WeLoveSnow hoodie winner (with her pet Elands)

In the rush of excitement after making up our WLS Hoodies, we ran a competition to give one away. This was ages ago - it took us a fair while to get the hoodie posted off. The winner was Carol, an expat Brit (I think) living in Kenya. Carol sent us a mail with some pictures showing off her prize;



Carol writes: "thought I would send across some piccies with me in my We Love Snow hoodie!!!! This is taken in my garden yesterday – I live in a Wildlife Sanctuary so thought they were quite unique pictures for you to show me in my We Love Snow hoodie feeding my two pet Elands!!!!"



Many thanks to Carol for sending in these pictures...before today I had no idea what an Eland was.

Countdown to the ski season

At the time of writing, there are 69 days, 18 hours, 17min and 47 seconds to go until our ski season begins, at 8am on Nov 17 at Naeba ski resort. The reason why I can say this with such precision is that I have just added a countdown script into the news section of our home page

Weather permitting, on this first day we'll be treated to a 300m run and a 150m run on man-made snow - although on some years there is a covering of natural snow over this base. Whilst this isn't ideal, its always a great feeling to get the gear back on and get strapped in & clicked onto boards and skis. The first day always feels like a bit of a fashion show - lots of people trying out new gear that they have bought for the season. Its also the little details that I love, such as once again hearing the familiar dulcet tones of the announcements telling you to raise the chairlift safety bar before you get off.

The first day always has a little bit of spice. Having boarders and skiers on the same slope always gives potential for some fun, especially when its generally experienced boarders & skiers who sometimes try popping the moves that they last tried 6 months ago.

So whilst the first day never provides the best snow of the season, its just great to get back on the slopes, in the knowledge that the conditions are going to get better and better....

Fall-line skiing

Much excitement in WeLoveSnow towers last night, when we received a sneak preview of a 6 page article on skiing in Yuzawa from Fall-Line Skiing magazine in the UK. The article will appear in the October issue of the magazine, in the shops on September 21: for readers in the UK, check it out!

Quoted in Business Week

Yesterday I was honoured with a quote in Business Week: Land of Rising Tourism Hopes. [The article gives a mention to Japan Worldwide, the company behind WeLoveSnow.] Given the amount of local Niigata sake that had been sampled on the night when I met the journalist, I'm surprised that 1) I said anything quotable or even coherent, and 2) that Ian could remember any of it...

Probably can't ski in Japan this year - gutted

I am almost certainly not going to be able to ski in Japan this year (which is something that I have enjoyed with my friends at http://www.welovesnow.com/ now for several years). The reason is that my wife is pregnant and due in February! Maybe I can sneak a quick trip in early December, so long as "junior" doesn't come early I might have a fighting chance...


I am biased, being involved with WeLoveSnow, but some of the best memories I have of both skiing and "related activities" (such as Kareoke, somersaulting off bridges into deep snow getting a small bruise along the way but still smiling, driving over the mountain in a jeep to go night skiing until midnight, trying and failing to snowboard in snow up to my eyes, trying and nearly failing to ski off piste in snow up to my waist and drinking Sake with various delicious raw items of food) are from Japan.

If you haven't tried skiing in japan yet you should! I have included some snaps from my previous trips over, no particular order...!

All the best

Paul

WeLoveSnow in Nagano

The title has quite a ring to it... we've been slaving away during the summer to put all the preparations in place for offering ski and snowboard tours to Nagano prefecture.

This year, we will be covering Nozawa Onsen and Hakuba in addition to Yuzawa. Whilst WeLoveSnow is based in Yuzawa and this ski area will always be closest to our hearts, undoubtedly there are some fantastic resorts in these areas which we hope you will enjoy also..