A new stimulus that can be seen from "TENJIN BANKED SLALOM 2021", the best grass competition in Japan.

Text & Photo: Gaisu

The 11th "TENJIN BANKED SLALOM 2021" was held at Tanigawadake Tenjindaira Ski Resort from Saturday, March 3th to Sunday, March 6th.
Compared to last season, which was hit by a record warm winter, this season has been blessed with abundant snow since the beginning of the season.The enthusiasts for this tournament should have been different, as the slippers in each area should have slipped into the field in the best conditions.This tournament will be a major milestone in testing your own gliding skills, which can be said to be the total settlement of the season.
Continuing from last year, the event will be held in Corona, so new event guidelines have been set up to manage the tournament safely and securely, and the submission of pre-health observation questionnaires for athletes and staff, as well as reception methods and ticket purchases. It was held with thorough measures to prevent corona infection to avoid honey.

In order to avoid crowding at the reception, the bib number will be published on SNS in advance this year, and smooth entry on the day
A prayer for safety so that the event can be held safely

Tournament explanation by event producer Daizo Fukushima
This year, the course was created because it was hard work due to the influence of Iceburn.Diggers, thank you very much

After completing these smooth entries and climbing the ropeway, participants will see a wonderful course created by digger from all over the country.On the first day of the tournament, the qualifying started after the course inspection in unfortunate conditions due to the rain and gas that started from time to time, but the participants were motivated to advance to the final the next day and concentrated on one actual run. ..While looking at your starting order and reading the course situation that changes from moment to moment depending on the time of day, you can listen to information on people who have already skated and expand the image of slipping.And when it comes to my own run, I will put all my strength into that one.Whether or not we could go to the final the next day depended on the slip, and the top half of all class gliding times advanced the pieces to the final.

The first runner is Yosuke Nishida (MOUNT TANIGAWA HARD CORE) in the GM MEN (over50) class.
GREEN CLOTHING Katsuro Taguchi
ZIMBABWE Satoshi Tanizawa
RIDE surf and sports Koji Shibata

Between the tournaments, Mr. Goro Komatsu, the representative director of POW JAPAN, sent a message about POW's activities.

The next day, the venue was blessed with a beautiful sunny day.Brand tent booths are lined up under the course, and test drive events and exhibitions of next year's products are also held.They spent their time with their friends and family while being aware of infection prevention measures, such as test-driving the board they were interested in between races and waking up to their own board before the actual race.Nowadays, there are various restrictions, so I'm happy to be in the snowy mountains of nature, and I'm glad I snowboarded again.

Hayato Maruyama
Keita Yamazaki
Toshihiro Nakamura
Masuda base
Atsushi Hasegawa

In the final, the rankings are competed in the best time of two players per person, so it seemed that many players concentrated on the first run, where the course conditions were relatively stable.
Of course, the finals were lively in fine weather, and after the race, the awards ceremony was held outdoors and all schedules were successfully completed.

MAVERICK FIGURES Koji Mikami
Ryosuke Abe
CARDIFF SNOWCRAFT, 686 Junichi Ito
Ko Okamoto
Kohei Motoki
Rina Kawano
Okoba Yuumi
REDI Representative / Tournament MC Nobuyuki Oe

GM MEN (over50) class winner Yosuke Nishida
MASTER WOMEN class award

Tournament MC Nobuyuki Oe and Go Ueda will liven up the venue with a talk with full-blown style as usual.
OPEN WOMEN Champion Noguchi Umisakura
OPEN MEN victory Kohei Motoki
Yuichi Ohnobu

Growth of next-generation snowboarders

This tournament was held for the 11th time.At the start of this tournament, the players who participated in the OPEN class will be upgraded to the next higher class, MASTER MEN (over 11 years old) and GM MEN (over 40 years old) after more than 50 years. The entry class will change as you stack up.The same is true for children as well as adults.
Kids, who were still in elementary school at the time, have steadily grown into junior high school students and high school students, and dramas are being played in each class every year.Among the snowboarders who will lead the next generation, competitive spirits have sprung up, and while working hard, they are improving each other's gliding skills.Under such circumstances, there were many junior high school students who showed riding as if they were adults, and there were also strong high school students who won open class prizes.I was impressed with their growth in this tournament as well.

A slip that you can ride so much that you can not think of it as an elementary school student

Another attraction of Banked Slalom is that parents and children can participate as a family, just like athletic meet at school.The child cheers on the parent, and the parent records the child's slip with images and photos and watches the growth.We will connect the real culture and fun of snowboarding from adults to children.I would also like to mention that this banked slalom also contains these important elements.

Behind the goal, a mini park was built by the participants, and sessions were held with family and friends.

Banked slalom that grows you

The writer also took the proof that he had slipped into this season for one of the qualifying rounds, but the result was that he was eliminated from the qualifying round.Actually it wasn't so sweet.I felt more regretful because I felt like I was on the board more than usual.Each participant has a story for one season, and he has a feeling for this tournament.That is why this regret echoes in my heart.I really joy and regret it because I slip seriously.I felt once again that the face to face with myself was the real thrill of this banked slalom.

Fighting yourself, not competing with others.From the start to the finish, how you faced your riding will lead to time as a result.The time will not be shortened just by slipping through to safety.Read the course conditions and ask if you can get the best line according to the bank terrain without slowing down.I think this banked slalom is exactly the tournament where the elements of free riding are condensed.
I also think about future issues, such as what was wrong with me.Next year, I'll try to answer that I have to slip into more rough terrain.
After all, the gliding technique and turns are deeper than I imagined, and especially the more I ski in banks and natural terrain, the more new challenges I see and I always grow myself.That's why snowboarding is so interesting that I can't stop playing.I want to slip in more and get better.This tournament, which made me feel that way, was a precious two days that gave me a great stimulus.

Rei Igarashi
Taira Hikari
Hideyuki Kaji
Naonori Katsuyama
Daisuke Watanabe
Aya Sato
Parade run by digger who was involved in course creation at the end of the tournament
Digger crews exchanging fists

TENJIN BANKED SLALOM 2021 full movie


Edit: okaken cinema

2021 results Click here for more information.
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