This winter I had the chance to visit Shiga Kogen<\/strong> in Nagano, one of the largest ski areas in Japan and a venue of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I stayed at the Olympic Hotel<\/strong>, which was very convenient. The daily routine of this trip was simple:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83c\udfc2 Snowboard all day Simple, but perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This was my first real day learning snowboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The weather was cold, around freezing with soft snow on the slopes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I started on the green slope<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Honestly, it was a lot of falling and getting back up. But slowly I started to feel how the board moves on the snow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of riding, I took a gondola ride<\/strong> up the mountain just to enjoy the scenery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the gondola slowly climbed up, I could see endless pine forests covered in snow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n White mountains stretching far into the distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everything was quiet and peaceful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It really felt like looking at a postcard of winter in Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I started to gain more control of the snowboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The snow conditions were still very good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was able to ride down the red slopes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My main technique was:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This was the day when snowboarding finally started to \u201cclick\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sky opened up and the visibility was amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You could clearly see the surrounding mountains covered in snow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This turned out to be one of the most enjoyable riding days of the trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everything just felt right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the last day I decided to try a black slope<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The difference in steepness compared to the red slope was very obvious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The speed increased immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I had about six hard falls<\/strong> that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most of them were the classic snowboard mistake:<\/p>\n\n\n\n catching an edge and face-planting.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Luckily I was wearing a helmet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Definitely the most valuable piece of equipment for the whole trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is one important rule:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Never ride flat on the board.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You must always stay on an edge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the board goes flat, the other edge will catch the snow instantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s when the famous edge catch<\/strong> happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The things that helped me the most were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Food was also an important part of the trip after long days on the mountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some places I enjoyed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83c\udf54 Seasoning Burger \u2013 great burgers, perfect after riding But there was one place that I will also remember\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83c\udf5c \u51ac\u306e\u5c71\u30ce\u5185\u5927\u52dd\u8ed2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A famous ramen shop around the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For me though\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n the flavor was extremely salty<\/strong> \ud83d\ude05<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Maybe it\u2019s the local style, or maybe ski resort food is just stronger in flavor because people burn so much energy on the mountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the first day struggling on the green slope this trip was full of learning, falling, and getting back up again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Snowboard All of it together became<\/p>\n\n\n\n a beautiful winter memory.<\/strong> \u2744\ufe0f\ud83c\udfc2<\/p>\n\n\n\n Snowboard Trip Memory \u2013 Shiga Kogen, Japan \u2744\ufe0f\ud83c\udfc2 Snowboard Trip Memory \u2013 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jestha.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3339"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jestha.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jestha.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jestha.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jestha.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3339"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jestha.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3349,"href":"https:\/\/www.jestha.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3339\/revisions\/3349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jestha.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jestha.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jestha.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
You step out of the hotel and you are basically right on the ski lift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2668\ufe0f Onsen after riding
\ud83e\uddca Cold shower to reduce muscle soreness<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nMarch 8 \u2013 First Day<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
I was still trying to understand the balance and how to control the board on the heel edge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nMarch 9 \u2013 Rest Day<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nMarch 10 \u2013 Getting Better<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n\n\n\nMarch 11 \u2013 The Most Beautiful Day<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nMarch 12 \u2013 The Challenge<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n\n\n\nWhat I Learned About Snowboarding<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n\n\n\nFood Memories<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\ud83e\udd69 Yakiniku Otena \u2013 excellent beef but long waiting time
\ud83c\udf55 Pizza House Espoir \u2013 good pizza and good value, I went twice
\u2615 Rocky Restaurant & Caf\u00e9 \u2013 delicious but a bit expensive
\ud83c\udf76 \u8089IZAKAYA \u30de\u30fc\u30b8 \u2013 easy and tasty izakaya food<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nFinal Thoughts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
to the last day trying the black slope,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
snowy mountains
onsen
Japanese winter air<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jestha.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1000033987.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"