As we work in the snowboard industry, we're involved in our favorite pastime of snowboarding more or less all year round. So much for the theory. Here's how it can actually be.
Finally in contact with snow - hopefully the search has a "happy end"...
Autumn 2004: The new boards have to be tested. Great, actually. We're on the glacier, but with so little snow you can't really talk about boarding. Well, it's still early and snow will surely come soon.
December 2004: There's still no snow, but the photo shoots with the team riders for the catalog etc. are coming up. As we all know, there's always a lot of powder, snow-covered mountains and beautiful pipe action to be seen in catalogs. But where are we supposed to take these photos without snow?
Somehow we manage to get the pictures right and catch the only powder days, or even worse: our team riders catch "the powder days".
The catalog is in print, I still haven't been snowboarding properly and now the preparations for ISPO are in full swing. That usually means a 6 to 7 day week, no not on the mountain, but in the office. But that's no problem, as there's still not much snow. That will change in mid-January, because there will be plenty of snow.
Now there should only be time for boarding, but there isn't. At least we still manage a few super-fat powder runs twice in the morning just before the office.
The ISPO is on, there's plenty of snow, but now we're just "talking" about snowboarding, discussing, philosophizing and negotiating. There's enough snow and I can't go out!
The trade fair is over and I could go out into the snow, but no, there are still a few important meetings to attend and snowboarding is out of the question. More snow is coming and I'm on my way to the airport. Not to the heli-base, but to the Lufthansa counter on the way to Tokyo. Shortly after take-off I see the snow-covered mountains and I have to go to the SBJ (Snowboard Fair in Japan). Here, too, boarding is only verbal and I get daily emails about how good the powder is at home. Good for you!
The trade fair is over...
and it should finally be time to go snowboarding for two days. I make my way to Myoko, a freeride area near Nagano, where I meet Atzu, one of our team riders, and we decide to go powdering. There's already 2.5 m of snow in the village, but I'm warned right away. It's been snowing and powdering for weeks, but it's been warm for the last two days and there's not much powder left. We take the lift up as far as we can and walk to the summit on snowshoes. In the upper part of the descent it is still powdery, further down it is rather firny, snowfall sets in overnight and in the morning there is 15 cm of fresh snow. Powdering is just about possible, as there wasn't enough snow to cover the hard base, and back home there was apparently even more snow... At least I'm spoiled with Japanese food for advanced skiers and a daily bath in the onsen (hot springs).
Change of location...
We have a snowboard test with customers in Ishiuchi and it's now rather spring-like. The area around Ishuichi is known for the best rice (tenkuumai) in Japan. In summer, the rice is placed on the four-seater chairs of a Doppelmayer lift to dry, and it rides around until it has had enough mountain air. It's no joke, it really is! Towards evening it starts to snow and as we walk back from the bar to the hotel, I stumble into three water traps in the dark and have completely wet shoes. The streets here are sprinkled with hot water to prevent the snow from sticking. And sure enough, there's 30 cm of fresh snow in the morning... yeah, finally. I'm at the lift right at eight. Unfortunately, this area is not really suitable for freeriding and after a few runs it's all over. It's snowing and snowing and I have to go back to Tokyo and fly on to Vancouver. Unfortunately there's no snow there this year! Got another email yesterday, it's still sensational at home...
Text: Holger Feist
