School's out... on the snow

The snow became the classroom at Iwa-ppara last week as we welcomed students from a school in Tokyo. We had great spring like conditions during the week with bright sunshine most days giving everyone a great goggle tan by the end of the week. The students we eager to get sliding around on the snow but not before a warm up and stretch lead by our instructor Kieron.


Not content with sliding around Iwa-ppara all day the students still had plenty of energy left to go night skiing at the Ishiuchi resort. Even the teachers got involved with one showing off his "skills" in the terrain park and showed the students how not to do it!

Jan 16th: Just another day at WeLoveSnow.

Living in Yuzawa is great due to the massive amounts of snow but unfortunately it is sometimes difficult to get in and out of the office. Here's me and Kieron shovelling away the snow (whilst I take the opportunity to have a smoke with the fresh air...)

You can also see one of our ski instructors, Makiko looking as genki as ever.

Jan 15th: Crazy and Dangerous Fire Festival (Of Cultural Importance)

The normally peaceful village of Nozawa Onsen erupts into fire every year on January 15th. The "Dosojin" Fire Festival is one of the largest of it's kind in Japan and it is an amazing sight. All men aged 42 years sit on top of a shrine. (42 years is considered unlucky in Japan as it translates as Shi-Ni) which means death. All men aged 25 years old (also considered unlucky) must protect the shrine from hundreds of villagers armed with flaming torches, intent on burning the shrine to the ground. The villagers attack the shrine as the men on top scream taunts and jibes hoping that the younger men below can force the attackers back or extinguish their flames. Of course everybody is extremely drunk just in case you thought that trying to burn a group of 42 year old men alive wasn't dangerous enough!



The climax of the festival sees the shrine finally being burned to the ground (minus innocent victims) and everybody returns home with burnt clothes and burnt hair leaving the village in peace once more.




Please see our Nozawa Onsen Hotels page for information on where to stay.

11th Jan: Iwappara Powder!

Iwappara was a powder heaven on Sunday and we scouted out some fresh runs. It wasn't all fun and games though as we had to hike 2 hours in waist deep powder after we made our mark on the mountain. For me, It was definitely the best day of the season for us so far.

Dec 26th: Powder This Weekend.

The snow started to fall nicely on Christmas night and has continued until boxing day morning. It is a nice sight to see especially since we have been starved of snowfall in December. Of course the WeLoveSnow team will be out at the weekend hoping to make some fresh tracks in the powder. For now though we have to be content with sitting in the office and looking out the window.
For those of you making the trip to Yuzawa this weekend, enjoy it!

Dec 21st: Kagura Once More

The WeLoveSnow team were up bright and early again on Sunday to hit the slopes of Kagura once more. Our newly arrived ski instructor Makiko was teaching so was unable to join us but our other new guy Kieron was quite happy to come along even though he was working in the bottle bar until the early hours of the night before. We met up with a few friends along the way and had a nice easy Sunday.

WeLoveSnow Ski Pass Holder.

Keep your ski pass handy and viewable with the new WeLoveSnow Ski Pass Holder. The convenient arm band, and key ring keeps you from digging through your pockets searching for your money and belongings. There are two colours available, yellow and blue.
On your next trip to Yuzawa, make sure you come to the WeLoveSnow office or Bottle Bar and pick one up for only 500 yen.

Available in Yellow and Blue

Keep Your Money Handy

WeLoveSnow Professional Model