ski trip to Ishiuchi Maruyama, Niigata Pref.

There's night skiing at Ishiuchi!

(that's Conor in the foreground, at left, with Dylan behind him and Terry in the background on the right)

This resort area-- and there are oh so many in this country! -- is less than 2 hrs. away, door to door: about 1 hr. 15 min. by bullet train from Tokyo Station to Echigo-Yuzawa station, and from there, another 10 min. by car, or in our case, hotel shuttle-van. (We stayed at Esprit, a boutique outfit, which was basically ski-in, ski-out, and was run by some very nice people who provided some very fine food plus free Wi-Fi. Oh and the owner drove me to the 7-11 down the road so I could use the ATM.)

We just got back so this post is to be continued...