From November 2022th to 11th, 12, “Tokyo Snow Festival 13 SNOWBANK PAY IT FORWARD” (“Snowbank”) was held at Yoyogi Park Event Square in Tokyo.
Snowbank, which was held for the 12th time this time, was a professional snowboarder Arai "daze" Yoshimasa, who was diagnosed with an intractable blood disease "chronic active EB virus infection" in 2008 and also experienced a bone marrow transplant himself. This is an event that has been held without a break since 2011 to convey the necessity of registering as a blood donation/bone marrow bank donor and the fun of snowboarding!
The scale of the event has grown year by year, and there is an impression that the number of visitors continues to increase, such as live performances by gorgeous artists and events by athletes. Professional snowboarder Itaru Fujinuma (RIDE FOR A SMILE) reports mainly on the competition!
By the way, I, Itaru Fujinuma's winter companion, comedian Iwa-chan, have posted a video that gives you a good sense of the atmosphere of this event, so please take a look at it as well.
As rumored that there are snowboarders who go to off-training facilities with their sights set on this event every year, as soon as the general participation entry started this time, it seems that there were many players on the waiting list five days later.Looking at the situation, I have the impression that it is a gateway event for upcomers who want to win the first day of the two-day event and join the invited players to improve their skills!
It is a snow bank that has the impression that many jib section enthusiasts from all over the country participate. This is an event where all snowboarding enthusiasts who consider contributing to society as a routine will also participate.
XNUMX male riders, XNUMX female riders, and XNUMX kids riders participated in the general qualifying on the first day.Athletes of various age groups gathered at Yoyogi Park from all over the country, including Kanto, Hokkaido, Tohoku, Hokushinetsu, Tokai, Kansai, and Sanin.
Among the fierce fighters who are full of powerhouses, the players whose names were called at the award ceremony on the first day are as follows.
Boys
1st place Daping 脩Saburo(Tokyo)
XNUMXnd Place Horiike Souta (Shizuoka)
XNUMXrd place Ryushin Konno (Hokkaido)
woman
Kids: XNUMXst place Holigome Sora (Kanagawa)
Best Kids Award: Enomoto Yuuto
By the way, on this day, the three players who participated as judges were in charge of the next day on the 13th as invited players.
On Sunday, the 2th, the second day of the event, riders recommended by each sponsor manufacturer and riders invited from Snow Bank appeared.
On the first day of the event, the invited athletes, who had only skated for 35 minutes of public practice, showed off their terrifyingly high-level riding skills as soon as the qualifying started.
Only 10 women advance from the women's qualifying to the final.
A total of 11 players, including 14 women invited players and XNUMX players who won the general women's match on the previous day, competed in the qualifying round.
Among the finalists was Ami Tomiyama, who won the general women's match the day before (passing XNUMXrd on the first day).
The women's finalists are:
Sunflower Takamori, Momoka Fujikawa, Miyon, Suzuka Ishimoto, Nina Sakakibara, Tomoyo Oishi, Aoi Takahashi, Haruna Ishihara, Karen Sono, Ami Tomiyama (passed XNUMXrd on the first day)
Invited Athletes Women's Qualifying was held in 20 minutes, while Invited Athletes Men's Qualifying was divided into two groups, A heat and B heat, and each heat had a 30-minute qualifying, and officially 10 finalists. It was a rule to decide.
A total of 18 riders, XNUMX riders in heat A and heat B, competed for the finalist seat, but in heat A, general riders Shuzaburo Otsubo, Souta Horiike, and Konno who won the previous day. Four players appeared, Ryushin and Sora Horigome, the representative of kids.
A total of 30 finalists who won the fierce 14-minute battle in both A and B heats, and each player is as follows.
Matsushita 8931 Daichi, Takashi Tamamura, Ryu Sakuma, Yuto Miyamura, Ryoki Ogawa, Yuto Yamada, Masato Toda, Ryuichi Kabeta, Yuta Watanabe, Hiroto Ogiwara, Shunji Yoneno, Kaito Hamada, Sophie Nagasawa, Shuzaburo Otsubo (XNUMXst place on the first day)
During the event, the moment the audience turned their smartphones into camera mode toward the special slopes, the event's mascot character, "Donketsu-chan," boldly challenges the handrails in the "Ketsukoku-chan Run"!
The audience, athletes, and the venue were united by this blood donation run, and the women's final opened when the voltage of Yoyogi Park reached its peak.
A tense women's final began, completely changing from the peaceful mood created by the aggressive blood-donor run.
The 10 female finalists who continued to excite the venue with their riding skills that put the boys to shame from the qualifying round competed for the title of jib queen. .
Oishi, who continued riding with a sense of stability from qualifying all the way through, and made the audience scream out loud with his manly tricks such as a clean make-up of the front side board slide on the double down rail in the final, won the seat of this year's jib queen. I got
Blood Donor and the female finalists heated up the audience surrounding the special slopes to the climax, and finally the 14 male finalists appeared.
From the riders who usually mass-produce footage on the street, to the riders whose big jumps make their name known to the world, to the genuine competitors, to the upcomers who aim to be even better, and to the Japanese national team Olympians, let me tell you from the side of the spectators. If so, the 25-minute men's final was held with a lineup of gorgeous members who are extremely luxurious.
In 2022, Sohi Nagasawa, who participated in this tournament on the recommendation of daze, will be named as the new King of Zivers in this historical event that has been held 12 times so far.
Switchback side lip slide pretzel 270 on down rail
I won by making a switchback sideboard slide to fakie (a switch-to-switch board slide on a double down rail) with a double down.
The momentum of the upcomers who have continued to prepare to appear on the scene this year as well, the veteran forces who intercepted them, and the XNUMX visitors who encouraged those players finished the hot session, and Snow Bank closed.
On the morning of the event, the organizer Arai “daze” Yoshimasa Yoshimasa and Mrs. Ikuko made a live appearance on a TV program, talked about the purpose of the event on the radio waves, conveyed their thoughts, and moved the hearts of many people. Looking back, the number of blood donors was 567, far exceeding the initial target number of blood donors, 471 blood donors, and 102 registered bone marrow donors.
Next year, the Tokyo Snow Festival SNOWBANK PAY IT FORWARD will be held from November 2023th to 11th, 11!
See you next year at Yoyogi Park!
Oh no!before that!See you in the snowy mountains!
Let's all make the XNUMXnd and XNUMXrd season a wonderful season! !
