Winter fun continues!

Skiing and snowboarding are very popular among the Japanese. There are an astonishing amount of ski resorts in Japan, most of which are located about a two-to-three hour drive from Tokyo. Being a Canadian native, most of my Japanese friends assume that I'm an avid skier...definitely not the case!

Last Saturday, March 10, we went on a ski trip to Sugadaira in Nagano Prefecture. Nagano was the host city for the 1998 Winter Olympics. Along with other Honda members and their families, we drove nearly 3 hours northwest to our destination. Since this winter in Japan has been unusually mild, there was unfortunately not as much snow as we anticipated, but we still had great fun. One of the winding runs seemed really narrow to me, but it I guess it forces you to practice ski technique.

Markus was in great spirits all day long. He kept busy collecting snow balls, piling them up on the sled, tossing them off the sled, then doing it all over again. He enjoyed watching the skiers and snowboarders whiz by down the mountain. Sugadaira is made up of many ski parks and fortunately the one we were at was not so busy. There was very little wait for the skilifts and Markus had plenty of room to roam around and exert his energy without interfering in anyone's way. Rodney and I took turns on the slopes while the other stayed back with Markus. Our good friends, the Wakayama family also went on the ski trip with us. Markus enjoys the company of the two boys, Naoki and Junki. It was the first time for Naoki and Junki to ever go skiing and boy did they ever learn fast. Their mom and dad are very good skiers and instructors! By the end of the day the two boys were skiing like young pros.

Rodney has taken a real liking to snowboarding since he's learned how to do it well. He has also taken a couple of separate snowboarding trips with his co-workers and friends. Of the places he's been to, Malnuma was his favourite. The view was great and there was a whole lot of real snow.

Hopefully we'll get to one last time before the season ends. Here's a collaboration of our trips...enjoy!