Day Trip to Suginohara

Since the Akakura area is currently very limited in where we can ski due to the side country being rather limited and lack of snow, we decided to go to the neighboring system Suginohara. It's a bit higher, but most of it is rather flat which is why it boasts it has the longest piste in Japan.

On the bus to Suginohara

Unfortunately there's even less snow in Suginohara, and while it certainly looks promising in better times, we decided to get out rather quickly and in the end just spent about an hour there. It's really too bad but what can we do?

We had a quick lunch, actually the lunch was quick but the wait was really really long. We waited probably 45 minutes for some chicken on rice. Things are rather unpredictable here in Japan, the dinner for example on the other hand was on the table after perhaps 2 minutes. Go figure.

Did some more skiing around the Akakura Onsen highest lift which was now open, and once again we see some possibilities when there's a bit more snow. I don't really know what happened but when we decided enough for the day, Linus took off and I followed. Down to the furthermost lift of the system, not really close to home. Instead of taking the lift back and sliding over to home, we took a 2km walk back so at least I got some exercise and worked up a sweat today too. Not the best plan for getting home I guess, but it got us there.

Walking home. Linus ahead a bit.

There's really something about a winter resort with hot springs. It's humid, about 100% humidity in the air which makes it feel really cold. Also, all the public spaces inside the hotel have very limited heating, and the windows are really not up to comparison with a Swedish triple-glass insulating window to say the least. After dinner I was sitting in the lobby using the Internet, and wore just about all clothes I have, including beanie with a fleece hoodie up, a second fleece, three more layers and long johns to top it up. I do get very cold sitting still, but this is ridiculous!