテ, Yokote Sancho Hutte

Padaria, Restaurante e Hotel.
Lá você encontra pães fresquinhos, chocolate quente e refeições ocidentais... tem até Strogonoff!!! :)

Conhecida como a padaria que se encontra em maior altitude no Japão.








ah... e esses lindos Huskies Siberianos são os mascotes da padaria. lindos, lindos!

Yokoteyama Skylift 3

That's the view from the Yokoteyama Skylift 3, about 9:30 in the morning, last Thursday.



















And finally, the top of Yokoteyama. This is the lift house. You can see the lifts entering on the right. Also, this is a 2.3005 m above sea level ramen ya (Japanese noodles restaurant). Perfect to warm up after skiing for a while. There's a balcony from where you can have a panoramic view. It's said that in most clear days you can even see Mt. Fuji.

Between the 2nd and the 3rd Yokoteyama Skylift

Mt. Kasadake , symbol of Shiga Kogen and Japanese Northern Alps in the background.