A Dry Run

I was up at 5:20am. In the car with my bagel and chai by 6:15. JP and I met at the designated IC at 7 and we were in Hakuba a few minutes before 8. And there was NO SNOW! Seriously...what?? All the reports said the ski parks were open and it was supposed to be snowing this morning. Okay...so we tried three parks and all three were open, but there wasn't snow within sight of the parking lot. Maybe somewhere near the top there was snow, but none from where we stood. Boarders and skiers were still going up, but when we asked what was open, they were packing a few hundred people into 1-2 short runs at the top. And they wanted us to pay 4500Y ($40US). I think not!

So we crawled back in our car, drove back down to sea level and enjoyed a lovely meal of mac & cheese while watching a few episodes of "The Wonder Years" under the kotatsu (heated table covered with a blanket).

At least I know where all my gear is, and did a run through. So when the real day actually comes, I'll be SOOOOO ready!!

SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW