skiing

We took the boys skiing this past weekend, to a resort called Happo-One (hap-poh-oh-nay) in the Hakuba mountains, in Nagano Prefecture, part of the Japan Alps region of Central Honshu. One of the parents I met at school recommended it for the Evergreen ski school (English-speaking instructors) and Mominoki hotel located next door.

We really lucked out with great weather, great conditions and short lift lines, and the boys, who had never been on skis before, were into it too. While they had their lessons, we were able to get some grown-up runs in. Here's T tackling a short slalom course that, if we were reading the signs correctly, is a leftover from the 1998 Olympics (most events were held at another bigger resort nearby called Shiga Kogen...there are something like 600 ski resorts in Japan and who knows how many where we were).

After ski school on Sunday we had some family time at the "Magic Carpet," a slow-moving conveyor that takes the kids up to the top of the bunny slope where the classes are held. There is also a small sledding hill (here's a short clip).

We managed to survive the weekend without injury, save for T's sunburned eyelids. To see his photos, click here (you'll have to sign in to Facebook). Scroll down to see mine.