Japan: Snowboarding in Nozawa Onsen! [Part 2]

During the few days I was up in Nozawa-onsen, I was blessed enough to have encountered a heavy snowfall! When I woke up after my first night, I was amazed to find the entire place covered in fresh powder white snow! It was a magical sight to behold, especially for someone who hadn't seen snowfall before. Well, it was fortunate too, because it made my first try at snowboarding a lot easier!

Snowing heavily with lots of fresh powder!

 Is this not the prettiest??

For those who haven't snowboarded before, trying it out on fresh snow powder is a lot less painful when you fall, and also creates more friction (which works when you're trying to start out slow). So, I was extremely grateful. However, it's a double edged sword because it's harder to get up when you lock both feet on the board. 

It's rather difficult to get up once you've locked your feet on the board

Here's a brief introduction to snowboarding, to ease the fears of those who want to try it don't really dare to:

• Both of your feet are locked into the clasps on the board
• The normal way to snowboard is right foot down first. Going with the left foot down is known as goofy. By default, you will be given the normal one, but if you feel that the other way is more comfortable for you, you can try goofy the next time! Personally I found that I used my left foot more, so I will try goofy the next round!
• It requires a lot of leg control - just pretend that you're balancing on the bus or train without holding onto the handles
• The first trick you will learn is known as falling leaves. You will move down as though you are drawing diagonal lines down the slope. 
• The simpler way to move downwards is to control using your heel - dig in, you stop. Release, you go. You will be facing the downside of the slope.
• The more difficult way will be to use the toe-side. You will be facing the upside of the slope so you can't see where you're going. 
• The best method of travelling is to alternate between both heel-side and toe-side so that your calves don't hurt like crazy after. But it's not easy! 
• The other tricks you will learn are things like turns and all. I highly recommend that you go for a lesson on your first try to ensure that you learn the correct techniques and not develop any bad habits!

Pattern for falling leaves

Okay, so I thoroughly enjoyed snowboarding, but there were some things that I would have done differently if I were to do it again! The first thing I would change is to wear thick socks!! I can't emphasise how important this is. Because I was quite scared at first, I did a lot of controlling using my heels and calves. Hence, the back of my heels dug into my boots a lot and gave me a blister by the end of the day. Not to mention I rested in the tongue of my shoe to prevent myself from falling forward, so that hurt too. When I went snowboarding again the next day, I could barely put on my boots without it hurting. Also, I would also get a bandanna to cover my nose and mouth areas. The speed at which you snowboard might not be that fast, but if you're as lucky as I am to encounter snowfall during snowboarding, it gets windy and cold. The faucet on my nose wouldn't stop leaking. 

For those who are no longer amateurs at snowboarding, nozawa-onsen also offers slopes that are very smooth and nice to ski/snowboard! Not to mention, the view from the top is epic! The day after it snowed, the paths were all very well-utilised and you can travel down more smoothly.

After the paths were well-utilised

View from the top

Now, where do you rent your equipment from? 

I rented mine from Shirakaba Rental but you can just take a look at the foot of the mountain. There are many eateries and rental places. I used Shirakaba because they had some deals with the Ryokan I was at. If you do not have any gear, do not stinge. Go with the full suit - jacket, pants, snowboard, boots. 

I recommend that you check this website out for updates on skiing and snowboarding in Nozawa-onsen as they will update the opening hours depending on the amount of daylight and also the weather. They also show the map and the many ski-lifts that you can take to the various levels of slopes. When I went at the end of December, they closed from 4pm onwards because that's almost the time for sunset.

I hope that this is a comprehensive overview of snowboarding and how it's like in nozawa-onsen! I will definitely go back again so if you are able to, make a trip there! I'm sure you won't regret it (:

Happy snowboarding!