Trees

Nagano slopes, although Olympic worthy, are perhaps not as steep or raw as something one might find in the Rockies.  There is just something about them though, and I have decided it is the trees.

It’s one thing to enjoy the challenge of a few trees on a powder day.  When those trees are like delicate white paint on washi, a gallery of art in the mountains, that is Nozawa Onsen.  This winter, I added a few more resorts to the ticket-holder band on my jacket.  Whereas parts of Cortina, top lifts of Tsugaike, and Happone‘s skyline compare for riding,  Yamabiko in Nozawa wins as the most beautiful.

Until we pull the kerosene heater from closet again next near, Nagano.