12/23 - Day 4, the third day of ski
We went to Grand Hirafu by bus this morning. It's the biggest ground among the Niseko United. (The Niseko United is composed by three grounds, Annupuri, Higashiyama and Grand Hirafu.) Since we could only spend about 3 hours there, we were kind of rush when trying to ski through all the beginner's slops, which as shown in the map, are quite long and spread across the area. The weather condition in Grand Hirafu was better then Annupuri and almost all the lifts were opened. I really enjoyed the time we spent in there. It's certainly another highlight in the trip.
After three days ski, both Michael and I felt exhausted because of the windy and snowy weather. Additionally, the not fully recuperated flu and the sun glasses might be the two other major reasons for him.
I made a phone call to mugen, who was waiting for a parade in the Disneyland. I would say that the chance is low for two friends who are not traveling together and both of them happen to be in Japan. That's why this phone call should be made. To witness this rarity. Totally three phone calls were made with my roaming phone. The first one to a junior high school classmate who is working in Japan and the second one to home. The hotel we stayed didn't have very good coverage, so several drop calls were happened during those calls. I did hear my phone ringing when I was skiing in Grand Hirafu. It came in such a bad time, so that I missed my chance to pickup the only one call I got during this trip.

A group member who guided us to go through the Grand Hirafu slops. He got a cute hat.

Michael and the JAL ski girl.

Daily ski status bulletin