Our first taste of snow in Japan was catching big fat snowflakes on our tongues.
Our family hails from Melbourne, so winter landscapes and minus temperatures are not our everyday fare, and getting acclimatized to the snow here in Hakuba when we arrived took a bit of getting used to. The kids, however, took to it like fish to water and were off playing in the snow within minutes. We also discovered that we could snowshoe here, and it turned out that it was something we all could do as a family. Interestingly enough, we ended up doing a night snowshoe tour on one of our free evenings in town. After getting the right boots and sizing up snowshoes, we headed off with our guide, Aurelian, a hugely entertaining Frenchman who pointed out animal tracks in the snow along the way and kept us laughing with his antics. The snow was beginning to fall increasingly harder as we continued on the tour but we soon made a snow-couch and table and tucked into the yummy dessert that Aurelian prepared: chocolate fondue with fruits, accompanied by hot spiced wine! It was great to have a comfy seat and warms drinks in hand while the snow was still coming down.
Probably the most fun was on the return leg, running and jumping back down the hill, tripping over our snowshoes and falling face first into the soft snow! It was one of our many Japan trip highlights that we took back with us to Australia.
If you are interested in snowshoe tours, contact the guys at Evergreen Outdoor Center. — BOB FREDRIKSON
