All good things come to an end...

I guess it had to happen, there is finally something to bitch and moan about.
Got to Hakuba last night at 3am, no less. The company which organised our package out here are an Australian company who really don't seem to give a damn about anything much at all except for the money. I tell you what, the Japanese way of doing things is sensational compared to this. Pretty poorly organised.
The hostel/lodge we are staying in (which is owned by the same company) is terrible. Most of it isn't heated, there are no kitchen facilities for preparing meals, they won't even let us use cups from the kitchen they use for breakfast (which is provided, cereal and toast) for a drink of water or a cup of tea. The only thing they provide outside of breakfast is a source of hot water and some disposable chopsticks. Also, the lodge managers don't really give a shit, and are less than helpful.
On top of that, the snow conditions are absolutely terrible! Up on the mountain today, it was a nice enough day, but there has obviously been no new snow for a while - the ungroomed runs have moguls the size of cars which are pretty much un-skiable. The groomed runs are either pure ice, or pure slush. Mmmmm lovely.... NOT.

I'm currently 'borrowing' the wireless internet from the hotel next door by sitting in the corner of the main lounge room of the lodge, really good set-up eh?! The up-side is I managed to get some good sashimi from the local supermarket (which is a 45 min walk away) and am quite enjoying that with a few beers. So all is good!

Fingers and toes and everything else crossed for some fresh snow!