| I went to Tsugaike Shizenen. I left by car at 8:20. This time I drove in my XPLORE boots (← my car has manual shift). I arrived at the parking lot of the neighboring Tsugaike Kogen Ski Resort in 5 minutes and got on the gondola without changing my boots. I arrived at the gondola summit station at 8:53. Hmm, I'll make it just in time. Let's get on! And I headed straight for the ropeway. I got on just in time and arrived at the summit station at around 9:05. I see... If you leave home and arrive at the ropeway summit station in the fastest time, it takes less than an hour... Wow. And I arrived at the entrance to Shizenen at 9:15. I was surprised to see that there was more snow than usual == and kept going with the step cut. Yes, the slope is gentle because of the abundant snow. Also, because of the high temperature, the new snow from yesterday has changed from powdery to grippy. So I was walking well and got into the mood and arrived at the observation deck at 9:45. It took 30 minutes from the entrance to here (fast!!). It's fast when you have light step-cut skis == And here, Mt. Hakuba is right in front of you. Amazing. It's time to take photos. This time I brought my digital camera. And finally, it was time to ski. Man, this was tough. I don't know if it was light, mushy, or crunchy... But still... The slope down to Ukishima Marsh on the way back was better. Let's ski where we can! So we climbed back up and did one more run. Not bad. It was pretty MAX though. Good thing I knew about B-tele... The weather was as predicted, the sky was overcast as we went downhill. The snow was sticky. It felt like it was changing from stop snow to sticky snow. Then I remembered that I had a hammock in my backpack... so I set it up. It's hard to get into the mood to lie down like this in the dead of winter. First of all, it was cold. And then snow started falling from the trees. However, the rich time spent in a hammock is also hard to give up. That's why I carry one in my backpack. I just thought of it, but that feeling of being wrapped up in it, or rather its structure, would be perfect for transporting injured people in the snowy season (!). It even has ropes on both ends. Oh dear. And so, that's how we welcome the start of the Step Soulful season. This season will last until July... But it's just beginning (laughs). March 12, 2025 |
