Snowboarding at Yeti

So I finally went snowboarding last weekend. After a rocky start to the day (read - slept in til 11am when was supposed to be on the bus at 7, again) I met up with my new friend and convinced her to come with me. She has a car!

Note to Yeti Snowpark - your directions are rubbish! No directions should include the phrase "Find route 24". It nearly killed us. Much simpler would be "if approaching from south, turn left onto route 24 when leaving expressway", or "if approaching from north, turn right onto route 24 when leaving expressway" - we could work it out ourselves. Sheesh. 

An extra hour of driving around and stopping into five (5!) convenience stores for directions, we found route 24. Jubilation all around. 

Yeti park itself is a small snowpark by Mount Fuji. On the way there I took about 40 photos of Fuji, even though Friend said that once we got to Yeti we'd have the most amazing view. Good thing I ignored her, by the time we got there it was dark. 

Because it's so early in the season there were only two slopes open. Or rather, one slope with two start points - they converge in the middle. There was only fake snow too, which usually would irritate the hell out of me, but because we arrived so late they had just spread a new layer for the night session so it was fine. 

Quick stop at the rental shop as Friend had to rent gear (2500 yen for clothes) and then on to the slope! It took a few goes to get the snow legs back and lose the Fear (the last time I snowboarded I fractured my nose) but soon I was careening down the mountain like the best of them (the beginners that is). 

It was my first time boarding at night, but I liked it. According to Friend, the park is packed during the day at the weekend. Buses come from the nearby cities and unload hundreds of people all at the same time so there are queues for everything. Tickets, rental, lifts, food, drinks, toilets. At night there was no queueing for anything. Even the lift queue moved as fast as I could skate on the snowboard, so it was perfect really. The slopes weren't even that packed. 

The only downside of Yeti is the cost. You have to pay to go on the private road up to the park (500 yen). Then it's 1000 yen to park. Plus the cost of the ticket. Plus rental. 

I didn't have to pay for rental because I had already bought all my gear. (Post forthcoming on how to kit yourself out on the cheeeeeap.)

In conclusion - it was fun. I took a few spills, and there were a couple of crashes, but nothing a hot bath wouldn't sort out. 

There was a minor freakout on the way home though when three rest stops in a row didn't sell gas and we had to leave the expressway to get it. The poor car was running on vapours by the time we found it. 

Lesson - fill up whenever you can. You never know when your car's next meal is coming from.