Kagura (Yuzawa, Niigata) - 28th January 2014

Early on this morning I thought I might regret not taking a trip to one of my targets that are a bit further away, such were the clear blue skies. But now at 3pm it's pretty grey and dull here in Muikamachi and had been clouding and getting quite overcast since late morning. It can change so quickly.

So I chose Kagura which is about 30 minutes drive. Hadn't been to Kagura for maybe 3 seasons. I really enjoyed it and was skiing for well over 4 hours which is a long time for me. Snow was ok, not brilliant, but surely the best in the area at the moment as it almost always is at Kagura. But fresh would be nice please.

The things I didn't like about Kagura are the same as always. The main one being it feels like it takes ages to get from the bottom of the ropeway to the first proper ski. About 50 minutes actually (Ropeway > quad lift > gondola > quad lift). But when I got to the skiing it was a lot of fun.

I'm still not enamoured with Kagura as a subject for photos though. The views north towards Yuzawa and Minamiuonuma weren't good today as it was quickly getting overcast and not clear at all. And as Kagura is so wide and open, there's not that much to take pics of. Not the kind that float the muika-boat anyway. Having said that, it is of course very lovely up there. Somehow I don't feel like whipping the camera out like I did at, say, Tenjindaira last week. Perhaps I should go to places like Tenjindaira later in the season, as it's hard to live up to!

So here's some photos and lines I saw