Adventure in the snowy peaks of Nozawa Onsen

My snowboard...after the 100th time crashing in the snow

Where in the world could you find beautiful alpines, snowy everything, do a BBQ on impromptu in the cold, make great new friends from all over the world, go to pubs and play table soccer/ cards with the locals, strike a conversation with the Ojisan and his wife in the little yakitori store, AND learn snowboard with cool Swiss instructors?

Welcome to Nozawa Onsen.

View at Uenotaira gondola station, Nozawa Onsen

I have never snowboarded nor ski-ed in my life. I don’t know what gave me the courage, but I decided to pack my bag, take the bullet train to Nagano, and put my life in the hands of a piece of plank on a snowy slope that stretches to forever. Granted, it would be a very nice piece of plank (and cool snowboarding gear at that), but nobody’s going to fly a helicopter for you just because you look more stylish than the ski-ers (sorry Renee!).

And so I decided to head to Nozawa Onsen, the least touristy and smallest in scale in Nagano compared to its bigger brothers – Shiga Kogen and Hakuba. Even then, it is still one of the largest ski resorts in Japan and the most importantly, it is also well-known as a hotspring resort since the Edo period (from the 1600s). In fact the locals are so proud of its hotspring water that almost EVERYONE goes to the public baths dotted everywhere in the village to bathe using hotspring water (not tap water). It was wonderful, to go back in time in those bathing houses. But of course, my main purpose was snowboarding…and trust me, snowboarding is not for the faint-hearted. After a short 2 hours lesson on how not to kill myself in snow, I made my first attempt to snowboard from the summit gondola station of Yamabiko (about 1,500m in elevation) to Uenotaira (about 1,200m in elevation). I suppose a good snowboarder could finish that route in about 10min. My first attempt saw me crashing face down, butt first, on the sides and basically in all positions possible before getting to Uenotaira after 1.5 hours (!).

My fellow crasher, in the same position as I was most of the time..

Fortunately, about half a dozen other people were also in those positions around me at any time. By about the 20th time, I was truly wondering whether it was all worth it. That’s when a look around the beautiful white powdery scenery around me (while sitting in the snow nursing my butt and my ego) reminded me that it was.

View at Yamabiko summit, Nozawa Onsen

Staying in a lodge run by Australians wouldn’t have been my typical choice of accomodation in Japan. However, I was not on a typical mission either in Nozawa Onsen, and so my criteria were different this time. The Villa Nozawa (http://nozawaholidays.com/) offered lessons from Swiss instructors, which is very much needed if you do not wish to spend too much time trying to figure out the English of some Japanese instructors from other schools (Nozawa Onsen Ski School offers such course).

Cool snowboarder taking a higher challenge

Learning to snowboard meant a lot of sharing and getting advice from people who are good at it. At Villa Nozawa, it was like being initiated into a big family of snowboarding and ski-lovers and beginners. Quite the opposite of a Japanese ryokan where privacy of the guests was paramount and guests hardly speak to one another, at Villa Nozawa, morning breakfasts are social gatherings with everyone trying to tell their near-death stories the day before (we did that over our impromptu BBQ in the cold too!). Of course there were also the authentic ryokans in the village, one of which is right next to the Ooyu Onsen and has a lounge with a view of a beautiful pond garden and its own outdoor hotsprings. I gather that a budget ski/ snowboarding course followed by a more luxurious ryokan stay at Nozawa Onsen could be a great end to a wonderful snowboarding trip!

Foot bar, where I played great table soccer with Luke & Renee from Villa Nozawa!

Japanese snowboarders, yeah..cool! :)

* I got my sense of balance miraculously overnight and finished that same course 3 times in less than 20min each :)