Christmas at GALA

Blue skies for Christmas Day at GALA this morning. Stunning views of the valley and the surrounding mountains. The clouds are gathering in the distance so there is still the chance of a White Christmas. It snowed all yesterday so great conditions out on the hill.

Some festive folk hitting the slopes today.

Nozawa Onsen planning to open Dec 1st

It is all eyes to the skies at the moment as everyone waits for the snow. Nozawa Onsen are planning to open their slopes for the season on the first of December.

Our instructors will be available for ski lessons and snowboard lessons from day one, so drop us a line and get your booking in.

It is an awesome resort with some great slopes for beginners and plenty of terrain to challenge other levels, a good park and a half pipe. The town itself is really unique with lots of narrow, winding streets, some super-hot, free onsen and a very cool feel to it. We can put you in touch with some great accommodation options over there if you are interested.

Snow up high

We woke this morning to a dusting of snow up on the local peaks again. Cold temperatures this week, especially over night and the snow is coming down to about 1000 meters. Far to early to get excited yet but even a little dusting of snow is good news.

We're still waiting for Tenjin to announce their opening date so at the moment Kagura is looking like the best bet for some early season turns when it opens on Friday 23rd November (which just happens to be the start of a 3 day weekend.)

Winter 2012/13

Summer Season over and winter just around the corner. Pretty cold over here right now so fingers crossed for some early snow.

Alpine Lodge will be open from Friday December 14th. It is starting to get busy for Christmas and New Year so get your bookings in soon to avoid disappointment.

The resorts are starting to put their projected opening dates up...

Houdaigi - December 15th
Norn - December 20th
Minakami Kogen - December 22nd

Still no word from Okutone or Tenjin.

Sure to be some good early season deals on for the first turns of the season. Ski & Snowboard Lessons will be good to go as soon as the snow is on the ground.

Goodbye Green Season

Summer season 2012 comes to a close - the end of 6 months of fun on the river. Thanks to everyone who made it up to Minakami this summer and we hope to see you all again this winter or next year for plenty more fun. It'll probably look much like this year with the river adventures kicking off late April and running through until the end of October.

In the meantime if you are looking to get out and about, the autumn colors in Minakami are nearing their best and we are running caving tours until the snow comes. If you enjoyed the rope work in the canyon then caving offers plenty more challenges.

Winter is just around the corner. The Alpine Lodge will be open from mid-December for the whole winter. The first backcountry dates have been announced - the basic tour takes you to some great terrain and will teach you how to safely make your way out into the backcountry. Snowshoe tours will operate on the weekends (and at other times too if you have a group) and with courses in Minakami and Yuzawa there is plenty of exploring to do.

The instructors are good to go for ski and snowboard lessons. As soon as the snow falls and the resorts open we'll be out there. We regularly go to all resorts in Minakami and all resorts in Yuzawa, as well as Nozawa Onsen. We'll also head further afield if you need an English speaking instructor - we've worked with clients in Shiga Kogen, Kijimadaira and even up in Niseko. Just drop us a line to let us know how we can help.

Backcountry Tours 2012/13

With the first snows of the season dusting the tops of the local peaks this week, our thoughts are turning to winter.

The backcountry guides have put their heads together and come up with the initial schedule for the 2012/13 season. If snow and weather conditions allow the main trips are set for

January 13th - Kagura
February 2nd - Hotaka
February 23rd - Hotaka
March 16th - Kagura

The guides are available for group bookings or for private guiding too, so if those dates don't work, drop us a line and we can see what we can work out. As always there is lots of interest from advanced riders and pro-teams in the steeps at Tenjindaira which is always high up on many hit lists.

Winter 2012/13 Openings - GALA Yuzawa

Gala have just finished their Summer Season and right on time have put up their new 2012/13 winter website.

They kick off their winter on Saturday December 22nd

GALA is the easiest place to go for a day on the snow with a bullet train link straight from Tokyo or Ueno into the base building. You can rock up in the clothes you are standing in and rent everything you need for a day in the mountains, enjoy the snow, have an onsen and then hop back on the train home.

It is also a long season with the resort due to be open until Golden Week.

For the Freestylers there is a great terrain park there and on weekends and national holidays from early April they roll out the air bag at the base of a big kicker so you can really fine tune those moves or try that big, new trick you've been thinking over all season.

We'll be running lessons there all season from first lift to last lift. Don't forget the awesome deals that you can get from the View Plaza Travel Agent in the main stations - great packages on bullet train tickets, lift tickets and rentals for a fraction of the normal cost.

Winter Ski Internship

30 degrees today so thinking ahead to the deep, cold, winter snow is quite welcome. And it is never too early to get excited about winter.

Just a quick heads up to let you know we'll be working with Educating Adventures for their Winter Ski Instructor Internship.

They offer an awesome program that really stands out from other instructor training courses. You get full training on all aspects of instructor life and then, when you pass your qualification exam, there is a job waiting for you. For those looking to get into the industry it is an amazing first step leading to an internationally recognized instructor qualification and valuable hours of on-snow teaching experience.

Get in touch with EA for all the details.

Tenjin Opens Tomorrow

The winter is finally about to get underway in Minakami as of Saturday December 10th when Tenjin will open.

We've been watching the mountains gradually turn white over the recent weeks with great anticipation. There have been a couple of warmer spells which have pushed the opening date back a bit but as of tomorrow it is all back on again.

There's a base of 35cm up there at the moment and it is snowing right now so there may be some good lines to be had first thing tomorrow. It probably won't be the whole resort open tomorrow but will be as much as they can. The lift ticket will only be 2,500 yen too so get your gear ready and we will see you up there.

Welcome Back Winter Party.

Snow forecast for this week. Resorts planning to open this weekend. Do we need any other reason to have a party?

Our Welcome Back Winter Party will kick off Friday night at 8pm in the Alpine Cafe. For the first 2 hours beer, cocktails and bar snacks will be 100 yen. They'll also be a session on the mini-ramp and DJs playing until midnight.

Weather-willing, it'll be off to the snow in the morning. Either that or lazing around in bed....

Come join us!

Who needs snow...

When you have GRASS SKIS!

Video of (possible career-ending) test session to follow.

24th Nov - 1st Ski of the Season

Tenjin didn't manage to open on the weekend but decided to run one of the lifts from 9.30 this morning. As soon as we heard it was a quick change, grab the skis and off to check it out. Haven't skied since mid-October so keen to get back out there.

Apparently there is warm weather on the way so they are not sure if they will keep running so took the chance to ski while we could. Definitely more hikers around than snow enthusiasts and got plenty of funny looks as we walked around with skis and boards.

Only the centre pair lift was open and a total of five people were using it (3 boarders, 1 telemarker and 1 skier) with pedestrians more of an obstacle than each other.

It'll be a while before all our favourite stashes are open for business but it was nice to get a quick slide in.

We also got our point card which is a new system they are trying this year. Collect five stamps and you get next lift ticket for free - shouldn't be too hard.

New 2010 Winter Uniform

Our North Face uniforms had done a couple of seasons by the end of last winter so it was time for a new outfit; a big decision around here which caused lots of discussion (/argument).

We spend a lot of hours outside over the winter so this is a very important issue for us and we need great kit. Also it really gets put through its paces by the different departments - the snowshoe and backcountry guides need something robust that will stand up to nature and the instructors need something cool to swan around the bar in. It's a big ask for any jacket but the good people at Teton Bros. have provided us with just the thing.

It's quality gear and we can't wait to get into the mountains in it. They're with the printer right now but keep an eye for the folk in blue from this weekend.

Check out their whole range of gear at http://www.teton-bros.com/

Rental Gear

So our rental equipment for the season arrived this afternoon. No more queuing at the resort on Saturday morning wasting precious snow time. Pick your gear up at the lodge and then it's straight out onto the slopes.

We've got a good selection of skis and boards, especially in the larger sizes that can sometimes be difficult to find in some places. The boots too are available in bigger sizes, going up to 31cm and with a bit of notice, we can get hold of larger sizes too.

There is one more delivery to be made and that is the one we're looking forward to - the demo gear. We've got a bunch of fat powder skis on order and because we care, we'll be taking them out for a test run as soon as the snow arrives! Having taken 50 sets of equipment down two flights of stairs I think we deserve it.