Instant kid - just add snow

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I don't remember being around the stuff as a kid. Given the effect it seems to have, I doubt I would have forgotten had someone given me some of the white powder to try. Should I be concerned that having had a taste of it, I enjoyed it enough that I went and bought the tools to enable me to indulge in its use more easily. I mean, it's only recreational use. Surely it won't turn out to be that harmful? Will it?

Snow people, I'm talking about snow!

Winter used to translate in my dictionary as "cold, wet, to be tolerated unless able to get away somewhere warmer on holiday".

Now it means getting away to a skifield whenever possible (usually at the weekends, preferably during the week if I can wrangle it) with my new toy, and going for a ride in a chairlift before descending in various fashions. I am pleased to say that recently that has increasingly been in a vertical position, but with the noble intention of improving my skill level it has invariably meant at least a few tumbles. Fortunately I haven't yet broken any bones (snowboarding, that is) - fingers crossed.

Living in Japan has put me in a good spot to indulge in my latest hobby. The nearest skifield is about 30 minutes away, but I usually go to one about 30 minutes further on (actually in Hiroshima prefecture). Cheaper, with good courses for my level of inability, and I've also made friends with a couple of locals. At least half the times I've gone snowboarding I've just headed out there by myself, but it is fun to be able to sit back (literally) and let someone else take the spills for a change.

Note the lack of crowds - apparently most people work during the week ;-)

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Photos

I'm trying to be a good snow angel.....
..... but it looks as though I don't have what it takes.

Mum told me never to play on the road......
..... but I couldn't help it - this one was covered in snow.

This is what happens when you play on the roads
I was going a bit too fast to take that last bend and smashed into the side of the mountain.

Some of my work for the morning
Taken with my cellphone, so not a great photo.

Obviously not a snowboarder's park
Really, some people just have too much time on their hands. I would've been on the chairlift by now.