Sapporo ski trip

I can’t rave enough about this place. First of all - the Hokkaido snow is excellent. It was powder every day. I thought California skiing was great - but it just doesn’t compare. I was hoping for really soft snow, so that if the kids fell - it wouldn’t feel like they were scraping their faces against concrete. But to have a good snowfall every night was unbelievable.

Second - the bunny run is excellent. No rope to hold on to. No chairs (that go too high and end up scaring the kids). The bunny run chairs STAY on the ground, so the kids don’t get scared. And it’s a fairly long run (Ok - not as long as the California bunny runs - but then my kids don’t have to sit in lift chairs 20 stories high in the sky!)

Then there is the proximity. Walking from our log cabin to the ski fields only took 5 minutes (Ok so - it took 20 with the kids throwing snow balls and looking at the sights). But it’s great to be able to walk back and forth to the ski lifts. No need to rent a car!

And then there’s the onsen! Otaru is a small village that not only has a ski field, but also has a Volcanic Hot Spring. So the town has 3 public baths. AND our log cabin had its own private onsen. So we literally soak in an outdoor hot spring daily. You have no idea how surreal this is, to be in a really warm bath and to have it snowing a few feet away. Awesome.

And finally - there’s the food. The Hot Ramen! The cold beer! Otaru is also known as Japan’s sushi capital (because the fish is very fresh). Mmmmm!

We’re definitely going back! Here’s the link to the winkel log cabin.