Signs of Winter

On Sunday, D and I went skiing at Alyeska. It was fine I guess. But when I go skiing I like it best if there's a lot of snow on the ground. The more snow the better, I figure. It's kind of a weird thing about me. You're probably not like that.

Not a lot of snow in the Chugach.

There's less snow in this photo than there appears to be.

Alyeska didn't have much snow. We hit some little rocks now and then, some pebbles, some gravel. At the end of the day I was left unsatisfied.  I wanted more. Wasn't there someplace I could go where the snow is heaping high? Where it snows most every day - all day? I remembered hearing about a place like that somewhere along the line. It was called Japan.

So I bought a plane ticket and flew across the Pacific Ocean the next day without asking permission from coaches Andrew and Sara, and I hope I'm not in too much trouble for missing practice this week.

The locals tell me this is the first day in the past three weeks when it hasn't been puking down snow all day long.

The Japanese have better road signs than we have in America.

I'm trying real hard to follow directions, but it isn't always easy.

I hooked up with some Kiwis for a morning in the trees.

There were many good options.

Trust me, I always let the staff know when I get on the gondola. 

From what I can tell, Japanese breweries are not using NASCAR or the NFL to promote their beer.

These are the kinds of dodgy places I stay when I travel. ("dodgy" is a word I learned from my new Kiwi ski friends.)

A few years ago, I bought a car with about a hundred horsepower and a heated seat. It feels pretty special to sit in such a high-tech machine. But my blue car would get its ass kicked by any Japanese toilet. Not only does it have a heated seat, but it's got an array of other fun functions on the control panel to the left. And this toilet's got a remote. As far as I can figure, you could use the toilet remote to time your deuce. Perfect for competitive people like you and me! This is next level shit (so to speak).