snowboarding in joetsu : January 25 2025

a day ago · 7 min read · Minamiuonuma

saturday, started the morning early at 6 am. it is another snowboard day and i am excited yet again. simple morning routine and last stuff packing. we then depart from our home station at around 7 am, and ride the shinkansen at around 8 am. such a packed day early in the morning. we have a reserved seat at the shinkansen so there is really no need to be first in line. but we were all excited.

joetsu international ski resort (niigata, japan)

^{this will be my entry to landscape photography contest of @photofeed round 102}

here is the view from the top of one of the slopes. just look at that view and you will surely appreciate how beautiful the world is. here is a beautiful description of the area from one website.

One of the largest ski resorts in Japan. Enjoy your wonderful snow life in the vast resort that consists of 4 zones. Anyone can enjoy from kids just playing around in snow to expert skiers. Everyone can be satisfied with unique zones, "Mother's Zone" that facilitates a snow theme park, Kid's Paradise, "Active Zone" which offers a 38 degree steep hill, and "Forest Zone" where you can enjoy good quality of snow and long slopes.
^source

let me back track for a bit. we reached echigo yuzawa station around 9:30 in the morning via the shinkansen. while riding though, all hell broke loose. why? from the said station, we will then hop on a local train which takes us to the snow slopes and this local train runs at around 10:30 am. that means an hour wait inside the station, which would have been better spent on the slopes. the schedule just don't fit well, and the taxi queue was quite long when we arrived, no other option but to wait for the local train.

immediately went to the rentals area and got dressed for the slopes, we eventually got everything ready at past 11 am. too late if you ask me, but then what can we do. this 11 people trip will really take time to prepare. upon reaching the entrance, a very long ski lift will take you to the main area. elaborately designed hotels and facilities greets you from there. my friends said that the hotel looked like it was stripped off from the "vampire" period.

and the very wide view of the slope excited me much. that same slope view probably gave the chills to our 3 snowboard newbies in the bunch. this is it! i decided to stay with the newbies for just a bit hoping to find a gentle slope where i could practice what i saw from youtube, to me disappointment the newbie slope was so shallow that it was impossible to slide. forgoing the plan, left them and slid the slope.

the other non-newbie members of the group were still down there, i made it in time before they rode this lift up. now here is something unique to this experience, in previous snow resorts the lifts would generally go up like a line or maybe a curve up. in this resort though, their lifts are too long and traverses a longer distance which now follows a wave: goes up to some point, then goes down from there, then up again. that is just too scary for the acrophobic me.

this course greeted me from there, pine trees lined some path of this slope on the other side of the mountain. so picturesque! i really wished all the members to see this view, it was just impossible though.

and this seemingly endless drop slope was the proof of why it was impossible to gather all the members here. it was too scary for beginners, no way they would not be scared of this sight. very pretty but scary!

^{photo taken by @ohlnwwlknat when they came to where 4 of us slid.}

it just took one full slide down this long course before we decided to have lunch. the other members on the other side of the mountain also had lunch at that point. this restaurant was so full when we came, it was probably the longest queue i had on that mountain resort. @ohlnwwlknat and 2 others came to this part of the mountain after some time.

the pine trees on this part of the slope was just so pretty, and snow was falling at this point. it was another long lift ride, but the trip downhill on our boards probably just took a third of that lift ride time. but these lifts were just confusing, there were no clear maps where they lead to. the slope courses were also confusing, there was just not enough maps nor signs where each course should go.

we eventually followed this long winding course which had portions open to cliffs. it was a gentle slope but on such a long path my muscles were starting to ache. and to make matters worse, the fog was starting to blow in. it was very difficult to see clearly, i'm just happy to be wearing my new goggles or this would surely hurt my eyes more.

my leg muscles were about to give up for sure, my turns were getting worse. it was impossible to control the board and i must have fallen more than a couple on this last run. this view of the initial hotel just kept me going.

a single last look at that mountain, the lights were now turned on. it was another view of that mountain, quite romantic. was i just getting emotional because it also meant it was time to bid goodbye? the people have surely dwindled down, rental shops were closing at 5 pm.

i just forgot that there were 2 more lifts to ride to finally get off this mountain slopes. this one led up to the hotel, the 2nd one went down to the city center. now on this 2nd trip, my spirit just clung on a hook. i was alone on the chair lift, and it stopped midway. it was the best view facing the city center and the mountains from the distance i admit, but i was facing downhill. i was still on the upper part of this downhill lift facing outwards. this acrophobic was about to pass out. that pause almost felt like a minute. it was the best view, but the worst experience. i would have taken a picture if my hands were not busy clutching the seat handle and the snowboard i took off.

^{this will be my entry to #pobphotocontest for this week. "blue" is the theme of the week, those blue lights surely pop-up in this winter resort building. taken across the train platform on the other side.}

the rental shop was another let down. they did mention that we need to return the equipment borrowed before 5 pm, but they never mentioned of the penalty if not. one of our members had some trouble on the slopes and reached the rental shop after 5 pm, we ended up paying 1000 yen (around 7 usd) per wear and board/boots set. with no energy left to complain, we accepted our fates.

at least this last view of the area at night with all the lights looked great. snow just looks so different at night. a local train followed by a shinkansen ride ended this trip.

this resort just had so much let downs unfortunately, and it was just so much harder to access. i don't think we will back here soon. i just had a bad day, probably. but excluding all those incidents, this snowboard experience was still a success. we all returned safe and that is what is important.

as always, AMPING KANUNAY!

ps: snowboarding is not listed as an actifit activity type. sad