Summer Charm

Its rainy season here now but we made the best of a clear day by exploring neighbouring Gunma prefecture which is just a short drive from Yuzawa. It is a great place to visit in summer as it has lots of activities available. In Minakami there is rafting, canyoning and bungee jumping but we decided to take the slow approach to our day off. (Cue obligatory tourist shots).

First stop was “Takumi no Sato” which is a unique town, home to craftsmen of various professions. Visitors can enter the workshops and try their hand at the many crafts available. Craft techniques range from “aizome” fabric dyeing to Japanese “washi” paper making. My favourite had to be the business cards made from thinly shaved wood.

Next up is “Vidro Park” where you can see professional glass blowers at work. Visitors can also make their own glassware with the help of experts. I have to say it looks like pretty hot work in the middle of summer with all the furnaces burning. These guys make it look a lot easier than it is.

We hit a rest stop for lunch and were pretty happy to be served a plate of nothing but meat, lots of meat and a nice local beer. I was always told to eat my fruit and veg as a kid so luckily there was the aptly named “Tomato Land” tomato farm nearby. You can go in and pick your own tomatoes for lunch. Doesn’t get any fresher than that.

So if you're looking for something different to do during your summer holidays, then Gunma would be a great place to start.

Ready to Rock?

The Fuji Rock Festival kicks off from the 24th-26th of July , and is causing a lot of excitement here in the WeLoveSnow office! It looks like another great line-up this year with more artists still to be announced.

Rooms are still available for the festival, through they are selling out fast. For your last chance to secure accommodation for the festival dates, check our Hotel Booking Page! We still have rooms for a few hotels, but we expect them to be taken very soon.

Now, where did I put my wellies?....

Spring Fun

Sunday was a pretty hot day but there was still plenty of snow to be had at Kagura. Even in our t-shirts and hoodies we were still pretty hot, which explains why we saw some guys and girls dressed up in their maid outfits!

At this point in the season, the snow park is one of the best places to go. We managed to get some jump and rail practice in, and hopefully we can get a few more runs before the season ends in May.

Upon return, the gondola at Tashiro offered some great views of the lake and surrounding mountains.

Record Breakers: Ski Lift Rides, Most in 24 hours.

Yuzawa is the perfect place to attempt this kind of record as there are so many different resorts in close proximity to one another. WeLoveSnow first broke the record in 2007 with 44 lifts ridden and the same record was equalled in 2008. This meant the pressure was on for 2009 to get past that 44 mark and into the record books. Instead of skiing, this year we opted for snowboards to see if that would improve our chances.

This year’s team consisted of myself (Aaron Doig) from the U.K, Koji Hoshino from Japan, who was the schedule and log book keeper and Kieron Waller also from the U.K, the man with the camera. I’m sure he was relieved he brought a back up camera as the first camera decided to freeze right before the first lift. Work was abandoned for the day to allow this intrepid band a shot at the title.

Conditions had been quite worrying in the days running up to the attempt. Many lifts were closed and there more grass than snow in some resorts. Luckily the snow decided to fall non-stop on the day before the attempt and on the day itself. This meant that more lifts were open which gave us a real boost. However, the conditions proved tricky at Kagura as it was a total white out, making it very difficult to navigate between lifts. One wrong turn could have ruined the whole attempt.

This years attempt took us from Ishiuchi to Gala, Iwappara, Kandatsu, Kagura and Naeba resorts which had a total of 47 lifts open. We rode a mixture of double, triple, quad, ropeway, gondola and magic carpets and finally broke through the 44 mark in Naeba Resort and managed to ride a grand total of 46 lifts. Our gloves and face masks were frozen solid but by the end we hardly noticed anym ore as we had broken the record.

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.