Epic Snow THE BEGINNING

As we sat at the airport drinking 8:30 am beers watching Ricky, Del and Marty scramble to buy exiting tickets from japan the prospect of getting on the flight for 8 hours was getting exciting. Famous quote comes to mind, “adventure begins when things go wrong”

After Tickets where purchased, next thing we know we are in the air sipping on beers en-route to the land of the rising sun.

After arriving in Narita airport  and picking up our bags, Our Japanese ambassador Kimi sent us a message saying “ its completely legal to drink on the trains, so grab some beers and ill see you soon” along with directions on how to navigate the rabbits warren of the Tokyo train system.

Kimi and his wife Miyu welcomed us in true Japanese style beers and Ski movies! Kimi grew up skiing the Japanese alps from the age of 4 and knows the mountains of Myoko like the back of his hand. A true locals eye when it comes to powder spots!

Ramen, Rain & Trains. Tokyo was a blur. An amazing city which we felt welcomed and safe. With Kimi’s wife Miyu as our tour guide we were covering some serious ground. First stop Shiboya crossing!. The iconic Tokyo crosswalk. A trip to Tokyo was not complete until we hit the games arcade. Followed by hands down the most mouth watering, indulgent, tantric Ramen any of us have ever had!

Next stop was Ogowamachi the snowboard shop district. I have never seen so snow shops in one spot anywhere in the world. I couldn’t help myself, bright lights and fluro colours…. I bought another board.

After browsing the shops in Ogowamachi we grabbed some beers. KAMPAI! (surprise surprise) and jumped on the train back to Kimi and Miyu’s place for some traditional Takoyaki (octopus balls. yes they have balls!) A few bottles of Sake under the belt and huge grins on our faces we drifted off to sleep on our futon beds and dreamt of snow!

As we write this we are on the shinkasen (bullet train) the morning after the sake on our way out to Myoko for our first glimpse of that white fluffy stuff.

Akakura night skiing is on the cards….

~Benny V