Snowboarding... Finally!

So as one of the presents for Luke's birthday (and a bit of a present for myself)- We finally went to the ski fields. Yay!

(View from the top of the mountain...)

Wonderfully so, it only too a little over 10mins to drive there, which in itself was very scenic (Unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries on the drive there). It was winding through the mountains, past little towns and houses before finally going through a cavern of snow (the snow had been pushed up on the side of the road so high it almost make a tunnel).

The runs themselves were average for Japan, given the fact that this was just a smaller resort. The conditions were great (There was a great dump the day before)- packed power, great for speed and not too choppy. All up, it was under $100 for the two of use to go for the day including snowboard rental (awesome value)!
Next season I will definitely be buying a season pass (only $320).
As you can see from the map below, mainly intermediate (orange/red) runs, so it suited us to a tee.