Skiing Mount Daisen

After my Christmas vacation in Hokkaido, I have been bitten by the ski-bug, so begun researching places closer to home where I might be able to ski. Mount Daisen in Tottori prefecture, only an hour and a half from my front door fit the bill. So I set off with some friends and Maki to give it a try. The convenient thing is there are so many mountain in Japan and with winds from Russia bring regular snow to cap the mountain tops it makes for a good skiing/snowboarding country. The weather was clear with blue skies unlike the blizzards we experienced in Hokkaido. After a trying drive up a very slippy road with a 2 wheel-drive car, we were able to park up and get to where we need to be via a shuttle bus. It felt really good and I seemed to be progressing quickly, so decided to venture from the green, beginners course to the intermediate red course. Once at the top of the gondola lift the view was incredible, with a panorama of the coast line and Yonugo town beyond the hills. 

The slope, however, seemed to drop steeply, at what seemed like an impossible angle. It took me a minute or two to pluck up the courage; so did, as it appears, many other Japanese people exiting the gondola. I decided there was nothing but to throw myself down the mountain and hope for the best. The speed was inevitable, but I managed to control it and made it down the slope on two feet. The rush was amazing. “I never figured myself for an adrenaline junkie”, I thought to myself as I boarded the gondola for another run.