Electrooooooooo Party in Naeba

We headed out to Naeba to see some big name DJ's playing at the huge event hall in the Prince Hotel. After a long days snowboarding we were on a mission to drink and dance until the early hours.

The event, strangely named Wee-Sky a Go Go was a great way to tie up an eventful Saturday. Needless to say, not many of us made it out to the slopes the next day.

Fresh Snow

Our instructors Kieron and Gaz took advantage of some days off and some fresh snowfall to hit Gala and Yuzawa Kogen. As you can see there was plenty of fresh powder to be hit. Gaz has just arrived in Japan and didn't waste anytime introducing himself to the locals!

Feb 28th: Bottle Bar Beach Party

What better way to beat the cold than to set up or very own beach party at the bottle bar. Complete with palm trees, beach shack and summer tunes we danced the night away into the small hours and all involved had a great time.

11th Feb. WeLove Nozawa Onsen

Luckily for us the 11th of Feb was a national holiday meaning we could get out of the office and explore the slopes of Nozawa Onsen for the first time this season. Nozawa Onsen feels a lot like a European ski resort and has masses of terrain to discover, including a great 3km long off piste run (but we can't tell you where it is!). If you do manage to find it, be aware that it is at your own risk because the ski patrol will not be happy and you will get your lift ticket pulled if you get caught.

Nozawa Onsen has a good amount of information signs written in English. Just make sure you obey them so you don't end up like Kieron did.

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.