Olympic glory

I can now say that I've boarded down an Olympic run. Two actually. Over the weekend the company took a trip to Shiga Kogen, Nagano Prefecture, which was the site of some of the '98 Winter Olympic competition. After struggling through a 30km (18.6 mile) traffic jam leaving Tokyo, we arrived just before 1:00 p.m. Skipping lunch, we strapped on the boards and headed up the gondola. Snow was falling lightly, and occasional patches of sun poked through. The snow could have been better, but was not horrible. The half-inch of new stuff was not bad, but the base was fairly solid and icy. (One co-worker sustained a broken wrist in a bad fall on a steep run.) After the skiing came a huge meal, and the onsen (hot springs). The bath, referred to as a rotenburo, was situated outside at the back of one of the hotels, at the base of a forest slope. Ringing the bath area was a moat of snowmelt. Very cold snowmelt. The night was capped by a mediocre display of fireworks launched from the top of the mountain, but still managed to draw the applause of the guests assembled in the large-windowed restaurant to watch. The next day was a beautiful spring day, with clear skies and a view from the top of the Southern Japanese Alps. As the day warmed (and the slopes crowded) the snow softened and became slushy, but remained hard and icy in spots. The two Olympic runs, by the way, had been for the Giant Slalom and Super Giant Slalom and are well marked.