Zao Onsen Ski Resort

Snowboarding season is now officially in full swing. Some Alts have easy access to the city. Others have sandy beaches. Some live in Kyoto (enough said). But whenever I've been close to wishing I'd been placed somewhere else, I remember: we have mountains.
And as beautiful as the mountains were in fall (I am also looking forward to Spring, mind you) I think that this winter will be the pinnacle of my location appreciation.
I have already gone Snowboarding five times--three of which were full day events-- and it's still January. With the exception of night boarding (which I've been doing at the local Kawasaki ski spot thanks to my discount(local employee) season pass), I've gone to a different resort every time. Each location has been within a manageable distance and has kept pace with the best boarding I've ever experienced(and even at reasonable pricing, as I have my own equipment).
The one I'd like to highlight today is Yamagata Zao. Possibly the best resort I've ever been to, I took the gondola up only two times for a total of five hours of snowboarding. Now, before you get too massive an impression of the place, it's likely that had I been alone or with other speedsters, the number of trips would quadruple at least. You see, we had a wide range of snowboarding experience and thus accommodated. And while I look forward to going back to try the mountain at a different level of intensity(tomorrow, actually), I enjoyed helping Miho and Ruby with tips (which I'm actually proud to have somehow conveyed in Japanese to Miho(imagine trying to say "toe-edge" or "be careful not to let the back edge of your board catch the mountain")) and practicing my own new technique of riding backwards(which comes in handy for those who want to be able to do spins ect.).




And as wonderful as the snowboarding alone was, Yamagata Zao has an additional attraction: snow monsters. Not Yeti but, if not world, nation famous snow-covered trees. The trees turn into snow monsters because of the mountain's specific climate where freezing fog solidifies the snow and allows it to accumulate beyond normal levels(this process is apparently called hard rime). Something epic having to do with Siberian winds is also involved, but the point is the top of the mountain looks like something from Star Wars.







To cap it all off, we gorged at an Ichiraku-esque Ramen joint, then headed to one of the local Onsens(Hot Spring) and thawed our aching muscles to the sound of falling snow and running water.




(This is not the exact Onsen we went to. I could not take pictures--didn't even try--because bathing suits are not worn and thus photography would be impolite at best. However, the Onsen was outdoor like this and the bathing area was (as usual) divided by gender.)