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Colorado based Icelantic and Wapan skis at Shop Jaja. Dig the locally designed Japanese style graphics on the Wapans.
Nice selection of Bakery and Templeton snowboards at Shop Jaja.
My guide demonstrating how deep the snow was in the tree run area. Geto runs resort tours around the resort's tree runs. Well worth it on a day like this when it's almost white out conditions in one of the heaviest storms of the season.
The Gentem Demo Shack at the Powder Terrace. Full range of sexy looking Gentemsticks on display. The guys will give you advice on which model would suit your riding and you can take the boards out for a demo.
The apres starter fridge at Camp 88. Nothing fancy, reasonably priced chu-his, high balls and beer.
You can rent all the backcountry gear you need at Geto. They have backpacks, beacons, probes, poles, snowshoes. The gear looked pretty new. I did see quite a few snowboarders using poles to traverse the flat section at the top.
Camp 88's dry room. Lots of gear, but you can usually find a space.
There is a tuning waxing station just outside Camp 88. Someone left a clothes iron there in case you need to wax.
The buffet meals at Camp 88 were pretty good. Apart from the staples like salad, burdock, miso soup and rice, they try to keep things fresh by changing the main dishes. Tonight we had chicken karaage and croquettes.
The beef tendon curry with onsen egg. It sounded a lot better than it tasted. The beef tendon wasn't braised in the curry just thrown together when you order.
Geto has a free shuttle bus from the East exit of Kitakami station. Takes about 50 mins to get to the ski resort. Its a large bus with luggage space on the bottom. It gets pretty packed with people having to sit in the middle, but the driver will call up another bus if needed.
To enter Shimokura's tree run zones you need to fill in a form and collect your armband from this guy in the Powder Station. The arm band is to ensure no one is still stuck somewhere when the resort closes.
The Beginners Park is a fenced off area with a really gentle slope for first timers. The snow escalator makes it easy to get to the top. Parents can watch their kids from inside the restaurant.
Make sure to bring lift pass holders to Hachimantai ski resort as they still use paper tickets. They ran out of the cheap ones on the Shimokura side and I had to buy this little guy who doubles as a pass holder.
Hachimantai's Winter Land was pretty extensive. A long snow escalator and you can ride sleds, tubes, snow striders and mountain carts - like a go kart with skis. There is also a separate section for snowmobiling and banana boat rides.
The Kaki Fry - deep fried oysters from Baeren Beer Front was the best I have ever had. Crunchy, plump and juicy. Together with the mentaiko mayo, the oysters went down really well with a Baeren Classic.
Quick snack while waiting for the bus back to Panorama. Coffee and cinnamon roll from the Powder Station cafe.
Appi has a ton of variety when it comes to food and Pashupati - the Indian restaurant is one of the most popular. This is the butter chicken curry set with extra Seekh Kebabs. After 3 weeks in Japan it was a welcome change for my Asian tastebuds. The food wasn't very spicy but you can add extra chilli powder to increase the heat.
