Well, if the snow conditions had been better we might have liked the Rusutsu Resort. As it turned out, the conditions were awful on a mountain that without Japow wasn't interesting.
We were not able to experience Japow at all in Rusutsu. In Whitefish, Montana in 2023 we were supposed to have an atmospheric river bringing what we call "boot-high white smoke". But we didn't experience that either. What's going on with our luck with snow?
The snow cover in Rusutsu was in fact good enough but the quality was only okay and deteriorated with the 40° F temperature during the sunny days. (What? Sunny days at latitude 42.7484° near Vladivostok in the winter? Huh?) We skied for two days and then took two days off. The second day that we skied was very windy (“severe”), the snow was sticky, thick, sometimes mushy, and sometimes crusty and it was actually unpleasant. On the positive side, we were able to eat lunch on the mountain for around US $10 (and it was good ramen). Another positive, all of the mountain cafeterias have Toto toilets with heated toilet seats. Also on the positive side, we were able to convert our Epic Pass into 5 consecutive days of skiing at Rusutsu with almost no lift lines. (It turned out we only skied 3 of those 5 days--and not happily ("we're from Vail and we have standards after all".) The Onsen (hot baths) were great. When we soaked after dinner, we just conked out afterward.
We stayed in a two-bedroom superior apartment at the Vale (pronounced like Vail) Rusutsu (special winter rate, booked early ¥1,611,940/10= US $1100.93 per day, including breakfast). Our apartment was around 100 sq. meters, 1000 square feet, and very comfortable. The furniture was contemporary and just fine.
The expansive windows in our apartment looked out to East Mountain in the distance (beyond a humungous parking lot) and provided lots of sun. Our apartment was on a corner and was well-equipped and quiet. The entry hall had a large closet and across from it was the large second, complete bathroom. In the front hall was a washer/dryer in a closet, then came the kitchen with a fridge, dishwasher, a convection stovetop, a microwave, and lots of cooking stuff but very little storage area.
Across from the kitchen was the second bedroom with a king bed, and a large closet (and very little room for anything else). That was the storage area for our ski clothes. At the end of the apartment, facing all the windows, were the living room, dining table, and a large desk (large enough for the two of us). The sun-baked in through the windows. Because there was no air conditioning (it was disabled for the winter), the apartment was 80 °F during the day and 75 °F during the night. The master bedroom was at the end of the apartment and had a window looking out to some white birch trees but it did not open. Off of the master bedroom was the large master bathroom. Each bathroom had a Toto toilet with a heated toilet seat. Otherwise, there was no heat in the bathroom and it was the only cool place in the apartment. The bed had no top sheet only a comforter that was too warm for Audre but that Dimitri really liked.
The people working at the Vale Rusutsu were nice and helpful. The general manager, Rhett, was around and friendly.
The ski-in ski-out was very good. The locker space was good too. The building also had a cafe where we ate lunch one day. It had good sun and was pleasant. Other than that, everything else was in the Rusutsu Resort building that was connected to the Vale. Everything was underground or at ground level in the Resort.
We could walk inside to one of our three breakfast choices as well as to the Onsen (that was part of the Rusutsu Resort). Everywhere in the Rusutsu Resort was overly heated. We were surprised--we expected to be cold even indoors in Japan. We had arranged for breakfast to be included in our package. It would otherwise have cost ¥6000/US $40 for the two of us per day. We could choose from three different breakfast locations in the Rusutsu Resort: the Chinese Kanten, the Japanese set menu at Sekkatei, and the everything buffet at Octoberfest. Each was good enough.
It was the Lunar New Year holidays and even though the snow was no good, it was crowded with Chinese, Taiwanese, Hong Kongers, and Thais. Except for some Taiwanese, no one spoke to us. A Taiwanese man (around 60 years old) wanted to know our ages. When we told him 82 and 77, he was impressed. Yes, we aspire to inspire.
Actually, the resort was purpose-built in the 1980s and there was nothing charming about it. Incredibly, there were no spas, no boutiques (no clothes shops at all) no grocery stores, and no convenience stores either. And the resort had many ugly aspects: huge electrical stanchions, huge telecommunications equipment, huge roller coaster, and amusement park. It was difficult to have a lovely view unless Mt. Yotei was visible (which it wasn't from Rusutsu Resort or our windows). The ski lift equipment from the 80s looked like it had never been renovated. We hoped it was in good working order. Some chairs had no footrests. Some chairs had no bar across. Some had bubble tops that closed automatically (Audre called them attack chairs).
Dimitri had invested a lot of time in our restaurant reservations before we arrived. We had been told that without reservations we wouldn't eat. All his work paid off. The Vale Rusutsu had cars and they would drive us to the restaurants. In the resort area there were no sidewalks and walking on the road at night was not nice. The food at the restaurants was good but not worth writing home about. So we won't.
We skied for three days and then looked for things to do. There was no fitness/gym in either our hotel or in the Rusutsu Resort. So, one day we took a one-hour bus ride to a town called Kutchan where we went to the Coop to grocery shop and have lunch. The sidewalks were not cleaned by the town. Each business owner cleaned the sidewalk in front of the business (or not) and nothing else. That made walking interesting. The bus ride passed farms and towns--none of which were charming. With the help of the woman at the tourist information booth at the bus/train station, we found a cute little restaurant called Ichifuji Restaurant. We each had their grilled fish set menu which was very good. We spent a grand total of ¥2100, US $13.96.
Dimitri arranged for a guided snowshoe with Snowshoe Rusutsu (¥18,480, US$122.48) We snowshoed 0.6 of a mile in a wooded area next to the Westin with Katsu. He was an engaging guide and he obviously liked his job. His English was limited but he was able to name the trees we saw: white birch, pine, and maple. He told us there were squirrels, rabbits, and foxes but no mountain lions or deer. Along the road, when we were driving to Rusutsu, there were signs about bears so there must have been bears somewhere. The depth of the snow looked to be about 3 feet. Our snowshoes were necessary. We saw evidence of woodpeckers but the only birds we saw in Rusutsu were blackbirds. Katsu built a sitting area and using a camping burner made hot tea and a snowkid. That was fun. This was a snowshoe more for children than adults but we were glad we did it.
Another day we walked into the town of Rusutsu (such as it was) and found the butcher (with some groceries), a pizza place, and The Drug Store which was actually a grocery store with drug store items. We also found a cute mom-and-pop restaurant called Miyuki Drive-in (that was not a drive-in at all). We had a good lunch for US $8.32. The sidewalks all the way from the Rusutsu Resort to town were cleared (enough) and, even though the walk was along the main road, Highway 230, it was quiet enough.
Going to our gender-separated Onsen was a cultural experience. There are many rituals but the most interesting part for Audre was seeing all the women's bodies. Most women seemed comfortable walking around naked although some put a small towel in front of their breasts or in front of their navel. Audre saw very few perfect breasts even on gorgeous bodies. Breasts came in a large variety of sizes and shapes with nipples in many shapes too (as well as colors). There were not too many Asian fat women and no obese Asian women. Asian women Audre's age would be considered overweight but not fat. The Western women were the fat ones. Many women came in with small girls and (unlike American women) seemed comfortable walking around naked with their daughters. There were 3 different pools in the Onsen: one was outside facing a snowbank and 41°C, and the others were inside and 41.5°C and 39°C. All were pleasant. After soaking, Audre would shower (although the rule is to shower first) using the low stool area. None of the women talked to Audre and Dimitri only spoke to one Aussie man.
Meanwhile, in the men's onsen, Dimitri had a chance to observe more penises than he had ever seen. A few men covered their genitals in extreme modesty. Of the others, a few were surprising because their penis and scrotum were very black (or maybe purple) and that was not related to age.
We did not have a bad time in Rusutsu but we will not return.
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