w00kie’s ramblings

I was in Kagura Saturday for a my second day snowboard of the season. We left at 5:30AM to get there by 7AM, get dressed and catch the first ropeway car up the mountain. I was snowing big flakes the whole day, no wind. Deep powder everywhere, leg-deep out in the forest where we spent the whole day, almost Hokkaido-good.

The station reported 80cm of fresh snowfall over the weekend. It really looks like the start of a great season!

Sunday December 2nd is for many of us in Japan the dreaded day of 日本語能力試験 - also known as JLPT or Japanese Language Proficiency Test. But this weekend is also the start of what looks like the best ski season I've seen since I've come to Japan.

Trying out my new snowboard gear on 130cm of snow in Kagura or studying for the ２級. It's a tough call...

What to do when you really want to snowboard in summer and you like stupid crazy activities? You find a place where they built a big-air jump on a hill with a pool under it.

The place is called S-Air and is located in 所沢 in southern Saitama. You can get there from Tokyo in around 45min by train and the full day pass + rental of everything will cost you 8,300¥ (or 7,000¥ for 2 1/2 hours).

This was really really scary and even though I probably never cleared 3m, it felt really high. I had never taken a real jump on a snowboard before, and I will probably never do it on snow now that I know how it feels: I had so many potentially-fatal-crashes in that pool, I'm scared for life now...

Last week I took a day off work to go apply for my visa renewal in Shinagawa (hoping for 3 years this time). I love spending, every year, 2 1/2 hours listening to kids shout and cry, waiting for my number to come up, and 5 minutes of effective work with the immigration officer.

After that was done, I headed out to Jimbocho / Ochanomizu to meet my friend Germain who was going to help me out buying my first snowboard and related accessories. There is a street there that is lined with snowboard, ski and surf shops. I love this place...

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Here's what I ended up buying:

• Snowboard from K2
• Flow bindings
• Boots from Burton
• Big snowboard bag with wheels for taking the plane to Hokkaido

All of that from last year's collection and between 50% and 65% off. ¥75.000 well spent, now I'll probably be on the slopes every weekend this season to make it worth my while...