From Dream to Reality: Owning Your Own Ski Lodge in Japan Pt.1 with Dan Solo / Snowball Japan
In Episode 34 of the podcast we head to Madarao Mountain Resort in Nagano to speak with Dan Solo of Snowball Japan. Originally from Australia, Dan and his wife Andy first travelled to Japan more than 20 years ago and fell in love with life in the snow country. They set themselves to one day run their own ski lodge, a dream that came to fruition when they opened Snowball Chalet in Madarao, followed soon after by Snowman Apartments. Since that time, Dan and Andy have taken on more properties in Madarao, the connected resort of Tangram Ski Circus, and nearby Shiga Kogen – Japan’s largest ski resort.
Dan and I discuss just how he turned his dream into reality, the concept and design behind each of his properties, Madarao and other ski resorts accessible from the properties along with his suggestions of what to look for if you’re looking for a ski resort to start your own business in Japan. Our chat is wide-ranging and longer than usual, so to avoid editing and cutting out some really engaging parts of the conversation, this episode is split into two. The second half of the interview will be available for download in a week’s time.
As referenced during our chat, this is the second time we’ve visited Madarao on the podcast, following on from the very first episode in which I spoke to Mark Stahnke of Madarao Mountain Lodge. In this interview I also referenced more recent chats about Myoko Kogen with Billy Halloran of The Greenhouse Myoko and Liam Mugavin of A.I.R. Myoko. I also mention Episode 13 of the podcast, in which I spoke to Robel Zemichael of Shiga International Ski School about Japan’s largest ski resort, Shiga Kogen. If you haven’t already, you might like to listen to each of these episodes.
A very big thank you to Dan and Andy for agreeing to the interview, showing me around each of their properties and for providing the images used in support of this episode. For more information, visit the Snowball Japan website or follow Snowball Chalet on Instagram or Facebook.