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| Nozawa Onsen: Courtesy of Scout Ski |
Visiting mostly hot destinations, my husband, Simon and I had very little winter clothing packed, just enough layers to get us through the winter winds of Japan and China. But,
having left the perennial summer of Hawaii, we began the grueling 10-day sea crossing to Yokohama, with the weather gradually worsening after day 5. Planning our first landfall in Japan, nightly conversations in the fun and friendly faculty bar led inexorably to skiing. Weighing up
whether to watch the sumo championships in Tokyo, photograph Mt Fuji, or marvel
at the Maiko in Kyoto, the answer was straightforward: it’s winter again, so let's go skiing!
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| Nozawa Onsen: Courtesy of Scout Ski |
Where better than Japan’s first ever ski resort, Nozawa Onsen in the Nagano Prefecture (of 1998 Olympic fame), to try out the legendary powder while immersing in the
authentic Japanese culture? Twinned with St Anton, since Hans Schneider from Austria identified it as Japan’s first ski resort nearly 100 years ago, it is the top resort in the Honshu region.
It took one city train, two bullet trains, and a bus to get there from Yokohama, but as the rolling foothills gave way to peaks, it started bucketing down and we could feel the pow calling us! The long and leisurely locomotive journey was a great way to see the panoramic countryside of Japan unfold. Leaving the cities behind, the tantalizing topography is dotted with small ski hills and cute villages. Houses are either solidly square or rectangular, most with dark brown balconies and prettily trimmed windows and doors. Although fancy roof ornamentation makes the architecture distinctly Japanese, just add wooden shutters and it would look very Alpine.
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| Simon Hudson skiing a black at Nozawa Onsen |
Let's skip to the actual skiing as I know you are anxious to find out if it is as good as the advertising - and worth that all-day journey. Forget hero snow! The snow we found at Nozawa Onsen was ‘samurai snow’, where we scythed through knee deep powder in sensuous scimitar-shaped furrows. Despite agonizing rental boots, we reveled in it all day from 8:30 - 4:30. It was literally the softest powder we have ever experienced, disintegrating around our skis as we zoomed through it in a cloud of vapour. That first day, we woke up to snow and it snowed consistently until 2pm, when a beautiful BC-like vista of rolling hills, villages and fields were revealed. We never lined up for lifts, hardly saw a soul on the slopes, and were able to ski the best runs over and over as the downpour refilled our tracks.
Other highlights at the hill included the labour-saving, covered magic carpet to get to the base area from the village; the proliferation of quaint on-mountain eateries complete with garment drying facilities and very varied Japanese and western menus (many Austrian-themed); heated loo seats; and mountain signage in English.
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| Simon outside St Anton Rentals, Nozawa Onsen |
On arrival the night before, we had had to rent everything at the St Anton Rental Shop, including skis (very good condition Rossignol Pursuit P100s), boots (Nordica, but too tight at the toes, too short in the leg and too flexy), clothing, mitts, helmets, goggles and gloves. I was unrecognizable in my unisex teen boy-racer outfit. Simon looked more himself, in his own shell jacket he'd brought to wear in the monsoon rains of Asia. Beneath, we both sported my yoga outfits but it wasn't cold enough for us to miss our usual thermals. Moral of the day: Yes to renting skis, clothing and helmets but if you have difficult feet, don't rent ski boots! I now know why so many beginners give up after the first agonizing day!
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| Ornate entrance to Ryokan Sakaya |
The only place we were out of our depth, was in the hotel and restaurants, full of ancient traditions and cultural booby traps. First thing at the luxurious but authentic Ryokan Sakaya was to shed shoes by the door and don slippers. Next a very delicate tea ceremony in our room, wearing hotel kimono-like robes (actually called yukatas) and a lesson in the difference between hotel slippers and a second pair of bathroom slippers - cardinal sin to get them confused! Our beautiful room featured all the authentic trappings: wooden ceilings, tatami mat floors, paper screen doors, futon beds and rice-filled pillows. Turned out that guests wore their yukatas to and from the onsens (hot springs) and even to breakfast where Simon and I looked churlishly incongruous in our over-eager ski gear. Luckily Scout Ski, who had planned our entire itinerary, had thoughtfully provided a guide with all the facts and foreigners' faux pas when staying in a Japanese hotel, so we didn't do too many things wrong.
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| Village of Nozawa Onsen: Courtesy of Scout Ski |
Outside, the narrow hilly streets of Nozawa Onsen are lined with canals gushing with steaming hot-springs water. Locals pipe this boiling water onto their forecourts and roads, melting the snow for easier walking. A great eco-friendly recycling system! Armed with hotel wellies to negotiate the slush, we found the après ski was a little difficult to locate. The village is a maze of intersecting streets, some cobbled, some flagstoned, all very Japanese with lots of colourful calligraphy, ornate architecture, street food and brightly coloured snack shops. We eventually discovered Foot, a sociable stand-up bar full of Aussies and Canadians clustered around the central fussball table. Having sampled the sumptuous 14-course banquet at Ryokan Sakaya the first night, we scoped out the local Italian, Kaze No Ie, the second night - apparently also a favourite of our hotel manager, Yuki, who was there celebrating
a kid’s birthday. Incidentally yuki means snow in Japanese!
Because we knew this was our last chance to ski for the whole season, we skied our entire stay but if we ever go again I want to stay longer and add the Snow Monkeys tour to our experience. Other great things to add to your Japan trip: explore the culinary connections at Kobe (beef, wine, seafood, sake and sweets - wait for my upcoming article in the Dallas Morning News to find out more); visit historic Himeji Castle; and watch a magical Maiko show in Gion, Kyoto. Read on for an insightful interview with Scout Ski's Sarah Plaskitt and more great photos from Nozawa Onsen:
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| Hot Tubbin' Monkey: Courtesy of Scout Ski |
Excerpt from our newest travel book "Marketing for Tourism, Hospitality and Events" to be published by Sage this spring:
With
the enticing tagline ‘Dream, Find, Book, Ski’, Scout Ski is the brainchild of Sarah
Plaskitt, a former journalist and ad agency brand strategist. Her background in
journalism has helped her create a topnotch travel website featuring
inspirational stories as well as persuasive photography. Reviews of resorts and
lodging are more credible since hotels don’t pay to be featured on the site.
‘What makes Scout different from other ski travel agents or online booking
services, is that we have been to every resort and property on Scout,’ says
Plaskitt, who was away ‘scouting’ in France when she organized our trip itinerary to Nozawa Onsen. ‘Scout is a
small company offering highly personalized service,’ Plaskitt explains. ‘We do
all the uphill work for you so you can concentrate on heading downhill.’
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| Sarah Plaskitt |
From
her background in ad agencies in New York and Sydney, Australian-born Plaskitt
decided to go it alone in order to have more control, flexibility and purpose
in her career. ‘I quickly decided that I wanted to focus the business online
which meant I could have customers from all over the world,’ she explains. ‘The
heavy emphasis on original content helps Scout get discovered organically by
skiers everywhere but, if I do any marketing, it tends to be focused on the US
and Australian markets. Selling ski packages is a competitive industry, but I
didn’t really see anyone doing the content very well. So I set about making
Scout different by having really detailed, first-hand content - which also
helps with organic rankings. It also helps when I speak to clients because they
really appreciate the first-hand knowledge that I can bring to their
decision-making.’
