After our whiteout experience at the top of the mountain on Day 1, we woke up the next morning to beautiful blue skies. Finlay was chomping at the bit to get out on the slopes and managed to convince his dad to go for early breakfast so they could head up to the ski lifts for opening time and get a few runs under his belt before the start of lessons.

With Finlay and Kiera happily settled into their lessons, Andy and I took the lift up the mountain for our first actual view of the mountain. Several lifts and about 25 minutes later, we found ourselves at the top of the ski field. Apparently you can hike from the ski resort boundary up to the highest peak but we decided to stick to our ski’s and snowboard and head down the mountain instead.

Navigating the slopes when you can actually see where you are heading is certainly a lot more enjoyable experience than the day before and even though we are still pretty much in the peak season, it’s easy enough to find space on the mountain.

The weather conditions stayed the same for the next day, and by the end of day three I had abandoned my jacked and was skiing in a T-shirt! the warmer weather doesn’t bode well however and hopefully it doesn’t get any warmer.

Ski lessons are working out well for the kids. Kiera finishes up at 1.30 and, after a brief hot chocolate pick-me up, she is ready to get back out for a few more runs with mum and dad before Finlay finishes up at 3.30pm.

Kiera is a firm believer that there is only one way down a mountain and it’s meant to be done as quickly as possible… even if that means a spectacular finish to the run. It’s a good job she does gymnastics!

Hunger levels are typically high after a full day of skiing. Whilst we are located close to the ski lifts, the down side is that we are a good 15 minute walk from the main ‘township’ of Hakuba. Thankfully, the hotel has a few restaurant options to choose from. I do love the idea of a nice meal out at a traditional Japanese restaurant but by the end of another day on the snow, the convenience of being able to eat at the hotel seems to be winning us over (and the kids LOVE the garlic bread in the pub). I think they also like the novelty of a fire in the snow!

I think Kiera May have found herself in heaven with the desert stand at the hotel Japanese buffet

Our Japanese ski adventure is certainly ticking all the boxes for a fab family holiday. However, the weather forecast doesn’t look so great for the next few days, with rain forecast for tomorrow, so fingers crossed that the weather forecast for Japan is as (in)accurate as back home