A Temporary Break from the Sri Lankan Journal

Ski Weekend


The evolution of my ski experiences—and me as a skier—includes an array of ski buddies, who appear only for a piece of that history due to the nomadic nature of our lives: Either I move or they move. . . Jim, Carolee, Phil, Janice, Robert, Linda, Mishel, . . .

For the MLK weekend, Jennell and I drove five hours to Nagano Prefecture for our first ski adventure together at Norikura Kogen. Jennell is a beginner; this trip marked her fifth time to the slopes. I seem to have become an eternal intermediate with more than a score of winters recording maybe two to five ski days apiece interspersed across days not in school. Jennell wants her slopes signed with green marking; I prefer red slope signs with a smattering of black. However, Jennell has a penchant for speed, which bodes well for a developing ski buddy relationship. By the end of our first ski day, she could “point and shoot” pretty much any “green” run. I talked her into experimenting with a “red” slope on sporadic occasions, but usually I skied the red paths—and a couple black ones dressed in really good snow conditions--on my own, and we’d meet up at the bottom of designated lifts at designated times.

Here is one of my "red" runs. At the bottom of the photo is midway to the bottom of the resort. I felt like I had skied into forever by the time I reached bottom with thighs on fire!

Here is my other favorite red run. Really the very top is black--steepness of incline and moguls. When I wasn't feeling on top of my game, I would ski on the red run behind this slope and emerge midway, from the left on the photo. The snow and slope of the bottom skied like a blessing!

Tucked away from more mainstream Nagano resorts, Norikura has virtually no lift lines—I rarely waited even a minute in line—despite excellent snow quality and some fabulous runs. As “gaigin” (“foreign devils,” but now graciously interpreted as “foreigners”), we stood out. The first day we skied, Jennell and I were the only gaigin at the resort. In fact, one of the lift guys started greeting me in English every time I slid into the “starting line” of his lift. Some other gaigin—all affiliated with Jennell’s school and the original planners of this trip—joined us our second day on the slopes. (Jennell and I had headed to the slopes a day earlier than the others.)

Although seemingly mired eternally at the intermediate level, I rated quite a bit higher in slope skills than any of the other eight gaigin on the trip, and I apparently acquired a reputation for my abilities that I probably don’t fully deserve. This elementary school teacher group of skiers/snow boarders subsequently included me on an invitation for another ski trip over Presidents’ Day weekend. As the itinerary began taking shape, I learned that two of the teachers planned to bring their high school-age children (four boys, all snow boarders), and Valerie, the “mastermind” of the trip,” suggested that maybe I’d like to ski with them! Once possible resorts were selected, Valerie sent me an e-mail that included this:

I went to Outdoor gear and talked to an experienced Japanese tour guide. He called Hakkoda and set up a back country trip for the boys. The guide will have some English skills and Collin has some Japanese speaking skills so things should be fine.

0800 is the show time. They will rent all the back country gear for 3000 yen and pay 4000 for the guide. (Cash) They will ride the gondola up in the morning and ski back country down and have lunch at the “warming house”. In the afternoon they will once again ride the gondola up and make their way down again at 1600.

Evelyn – if you want to join the boys, they are happy to have you. Let me know and I will call and get your reservation. It will be the same price – 7000 yen for rental of backpack, snowshoes, poles, shovel, beacon etc. and the guide. You will then buy two gondola passes at 1500 each.

You can Google Hakkoda and find out all kinds of neat stuff about the mountain. I am going to read the following article during lunch.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0602/sports/ski-japan.html

When I saw “backpack, snowshoes, poles, shovel, beacon, etc.,” I thought, “Yeah, right!” But I put myself on “pause” mode, just in case, and followed the link. That clinched it! Attempting diplomacy, I responded to Valerie that I have become a “comfort” skier; I don’t do hiking in order to ski. I would be fine skiing with Jennell, her, and the others. Valerie wrote back:

That sounds good. But I don’t think there is a lot of hiking involved because the lift takes you to the peak of the mountain. If I could – I would join you all, but of course I don’t have the skills to do so.

In my nest message I became more blunt and pointed out that hauling around snowshoes, poles, a shovel, and a beacon in a backpack failed to reassure me that there would not be much hiking or similar laborious adventure. She replied with “LOL” and “maybe you’re right!”

Now here it is Presidents’ Day weekend, and I sit at my computer. Yesterday Jennell bailed on the trip because of serious flu; I’ve had a sore throat and a general feeling of malaise for two days. If the two of us decided not go, the group had the option of reducing the number of rental vans needed. So, that is what has happened.