Had a day of mountain biking in Hakuba on Saturday with Ben and Peter that ended with Peter in the hospital.
Hakuba is a small village at the base of the Japanese Alps, where ski jumping events were held during the 1998 Winter Olympics. It’s about 45 minutes from Nagano by car. There is some spectacular mountain scenery—it’s easy to see why the area was nicknamed the Japanese Alps. At one ski area, you can pay to take gondolas up a mountain with bikes, then ride down the trails.
Late in the afternoon, Peter took a bad jump and landed on his head, leaving him in a state of shock. He had to be taken by ambulance to a hospital in a town about 20 miles away. He wasn’t coherent until about three hours after the accident. There were no broken bones and a CAT scan showed no serious damage. But he’s staying at the hospital overnight for observation.
Trying to deal with language barriers in medical emergencies isn’t much fun, but everyone was very patient and helpful.