distant mist and the saga of the chair lift

despite the threatened sun, we ended up on top of a mountain in snow and rain. the snow was pretty, the rain pretty shitty. the day out was superb though - a steep learning curve (or remembering curve) and soon we were carving up the slopes with at least a smidgen of grace. or at least not falling over so much. we were also lapping up the ever changing landscape of mist through mountain tops: due to being a part of it all, we went from low visibility to having the whole range revealed in a matter of minutes.

the view was coupled with the silence of sitting in the chair lift which while idilic brought back memories of Where Eagles Dare and The Spy Who Loved Me - all we lacked were machine guns and baddies. getting off from the lift, however, proved to be enough of a challenge and so we stuck to trying to master that.

my memory of snowboarding, in finland and ten years ago, is that of uncooperative T-bars and hernia's. this time wasn't so different - when getting of the lift the board would suddenly come alive when it touched the snow wiggling like a fish out of water as you tried to find balance with the chair pushing you all the while. sometimes it seemed harder than the snowboarding itself.

my fellow brit and I went to hakodateyama in shiga and being a monday, the place was blissfully quiet. it was a good wee place but the slopes are short - not really the place for an accomplished skier but for us it was perfect. it's also less than two hours from osaka and our cheeky package cost 10 bags of sand for bus, lift pass and rental. a steal. we even managed to land some lovely antique boards left over from Scotts Antarctic trip complete with original incomprehensible bindings.

in any case - the main learnings of the day were - 1. water repellent does not equal water proof, 2. lift pass holders are a good idea, 3. the mogul course is not for beginners, 4. beer tastes better after crashing into snow all day and 5. a plastic bag goes a long way.

catching air we didn't but sometimes pleasure comes from simple things.