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Headed to Gran Deco for a final spring fling with the kid the weekend of April 24 and 25. Weather was just above freezing, with a whisper of snow quickly giving way to alternating sun and clouds for the rest of the day:
Kid had been wanting to try snowboarding for some time, so we gave it a try. First impression: holy cow, this is nothing like skiing at all! Ok, point the board down the hill, pretend it is a fat ski, try a turn... either catch an edge and splat, or else keep building up speed until having to dump intentionally, for lack of ability to control speed. Spent the entire day alternating between landing on my butt and landing on my knees, before finally managing the boarder's snowplow. Kid did rather better, managing already by the end of the day to scrape down slopes that I had to walk down.
Ok, that was interesting. Time to retire for the night. Destination, An English Inn (listed here) in Inawashiro, a very nice place run by a very friendly couple, the Powells:
Edwin is an accomplished cook. They bake their own rolls:
The next day, the kid was hot to keep working the board. My body was too battered for another day of that, so I went back to skis on Sunday, which turned out to be a beautiful blue-sky day:
Upper Mint course:
Lower Mint Course. Bandai-san visible to left, Nekoma ski area in center distance:
Pole Bahn on Melissa course:
By the end of the second day, the kid was sliding down the steepest course there. I rationalized that kids learn faster than adults, and really, snowboarding is a young person's sport anyway... then spotted some 78-year-old ji-chan cruising past serenely on his board, and my humiliation was complete. I'll give the board another shot at some point, but will probably never catch up with my kid.
After working both board and ski muscles, and getting thoroughly battered on the board, went home feeling all kinds of sore, but happy with the season finale. Knees should stop throbbing by about next season, I figure.
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