DOMINOES CHEAP ON TUESDAY. Not here. We got Nepalese Curry.

So Tuesday started much the same as the rest of the days so far. Up at 7. Breakfast at 7.30. Conrad was being a little sore though from all the falling on Monday, so he was taking it easy in the morning. Steven and I were keen to hit the snow, seeing as it was day 2 and we still hadn't ridden as much as we would have liked. So we left Conrad to play around on the net, and told him we'd meet up at the bottom of Ichinose when he was ready. That gave Steven and me a few runs down by ourselves. And boy did we BOMB those mountains. It was fairly easy to pick up the skills we had learnt a year before, and we just needed to work out our balance and we were fine. So this being day 2, we were more then ready to go down with some speed. Though carefully. So, it was a few quick runs, nothing major, whizzed between some school kids in training, and we got down to the bottom and met up with Conrad.

Conrad was in much better form this morning, and getting the hang of switching edges, so we thought we would try out some different areas to give the training area a break. Probably a good idea too because the "Ski Schoolers" (all the school kids on winter camp) as we call them, were taking up a lot of the Ichinose area, and getting decent runs done with Conrad was hard due to them weaving around in a big group like some sort of disjointed snake. So off we headed to Terakoya. We had heard there were some nice green runs with tree paths, so it seemed like somewhere easy for Conrad as well.

Well, there was really any tree paths, but there was a LOT of open area. In some areas it was like 30m or so wide and hardly anyone was over there. So we chose the left run and kept going until it branched off left and up a little bit. Conrad had to skate a little to get over the hump, but once that was done it was a smooth straightish run down a quiet path to the top of Higashitateyama. This linked onto the back of another run we are quiet fond of, so it was nice to explore yet another of the many, many runs that Shiga had to offer. After making good speed to the bottom (Conrad was getting quiet good at keeping speed through the flatter sections to avoid skating) we stopped for the required toilet break and made our way back to the top of Higashitateyama and back towards Ichinose. Conrad was getting better all the time, but as he knew the "Training Area" he was more confident to go faster, and therefore he wouldn't just sit on his heels, which hurts ALOT after a while.

LUNCHTIME! And we went to the Nepalese place for lunch. We had seen signs for a tandoori chicken burger and though it sounded good. However, only the lunchtime buffet was being served, so it was just a touch of Curry and Rice (and beer, for "Carbs"). Bloated we settled for a little while before going back to Ichinose for a few more goes. Steven and I had taken to mucking around in powder banks and trees either side of the paths, as it also allowed for Conrad to keep up. Conradical was muchly tired by this point (poor guy, he's not made for all this hard work...?) so he headed back for the hotel, and took my backpack with him. I brought my backpack snowboarding because I thought it would allow for good storage, however the couple of times I have fallen over (usually from going slow to wait up for the others) the weight has pulled my left shoulder, and it has started to get sore. I do love my Skins(TM) though because wearing them for a while my arms feel better.

So me and Steven charged down the red run, and then did a couple of runs down the Training Area. We decided to play "Follow my Line" and at the top I ran around a couple of trees before trying to outpace Steven. Then we swapped and I had to keep up with him, which for me isn't too hard, as Steven has got good board control, and I have good pace. We ran down towards the bottom before going off track and ducking and weaving through some trees. This get's a little sketchy at times because even though the soft powder is nice to ride through, it does make it hard for deft, fast maneuvers. And when you are facing an oncoming tree with a little pace, it would be nice to have more control. Anyhow we finished up for the day and went back to the hotel.

After resting for a little while, we went out to the Victoria Restaurant, in one of the hotels, i'm not sure which one. They had a buffet on, with alot of the school kids running around getting food, so i'm guessing they were staying there. We were told at first they weren't serving anyone else, but give it a few minutes and the front desk guy let us join in. Which was fantastic because it was the first real meat I had gotten since we landed in Japan. They had Yakitori Chicken skewers, some pork something or other, little pork buns, and BEEF! Little bits of Beef that were delicious. So after filling up on that, and being satisfied, we headed out and to a shop to get a few munchies, then back to our room to comatose ourselves.

Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker.
I hope I feel Dandy in the morning.
But shoulder hurts.