Paying homage to the pow-pow gods

Hello. Allow me to regale you with tales of my weekend, or, the story of how I got really really sore.

The plan was to go to Hakkoda for two days and tear it up there. We got started a little late on Saturday, which was actually quite lucky, since the weather looked a lot like this:


Couldn't see five feet in front of us by the mountain. Winds were crazy at the summit, reportedly 30 or so meters per second. Not that we got up there. The gondola was closed due to the winds, but the road was closed too. Evidently a bus had tipped over, blocking the only access in or out of the mountain, trapping a handful of folks at the top. It sounds as though they made the best of it, since some of those who were trapped up there were pretty hung over the next day. They barricaded themselves against the weather with a space heater, beer, and all the instant ramen they could eat. Some were able to leave at 11 pm when the road finally opened, but at least one dude stayed the night and got the first lift in the morning.

Since we had to turn around, we went to the resort with groomed trails (as opposed to the veritable open country of Hakkoda) that was next door. It, however, also sucked. We couldn't see, the wind made the snow hurt, but we paid $15 for those tickets, darn it, and stayed most of the afternoon.

The next day was much better. Here's a pic of the road to Hakkoda, you can see some sort of structure covered with snow, a la the Shining:


To get a good idea of how much snow there actually is up there, here's a picture of Chris in the parking as we geared up for the day. That wall behind him is, indeed, snow.

I didn't take my camera up the mountain, so these are stolen from Chris. Here's me snowboarding (with difficultly) near the top:


We tried going off the trail into the really thick, untouched powder at times, cause it is better. That is, if you don't get stuck:


That's me (rear) and Chris' girlfriend, Satoko, trapped in luxorious powder, which you can't stand up in. It's too deep, you just sink, and sink, and sink, and sink... Concurrently, we (I) had a lot of trouble off the main courses.

Here's a nice pic of the top, for all you crunchy types.


I need new bindings (broke 'em), a new board, since I'm no longer riding on the lethal ice-cliffs of the Northeast U.S. Plus, I just realized my boots are like 10 years old... and leaking. Somebody gets paid soon!

peace.

Hakoda

picture of me (in the background) on hakoda w/ chris.

Came back about two weeks ago, have taken a while to get this post up, sorry. Here's what a remember (nostalgically):

The flight back was extra-long, since I flew to Japan out fo San Francisco instead of Chicago, so there was more lateral distance across the earth. Sat next to a middle-aged Thai lady who was visiting her homeland (her husband teaches at Berkeley [sp?]). She asked me why I was teaching in Japan, and not Thailand. "Thai people are so relaxed" she said, "All we do is hang out and read and sit in the sun."

Why not Thailand indeed?

Kidding. Snow trumps sun in my book.

So I spent two days wandering aroudn Tokyo, crashing at the apartment of this guy who I met during training. Here is a cool picture of the Ueno section of tokyo



Here is a picture of me in aforementioned section:



Brief side note: while walking through this area the next day, headed towards the museums in Ueno Park, a Japanese fellow spotted me in a crowd and called out "Hey, are you Canadian?" He turned out to be a transient author witha bit of a crazy streak, and dragged me into an hour-long conversation ranging from American poltics, Nietzche, and the deviousness of Japanese women, all the while accosting me with a copy of Don Quixote. Definetly worth the time.

The art museums were interesting, too. Somewhat weird and commenting on a culture I don't understand too well myself, but cool nonetheless.

Here are some pictures I took from the bullet train on the way up. They really show how the population is squeezed in along the coast, right up to the mountain ranges that dominate the geography of Japan.




I finally managed to take a picture of the little trolley that services the Shimokita peninsula. I ride this thing for about an hour and half the get up to where I am. It is here pictured at Noheji station, a fairly decent-sized city at the southern end of Shimokita.


You might also notice that while it is not snowing in the pictures above, it sure as heck is in Shimokita.


Went to Hakoda last weekend, my first experience with snowboarding in Japan. A little rough at first, as I'm not used to the amount fo snow they had and I'm pretty out fo shape for aerobic activity. Needless to say, I'm still sore, but I had an awesome time there. Will hopefully eb back next weekend for more.

I'll tkae pictures up there, too. It's pretty cool looking. The snow is deeeeeeeeeeep, Allen-Ginsburg deep.