Livin' the McDream: Hitting the slopes at Okunakayama!

Ah, our first ski trip of the season...I was so excited. Not really...I haven't had the greatest experiences my previous 2 attempts at the sport. I took a lesson once, but that was 4 years ago and on the second day of the 2 day trip. The first day I basically rolled down the mountain. Didn't really get a chance to practice and absorb what I'd learned. The next time I skied was last year, for one day, when I was half-sick. Couldn't really get into it and felt bad for holding up Keenan and his brother who both wanted to go have fun somewhere other than a green run.
Keenan says this time will be fine and to stop being nervous! He also says he'll be patient and help me get better. We shall see.

We(I) chose a little ski resort that I'd heard was good for beginners. Not Keenan's first choice I'm sure, but I wanted somewhere that I could learn.

Okunakayama Kogen.
Coordinates: 40.082636,141.190385.
Website (use Chrome browser so it translates for you)
http://www.okunakayamakogen.jp/ski/index.html
It's about 100km (62mi) from Misawa and about a 2 hour drive depending on weather of course. The toll road is usually in pretty decent shape, it's once you get beyond there that things can get a little dicey. The tolls are about 4000¥ roundtrip.

As you'll see we've been getting some snow, I've mentioned it about a million times, but I'll go ahead and say it again...we live in one of the snowiest places on earth. Ski season starts at the earliest the beginning of December with most places not opening until mid-late December. I believe this year was even later than most since there wasn't enough snow. They don't make the fake stuff here (exception of one place), so just have to wait for it to fall. The amounts/averages I list below are for the base...not the mountains, they will obviously get more.

Our snowfall stats so far (from the Misawa AB Weather Flight):

November 3.1" (avg 6.1")

December 16.1" (avg 25.9")

January average is 40.1" so we will see how we do this month, I like snow, but can't say I'd be terribly disappointed if we continue to stay below average! In 72 hours (Wednesday 6am-today 6am) we received 11.8".

Keenan had ordered skis from thehouse.com I believe and they arrived within a week or 2 of him ordering them. Super fast shipping! I rented my skis/boots/poles from Outdoor Rec on base ($15/weekend), Keenan just rented boots ($60/season) and we found him some poles at a thrift store for $5. All in all pretty cheap compared to somewhere like CO. At Okunakayama the lift tickets are 3000¥ ($30) for all day (0830-1630), 1500¥ ($15) for morning, afternoon or night (0830-1300; 1200-1630; 1600-2000).

So off we go...

Loved the snow that stayed on the branches in clumps.
No wind to knock them down.

Once we got off the highway we were on roads like this...

Just a taste of the cheery music on the lift...

Many more boards than skis!

I survived!

The verdict: Well, I did fine on the easy green slopes, yay! We went up to the one run that is red and finishes green. It was ok, I managed. Unfortunately, about 1.5 hours into our ski time I fell getting off the lift because our skis got tangled, I tweaked my knee and it was pretty sore making turns from then on. I stuck to the greens just to practice and sent Keenan off to do whatever he wanted. I know he was soooo bored going at my snail's pace. For the most part he was very patient. I only had to hear "Go faster, let yourself go, you won't get hurt if you fall, the snow is soft" a few times. Too scary I said. I decided that if you're going to learn to ski, better to do it as a kid when you don't have any fear. Guess I'm just too old and understand the injuries that can happen if I crash. Sigh. For now, I'm just gonna go slow and steady and work on my skills, MAYBE someday I'll go fast. Sorry Keenan!

After skiing we tried a different ramen restaurant in Misawa. Takumiya, I believe a lot of people refer to it as "Orange Roof Ramen". It was good, maybe not our favorite, but we'd go back!