Skiing in Niigata

Winter is a good time to be enjoying the snow. For sports enthusiasts, skiing and snowboarding are great activities to occupy yourself with during this season. Even though there is no snow (the very little that falls melts away almost immediately!) in Tokyo, there are many ski resorts within a couple of hours away from the capital.

Niigata is one popular prefecture, just less than 2 hours by bullet train and about 3 hours by bus, frequented by tourists from even out of the country, such as Korea and China. Extreme sports fans from as far as Australia and New Zealand also fly here for their dose of adrenaline rush as the summer heat hits down under.

Niigata prefecture (新潟県), is located on the Honshu island on the coast of the Sea of Japan. The name Niigata literally means "New Lagoon". Due to its geographical location, heavy snowfall is characteristic of Niigata's climate. So much so that just across the range of mountains on the east side of the Honshu island, there is hardly any snowfall.

This year, there has been an abundant amount of snow, compared to last year. In fact, it has been snowing almost non-stop for the whole of last month, that on rare days when it doesn't, people go all out and take advantage of the slopes. One such day was last weekend, such glorious weather. With soft fresh snow beneath the board and a sunny sky above, it was just a perfect day to be enjoying nature.