After a gloomy start to the morning and preparing ourselves for another cold snowy day, we were pleasantly surprised to find the weather much clearer after breakfast. Today we had to walk along the back path of the motel due to the snow ploughs clearing the massive dump of snow from the front roadway. Once we arrived at the slopes we were happy to see lots of fresh powder cover and about ten other people. It was a great start to the day, skiing through the fresh cover which was like skiing in talcum powder. I had a few stacks along the way as I tried to negotiate the deeper snow to turn across the slopes. You know it’s a good stack when you end up about 20 metres down the slope past your skis. With the snow so powdery, it also takes a while for it to fall back to the ground so I can see which way I am facing. Most of the time our skis were disappearing under the snow. Because the weather was more favorable today we explored some of the longer slopes in other parts of the resort which were a bit more challenging for me. Denise managed to get some footage on the helmet cam to to prove I can actually ski and crash! The weather remained clear and mild until about 2:00pm when it began snowing quite heavily and falling horizontally behind us on the chair lifts. My hands were frozen so I had to call it quits, so Denise and I went to put our skis away for the day while Scott continued skiing and exploring some of the red runs. Once we put our gear away and walked outside, the weather had changed dramatically and we now had blue skies and sunshine. We were tempted to put our gear on again and go for some more runs but a hot drink and snow angels were calling us. In Japan the vending machines have quite a few hot drinks served from cans stocked in their vending machines including tea, coffee and soup, however today I found a vending machine that stocked hot chocolate (cocoa). Most people say these drinks are horrible, however this one was very nice and warm to hold between the hands. Denise and I then decided to muck around and have some fun in the snow. Denise prepped herself like a stunt person, putting on her protective clothing and readying herself for a backwards flop to make a snow angel. The stunt was a great success as she flapped her arms and legs to form an angelic impression in the snow apart from where her backside landed. This started a bit of a trend with a young Japanese boy following suit. Denise’s was much more impressive! Having made a few more angels it was time to attempt some front body prints in the snow to see if we could improve our techniques. Denise only tried while fully protected this time to see how well face prints would work with goggles and a helmet. Unfortunately we discovered that face prints work best only when you plant your bare face. We had lots of laughs and loads of fun anyway. One day we may actually grow up! After amusing ourselves (and probably a few onlookers) we popped back into the rental shop & left a note for Scott to let him know we had taken the gondola up to the top to take some happy snaps because the weather was clear and sunny. The journey up was great because we weren’t packed in like sardines and we could take some pics on the way. When we reached the top it was -10 degrees and had a bitterly cold wind blowing outside which meant Denise couldn’t stay out too long because she didn’t have anything around her face. I on the other hand had my neck scarf pulled up to cover all exposed pieces of skin on my face and I braved the elements to take some more happy snaps. Once we finished we headed back down on the gondola, taking some more great shots along the way. By the time we reached the bottom it was pretty fresh, so we checked to see if Scott was around before heading back to the motel, only to find him snug in the motel lobby with his beer and chips! Once we warmed up and had a break for a while we checked out some of our photos then went to dinner. Tonight we had another huge Japanese feast of seafood which we cooked on our individual hot plates. We were pretty unsure about what we were eating most of the time and we had some very pleasant flavours and some not so pleasant. All in all it was another delicious meal and we enjoyed the opportunity to sample some more traditional Japanese cuisine. Looking forward to another great day tomorrow, hopefully the weather will be fine and sunny so we can ski some more areas.