I'm glad you had fun! What you call 'wellies' (rubber boots) was indeed what we also got when we went in Jan and what I called 'snow boots' that came as part of the rental package... sorry if I gave you the wrong expectation. The views are magnificent there, indeed. We saw a kamoshika (Japanese antelope) right underneath the gondola. You went to the onsen/pool complex at the Gala shinkansen station? Was it crowded?