Snowboard Trip Memory – Shiga Kogen, Japan

Posted by admin on Mar 12th, 2026 | Comments Off

❄️🏂 Snowboard Trip Memory – Shiga Kogen, Japan

This winter I had the chance to visit Shiga Kogen in Nagano, one of the largest ski areas in Japan and a venue of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.

I stayed at the Olympic Hotel, which was very convenient.
You step out of the hotel and you are basically right on the ski lift.

The daily routine of this trip was simple:

🏂 Snowboard all day
♨️ Onsen after riding
🧊 Cold shower to reduce muscle soreness

Simple, but perfect.

March 8 – First Day

This was my first real day learning snowboard.

The weather was cold, around freezing with soft snow on the slopes.

I started on the green slope.

Honestly, it was a lot of falling and getting back up.
I was still trying to understand the balance and how to control the board on the heel edge.

But slowly I started to feel how the board moves on the snow.

March 9 – Rest Day

Instead of riding, I took a gondola ride up the mountain just to enjoy the scenery.

As the gondola slowly climbed up, I could see endless pine forests covered in snow.

White mountains stretching far into the distance.

Everything was quiet and peaceful.

It really felt like looking at a postcard of winter in Japan.

March 10 – Getting Better

I started to gain more control of the snowboard.

The snow conditions were still very good.

I was able to ride down the red slopes.

My main technique was:

heel edge sliding
making S-turns to control speed

This was the day when snowboarding finally started to “click”.

March 11 – The Most Beautiful Day

The sky opened up and the visibility was amazing.

You could clearly see the surrounding mountains covered in snow.

This turned out to be one of the most enjoyable riding days of the trip.

Everything just felt right.

March 12 – The Challenge

On the last day I decided to try a black slope.

The difference in steepness compared to the red slope was very obvious.

The speed increased immediately.

I had about six hard falls that day.

Most of them were the classic snowboard mistake:

catching an edge and face-planting.

Luckily I was wearing a helmet.

Definitely the most valuable piece of equipment for the whole trip.

What I Learned About Snowboarding

There is one important rule:

Never ride flat on the board.

You must always stay on an edge.

If the board goes flat, the other edge will catch the snow instantly.

That’s when the famous edge catch happens.

The things that helped me the most were:

bending the knees
committing to the heel edge
looking further down the slope
rotating the shoulders so the board follows

Food Memories

Food was also an important part of the trip after long days on the mountain.

Some places I enjoyed:

🍔 Seasoning Burger – great burgers, perfect after riding
🥩 Yakiniku Otena – excellent beef but long waiting time
🍕 Pizza House Espoir – good pizza and good value, I went twice
☕ Rocky Restaurant & Café – delicious but a bit expensive
🍶 肉IZAKAYA マージ – easy and tasty izakaya food

But there was one place that I will also remember…

🍜 冬の山ノ内大勝軒

A famous ramen shop around the area.

For me though…