Podcasts about Snow Country

The podcast remains on a break between seasons but as promised, here's another shorter, edited version of one of the most popular episodes to date - Finding, Fixing & Furnishing a Home in the Snow Country with Gianpaolo Camplese. This was Episode 22 of the podcast, in which I speak with woodworker and musician Gianpaolo Camplese about living in the snow country and his acquisition and refurbishment of an old ‘kominka' – a traditional farmhouse – into his family home. Important to note that this is an edited version of the longer original episode, in which Gianpaolo and I went into more detailed discussion about how he came to be living in the snow country, finding and purchasing a house, restoring it and his career as a woodworker and musician. You will hear short clips of his music during our chat. If you haven't already, make sure to listen to the full episode. This edit provides a taste of the longer conversation I had with Gianpaolo, but I think it interesting in its own right while it might also prompt you to go back and listen to the longer, original version. Finally, I'll be making an important announcement soon about the podcast including a change of name and changes to the website. Basically, the scope and name of the podcast will be expanding to all of regional Japan rather than just the snow country. The focus of the podcast will remain largely on this region but we'll start exploring some other curious corners of rural and regional Japan that lie elsewhere. I'll make a full announcement soon. Snow Country Stories Japan is a bi-weekly podcast about life and travel in Japan's legendary 'yukiguni'. For more information about the show and your host, visit our website - www.snowcountrystories.com - and make sure to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and follow us on Instagram and Facebook.

Episode of 33 of the podcast takes us into Japan's highest mountain range and into the beautiful alpine valley of Kamikochi. Part of the wider Chubu Sangaku National Park, Kamikochi is a 16 kilometre / 10 mile valley which follows the beautiful Azusa River and bookended by two famous mountains – Mount Hotaka and Yakedake. With an average elevation of around 1400 metres / 4593 feet, the valley is known for its outstanding beauty, pristine ecosystem and multiple mountain peaks. Open to the public from mid-April until mid-November each year, access is restricted in order to preserve that natural beauty and ecosystem, and as such, a little planning goes a long way when heading there. This episode of the podcast is my travel guide to Kamikochi.In this episode I delve into the history of Kamikochi, what to expect, its highlights and hiking options, when to visit, where to stay and how to get there. Kamikochi is a special protected zone within the national park and as I explained, private cars are not allowed to enter. Visitors to Kamikochi must use public bus services, a taxi or a chartered vehicle, meaning that understanding how to get there is essential to making the most of your time there. I provide that information during this episode along with everything else you need to know.Complete information – including accommodation and transport - can be found on the official Kamikochi website and you can follow them on Instagram. As always, more information, photographs, links and a map showing you where Kamikochi is can be found on the episode page of the Snow Country Stories Japan website.Snow Country Stories Japan is a bi-weekly podcast about life and travel in Japan's legendary 'yukiguni'. For more information about the show and your host, visit our website - www.snowcountrystories.com - and make sure to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

In Episode 29 of the podcast we return to Niigata Prefecture and onto Niigata City to speak with Jenya Yuss. Jenya works for Edge of Niigata, a travel company based in Niigata City and operating tours and experiences in the city and wider prefecture. As such she's an ideal person to introduce to the story and the reasons to visit Niigata.When Japanese think about the snow country, Niigata is one of the first prefectures to spring to mind. Subject to very heavy snowfall, Niigata is synonymous with that snow along with its rice, sake and seafood. Situated on the coast of the Sea of Japan and at confluence of two rivers, Niigata City has long been an important trade and port city that connected Japan to the outside world. A place through which people passed along with traded goods. A mix of the traditional, industrial and grittier elements you'd expect of a port city.Jenya and I discuss the city and its history, her own story, travel experiences offered by Edge of Niigata along with tips of onward journeys further into the snow country by train and ferry. You can find more information on the Edge of Niigata website or follow them on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. More information including links to everything we discuss in the episode, images and a map showing you where in the snow country we are, are on the episode page of the Snow Country Stories Japan website. Snow Country Stories Japan is a bi-weekly podcast about life and travel in Japan's legendary 'yukiguni'. For more information about the show and your host, visit our website - www.snowcountrystories.com - and make sure to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

In Episode 28 of the podcast I speak with Mark Davis, a Tokyo-based landscape photographer whose work focuses on the natural environments of Japan. Mark's photography takes him into many areas of regional Japan with a particular interest in the snow country and its varied seasons. As such, his photography tells a more complete story of the snow country, and Japan in general, in revealing the transient of beauty of spring, summer and autumn in addition to its celebrated winter.Originally from the United States, Mark's own story and account of how he ended up in Japan, is an interesting one. As he states, his background influences his photography and the subjects, in the form of natural environments, he is most drawn to.  Mark leads photography tours in Nagano each autumn, in conjunction with two other photographers – Sho Hoshino and David Thompson. The tour is designed to take guests into the autumn landscapes of Central Japan, away from the crowds and well-known destinations - something we discuss in the second half of the interview.For more information about this photography and tours, visit Mark's website and always, you can find more information on the episode page of the Snow Country Stories Japan website. Snow Country Stories Japan is a bi-weekly podcast about life and travel in Japan's legendary 'yukiguni'. For more information about the show and your host, visit our website - www.snowcountrystories.com - and make sure to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Episode 26 of the podcast transports us along one of the snow country's most popular destinations – the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. Located in Chubu Sangaku National Park, the Alpine Route is a popular sightseeing route that transports visitors across Japan's highest mountain range – the Kita Alps or North Alps. It takes a series of mountain transports to do so that operate between different stations, eventually ascending to Murodo Station at 2450 metres / 8038 feet above sea level, from where you are within reach of the summit of Mount Tate or Tateyama – at 3003 metres / 9852 feet.The Alpine Route is closed to the public through winter due to heavy snow in the mountains, reopening on April 15th every year and operating until the end of November. It is extremely popular with both Japanese and international visitors, who upon opening, head up the Alpine Route to witness its most famous sight – the 'Snow Walls of Tateyama'.  As the weather warms in late-spring and into summer, walking trails beneath the snow will begin to emerge providing easier access to leisurely walks around the alpine plateau and more advanced overnight and multi-day hikes to the surrounding peaks including deep into the national park. For more information, visit the episode page on the Snow Country Stories Japan website. 00:00  Prelude04:25  Episode Introduction07:04  History of the Alpine Route14:16  How it Works & What to Expect21:16  When to Visit the Alpine Route24:35  Using the Transports & How to Get There28:26  Where to Stay30:37  My Guiding Services31:45  Episode CloseSnow Country Stories Japan is a bi-weekly podcast about life and travel in Japan's legendary 'yukiguni'. For more information about the show and your host, visit our website - www.snowcountrystories.com - and make sure to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Season 3 of Snow Country Stories Japan begins on Tuesday 2nd April 2024. In the coming season we'll be exploring the snow country in spring and summer before heading into the beauty of autumn, starting with Japan's largest national park, Daisetsuzan. Considered by many as the most impressive of Japan's 34 national parks, Daisetsuzan occupies a vast area dominated by volcanic ranges and many peaks of over 2000 metres / 6600 feet, with an abundant alpine flora and fauna and striking beauty from season to season including its deep snow of winter.Exploration of Daisetsuzan will kick of Season 3 of the pod and I look forward to bringing you more episodes from the snow country as we move further into 2024 and toward the next snow season. Snow Country Stories Japan is a bi-weekly podcast about life and travel in Japan's legendary 'yukiguni'. For more information about the show and your host, visit our website - www.snowcountrystories.com - and make sure to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Talking Snow Country Stories Japan w/ Peter Tour Guide Extraordinaire | LWJ Season 3 Ep 10 Welcome to a very special episode of Lost Without Japan, where we sit down with Peter from Snow Country Stories Japan as we discuss his podcast and tours he offers. Please Consider Kindly Supporting Our Crowd Funded Show By Supporting Us Through Our Shows Patreon: https://patreon.com/lostwithoutjapanpodcast?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/snowcountrystories/  Website: www.snowcountrystories.com Tours w/ Peter: https://snowcountrystories.com/guided-tours  Togakushi, Nagano: A Snow Country Stories Japan Travel Guide:  Complete Ep 12 that features the clip at the end of today's episode: https://snowcountrystories.com/episodes/ep12-togakushi-travel-guide  As always, the link to our shows Google Resource doc can be found at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WEVbRmvn8jzxOZPDaypl3UAjxbs1OOSWSftFW1BYXpI/edit#  INSTA 360 X3 Show Link:  If you would like to help support the show and you're looking to purchase an Insta360 X3 please consider using our affiliate link. https://www.insta360.com/sal/x3?insrc=INRHVML

Snow Country Stories Japan is currently on a break between seasons. I'll announce the return date as soon as possible. In the meantime, this bonus episode features a clip of my recently published interview on the Lost Without Japan podcast.Lost Without Japan is a bi-weekly podcast focused on listeners planning their first trip to Japan or for those who are returning, introducing new destinations and experiences to get them off the beaten track. The host of the podcast Mike covers a broad range of topics and talks to people throughout Japan and was kind enough to invite me on to discuss spring in snow country and ask for my recommendations of the best places to enjoy the snow as the weather warms up. During the interview we discussed the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route and Kamikochi – both of which open to the public on April 15 – along with Shiga Kogen Mountain Resort – Japan's largest and highest ski resort which is also blessed with some of the country's best spring skiing and snowboarding.Lost Without Japan is available on all popular podcast apps and you can follow the show on Instagram and Facebook. My chat with Mike is Episode 15 of Season 3 of his podcast and very generously titled 'Talking Snow Country Stories Japan w. Peter Tour Guide Extraordinarire'. I hope you enjoy!Snow Country Stories Japan is a bi-weekly podcast about life and travel in Japan's legendary 'yukiguni'. For more information about the show and your host, visit our website - www.snowcountrystories.com - and make sure to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

In Episode 22 of the podcast we head north to the small rural village of Nukui in Nagano Prefecture. It is here that we find craftsman and musician Gianpaolo Camplese. Originally from Italy, Gianpaolo moved to the snow country in search for a home for his family, eventually discovering a rundown ‘kominka' (traditional farmhouse) in the picturesque Nukui. In this episode we speak about Gianpaolo's journey to the snow country of Japan, why he loves it, where and how he found his home, and the process of buying and fixing it Gianpaolo is a woodworker who makes beautiful timber furniture under the name of Nereto Woodwork. As we discuss in our interview, he fills commissions for clients in the area including the many guesthouses and lodges of the surrounding ski resorts along with private residences. We discuss Gianpaolo's work as a furniture-maker in the second half of the interview along with his wonderful music. A drummer and composer, Gianpaolo spent many years working in Berlin as a musician. You can listen to his wonderfully atmospheric music on both his personal website and Soundcloud. The interview was recorded in Gianpaolo's home. I want to say a very big thank you to him for welcoming me in and I hope our chat inspires you to consider a life lived better out here in the snow country! For more information including images and a map of where in the snow country we are today, make sure to the check out the episode page on the Snow Country Stories Japan website.00:00  Episode Introduction03:31  Setting the Scene: Life in Nukui, Nagano10:20  Gianpaolo's Journey to the Snow Country14:55  Finding & Buying a 'Kominka'20:26  The (Ongoing) Renovation 26:31  Tips for Buying  a House in the Snow Country29:09  Nereto Woodwork: Gianpaolo's Wonderful Furniture38:31  The Music of Gianpaolo Camplese46:13  Episode CloseSnow Country Stories Japan is a bi-weekly podcast about life and travel in Japan's legendary 'yukiguni'. For more information about the show and your host, visit our website - www.snowcountrystories.com - and make sure to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

In this episode, William Green chats with Laura Geritz, founder of Rondure Global Advisors, which scours the globe in search of high-quality companies trading at attractive prices in places like India, China, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Turkey, Brazil, & Mexico. Here, Laura makes the case for allocating more money to undervalued stocks outside the US. She also discusses her unusual lifestyle, which is built around relentless travel, voracious reading, & abundant time to think. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 08:15 - How Laura Geritz earned the nickname “Money Bags.” 09:41 - How she broke into the investment industry by living in Japan. 12:55 - How she was shaped by the frugal, unflashy culture of rural Kansas. 22:57 - What she learned from her mentor & partner, Robert Gardiner. 30:14 - Why so many talented women quit the investment business. 36:54 - Why she believes many investors are taking too much risk. 38:56 - Why foreign stocks may be overdue for a powerful rebound. 41:20 - How she weighs the risks & rewards of Chinese stocks. 52:26 - How she screens 70,000 stocks to identify great businesses. 1:03:36 - What foreign investors don't understand about Japanese companies. 1:11:51 - How to become a continuous learning machine. 1:25:38 - How Laura handles adversity when her investing style is out of favor. 1:32:06 - Why she maintains a remarkably uncluttered calendar. Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences. BOOKS AND RESOURCES Laura Geritz's investment firm, Rondure Global Advisors. Graham Greene's book The Quiet American. Yasunari Kawabata's book Snow Country. Michael Pollan's book A Place of My Own. Rolf Potts' book Vagabonding. Pico Iyer's book The Half-Known Life. William Green's podcast interview with Pico Iyer | YouTube Video. William Green's book, “Richer, Wiser, Happier” – read the reviews of this book. Follow William Green on X (AKA Twitter). Check out all the books mentioned and discussed in our podcast episodes here. NEW TO THE SHOW? Follow our official social media accounts: X (Twitter) | LinkedIn | | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok. Browse through all our episodes (complete with transcripts) here. Try our tool for picking stock winners and managing our portfolios: TIP Finance Tool. Enjoy exclusive perks from our favorite Apps and Services. Stay up-to-date on financial markets and investing strategies through our daily newsletter, We Study Markets. Learn how to better start, manage, and grow your business with the best business podcasts.  SPONSORS Support our free podcast by supporting our sponsors: River Linkedin Marketing Solutions NetSuite Fidelity Shopify Toyota TurboTax Babbel American Express Business Gold Card Fundrise Vacasa HELP US OUT! Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts! It takes less than 30 seconds, and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 21 of the Snow County Stories Japan podcast brings us to Nagano City, the capital of the large, landlocked and mountainous Nagano Prefecture. Host of the 1998 Winter Olympic Games, Nagano is blessed with heavy snow and home to fantastic ski resorts, many of Japan's highest mountains and multiple national parks. As the largest city in the region, Nagano City is the primary transit point for visitors heading to those ski resorts, mountains and national parks with many if not most people passing through enroute to a nearby destination. In this episode of the we'll head into to Nagano City to explore what's on offer including its highlights, the best time of visit, recommended day trips, dining, accommodation, dining and nightlife, how to get there, and my services as a tour guide. As always there is more information and links to everything we discuss on the episode page of the Snow Country Stories Japan website. Based in Nagano, it goes without saying that I guide in Nagano City starting with my 'On the Trail of Japan's 7 Lucky Gods & Zenkoji Private Tour'. Available all year round I designed this walking tour to take you in search of Japan's ‘Shichifukujin' or '7 Lucky Gods', on a route that leads through Nagano City, to sub-temples and other spots of interest and onto one of Japan's most important Buddhist temples, Zenko-ji. Along the way I introduce you to each of Japan's 7 Lucky Gods and in doing so, touch on surprising aspects of Japanese culture. Once at the temple, we explore its history and significance  including why Zenko-ji has more swastikas than any temple in Japan. While we walk, I also introduce you to favourite eateries and cafes while sampling Nagano's food culture and should you wish to, making sure we have plenty of time for lunch, a little shopping and a guided sake tasting. Nagano City is a stop on the Hokuriku Shinkansen line running from Tokyo to Kanazawa. All services departing Tokyo stop at Nagano – an 80 to 110 minute journey depending on which service you choose. There are plenty of services throughout the day. From Kanazawa – the northern terminus of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line - services take between 60 to 90 minutes and are just as frequent. Limited express services operating on the scenic Shinano line connect Nagano to the castle town of Matsumoto – approximately 50 minutes – and Nagoya – in around 3 hours. Express and overnight bus services also connect Nagano to major cities across Japan. A good option for travelers on a budget. However you choose to journey here, I hope this audio guide is of assistance in planning your visit.00:00  Prelude03:45  Episode Introduction06:57  Nagano's Olympic Heritage08:50  Zenko-ji & The Hidden Buddha14:00  Togakushi: Forest Shrines, Mystics & Mountain Ninja17:39  Matsushiro: Samurai & An Open Secret Beneath22:17  My Tours & Services as a Guide23:56  Best Times of Year to Visit Nagano City25:06  Ski Resorts, National Parks & Recommended Day-trips28:55  Dining & Nightlife33:01  Accommodation & Hot Springs35:04  How to Get to Nagano CitySnow Country Stories Japan is a bi-weekly podcast about life and travel in Japan's legendary 'yukiguni'. For more information about the show and your host, visit our website - www.snowcountrystories.com - and make sure to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Today I'm interviewing the world's foremost ski historian, Seth Masia, who is President of the International Skiing History Association and the Publisher of Skiing History since 2014, and its Editor since 2002. He is perhaps best known for his 20 years of service at SKI (from 1974 to 1993), mostly on the equipment beat, where he was a pillar of the ski media, in those days, a very big deal. He segued from print to the cyber world when, between 1994 and 1996, he designed, built and launched skinet.com, the first consumer website. He capitalized on that experience with a three-year stint at Microsoft, followed by a year as director of Internet strategy at Intrawest, giving him a close-up view of one of the biggest resort conglomerates of its day. Seth is also a Level 3 member of PSIA, logging long teaching stints at Squaw Valley (as it was then known), 22 years at Vail/Beaver Creek ski schools and Aspen/Snowmass. He also saw the ski market from the equipment supplier side, serving as alpine product manager at K2 (during my tenure at Snow Country) in 1993 through 1994. Currently, he serves as a marketing consultant for Wagner Custom skis, as he has since 2007.

Dive into an extraordinary tale of winter gardening in one of the most challenging climates in the continental US. Our special guest, Dawn Trammell, shares her inspiring journey of transforming a snow-covered backyard into a productive garden. It's not just about defying the cold; it's about redefining the conventional gardening calendar. This episode is a must-listen for anyone intrigued by the resilience of nature and the ingenuity of a dedicated gardener. Join us as we explore the unique tips and strategies that make gardening viable, even under several feet of snow. Get ready to be inspired and perhaps start your own winter gardening adventure! Connect with Dawn at Northwest Homesteader to claim your copy of her in-depth video class on winter gardening:https://northwesthomesteader.com Check out our gardening content at:https://www.susprep.com Show notes:https://www.thereadylife.com/26

We've got a really fun soundtrack to dive into in this episode from a Jaleco arcade title released in 1989 called Plus Alpha, composed by Tsukasa Tawada.  It's an overhead shooter similar to Twinbee, Raiden, or 1942/43 and was released on the Nintendo Switch in 2020 under the Arcade Archives series published by HAMSTER Corporation. Tsukasa Tawada brings lots of variety in this soundtrack, which is a ton of fun and also hits all the marks for an awesome arcade experience.   Tracklist: All tracks composed by Tsukasa Tawada 00:04 Triumphal Return Overture (Title) 03:26 Wind Dancer (Stage 1 Wind Country) 08:25 Into Blue (Stage 2 Sea Colony) 09:39 Bird Island (Stage 3 Flower Town) 14:20 Sun Colors (Stage 4 Snow Country) 16:08 Last Heart (Stage 5 Sand City) 19:54 Neo Baroque (Stage 7 Eden) 21:11 Boss Stage 22:06 Harmonica for Peace (Unused) 26:47 Ending Theme Thanks to ctr from VGMRips for creating the pack!

Episode 16 of the podcast brings us back to Nagano Prefecture and one of the snow country's most popular destinations, Jigokudani Yaen Koen – more commonly referred to as the Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park. Located in the enclave of Yamanouchi – 50 to 60 minutes from Nagano City – the park is home to a curious troop of Japanese macaques known for the love of bathing in hot springs. This episode has everything you need to know to plan your visit to the monkey park including just why the monkeys are there and why they are so famous, what to expect, the best times of year to visit, other destinations to visit while there, where to stay, how to get there and my services as a tour guide.Open all year round, the monkeys come to the park in winter, spring, summer and autumn with each season offering its own reasons to visit. The monkeys are wild meaning they come and go as they please; and while they are almost certain to be at the park on the day of your visit, the fact that they are wild means their presence is not guaranteed. For that reason I recommend combining your visit to the monkeys with other destinations in the area including the famous hot spring towns of Shibu Onsen and Yudanaka Onsen or exploration of Joshinetsu Kogen National Park including Shiga Kogen Highlands UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and of course, Shiga Kogen Mountain Resort – Japan's largest ski resort.For more information about the park, visit our episode page and for more information about my services, see the 'Tours' section of the Snow Country Stories Japan website.00:00 Power of Monkey02:30 Episode Introduction06:09 History of the Snow Monkey Park11:00 What to Expect When You Visit15:13 Best Times of Year to Visit20:18 Hot Spring Towns of Kanbayashi, Shibu & Yudanaka Onsen24:21 Shiga Kogen Ski Resort / Joshinetsu Kogen National Park26:13 Where to Stay28:28 How to Get There30:37 My Guided Tours at the Park32:48 Episode CloseSnow Country Stories Japan is a bi-weekly podcast about life and travel in Japan's legendary 'yukiguni'. For more information about the show and your host, visit our website - www.snowcountrystories.com - and make sure to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

I am happy to announce that Season 2 of ‘Snow Country Stories Japan' begins on Tuesday 19th September 2023. And I'm just as happy to say, there's a lot to look forward to in the coming season! As we head toward and into another winter, Season 2 of the podcast will take us deeper into Japan's snow country including episodes covering some of Japan's best ski resorts and the fantastic skiing, snowboarding and backcountry on offer here. Of course that's just part of the snow country story and in Season 2 we'll continue to explore all aspects of life here including the traditions and festivals, music and food, breweries and distilleries, wildlife and life in general among the heavy snow of Japan. It's my hope that this podcast inspires you to visit or better yet, come to live in the snow country. For more information about the podcast and your host, visit our website: www.snowcountrystories.com. Make sure to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Snow Country Stories Japan is a bi-weekly podcast about life and travel in Japan's legendary 'yukiguni'. For more information about the show and your host, visit our website - www.snowcountrystories.com - and make sure to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Ed Stratham is a talented entrepreneur and community builder based in Nagano, Japan. In this talk with Ed he gives us an insightful house tour of his 250+ year old property that he has been working on renovating. He also has great advice for anyone interested in renovating old houses in Japan. Amazingly, despite doing most of the work himself, Ed has spent most of his career as a dive-instructor and bar owner in Southeast Asia, but now doing a great job renovating his old house and being a positive and active member of his community. This was a great chance to visit Ed in a small village in Snow Country over the mountain from famous Nozawa Onsen where he is not only remodeling his own house, but also helping get other international residents in Japan to move in to other houses - stay tuned for more videos with Ed's neighbors coming up! We need connectors in rural Japan like Ed who can help find new residents to work on renovations of these AKIYA abandoned buildings which still have good structures worth saving. In this video we tour the 250+ year old house he has renovated (and is still working on) to create a stylish and cozy home for him, his wife and his giant dog. Stay tuned to the end to see his antique shop of salvaged treasures from the many abandoned house projects he has worked on.Ed & I first met at the 2022 Minka Summit (in the carpark of course where all the cool kids hang out). From the get-go I was impressed with his infectious laugh and true commitment to building community in rural Japan. I am astounded by the number of Akiya projects he had taken on!In 2022 after meeting Ed at the Minka Summit, I introduced Ed's community building passion in combination with the philosophy of Alex Kerr & the reason this is a great time for the Minka Summit for a Japan TImes article: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/202...Get in touch with Ed below - especially if you want to name-your-price to get any of his antique treasures he shows us at the end of the video: dive.monkey.ed [atmark] gmail.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/dive.monkey...Join Ed & me and many likeminded people at the next MINKA summit Japan or online at one of the Kominka Japan pages: https://kominkajapan.org/LIVE video walkthrough with Ed (some of the good live clips are included in this video)

Episode 12 of the podcast is the first of my intended travel guides for recommended destinations in the snow country. Located just outside of Nagano City, Togakushi is home to some of Japan's most important Shinto shrines and one of the snow country's most important cultural landscapes. Mount Togakushi has been a focal point of devotion for more than 1000 years with its shrines and the story of Togakushi linked to Shinto creation myths,  giving it true significance within Japanese culture . Part of the wider Myoko-Togakushi Renzan National Park, Togakushi's spiritual significance is matched by its natural beauty making it a fantastic destination for nature and wildlife enthusiasts; while also home to the Togakure-ryu school of ninjitsu, famous ‘soba', 'takezaiku' bamboo craft and picturesque Togakushi Ski Resort. Links to relevant information are also available on the episode page on the Snow Country Stories Japan website and chapter markers are listed below.Based in Nagano, I guide tours to Togakushi – one of my favourite places to guide – so if you're interested in that make sure listen onto the end of the episode when I provide a little information about my services and checkout the ‘Tours' section of the Snow Country Stories Japan website. Of course, if you want to head there by yourself, I also provide information about how to do so and the best times to visit.For more information about the podcast and your host, visit our website: www.snowcountrystories.com. Make sure to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. 00:00   Amaterasu & The Heavenly Rock Cave04:52   Episode Introduction07:30   Togakushi: Where It Is & Why It Matters11:40   Togakushi Shrine Complex13:50   Hiking Trails & Wildlife16:48   Togakure-ryu Ninja Museum20:34   Togakushi ‘Soba' & ‘Takezaiku' 22:28   Best Times of Year to Visit25:18   Togakushi Ski Resort27:27   How to Get There29:10   Where to Stay30:35   My Guided Tours in Togakushi32:04   Episode CloseSnow Country Stories Japan is a bi-weekly podcast about life and travel in Japan's legendary 'yukiguni'. For more information about the show and your host, visit our website - www.snowcountrystories.com - and make sure to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

In Episode 08 of Snow Country Stories Japan I delve a little deeper into what and where the snow country is, why I value it, why I think you should visit and my own story and the services I provide as a writer and guide based in Nagano. I also provide some basic information about how to get to the snow country, which obviously depends to your exact destination and how you want to travel.As discussed in the episode, the term ‘雪国 / yukiguni' or ‘snow country', refers to regions and areas of heavy snowfall and its broadest sense can be applied to just over half the Japanese landmass. Despite that, it's a region of Japan largely unknown to the outside world as most international visitors spend their time in the large cities of Tokyo, Yokohoma, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka and typically only venture into regional areas a daytrip or overnight visit. Through this podcast I want to promote the snow country to the world. It's an invitation to visit or better yet, come to stay and grow old with us in the snow country.I call the snow country my home, working as a freelance guide and writer in Nagano. You can find more information about my services as a writer and services as a guide on this website, along with ‘My Story' – in which I provide a little information about my background and motivations. I have been guiding in Japan for more than 6 years – mostly in and around Nagano Prefecture along with surrounding prefectures of Central Japan. The website lists my current tours. I design tours that provide guests with engaging experiences that are fun, well-paced and with the flexibility to suit your needs, interests and itinerary.Toward the end of the episode I provide some information about moving to, from and around the snow country including use of the Shinkansen / ‘Bullet Train' network. If you plan to do so it's worth considering the Japan Rail (JR) Pass as it can represent significant savings (depending on how often you plan to use the train) along with regional passes including the JR East Nagano & Niigata Pass, the Hokuriku Arch Pass, the JR East Tohoku Pass and Hokkaido Rail Passes.You can skip ahead to chapter markers at:01:55 / What & Where is the Snow Country?10:47 / Why I Value It & Why You Should Visit18:35 / Who I Am & What I Do Here22:53 / How to Get to the Snow CountryFor more information about the podcast and your host, visit our website: www.snowcountrystories.com. Make sure to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Snow Country Stories Japan is a bi-weekly podcast about life and travel in Japan's legendary 'yukiguni'. For more information about the show and your host, visit our website - www.snowcountrystories.com - and make sure to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Hello again from the snow country! This is a short announcement to let you know that as of this week, the name of the podcast will be changing from ‘Snow Country For Old Men' to ‘Snow Country Stories Japan' and with that, the website address will also be updated.The reasons for the change are simple and won't result in any alteration to the podcast content or our usual bi-weekly schedule. While I'm very fond of the current name, I want to make things a little clearer for listeners and help them discover the podcast as easily as possible. This is a podcast about life in Japan's snow country as told by the people who live here. It's a podcast of diverse stories and voices and for those reasons, I feel that the simply named ‘Snow Country Stories Japan' is the best fit for what the podcast already is and the direction I see it headed in future. The website will also update to www.snowcountrystories.com and our Instagram, Twitter and Facebook accounts will all be updated later this week, before the next full episode is available on Sunday 30th April. I am looking forward to bringing you a lot more stories from the snow country!Snow Country Stories Japan is a bi-weekly podcast about life and travel in Japan's legendary 'yukiguni'. For more information about the show and your host, visit our website - www.snowcountrystories.com - and make sure to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

In this episode Nicole and Sarah host Halley O'Brien, an avid snowboarder who has made outdoor adventuring her career as an on-camera personality, writer and producer. Halley is a mother of 3 boys (she just recently welcomed twins!), is the founder of The Snow Report and has her own podcast (Beyond the Apres).  Halley tells us about learning to snowboard at Mountain Creek in New Jersey and falling in love with it immediately - even though her tailbone did not :)  Halley walks us through her career path from a communications major to pounding the pavement at ski resorts and making her way into the ski industry business.  Halley started at Mount Snow as their on mountain “Snow Reporter”, and that led her to found The Snow Report. Halley moved out to Colorado and started her own production company - working with Vail Resorts, The Weather Channel, Snow Country and then pitched her own show to Ski Magazine.  Halley makes fast paced and super funny videos on all sorts of ski and snow related topics - from pond skimming to beer and gear reviews - we found ourselves laughing out loud when we tuned in.  Halley and her husband are teaching their son to snowboard (starting at 13 months!) at Mountain Creek on a Burton Riglet board, a board designed specifically for the tiniest rippers. Halley now has a number of roles back at Mountain Creek and at Big Snow American Dream (indoor ski resort in New Jersey). Mountain Creek has a great ski school with progress based learning features that help guide new skiers as they build their basic ski skills. Mountain Creek has night skiing and is only an hour outside of NYC. Check out the links below to see Halley in action!Resources:Mountain Creek (NJ) https://mountaincreek.com/Mount Snow (VT) https://www.mountsnow.com/Burton Riglet https://www.burton.com/discover/s/article/burton-rigletBig Snow https://www.bigsnowamericandream.com/Eurosock https://amzn.to/3EmgGLeKeep up with the Latest from Halley:Ski Mag Snow ReportThe Snow ReportWebsite: http://www.halleyobrien.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/halleyobrienTwitter: https://twitter.com/halleyobrienInstagram: https://instagram.com/halleyobrienYouTube: https://youtube.com/@HalleyOBrienMediaPodcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-the-apr%C3%A8s/id1542825138Please Help Support our Podcast:Visit Mabels Labels to personalize your own labels!Use code SKIMOMS at checkout for 15% off your purchaseJoin the Ski Moms Fun Community! Follow us on Instagram @skimomsfunCheck out the Ski Moms Fun Store at www.skimomsfun.comContact us sarah@skimomsfun.com

Wyoming winters are often blanketed in beautiful snow but living around snow has its challenges for both animals and humans. In this episode, Stella and Bowen talk with Corey Anco, the Curator of the Draper Natural History Museum, to discover the survival strategies of animals who live under the snow. Shelby and Elise talk about snowflake structure and the danger of avalanches with Frank Carus, the director of the Bridger-Teton National Forest Avalanche Center.

https://www.japan.travel/japan-heritage/popular/c8f73973-e75e-4567-a512-5c10e0173744

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To support independent ski journalism, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Starting in June, paid subscribers will receive podcasts three days before free subscribers.WhoJackson Hogen, Editor of Realskiers.com, author of Snowbird Secrets, and long-time industry jack of all trades: ski designer, binding and boot product manager, freestyle competitor, retail salesman, risk management lecturer, ski instructor, marketing director, resort feature writer, OLN and RSN television host, extreme camp ski coach, Desperate Measures co-creator, four-time Warren Miller screenwriter, and research and development chief.Recorded onMay 9, 2022Why I interviewed himA long time ago, ski writers used to write about ski instruction. They were quite good at it. A couple years back, I recounted the value of these dispatches to me as a novice skier in the 1990s:I met skiing like a lawnchair meets a tornado, flung and cartwheeled and disoriented and smashed to pieces. I was 14 with the coordination and dexterity of a lamppost. The mountain was merciless in its certainty of what to do with me. It hurt.I tried again and was met like an invader at the Temple of Doom, each run a stone-rope-and-pulley puzzle I could not solve – a puzzle that invariably ended with me smashed beneath a rock.When two years later I tried a third time I had grown into my body and could without turning or otherwise controlling myself descend the modest hill on most runs intact. The following Christmas I asked for skis and got them and the fabulous snowy north unrolled with purpose and mission before me.Now I just had to learn how to ski.This was a bigger problem than it sounds like. No one in my family skied. None of my friends knew how to ski either – at least not well enough to show me how to do it. Lessons were not happening. If you think a 17-year-old who makes $4.50 an hour bagging groceries is going to spend the equivalent of a week’s pay on what is essentially school on snow when school is not in session, then you have either never met a 17-year-old or have never been one. As it was, I could barely afford the lift tickets and gas to get me to the hill.What I could afford was ski magazines. And ski magazines in the nineties were glorious things, hundreds of pages long and stacked with movie reviews and resort news and adrenaline-laced 14-page feature stories.And there was ski instruction. Pages and pages of it in nearly every issue.This seems arcane now. Why not just watch a video? But this was the mid-nineties. There was no YouTube. Hell, there was barely an internet, and only the computer-savviest among us had the remotest idea how to access it.My first ski magazine was the December 1994 issue of Skiing. It cost $2.50 and it looked like this:The volume of ski instruction in just this one issue is staggering. A nearly-5,000 word piece by venerable ski writer Lito Tejada-Flores anchored a 19-page (!) spread on the art and importance of balance, which was in turn prefaced by a separate front-of-the-mag editorial outlining the whole package. An additional eight pages of ski instruction tiered from solid-green beginner to expert complemented this. And all this in an issue that also included a 13-page high-energy feature on roaming interior BC and 10-page write-ups of Squaw Valley and Whiteface.Each month I bought Skiing, and most months I also bought Ski and Snow Country. I also bought Powder but even then Powder could not be bothered with ski instruction. The instruction wasn’t the first thing I read but I always read it and I usually read it many times.This was a process. Ski instruction articles are often dense and deliberate and usually anchored to numbered photographs or drawings demonstrating movements and technique. Think of it as drill instruction in extreme slow motion. It wasn’t all useful but what was useful became essential.I doubt anyone knows how to write about ski instruction with this kind of clarity and detail anymore, just like no one knows how to build a covered wagon anymore – it is a lost art because it is now an unnecessary one.But this is how I learned how to ski. And because this is how I learned and because I re-read each of the pieces that resonated with me so many times, this written instruction formed the indelible framework around which I still think about skiing.Read the rest:I would like to retract one part of the above essay: “it is a lost art because it is now an unnecessary one.” Re-reading the articles referenced in the piece above, I admire the clarity with which each of these writers dissected the process of skiing trees or bumps or steeps. There is no equivalent, that I am aware of, in the realm of instructional ski videos. And there is a simple reason why: videos can show you what you should be doing, but the visual hegemony makes their creators overlook something even more important: what you should be feeling, and how you should be reacting as you feel those things.There is at least one remaining master of this craft: Jackson Hogen. He understands how to talk about aspects of skiing other than the fact that it’s rad. Snowbird Secrets is a written masterclass for the wannabee expert, the one who’s maybe dropped into the double blacks laced off the Cirque Traverse and survived to the bottom, but knows it wasn’t their best work. Examples:From Chapter 4 – On Anticipation:Your upper body stays ahead of the activities going on underfoot, as though your head and shoulders were in a time machine that is forever stuck on transporting you a few milliseconds into the future. As mental anticipation morphs into the events that both end it and redeem it, physical anticipation allows for the happy confluence between the two states. Anticipation feels like a form of time travel for if you do it well, it shifts you into the future. You take care of business before it happens.Chapter 5 – On Being Early:The single biggest differentiator between the advanced skier and the true expert is the latter’s ability to get to the next turn early. There are several components to being early, each of which moves in concert with the others. The upper body must continue its constant projection down the hill and into the turn, the existential lean of faith that is a prerequisite for performance skiing. The uphill hand cues a shift in weight to the ski below it by reaching for the fall line. And the uphill ski begins to tilt on edge early, at the top of the arc, supporting your hurtling mass as it navigates gravity’s stream.Chapter 12 – On Hands and Feet:Every element that makes up the entirety of the skier is linked to every other, but nowhere is the bond greater than between hands and feet. The primal importance of hand position is never more evident than when your feet fail you. …Even when you’re not about to eat it, your hands tell the rest of your body what to do while your feet are busy making turns. Your torso is attuned to your hands’ bossy attitude; it will always try to follow their lead. So keep them forward, point them where you want to go and don’t get lazy with the uphill hand. Generations of skiers have been taught to plant the pole on the inside of the turn, so that hand often is extended, as if in greeting, to the fall line, while the uphill hand takes a nap somewhere alongside the thigh. Until you are a skier of world-class capabilities, you cannot afford sleep hands. The uphill hand that you’ve left in a mini-coma will be called upon in a trice to reach again downhill; it should be in an on-call position, not on sabbatical. It should be carried no lower than it would be if you were about to draw a sidearm from a holster. You’re engaged in an athletic endeavor, so try to look like it.You can tell how good someone is at writing about skiing by how self-conscious you feel as you read it. I’ll admit I clicked over to photos of myself skiing more than a few times as I made my way through Snowbird Secrets (I’d also recommend having the Snowbird trailmap handy). Great ski books are as rare as a Mountain Creek powder day. But great books on ski instruction are less common still, and this one’s worth your time:Instructional writing is not the point, however, of the Real Skiers website. It is, primarily, a gear-review and recommendation site. But there is no intelligent way to discuss ski gear without a foundational understanding of how to ski. It would be like trying to play hockey without understanding how to skate. The site, like Hogen’s knowledge, is voluminous, layered, cut with a direct and relentless wit. And it’s a tremendous resource in the online desert of ski media. As Hogen says in the interview, “I’d tell you that there are other places you could go to get the same information, but there isn’t.”What we talked aboutThis year in skiing; Mt. Rose; replacing the Snowbird trams; learning to ski at Bromley in the ‘50s; the evolution of sanctioned in-bounds air at ski areas; air as a natural part of good skiing; opening year at Copper Mountain; the life of a product sales rep; the early days of Snow Country magazine with industry legend John Fry; making bindings interesting; the novelty and courage of honest ski reviews; today’s “consequence-free environment for total b******t” in ski media; “there is no more complicated piece of footwear designed by man” than a ski boot; don’t ever ever ever buy ski boots online; the art of boot-fitting; the importance of custom footbeds to ski boots; how to keep warm in ski boots; how to pick skis; whether you should demo skis; the difference between skiing and ski testing; whether you should build a quiver; make friends at the ski shop; picking a binding; why you should avoid backcountry or hybrid bindings; thoughts on setting DIN; “nobody should take anything from the highest levels of the race world and applying it to alpine, regular skiing”; recounting every mistake that prefaced my spectacular leg break at Black Mountain of Maine in February; the problems created by grip-walk boot soles; how often we should be waxing and tuning our skis; the lifespan of skis and boots and how they break down over time; the importance of being present while skiing; ask for the mountain’s permission; Hogen’s incredible book, Snowbird Secrets; the writer’s trance; what makes Snowbird special and whether it has any equals; the mountain has already won; thoughts on Taos; the influence of population growth and the Ikon Pass on Little Cottonwood Canyon; the easiest path down the hill is a straight line; how to use your hands and feet while skiing; and the benefits of a Real Skiers subscription.   Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewNot to be too self-referential, but I’ll again quote myself here. Specifically, my February post recounting the gear failure at Black Mountain of Maine that led to my three-months-and-counting couch sentence:On my final run of the season we swung skier’s right off the lift, seeking shade, tracked-out snow for easier turns. We found them in Crooked glade. Emerged on black-diamond Penobscot. Ungroomed. Snow heavy in the sunshine. A little sticky. As though someone had caulked the hillside. Try this or more glades? Let’s try this. It was my 13th run of the day. My 460th of the season. It was 1:22 p.m. I let my skis run. Gained speed. Initiated turns. I was leaning into a right turn at 18.9 miles per hour when I lost it.I don’t really know what happened. How I lost control. I know what didn’t happen: the binding on my left ski – 12-year-old Rossies I’d bought on spring clearance at Killington – did not release. Amazing pain in my leg. My body folded over backwards, bounced off the snow. A rattling through the shoulder where I’d had rotator cuff surgery last summer. I spun, self-arrested. Came to a stop on a steep section of trail, laying on my left side, my leg pinned into bent-knee position.I screamed. The pain. I could not get the ski off. I screamed again. Removed my helmet. Let it drop. It spun down the hill. Adrenaline kicked in. A skier appeared. He helped me take my ski off. DIN only at 8.5 but the binding was frozen. Finally it released. I tried to straighten my leg. Couldn’t. I assumed it was my knee. Isn’t it always a knee? More skiers arrived. Are you OK? No, I’m in a lot of pain. They left to get help. Patrol arrived with snowmobiles and sleds and bags of supplies. Michael came walking back up the hill.Everything after, rapid but in slow-motion. Does that make sense? Gingerly onto the sled, then the stretcher, then the Patrol-shack table. EMTs waiting. Amazing drugs incoming. Off, with scissors, my ski pants. Removing the boot, pain distilled. Not your knee – your leg. Broken bones. Did not penetrate the skin. Into the ambulance. Rumford Hospital: X-rays and more pain meds mainlined. A bed in the hallway. From the next room a woman, emphatic, that she don’t need no Covid vaccine in her body. All night there. The staff amazing. I would need surgery but there were no surgeons available until the next day. A room opened and they wheeled me in. In a druggy haze they splinted my leg. A train of drunks and incoherents as the bars emptied out. Sleep impossible.Here’s what I didn’t include in that essay: the moment, last August or September, when I’d dropped my skis for a tune at Pedigree Ski Shop in White Plains. “We just need your boots for a binding check,” the clerk had told me. Said boots, stowed at that moment in my closet in Brooklyn, were unavailable, forgotten in my hastening to beat rush-hour traffic. “I’ll bring them when I come back to pick up my skis,” I said. I didn’t. I hadn’t planned on skiing on those Rossies. But at some point in the season, I blew an edge on my Blizzards, couldn’t find a replacement pair, reached in my roof box and there were those old skis.So I’ve had a lot of time to think about that decision chain and how careless I’d been with my own safety, and how to reset my approach so I minimize the chances of a repeat. After nearly three decades of skiing without a major injury (and just two minor ones), I’d gotten arrogant and careless. I’d like this ski season to be the last one that ever ends early. But what else could I do besides remember my boots next time?I’ve been reading Hogen’s site for a few years now. I hadn’t been in explicit need of gear prior to blowing that edge, but he’s an entertaining writer and I enjoyed the regular emails. I figured he was the best-positioned thinker to guide me (and hopefully all of us), into better gear choices and maintenance over the next several years.There was one more thing, one that transcends the empirical realms in which I normally dwell: the notion of mountain as entity. From Snowbird Secrets Chapter 3, On Vibrations:… Hidden Peak is riddled with quartz. Quartz is a crystalline structure, and no ordinary crystal at that. Like all crystals, it not only responds to vibrations, it emits them. Quartz has piezoelectric properties that allow it to store electromagnetic energy and to conduct it. This mountain pulls a pulse from your energy stream and sends it back with interest, but it also skims off a transaction that it stores in its gargantuan energy vault.“So what does the mountain do with all this energy?” Jackson asks, before answering his own question:As it turns out, everyone has a story for how they came to discover Snowbird, but no one knows the reason. Some have the vanity to think they picked the place, but the wisest know the place picked them. This is the secret that Snowbird has slipped into our subconscious; deep down, we know we were summoned here.I’m skeptical but interested. Snowbird is special. No one who has skied there can doubt that. It is different. Incomparable. It is one of the few places where I ever feel genuinely scared on skis. But also reverential, awed, a little miffed and disbelieving the whole time I’m skiing. It’s something else. And I’ve never really been able to figure out why, other than the 600 inches of snow and relentless terrain and location within bowling lane distance of a major airport.Whether or not you’re willing to consider this anthropomorphization of the ski area, Hogen’s call to humility in its presence is inarguable. From Chapter 19, On Gratitude and Asking Permission:Everyone can learn humility before the mountain. Nowhere is this more important than at Snowbird, where if you don’t approach the mountain with the appropriate measure of humility, the mountain will be more than happy to supply some.My final run of the season was on an open trail, ungroomed buy modestly pitched. I was tired, my turns lazy. I wasn’t really paying attention. I wasn’t respecting the mountain. And while that mountain was quite a different thing from Snowbird, it had no issue reminding me that my carelessness was a mistake.Questions I wish I’d askedDespite the fact that this was one of the longest podcasts I’ve ever recorded, we didn’t get to half the questions I’d prepared. I wanted to discuss the devolution of ski shop culture in the maw of the internet, the decline of the industry trade show, the unconstructive nature of a competitive mindset to recreational skiing, the history of Real Skiers, the evolution of ski and boot technology over the past several decades, and how fortunate we are to be alive during this singular epoch in which we can reach the hazardous summits of our most forbidding mountains with a 10-minute lift ride. Hogen also made several interesting comments that would have been worthy of follow-up, from his nomination of Greg Stump to the National Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame to what he sees as the decline of certain professional ski organization’s institutional integrity. I’ll save it all for next time.What I got wrongI referred to the boot-fitter I’d used in Hunter as “Keith from Sun and Snow Sports.” The boot-fitter’s name is Keith Holmquist, but the name of the shop is, in fact, The Pro Ski and Ride.Sun and Snow Sports is the name of the ski shop I frequented when I lived in Ann Arbor. You can visit their site here.Why you should follow Real SkiersI will admit that I am very bad at winnowing the best gear from the multitudes. I get overwhelmed by choice. This is one reason I don’t buy gear too often: if what I have works, then why change? And it’s why I know enough to use a boot fitter when I do finally decide an upgrade is in order.But maybe what I have – and what you have – doesn’t “work” so much as function. And that’s not the same thing as functioning optimally. Most of us could probably make better choices. And to do that, we need information. Good information. It may seem that the fecundity of the internet precludes the imperative to seek out the hyper-specialized knowledge of a professional. But the vast majority of ski and boot advice is garbage, as Hogen fearlessly reminds us. From a recent Real Skiers post:My methods for capturing skier feedback may not be succeeding to the degree I would like, but at least I’m trying. Most arms of mainstream media that choose to pose as ski experts no longer possess even a patina of credibility. To name two particularly odious examples of advertising posing as editorial, Men’s Journal published a top-10 “Most Versatile Skis of 2022” that was wall-to-wall b******t, assembled purely to incite a direct sale from the supplier. Whatever quality might be shared by their ten selections, “versatility” isn’t even a remote possibility. I could vilify each selection for its exceptional inappropriateness, but instead I’ll just mention that the “writer” admitted that their tenth selection hadn’t even been skied by whatever panel of nitwits they assembled to manufacture this fraud.The second slice of inanity that deserves your contempt is a ruse by Popular Mechanics titled, The 8 Best Ski Boots for Shredding Any Slope. Despite a long prelude about boot selection and how they “tested,” intended to establish a tone of credibility, when they finally got around to picking boots, the editors responsible for this transparent hoax cobbled together an incoherent jumble with but one goal: based on their nothing-burger of a review, the reader is expected to buy his or her boots online, preferably on Amazon. It’s hard to think of a worse disservice to the ski-boot buying public than this inane exercise.At least that’s what I thought until I was invited to peruse The Ski Girl. I can’t say how desperately incompetent all the advice dispensed on this site is, but I can assure you the people assigned to write about skis are the opposite of experts. I’ll let this one example stand as indictment of the whole shebang: someone so well-known she goes simply by the moniker “Christine,” selected as the best ski for an intermediate (woman, one presumes) none other than the ultra-wide Blizzard Rustler 11. It would be hard to make a completely random choice and do worse. There is NOTHING about this model that is right for an intermediate. Period. It’s not merely wrong, it’s dangerous, for reasons that I’m certain would elude “Christine.” On top of it all, she has the witless gall to add, “Every ski review here comes recommended, so you really can’t go wrong.” This is emblematic of everything that’s wrong about what remains of ski journalism. A gross incompetent merrily goes about dispensing advice unblushingly, so the site can collect a commission on a direct sale THAT SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN.Please note that The Ski Girl hasn’t taken down its moronic buying suggestions, suggesting a smug certainty that there will be no serious consequences for its gross negligence. Such is ski journalism today. That sort of raw honesty, that anti-stoke, that unapologetic calling out of b******t, is so rare in today’s ski media that I can’t even conjure another instance of it in the past 12 months. Skiing needs more of this, more blunt and informed voices. At least there’s one. Get in on it here by subscribing to the Real Skiers newsletter (as with The Storm, there are free and paid tiers):The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 53/100 in 2022. Want to send feedback? Reply to this email and I will answer. You can also email skiing@substack.com. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Ed Stratham is one of the many inspiring people I met at the https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/minkasummit (#MinkaSummit) - here we talk about how he is making good use of abandoned MINKA (traditional Japanese houses) in the rural area of Nagano, in a beautiful mountaineous area called Nozawa. Ed is originally from the UK has been living a life of contrasts as a scuba dive instructor and business entrepreneur in Indonesia and now settled in rural Nagano where he has done a few renovation projects on 100+ year old houses https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/minka (#minka) https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/kominka (#kominka) Looking forward to a lively chat about the Minka Summit, Ed's remodel projects, and future potential he sees for reviving rural areas and making good use of Japan's abandoned Kominka houses. https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/kominka (#kominka) https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/japan (#japan) https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/nagano (#nagano) https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/nozawa (#nozawa) https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/communitybuilding (#communitybuilding) https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/rural (#rural) ~~~~ About the Seek-Sustainable-Japan Host, JJWalsh JJWalsh is the founder of Inbound Ambassador - a Hiroshima-based sustainability-focused consultancy, strategy, advising & content creation business. JJ is the producer, host, editor and marketer of Seek Sustainable Japan (previously Seeking Sustainability Live) talkshow & podcast - interviews with "Good People doing Great Things to keep People-Planet-Profit in balance." https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbjNoTTFPQ19rakltdldVN3ZaeVhSbGVjTU9OUXxBQ3Jtc0tsanVfVUZpeEkweTAtRGhESUhqNFhETHdUQ1lOQmRTdFNERi1ER0dVSkxzbTEzaGx1UzB4REMwNklkSzUxS09mSHdPYTJxaXRkdXBtdm5zeGVVeEFPUXJOQ0ZFdmZsVVB0WGFlQ1lJcE4tUlhGZkozVQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.inboundambassador.com&v=xnKGZAeDMvI (https://www.inboundambassador.com) | https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbGxvMU9QVWExQ3pYMVVEYjFOaVVoM243MElxUXxBQ3Jtc0ttdHM2R0ItNUE0cUZtcmpsWldDLW9OdTNqRGkwb05wbmFBOHBXVzRHcXNJZDJhdmVTNVFGX2RQTUdlR1FfNHJISHVXTHpxQXAwdEgtQ0lDay1DSi05MnhaWWxhZjYwdU9JMGZVYkxuTUttal9adUJrYw&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.SeekSustainableJapan.com&v=xnKGZAeDMvI (https://www.SeekSustainableJapan.com) All Links for JJWalsh: https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqa21IdWd4Qzg4MmNkTHZxbENFTUd3eFBmcFFXd3xBQ3Jtc0tubV8tVjlaa215bFh3MF95ZS1qeExVUWVRdTlSVDc2M3Mxa2FvRkk1TGV3R2Q1bnRiczZzN3ZOazZ1RG1CQ2VrRWtybWlyZUdrcER6dFhHMFhYSTg2bU02dFFrVlp5NXQ0Qnc0MDYzUmVLczc0Zi1DZw&q=https%3A%2F%2Flinktr.ee%2Fjjwalsh&v=xnKGZAeDMvI (https://linktr.ee/jjwalsh) ~~~ Listen to the SeekingSustainability LIVE Talkshow on Podcast [AUDIO] http://www.inboundambassador.com/ssl-podcasts/ (http://www.inboundambassador.com/ssl-podcasts/) ALL Talks in Seek Sustainable Japan (April 2020~) https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcyYXjRuE20GsvS0rEOgSiQVAyKbEFSRP (https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcyYXjRuE20GsvS0rEOgSiQVAyKbEFSRP) JJWalsh Official InboundAmbassador Website: https://www.inboundambassador.com/ (https://www.inboundambassador.com/) Please join, become a monthly sponsor or a 1-time donation supporter on YouTube / Patreon / BuyMeACoffee / or KoFi - every little bit helps keep Seek Sustainable Japan going, thank you! All Links: https://linktr.ee/jjwalsh (https://linktr.ee/jjwalsh) ~~~ Music by Hana Victoria Music rights to "Won't you See" purchased for Seek Sustainable Japan 2022 Hana Victoria Short Bio My name is Hana Victoria, and I am a Japanese-American singer songwriter who dreams of inspiring, encouraging and empowering others through my music. Every word, melody, and visual comes straight from my heart, and I hope they influence you in some positive way :) YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/c/HanaVictoria (https://www.youtube.com/c/HanaVictoria)...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Was there a theme or meaning you wanted us to talk about further? Let us know in the comments below! Let's talk about Mono no Aware. "Snow Country" by Yasunari Kawabata is a masterpiece and helped earn him the Nobel Prize in 1968. Yasunari Kawabata Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbH_u7Oveys&list=PLHg_kbfrA7YCwcFmb4KlAAny8jxjKx6VJ ✨Do you have a Short Story or Novel you'd think we'd like or would want to see us cover? Join our Patreon to pick our reads.

Born in California, raised in Michigan, and landing in South Carolina. In today's episode the ladies talk to Melissa and dig into her journey from the snow country of Michigan to the General Manager of a prominent Hospitality Group, with restaurants around the Carolina's and hundreds of Food and Beverage employee's under her leadership.

In this episode of the Books on Asia Podcast, sponsored by Stone Bridge Press, podcast host Amy Chavez talks with novelist David Joiner about his new novel that takes place in Kanazawa, in Japan's Ishikawa Prefecture.The novel introduces the city of Kanazawa, its connection to the famous Japanese literary master Izumi Kyōka, and its setting for the novel. The story revolves around an American married to a Japanese, and the Japanese family's dynamics. Highlighted are some of the differences between traditional and modern Japan and the foreigner's place in it.Finally, Amy asks Joiner what his 3 favorite books on Japan are, and he elaborates on his choices:1. Snow Country and Sound of the Mountain, both by Yasunari Kawabata.2. Dawn to the West by Donald Keene3. Roads to Sata, by Alan BoothRead a review of David Joiner's novel Kanazawa by Tina DeBellegarde.The Books on Asia Podcast is sponsored by Stone Bridge Press. Check out their books on Japan at the publisher's website. Amy Chavez, podcast host, is author of Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan and the upcoming The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island (May, 2022) Subscribe to the Books on Asia podcast.

Reading Books! Hard Rain Falling, by Don Carpenter; Snow Country, by Yasunari Kawabata; Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doer; Lighthouse, by William Monahan; April in Spain, by John Banville; Live and Let Die and Moonraker, by Ian Fleming; X-Men: Inferno, by Johnathan Hickman.

Sebastian Faulks is a novelist who really needs no introduction, perhaps most famous for his novel Birdsong, he has written powerfully and poignantly about the impact of war on the human spirit. In this episode of the podcast, he joins Dan to talk about his newest novel Snow Country. Set in Austria in the aftermath of the First World War the novel serves as a perfect starting place to discuss how wars are remembered by those who took part and those whose lives were shaped by them. They explore how the experiences of veterans differed depending on whether they had experienced victory or defeat and how this influenced his decision to set the novel in Austria. They also discuss How Sebastian came to be fascinated by the First World War, why he chose to write about this period and the important role that fiction can play in connecting the general public to history. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sebastian Faulks is a novelist who really needs no introduction, perhaps most famous for his novel Birdsong, he has written powerfully and poignantly about the impact of war on the human spirit. In this episode of the podcast, he joins Dan to talk about his newest novel Snow Country. Set in Austria in the aftermath of the First World War the novel serves as a perfect starting place to discuss how wars are remembered by those who took part and those whose lives were shaped by them. They explore how the experiences of veterans differed depending on whether they had experienced victory or defeat and how this influenced his decision to set the novel in Austria. They also discuss How Sebastian came to be fascinated by the First World War, why he chose to write about this period and the important role that fiction can play in connecting the general public to history. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Birdsong author Sebastian Faulks talks to Neil about his latest novel Snow Country, set in Austria between the wars, the second novel of an Austrian trilogy. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sebastian Faulks - Snow Country... with TRE´s Hannah Murray

Gail Pittaway reviews Snow Country by Sebastian Faulks, published by Penguin Random House NZ.

Gail Pittaway reviews Snow Country by Sebastian Faulks, published by Penguin Random House NZ.

Sebastian Faulks has been an indomitable force of the British literary scene since his first novel was published in 1984. His 1993 novel ‘Birdsong' sold more than 2 million copies in the UK and regularly features as one of the nation's favourite books. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his new novel ‘Snow Country', the second in a loose trilogy set in Austria, which explores consciousness and the human psyche.

Author Sebastian Faulks talks to Brendan about his new novel Snow Country.

This week, Claire and I savor Yasunari Kawabata's Snow Country, and talk about its dream-like quality, its fusion of opposites, ideas of emptiness, openness, oneness, beautifulness, its conception of love and death, and ask what the meaning of life is according to this novel. 

This week I discuss "Snow Country" by Japan's first Nobel Laureate for Literature, Yasunari Kawabata. In this episode I discuss the challenges of love, jealousy and neglect, abuses of power, and also how we can all benefit from loving well and appreciating our loved ones.

ディーゼル車=燃料:軽油 ■雪国で軽油は凍ります=エンジンかからない 都会からディーゼル車で雪国に行くときの対処法を簡単に話してみました！ #雪国 #田舎 #ディーゼル車 #軽油 #エンジン Diesel vehicle = fuel: light oil ■ Light oil freezes in a snowy country = engine does not start I briefly talked about what to do when going to a snowy country by diesel car from the city! #Snow country #Countryside #Diesel Car #Light oil #engine

This week we're reading the second half of Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata. Shimamura, Kamako, and to a lesser extent Yoko reveal themselves as people in this second section. The tragic love of Kamako for Shimamura is heightened by Kamako's erratic and desperate behavior - her frequent drunken visits, her scolding of Shimamura's broken promises, her oscillation between rejecting Shimamura and seeking his approval. Shimamura remains aloof, but leaks out a degree of emotional vulnerability in his compliments of her and awe struck reaction to the Milky Way at the end of the novel. Yoko remains an angelic and elusive figure, from Shimamura's first sighting on the train to her final demise by fire - the embodiment of fleeting and decaying youth. Next week we're reading The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima You can call and leave voicemails on our Book Nerds Hotline and we'll play them on the show: 1-978-255-3404 Follow us on Instagram @literalfictionbookclub

Description: This week we're reading the first half of Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata. It is the story of a well to-do traveler named Shimamura who heads into the mountains as a relief from the busy world of Tokyo - this is known as Snow country, where in the winter seasons the snowfall can accumulate to up to fifteen feet. During his stay at the inn in a mountain village he is introduced to the young, fickle geisha Komako, an intriguing and erratic personality. Both her and Shimamura oscillate between attraction and repulsion in this somber tale of the impossible love between a mountain geisha and a city dweller. We leave off this first section with Shimamura leaving for Tokyo, not sure if what he experienced was real and Kamako heading back to attend to a sick friend. Yasunari Kawabata was the son of a well established family in Osaka. After establishing himself as a respected writer in Japan, he founded the New Writing movement as an intervention between the Naturalist writers of the establishment and the proletarian writers of the Socialist and Communist movements. The New Writing movement's guiding principle was “art for art's sake.” Kawabata is one of Japan's most celebrated authors and is internationally recognized being the first Japanese author to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968. In addition to Snow Country, he has been the author of several other novels such as “Thousand Cranes”, “The Sound of the Mountain”, and “The Old Capital”. His style is marked by a sense of mystery and minimalism, and a common subject of his work, including Snow Country, is the idea of ill-fated love. Kawabata died in 1972 which was officially concluded to be a sucide by gassing, although there is some doubt whether it was accidental. Kawabata was friends with the famous Japaense novelist Yukia Mishima, and it is recounted by Kawabata's biographer Takeo Okuno, that after Mishima's suicide Kawabata was plagued by nightmares about his deceased friend. Supplementary: An interview with Kawabata: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_SoosDTMP0 Next Week and Contact Information: Next week we are reading the second half of Snow Country. You can call and leave voicemails on our Book Nerds Hotline and we'll play them on the show: 1-978-255-3404 Follow us on Instagram @literalfictionbookclub

This week we discuss a collection of short stories, Rashōmon and Other Stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. Ryunosuke Akutagawa was considered a renegade of his time and had a prolific, if short lived, career as a writer. Born in 1882 and dying by suicide in 1927, he wrote in the Taisho period and rejected the main schools of literary thought of his time. He is considered the “father of the Japanese short story”, having produced 150 in his life. His story In A Grove was directly used for Akira Kirosawa's film Rashomon. Next week we're reading the first part of Snow Country by Yasnuari Kawabata. You can call and leave voicemails on our Book Nerds Hotline and we'll play them on the show: 1-978-255-3404 Follow us on Instagram @literalfictionbookclub

The Storm Skiing Podcast #20 | Download this episode on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, and Pocket Casts | Read the full overview at skiing.substack.com.Who: Mike Rogge, Owner and Editor of Mountain GazetteBack issues of Mountain Gazette. Photo by Chris Segal.Why I interviewed him: Because even as the founder of a publication that lives entirely and eternally online, I have always loved the depth and expressiveness of print media in general and ski magazines in particular. I learned how to ski from fat newsstand-bought issues of the middle- to late-90s, and I learned everything else I knew about skiing there too. When I commenced the series of explosive yardsales and ever-farther roadtrips that constituted my early ski career, I knew almost no one who skied, and certainly no one who had skied the amazing snowy West. The magazines were my Yoda. There were four mainstream publications available in the Midwestern pharmacies and grocery stores of my teens, as indistinguishable as leaves on a tree to passersby, but to me, to a skier, each distinct and vital and alive. Skiing was attitude. Powder was poetry. Ski was groomers. Snow Country, trying to be a little bit of each, felt scrambled. I bought them all. Inside these glossy magazines lay an immense landscape, frantic and relentless and always stomping through snowy netherworlds put suddenly at my reach. They may as well have been tales of Narnia, so absorbing did I find these steeps and snowfields and snow-choked woods, these far-off resorts and the characters that animated them, their legends hardened through writing sharp and piercing and explosive. That’s all so diminished now. Snow Country and Skiing evaporated. Powder is down to four issues per year. Ski survives, but in a massively slimmed-down state. Yes, Freeskier popped out of the glossy halfpipe at some point in the late ‘90s, and it still exists and does good work, though with a diminished print run. While Mountain Gazette has never been explicitly or solely a ski magazine, the publication is an important part of the ski media’s print legacy, and its return – the magazine had two previous print runs, from the ‘60s to 1979 and from 2000 to 2012 – as a high-end, twice-annual expression of modern mountain life is a positive development, and something I wanted to hear more about. A Mountain Gazette cover from the 1970s. Yes, I chose this one because the kid on the right is rocking a Michigan sweatshirt, but this photo perfectly captures the less-geared-up rambling spirit of the mountain days of yore.What we talked about: Covid life in Tahoe; remembering the shutdown; Mountain Gazette’s history and legacy as literary journal and freewheeling transmitter of the mountain town zeitgeist; the magazine’s legendary writers and editors and what drew Rogge to them; the failed professional quest that preluded his purchase of Mountain Gazette; how he reacted when he found out the magazine was for sale and how that sale went down; why now is the right time to bring it back to life; the power of a known brand; cultivating a place for explosive and hungry young writers; what you get when you buy a publication; how former readers have reacted to the magazine’s resuscitation; what you do when 50 boxes of archived magazines show up at your house; how to honor a publication’s legacy while pushing its evolution forward; you can help Mike complete his Mountain Gazette collection; the magazine’s editorial vision; the forces behind the overall decline of ski media; Rogge’s Eastern roots and how that may push the Gazette’s coverage area outside of its traditional Western zone; what it means to run the magazine out of Tahoe for the first time; the blend of print, videos, and podcasts that will power the reborn publication and which of those will be the main focus; what feature stories might look like in a magazine once known for printing 100-page waxings on the joys of mountain life; the broken and tired ski mag feature story template; the regal size and presentation of the revitalized, two-times-per-year Mountain Gazette; what the super-premium print model is and why now is the right time to try it; why you won’t be able to throw Mountain Gazette in the trash; why you won’t see stories from previous eras on the publication’s website; the current status of the first issue and what we can expect from it; why there’s an imperative to pay the magazine’s staff well and what that staff will look like; the advisory group guiding the publication back to life; who was trying to talk Rogge out of buying Mountain Gazette; how advertisers, writers, photographers, and the ski media in general are reacting to the relaunch; the former Gazette writers who may contribute to the mag; what Rogge sees as the biggest issues hitting mountain towns over the next several years.Photo by Chris Segal.Why I thought that now was a good time for this interview: Because I’ve gotten so accustomed to the shuffle-and-cut dance of XYZ media company purchasing XYZ decades-old ski mag and cutting the number and length of issues that it began to feel like I was watching the sand drain from the top of an hourglass that had had its bottom cut out, forever emptying and never to be refilled. With the return of Mountain Gazette, we may have found the bottom, and I feel like Rogge may even be able to turn the ski media hourglass back over. The super-premium, ski journalism-as-work-of-art model, built around ferociously unconventional writing and photography, should be welcomed in a world weary of the cheapness of social media and the unrelenting troll armies that populate its domain. While what remains of the legacy ski media is doing its best to find a sustainable print-digital hybrid, Rogge, by tapping the enormous power of a beloved but dormant magazine, is able to start with both tremendous brand recognition and a totally new-to-skiing concept. It took some vision to get there, and I wanted more insight into how we could expect this thing to unfold over the coming months. Additional reading:A brief history of Mountain Gazette by ski writing legend Dick DorworthRead Dorworth’s classic Night Driving, to get a sense of the 1970s Mountain Gazette, where the stories first appeared.Jason Blevins’ Colorado Sun profile of Rogge’s Gazette resurrectionRecorded on: July 21, 2020COVID-19 & Skiing Podcasts: Author and Industry Veteran Chris Diamond | Boyne Resorts CEO Stephen Kircher | Magic Mountain President Geoff Hatheway | NSAA CEO Kelly Pawlak | Berkshire East/Catamount Owner & Goggles for Docs founder Jon Schaefer | Shaggy’s Copper Country Skis Cofounder Jeff Thompson | Doppelmayr USA President Katharina Schmitz | Mt. Baldy GM Robby Ellingson | Alterra CEO Rusty Gregory | NSAA Director of Risk & Regulatory Affairs Dave ByrdThe Storm Skiing Podcasts: Killington & Pico GM Mike Solimano | Plattekill owners Danielle and Laszlo Vajtay | New England Lost Ski Areas Project Founder Jeremy Davis | Magic Mountain President Geoff Hatheway | Lift Blog Founder Peter Landsman | Boyne Resorts CEO Stephen Kircher | Burke Mountain GM Kevin Mack | Liftopia CEO Evan Reece | Berkshire East & Catamount Owner & GM Jon Schaefer | Vermont Ski + Ride and Vermont Sports Co-Publisher & Editor Lisa Lynn | Sugarbush President & COO Win Smith | Loon President & GM Jay Scambio | Sunday River President & GM Dana Bullen | Big Snow & Mountain Creek VP of Sales & Marketing Hugh Reynolds | Mad River Glen GM Matt Lillard | Indy Pass Founder Doug Fish | National Brotherhood of Skiers President Henri Rivers | Winter 4 Kids & National Winter Activity Center President & CEO Schone Malliet | Vail Veterans Program President & Founder Cheryl Jensen Get on the email list at www.stormskiing.com

Playlist:00:34 Bernard Fowler - "Sister Morphine"06:46 The Two Tens - "Scene"09:04 Sweet Knives - "Ugly Mugly"13:16 Suede Razors - "Longshot Kid"15:47 Day Labor - "Bandito"20:00 Pity Party - "Grindmother"21:46 District 97 - "Snow Country"27:57 Burn River Burn - "Maverick"32:10 Nickel Slots - "Old Guitar"

Paulette Beete's poems, short stories, and personal essays have appeared in Crab Orchard Review, Always Crashing, and Beltway Poetry Quarterly, among other journals. Her chapbooks include Blues for a Pretty Girl and Voice Lessons. Her work also appears in the anthologies Full Moon on K Street: Poems About Washington, DC and Saints of Hysteria: A Half-Century of Collaborative American Poetry (with Danna Ephland). Her work has also been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. She also blogs (occasionally) at thehomebeete.com and her manuscript "Falling Still" is currently in circulation. Find her on Twitter as @mouthflowers.Kathleen Hellen is the author of The Only Country Was the Color of My Skin (2018), the award-winning collection Umberto's Night, and two chapbooks, The Girl Who Loved Mothra and Pentimento. Nominated for the Pushcart and Best of the Net, and featured on Poetry Daily, her poems have been awarded the Thomas Merton poetry prize and prizes from the H.O.W. Journal and Washington Square Review. She has won grants from the Maryland State Arts Council and the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts. Hellen's poems have appeared in American Letters & Commentary, Barrow Street, The Massachusetts Review, New Letters, North American Review, Poetry East, Prairie Schooner, Salamander, The Seattle Review, the The Sewanee Review, Southern Poetry Review, Spoon River Poetry Review, Witness, and elsewhere. For more on Kathleen visit https://www.kathleenhellen.comStephen Zerance is the author of Safe Danger (Indolent Books, 2018), which was nominated for Best Literature of the Year by POZ Magazine. His poems have appeared in West Branch, Prairie Schooner, Quarterly West, and Poet Lore, among other journals. He has also been featured on the websites of Lambda Literary and Split This Rock. Zerance received his MFA from American University, where he received the Myra Sklarew Award. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland. Find him on Twitter @stephnz. Instagram: stephenzeranceRead "Freddie Gray Breaks Free" and "Please Excuse This Poem" by Paulette Beete.Read "The Girl They Hired from Snow Country" by Kathleen Hellen.Read "Anne Sexton's Last Drink" and "Lindsay Lohan" by Stephen Zerance.Recorded On: Thursday, February 7, 2019

Paulette Beete's poems, short stories, and personal essays have appeared in Crab Orchard Review, Always Crashing, and Beltway Poetry Quarterly, among other journals. Her chapbooks include Blues for a Pretty Girl and Voice Lessons. Her work also appears in the anthologies Full Moon on K Street: Poems About Washington, DC and Saints of Hysteria: A Half-Century of Collaborative American Poetry (with Danna Ephland). Her work has also been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. She also blogs (occasionally) at thehomebeete.com and her manuscript "Falling Still" is currently in circulation. Find her on Twitter as @mouthflowers.Kathleen Hellen is the author of The Only Country Was the Color of My Skin (2018), the award-winning collection Umberto's Night, and two chapbooks, The Girl Who Loved Mothra and Pentimento. Nominated for the Pushcart and Best of the Net, and featured on Poetry Daily, her poems have been awarded the Thomas Merton poetry prize and prizes from the H.O.W. Journal and Washington Square Review. She has won grants from the Maryland State Arts Council and the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts. Hellen's poems have appeared in American Letters & Commentary, Barrow Street, The Massachusetts Review, New Letters, North American Review, Poetry East, Prairie Schooner, Salamander, The Seattle Review, the The Sewanee Review, Southern Poetry Review, Spoon River Poetry Review, Witness, and elsewhere. For more on Kathleen visit https://www.kathleenhellen.comStephen Zerance is the author of Safe Danger (Indolent Books, 2018), which was nominated for Best Literature of the Year by POZ Magazine. His poems have appeared in West Branch, Prairie Schooner, Quarterly West, and Poet Lore, among other journals. He has also been featured on the websites of Lambda Literary and Split This Rock. Zerance received his MFA from American University, where he received the Myra Sklarew Award. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland. Find him on Twitter @stephnz. Instagram: stephenzeranceRead "Freddie Gray Breaks Free" and "Please Excuse This Poem" by Paulette Beete.Read "The Girl They Hired from Snow Country" by Kathleen Hellen.Read "Anne Sexton's Last Drink" and "Lindsay Lohan" by Stephen Zerance.

It’s been a long time in the making, but we’re finally reviewing one of Japan’s most famous novels: Kawabata Yasunari’s, “Snow Country”. As one of Terrance’s absolute favorite books and only recently read by Christopher, we discuss the finer points of the novel, its context, and what we make of the imagery and plot.

District 97 is a modern progressive rock band from Chicago that brings a lot to the table. They are currently out on tour celebrating the band’s tenth anniversary and working out new material for their upcoming fourth studio album. D97 is running a Kickstarter campaign to fund the production of their next album. To support that effort (and you should!) GO HERE. Today, we get a chance to (virtually) ride in the van with the band on tour somewhere in upstate New York on their way to their next show. The D97 track you hear at the beginning and end of the episode are excerpts of Snow Country, from the band's recent album, In Vaults. Intro and Outro Solo drums performed by Bryan Tuk, engineered by Kevin Soffera at Hybrid Studios, Nazareth, PA.

Sound of the Mountain, Snow Country, With Beauty and Sorrow

The star is finally back with Judy and Jimmy and they are ready to get back home in time for Christmas. Crazy Quilt decides to stay in Snow Country while Paddy, Judy and Jimmy are going to head home in Santa's sleigh. As Jimmy climbs into the sleigh, he asks Crazy Quilt to hold the star which was a mistake. Crazy Quilt takes off with the star...again.

Queen Melissa tell's Santa that Wintergreen escaped from her confinement and is heading toward Snow Country. Santa quickly sends Captain Tintop reinforcements to help take on the witch. While the battle rages on elsewhere, Santa takes the group on a tour of his workshop. They finally get word that Captain Tintop has won the day and is returning with the star!

They take off in the flying hat heading for the Snow Country. According to the queen's instructions they must find a person called Nicky Froodle. A snowman they meet along the way points them to a castle where an elf named Nicky resides. He takes them to the man himself, Santa Claus.

In the second part of my interview with Tom Drury, one of America's finest living novelists, we begin by discussing the railroad and its part in linking places like Grouse County to the outside world. ----more----We then moved on to: his parentsradio, television and Drury's writingthe characters Dan and Louise Norman in The End of Vandalismendings and alternate endings'In the old days, we tried in government to do good things for people. Why did we do that?'media and modern American politics'It's like the Bookmobile. They were doing something good for people. I see less and less of that spirit.'Drury on Obama'What are seeing is that our politics can be stopped''I do feel like even the idea of doing good things for people has been devalued'why Drury doesn't watch televisionDrury on The Brothers Karamazov, Shakespeare, Don DeLillo's White NoiseDrury on comic, digressive fiction'I don't have a theme'is Drury the most underrated novelist in America2015 is the year of Tom Drury (Awesome)'If you stay around long enough...one is constantly discovered''I don't want to tell you what to think'on Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabataon writing and money'If you start writing thinking you are going to earn a lot of money, maybe this isn't the best choicelife, death and dogs in Grouse County'Rather than write about international events I try to write about personal events and individual lives'the character of Charles 'Tiny' Darling and Tom Druryon the autobiographical nature of his workthe central character of Louise Darlingambivalent feelings about Grouse County'I feel like there are parts of all of them that are connected to the life that I've had'

Jonathan M. Reynolds‘s new book looks carefully at how photographers, architects, and others wrestled with a postwar identity crisis as they explored and struggled with new meanings of tradition, home, and culture in modern Japan. Building on the work of Walter Benjamin, Allegories of Time and Space: Japanese Identity in Photography and Architecture (University of Hawaii Press, 2015) takes readers into a range of media in which writers and artists engaged with these questions. From photographs of rural inhabitants of the Snow Country of northern Japan to photobooks on Japanese architecture to special structures built to serve young female nomads in Tokyo, the objects of Reynolds’s study all served their makers as spaces for working through problems of identity, Japaneseness, and their transformations. It’s a fascinating study that beautifully integrates images as an integral part of the text, and it is well worth reading. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan M. Reynolds‘s new book looks carefully at how photographers, architects, and others wrestled with a postwar identity crisis as they explored and struggled with new meanings of tradition, home, and culture in modern Japan. Building on the work of Walter Benjamin, Allegories of Time and Space: Japanese Identity in Photography and Architecture (University of Hawaii Press, 2015) takes readers into a range of media in which writers and artists engaged with these questions. From photographs of rural inhabitants of the Snow Country of northern Japan to photobooks on Japanese architecture to special structures built to serve young female nomads in Tokyo, the objects of Reynolds’s study all served their makers as spaces for working through problems of identity, Japaneseness, and their transformations. It’s a fascinating study that beautifully integrates images as an integral part of the text, and it is well worth reading. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan M. Reynolds‘s new book looks carefully at how photographers, architects, and others wrestled with a postwar identity crisis as they explored and struggled with new meanings of tradition, home, and culture in modern Japan. Building on the work of Walter Benjamin, Allegories of Time and Space: Japanese Identity in Photography and Architecture (University of Hawaii Press, 2015) takes readers into a range of media in which writers and artists engaged with these questions. From photographs of rural inhabitants of the Snow Country of northern Japan to photobooks on Japanese architecture to special structures built to serve young female nomads in Tokyo, the objects of Reynolds’s study all served their makers as spaces for working through problems of identity, Japaneseness, and their transformations. It’s a fascinating study that beautifully integrates images as an integral part of the text, and it is well worth reading. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan M. Reynolds‘s new book looks carefully at how photographers, architects, and others wrestled with a postwar identity crisis as they explored and struggled with new meanings of tradition, home, and culture in modern Japan. Building on the work of Walter Benjamin, Allegories of Time and Space: Japanese Identity in Photography and Architecture (University of Hawaii Press, 2015) takes readers into a range of media in which writers and artists engaged with these questions. From photographs of rural inhabitants of the Snow Country of northern Japan to photobooks on Japanese architecture to special structures built to serve young female nomads in Tokyo, the objects of Reynolds’s study all served their makers as spaces for working through problems of identity, Japaneseness, and their transformations. It’s a fascinating study that beautifully integrates images as an integral part of the text, and it is well worth reading. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pam Grout is a world traveler, a loving mother, and a best-selling author who has just published her newest book, E-Cubed: 9 More Experiments that Prove Mirth, Magic and Merriment is your Full-time Gig. This is a sequel to her previous book E-Squared: 9 Do-it-Yourself Energy Experiments that Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality. Both reads are humorous and wise, written from Pam’s insightful, courageous angle on how the universe works. She provides readers with a series of “experiments” meant to elevate their beliefs and expectations about their lives.Pam has published 15 books so far and sold articles to dozens of publications. She writes for Travel & Leisure, Outside, Family Circle, Modern Maturity, New Age Journal, Scientific American Explorations, Arizona Highways, Travel Holiday, Tennis, Powder, Snow Country, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, First for Women, Amtrak Express and more. She’s also a Midwestern stringer for People magazine. http://Pamgrout.com

Harriett Gilbert is joined by writer Meg Rosoff and comedian Sara Pascoe to talk about the books they love - which in Sara's case is controversial: The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. Meg chooses the lyrically beautiful Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata. And Harriett recommends An Education by Lynn Barber, which was made into an acclaimed film starring Carey Mulligan. Producer Beth O'Dea