Anyway, enough of bull, below are some pictures of the ski lodge I went to. The place is called Naeba 苗場. Quite a popular spot and there is a hotel right in front of the mountain. The hotel is called Prince hotel. Other than the ski lodge, I dont find anything else interesting about that place which makes me wonder how the hotel can survive by just operating during winter season and possibly be empty during the rest of the year. Someone told me that there is something called grass skiing!!!! well, basically, just put wheels on the ski and there you go... the idea sounds a little uninviting to me as it becomes something like a plain roller blading. so who pays hundreds of dollars to go on top of a mountain to blade down..... makes no sense....
anyway, yes, the photos.... First up! of course, the Hotel!
This picture was taken at the first lift stop... well that means that it is one of the lower spots for beginners... well, actually there is another spot for really first time learners but then there arent any lifts there. it is actually just a short walk up and then sliding down but then walking up the slope is hard work! so might as well just go up somewhere for the warm up run...You can see that the mountain is not fully white... well, that is because I went there at the end of winter where the snow started to melt... Usually the whole place would be white and after a day of snowboarding, your eyes get so tired from looking at something so white the whole day... yeah, the sun reflecting off the snow does not help either...
After a few rounds of warming up, it is time to go up up up the mountain... This picture was taken when I was riding up the gondola.... Basically there are two types of ride up... the gondola which is faster and goes up to higher places and the normal ski chairs for short distances.You can see how far from the hotel the view is and it is only about 3/4 the way up... hehe... Anyway, the snowboard and ski gear is stored outside the gondola. Not sure if you can see it clearly or not but if you look closer to the other gondolas, you can see that there is a small pocket by the side of the car.
Too bad the window of the gondola was stuck... this picture was taken behind the glass window so it is not that clear but then still ok la..... mai hiam.
Well, this is a picture of the chairs... haha... no protection!!! well, actually there is but then too troublesome to pull the protection bars down... anyway, can see a person on top!!!
For snowboarders, to get on the chair, you would have to take off one side of the latch to get on the chair. so you would be walking very akwardly or hopping like crazy or if you are very pro, then can easily slide without any problem. i am still at the walking akwardly stage...
getting on the chair is of course not a problem but then getting off is.... for newbs, usually they would fall down when trying to get off and the people manning the chairs would have to stop the machine so that the people from behind would not pile up... well, that would be a scene.... pros will just slide down... i wonder how they do that...
Well, this is somewhere a little bit higher than where the gondola takes you... there is another ride at the end of the gondola and it takes you to this gentle little slope.... yeah, also good for beginners. also good for learning new boarding style which i am trying to some degree of success. YAY!!!anyway, you can see some nice sceneries too!! but then of course when you are up here, you would have to go down... the steep slope starts at somewhere around the small little hut on the bottom right side of this picture... but of course, it is damn fun to be sliding down at break neck speed.... then the falling down and rolling over a few times and ending up with your head in the snow and legs up in the air is also quite fun... although unglam.
Next PIC!!! Of course, how can i not post a pic of me in my snowboard... rented of course... along with the clothes...Anyway, not the best pic that i have taken since it is showing off my large butt which looks like i crapped myself but then i dont have any other than this... my friend's cam so i gotta live with the imaginary crap in my pants....
Well, all in all good fun! but alot of stress on your thighs especially on your master leg... which is the one behind. mine is my right leg. it matters which master leg you use because you would have to adjust the clamps on the board. boards for left master legs are called "goofy". funny name... at least it is not called "weirdo".
Total Cost: about 14,000yen which is close to SGD200 per trip (1SGD = 70yen... Actually about 73yen as i type this). Includes two way bus trip (about 6 hours ride), board rental, wear rental, bath, lunch and other knick knacks along the trip.
For those who wanna go pro and buy their own equipment.... cost breakdown:
Ski wear top and bottom: 50 ~ 70k yen
Boarding shoes: 30 ~ 50k yen
Board clamp: 30 ~ 50k yen
Board: 50 ~ 70k yen
well, i will just stick to rental.... Anyway, end of story telling.....
Oh yeah! Congrats to Spectrum for the 1st runner up for group stunting. As usual, nice smile Regine!! And to the person who wrote "Fuck You" on CR's birthday card, two thumbs up.
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