Day 7 - Nagano Skiing!

Apologies for the delay in updating...Blogger has been less than cooperative lately. Not only does it not like any of my HEIC files (refusal to display them), but if I load more than a few photos, they load in reverse order. After a few failed attempts, I abandoned ship.

Nevertheless...day 7 was by far, my favorite day of the trip...by a landslide! Part of it was the snowy weather I love (because I don't live in it). Most of it was because Ryan got to achieve something that's been on my bucket list (for him, haha) in a spectacular fashion!

Early that morning, we had a hearty breakfast buffet at the hotel before we were picked up by a driver for a skiing company we'd booked a private skiing lesson for Ryan and I with. The breakfast was international in nature, and delicious. Ryan is not a huge eater, so we had to coax him to load up since he'd be needing the energy later. So instead of three bites of toast, he had four. And two sips of OJ. ;-)

It was PERFECT skiing weather that day- clear skies with just the occasional lightly falling snow that was powdery soft under my feet (like it was in Hokkaido). 

The first thing we did once we got there was to sign waivers, and then get outfitted for our helmets, ski masks, and ski gear (we had to pick out our jacket, pants, ski boots and skis - no poles). I had NO IDEA how long this would take two rookies...it took us SO long, the instructor (a gent from Belgium named Peter) came looking for us to make sure we were okay. Poor Rich was trying to help each of us into our ski boots, get stuff into our locker(s), buy our lift tickets, etc. while also trying to get dressed himself. 

Ry and I with our rented ski helmets on. One of us needed it, one of us not so much. I will let you guess who nearly tore fifty ligaments and stared death in the face a few times.

So over an hour after we arrived, we finally tromped up to a nearby slope for our skiing lesson. I did splendidly initially. Well, for five minutes to be exact. This is because we did a warm up that lasted... about five minutes.

Once we had to start learning how to walk uphill with skis on (sidewards), how to jump, how to brake, how to stand up after you fall...that's when Ryan made immediate progress, and I was utterly humiliated after a series of falls. I decided to pull myself off the student roster so that I wouldn't further impede Ryan's progress, and he was immediately cleared to hit the slopes.

We hopped in a gondola and went up the slopes with our teacher.

The view was absolutely stunning and mind blowing for me.

Once at the top, this was the last I saw of the boys. They took off down the slopes for the next few hours, while I was relegated to the warm lodge with all the other senior citizens and infants.

I posted a lengthy video of Ryan skiing down the mountain that day on Facebook, but it's too large to post here. I will say that I think he did very well and seemed to like it quite a bit.

Right when we finished the snow started to fall a bit harder, and our van arrived to take us back to our ryokan...we immediately headed back to the outdoor onsen a second time to soak our freezing cold muscles.

I had no idea how expensive skiing could be, and apparently, it's a bit higher in popular locations in the US:

Y25,000 ski lesson + tip

Y15,000 lift tickets (can't remember) for two skiiers, one spectator

Y27,000 ski clothing + equipment

Y 5,000 ski lodge food + drink

The total was about $500, but with the favorable exchange rate, a bit lower for us. But this was a once in a lifetime experience as a family, and with the favorable exchange rate, one of the best days ever.