It was in last year February that I saw a Facebook group in which someone was looking for a participant to travel with him to Gifu by car for snowboarding. Since I have never been to ski resorts before, I decided to join with the group. I wasn’t sure how things would turn out to be since the members were complete strangers to me, but we planned to meet at 3am at a convenient store, Familymart. The person who hosted this trip was nice and generous. After meeting at the store, he told me that he would lend me his spare snow-wear and then took me along in his car to go pick up another person at the 7 Eleven. From there, we went to a house to gather the equipment for snowboarding. In total, there were 4 of us (one local, two foreigners + me) for the trip and off we went to the Gifu from Hamamatsu which was about four-hour drive.
There was also another reason why I decided to tag along on a trip with complete strangers even though I just came to Japan a few months prior for the first time. Being an international student (from ASEAN), I thought it would be a good idea to create connections with locals during my academic years so that it might be helpful for me after my graduation. Also, I got to ask the Japanese host how I could apply for the driver’s license and learned that there are generally two ways for foreigners to get it. Anyways, as we were getting closer to Gifu, I began to see slushes of snow along the highway. It was then, snowcapped mountain ranges started to come into view with the sun rendering the peaks chalk white. Before arriving at the resort, we stopped by a rental-service area where we rented our snow boards and boots.
The service area was quite close to the resort, and it was not long after we arrived there around 9 AM. Though I thought we didn’t arrive late, the parking lot was almost full, and we were lucky to secure a spot. As I stepped out of the car and was feeling have finally arrived (it was my first time being at a ski resort), I was surprised to see my group members already starting to change into snow-wear out at the parking lot (was around 4 C). As they were changing, the Japanese host handed me some pants which had some pads around the waist and hip. And there I thought “Its gonna be one hell of an experience snowboarding (and falling over)”. Though the idea of changing at the parking lot seemed absurd to me, it faded away when I saw other people doing the same thing there. So, after breaking my own time record for changing clothes (it was darn cold then), I followed my group to the gate to purchase some tickets, and as soon as we passed the checkpoint before the skating area, we were faced with a vast slope of the hill covered in pure-white snow. I didn’t expect the sliding area of the resort to be that wide. Soon, we took a photo and then off we went snowboarding.
Before we went to ride the cable car towards the starting hill, the Japanese host asked me whether I have snowboarded before. As a first timer standing on snowy terrain, I suddenly felt a surge of anxiety by that simple question. I have tried skateboarding before and knew that both required us to balance ourselves on boards, but I didn’t realize then that they work on the polar concepts of friction. In short, we can have more stability in skateboarding due to more friction (rolling wheels), whereas in snowboarding, it is more difficult to stabilize due to less friction (sliding of the board). So, I did a few test slides on a small slope to make sure that I could somewhat slide without falling over and I seemed to be doing great. Then, the Japanese host took me to the beginner’s course where I attempted to snowboard for real for the first time (it didn’t go well).
Because I did not fall over during my practice runs, I thought I wouldn’t struggle much for the main courses. But little did I know that the actual courses have much higher elevation difference and I remember falling over just after sliding a few feet forward. Though it was quite exciting at the beginning, the part of picking myself up just to fall over again after going a few feet repeated so much that it started to get irritating. Especially when you see other people effortlessly snowboarding pass you. But the Japanese host was very kind and patient that he accompanied with my slow progression throughout the entire course while his friends (other foreigners) went over to the more difficult ones. Of course, I felt bad making him wait for me as I just kept trying and failing. And after falling over for more than 20 times, I finally noticed one of my flaws, which was, I panic whenever I gained speed sliding down a few bumps. So, after trying my best to stay calm and stabilizing myself as I went faster, I was able to better maintain my balance for longer. And before I realized, an hour has passed just spending time in the beginner’s course, after which the Japanese host took me to the normal course. It was when I started to try the main courses that my first “real” snowboarding experience began.
After I reached the top by the cable car, I felt excited yet nervous as I started to realize how high and steep the slope was. Though the scenery at the top was spectacular enough to momentarily dissipate my anxiety, it still took me a while to gather myself to begin sliding down the course. As I approached to the beginning of the slope, there was this unique mixed feeling of calmness and anxiety at the very edge, which must have been due to the view over the horizon and my first-time experience. After taking a deep breath, I decided that it was go-time. Just after I pitched myself down the slopes, everything turned freezing cold as my speed got way beyond what I had anticipated. As fast as I was sliding down the slope, adrenaline surged through my veins, uplifting me with enough excitement that unwittingly put a biggest grin I’ve ever had on my face. However, that experience was short-lived as I lost my balance shortly after. Falling over at that speed, I braced myself as tightly as I could as I expected it would cause a great deal of pain, but to my surprise, it wasn’t hurtful at all. Experiencing for the first time that how good a cushion the snow could be, I was assured that I didn’t have to worry much about getting hurt from falling over (as long as I am able to stay on the course). Of course, I fell over countless times (maybe over 50) but the experience was really rewarding.
And just like that, four hours had passed and we returned to the resting area at the base of the slope. For lunch, we had ramen there, which was also my first-time having it since coming to Japan around 5 months ago. Maybe because it had been a long time since I had done such a movement intense activity, the meal felt surprisingly energizing. After the meal we had a short rest and again off we went to have a second round of snowboarding. By this time, I was getting a hang of how not to fall over on at least one full run of the course.
I remember getting additional doses of excitement from seeing others snowboarding and skating over a few ramps. Feeling tempted, I was eager to try sliding over one of them on my next run. Yes, that was during my first day of snowboarding and felt like I was trying to hurdle before I mastered walking. But after a thorough rumination, I realized that it would be worth the attempt because I couldn’t know when the next snowboarding trip would be, and besides, “what could possibly go wrong?” I thought. So, when I spotted the ramp as I was sliding down the course, I devised my swaying path towards it. While carefully avoiding collision with other people, I closed in fast towards the ramp. Then, I tripped and fell over. My lack of experience in snowboarding surely clogged the stream of excitement at that moment, but still, I was determined to make that jump. So, I picked myself up and gain as much as speed as I could along the remaining distance. It was a remarkable experience to be airborne for a while, but what followed next was also an unforgettable experience (I didn’t nail the landing). Although I landed feet first, I slipped and fell on my back which forcefully channeled all the airs out of my lungs. In shock, I quickly stood up and checked myself while breathing heavily. But luckily, I didn’t hurt myself, which was thanks to the pads that the Japanese host handed me at the beginning. And just like that, I repeated a few more runs for another few hours and regrouped in the evening. I also learned that day first-hand that you have to brace your lower body especially at the sling of the ramp. It was one hell of an experience.
After snowboarding, we headed towards the Onsen at one of the mountains nearby. I had many first-time experiences that day and the Onsen was no exception. Of course, the idea of being naked with a bunch of other dudes in a hot spring was not normal for a foreigner like me. But its not like I didn’t know that was a thing in Japan, so I went in just like the others. Because that the spring was near the mountain, it felt natural and extremely rejuvenating especially when your body was tired from a full day of snowboarding. There were slushes of snow just beside the spring area which added to the authenticity of the natural hot spring. As I was enjoying my time in the hot spring, I saw one member of my group reaching out to the snow and scrubbed his body with that snow went back into the Onsen. It must have felt great, and it surely put a smile on other people there too. After about half an hour, I felt fully reinvigorated, but it was quite a mood that I didn’t want to get out of there. Anyhow, we got out of there and went to a Yakiniku restaurant. And you guessed it, it was also my first-time having grilled meet in Japan and even till now, it is the best Yakiniku restaurant I have ever been to in Japan. After that it was around 7pm and we went back to the Hamamatsu that took a 4 hour drive. And that ended an exciting day full of first-hand experiences for me.
Thank you for reading thus far and it would be really helpful for my future writing if you could leave a comment or a review on my writing style. See you next time.
by AmBiCat23
