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Nozawa Onsen
We arrived at Villa Nozawa to be greeted by Kyoko-san and Mark and Gab – it hardly felt like we'd been away for over a year as they welcomed us like we’d left last week. Villa Nozawa has a lovely warm vibe, always lots of kids and friendly families. They are full which is great (although it makes bookings for next season harder!)
We went for a walk around the village and had some lunch at a lovely small Ramen restaurant (10 people max) and then went for a sled ride on Karasawa.
We picked up our skis, boots and poles from the rental shop then went for a pizza in town and an Apple bun for desert. It was great to be back in Nozawa!
Tuesday – March 31st
Our first day of skiing was a blue sky day. It is certainly spring conditions as the day warms up quickly. There is still plenty of snow on the mountain but they close off some of the lower lifts so we need to take the Nagasaka gondola to the top of the mountain.
The kids had a lesson in the morning and Leigh and I enjoyed skiing Yamabiko and Unoteira. The snow conditions are good in the morning but then soften up in the afternoon. We skiied til 4pm then headed back to the Lodge (I with Campbell on the gondola - Leigh was brave/foolish enough to take the other two on the Forest home trail)
Wednesday - April 1st
Wednesday wasn't the best day as the rain arrived and made the snow even slushier in the afternoon - we decided to ski the morning, have lunch on the mountain and then ski home or catch the gondola. On Wednesday, we were about to ski Skyline home, when the fog arrived just as we were about to hike the last bit. The white out (5 m visibility) meant that we had to go down via the Nagasaka gondola - it was a good thing the white out arrived when it did otherwise it would have been a bit scary on the narrow Skyline. We headed back to the Lodge for an onsen and delicious Sushi for the evening meal (followed by a hot Apple bun of course!)
Thursday - April 2nd
The nice thing about the rain on Wednesday was that it turned into 5-10 cms of fresh snow overnight! We caught the first gondola up in the morning and enjoyed the fresh snow on Yamabiko all morning with the sun out. It was glorious spring skiiing - fresh snow and 8 degrees! We certainly didnt need out thermals this trip! The evening meal was at the new steak house in town which was lovely (as were the the Apple buns later - did I mention that our kids love Apple buns).
Friday - April 3rd
Friday was another warm spring day. It was also very windy so they did not open the top of the mountain, but opened the Hikage and Nagasaka triple chairs instead. It was nice to ski some different runs but the warm blustery wind and overcast conditions did not make it the nicest day. We made the most of it, having hot chocolates at Craft and then leaving the mountain early for late sushi lunch at our favourite place (Hamacho). We'd met a new family at the lodge (the Lawrences from Singapore - their two girls got on brilliantly with our kids). They joined us for the sushi at lunch and then for dinner at Restaurant Sakai (the grilled mackerel was amazing)
Saturday - April 4th
Saturday was our last day of skiing and it was a beautiful sunny day again. The mountain opened up the Paradise Quad chair which is a great run for the kids. A couple of laps of Paradise and then some runs on Yamabiko (the "half pipe" run a highlight for the kdis) and then it was time for lunch at our favourite place on the mountain - Buna.
Filled with our favourite Buna curry's and we made for our last run home - Skyline.
The kids were really skiing well - Spencer has his parrallel turns locked and loves to hunt out new jumps. Eleanor is also pretty fearless and prides herself in not falling and Campbell has improved immensely in the last few days. Given this, we hiked the final 30 metres to the start of Skyline (which is roped off this time of year). Skyline is a beautiful ridge run, lots of fast places and then turns into the top of Karaswa which is a 2km cruiser to the Lodge. The kids skied it brilliantly and it was with a warm sun on our backs when we took our skis off for the last time and returned to the Lodge.
The kids were keen for some quiet time and an onsen so Leigh and I took them up to the town heated swimming pool (open air). It was a great to rest our weary ski bones in the warm natural spring waters.
So that was our skiing for this year at Nozawa Onsen - we had lovely spring conditions (no ice), warmer than we expected, but it was also lovely to have some fresh snow too (in April). The kids improved their skiing and we are looking forward to coming back in January 2016!
We arrived at Villa Nozawa to be greeted by Kyoko-san and Mark and Gab – it hardly felt like we'd been away for over a year as they welcomed us like we’d left last week. Villa Nozawa has a lovely warm vibe, always lots of kids and friendly families. They are full which is great (although it makes bookings for next season harder!)
We went for a walk around the village and had some lunch at a lovely small Ramen restaurant (10 people max) and then went for a sled ride on Karasawa.
We picked up our skis, boots and poles from the rental shop then went for a pizza in town and an Apple bun for desert. It was great to be back in Nozawa!
Tuesday – March 31st
Our first day of skiing was a blue sky day. It is certainly spring conditions as the day warms up quickly. There is still plenty of snow on the mountain but they close off some of the lower lifts so we need to take the Nagasaka gondola to the top of the mountain.
The kids had a lesson in the morning and Leigh and I enjoyed skiing Yamabiko and Unoteira. The snow conditions are good in the morning but then soften up in the afternoon. We skiied til 4pm then headed back to the Lodge (I with Campbell on the gondola - Leigh was brave/foolish enough to take the other two on the Forest home trail)
Wednesday - April 1st
Wednesday wasn't the best day as the rain arrived and made the snow even slushier in the afternoon - we decided to ski the morning, have lunch on the mountain and then ski home or catch the gondola. On Wednesday, we were about to ski Skyline home, when the fog arrived just as we were about to hike the last bit. The white out (5 m visibility) meant that we had to go down via the Nagasaka gondola - it was a good thing the white out arrived when it did otherwise it would have been a bit scary on the narrow Skyline. We headed back to the Lodge for an onsen and delicious Sushi for the evening meal (followed by a hot Apple bun of course!)
Thursday - April 2nd
The nice thing about the rain on Wednesday was that it turned into 5-10 cms of fresh snow overnight! We caught the first gondola up in the morning and enjoyed the fresh snow on Yamabiko all morning with the sun out. It was glorious spring skiiing - fresh snow and 8 degrees! We certainly didnt need out thermals this trip! The evening meal was at the new steak house in town which was lovely (as were the the Apple buns later - did I mention that our kids love Apple buns).
Friday - April 3rd
Friday was another warm spring day. It was also very windy so they did not open the top of the mountain, but opened the Hikage and Nagasaka triple chairs instead. It was nice to ski some different runs but the warm blustery wind and overcast conditions did not make it the nicest day. We made the most of it, having hot chocolates at Craft and then leaving the mountain early for late sushi lunch at our favourite place (Hamacho). We'd met a new family at the lodge (the Lawrences from Singapore - their two girls got on brilliantly with our kids). They joined us for the sushi at lunch and then for dinner at Restaurant Sakai (the grilled mackerel was amazing)
Saturday - April 4th
Saturday was our last day of skiing and it was a beautiful sunny day again. The mountain opened up the Paradise Quad chair which is a great run for the kids. A couple of laps of Paradise and then some runs on Yamabiko (the "half pipe" run a highlight for the kdis) and then it was time for lunch at our favourite place on the mountain - Buna.
Filled with our favourite Buna curry's and we made for our last run home - Skyline.
The kids were really skiing well - Spencer has his parrallel turns locked and loves to hunt out new jumps. Eleanor is also pretty fearless and prides herself in not falling and Campbell has improved immensely in the last few days. Given this, we hiked the final 30 metres to the start of Skyline (which is roped off this time of year). Skyline is a beautiful ridge run, lots of fast places and then turns into the top of Karaswa which is a 2km cruiser to the Lodge. The kids skied it brilliantly and it was with a warm sun on our backs when we took our skis off for the last time and returned to the Lodge.
The kids were keen for some quiet time and an onsen so Leigh and I took them up to the town heated swimming pool (open air). It was a great to rest our weary ski bones in the warm natural spring waters.
So that was our skiing for this year at Nozawa Onsen - we had lovely spring conditions (no ice), warmer than we expected, but it was also lovely to have some fresh snow too (in April). The kids improved their skiing and we are looking forward to coming back in January 2016!
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