saturday out in the snow
Winter has hit pretty hard in Tochigi this year, and I’ve been defrosting my car window every morning before heading to work. It’s definitely much colder than last year’s winter so I’ve been staying indoors more this year. Despite the cons of living near the mountains in the winter, the one joy it does bring to Tochigi is the ski season:) I went skiing last weekend for the first time this season with my wonderful colleague Jiayi to Aizu Takatsue Ski Resort.
We headed out bright and early at 7:00am, when I’d still be fast asleep on a work day. The roads were snow free in the beginning but as we drove upwards, we gradually could see snow covering rice fields and rooftops of houses. It was a good hour and a half to the ski resort and once we got there, the snow covered mountains welcomed us with their majestic presences.
We started at around 9:00 AM and spent all morning sliding down the intermediate courses. The weather was unfortunately cloudy the entire time and the snow was rather icy than powdery but we enjoyed it nevertheless. The last time I skied was last March so I was very cautious and stiff at first. The icy snow made falling a painful experience each time (which happened quite alot) but that’s also a part of the fun :) Towards the beginning when I was still trying to get back my mediocre ski skills back, we did challenge ourselves to go down a very steep course which I regretted the moment I left the hilltop. The snow was very deep and I kept getting stuck so I ended up sliding down on my bum while being passed by pro skiers effortlessly making swift turns down the course. After repeated mini zigzags and falls, I eventually made it down in one piece with great relief!
The rest of the day we spent skiing down all the different courses the resort has and even tried the course with jump stands. Takatsue is family friendly and obtains courses for beginners to pros so I’d highly recommend this ski resort. I’ve been to this one 3 years in a row and it never fails to entertain me. It is rather minor compared to the other places people usually go to from the city, but for a day trip it’s a great place to spend your day out in the snow! The resort is open until March 27th this year so I hope you consider visiting if you’re close by:)
Takatsue Ski resort info