The season is over -- well, almost, as good old Seki will open again this weekend for one last snow hurrah.

It's been a great season, too. All that snow: it's hard to believe how much fell, especially during January and February. Looking out the windows now, with the last cherry blossoms blowing away, it's easy to forget that there were five-meter-high walls of white stuff not that long ago.

It also seems to have been a good year for Niigata ski areas, partly because of people NOT going to Tohoku -- something local people know, and that was kind of bittersweet. Nice to have the business, sad because of this part of the cause of it.

But thanks to everybody who came to ski with us -- and it looks like there will be more international business im Myoko next season. Hotels are already getting reservation requests, where last year things were pretty dead until right up to the season.

Oh, yeah: Myoko's a pretty nice place to be in summer, too! See you soon.

Seki Onsen: Will open May 12 and 13