Every ski holiday needs a break from the mountain and what better way to do so than with an equally adrenaline pumping snowmobile tour!

Booking a tour with Big Wave was a very smooth and easy process and I was really looking forward to it. Our guide TP was really friendly and picked us up from where we were staying to take us to the staging area at the base of Mount Yotei – just a short 15 minute drive from Hirafu.

Upon arrival he took us to warm, heated cabin, surrounded by snowmobiles, where we chose our helmets and got ready for the tour.

Outside TP assigned us each a snowmobile, went over the controls and how to operate the machine. “Follow me” he said and we set off around a huge white field to get used to the basics. After a few laps, we moved onto the next lesson – riding while standing. We learnt that this is the best way to control the snowmobile because you can use your weight a lot more to turn the machine. After a bit of explanation, we set off around the field again to practice with our new riding position.

Obviously impressed with our skills, TP said it was time to move to a new area. This involved navigating through a short forest section and up a steep banking. The new area was another huge field with a lot more untouched snow lying around and a big forest area at the back. We spent about 20 minutes following our guide along the forest trails with him checking our progress to make sure everything was ok. Once or twice, one of our group got into a tight spot, but TP soon jumped to the rescue. We had another lap of the forest and that was it, training was complete. We were free to ride!

The snow field was huge and you could really get up some speed. The forest was full of twists, turns and jumps and it was great fun. For a first experience riding a snowmobile, this tour was amazing – I soon got to grips with the machine under TP’s instruction and felt comfortable riding around enjoy the adrenaline rush from the powerful engine between my feet!

Being so close to Mount Yotei would have made for some awesome photo opportunities…if it hadn’t been hiding behind the clouds that day. Still, we all got some great photos riding the snowmobiles and our guide was more than happy to oblige with photo requests.

At the end of the tour, we rode back through the forest and through the training area to the cabin where we had left our bags. TP took us back to our accommodation for a rest! What a great experience and amazing way to spend a day off the mountain