COLLECTION PARK SESSION which gathered a lot of fans even though it was decided in a hurry
Three consecutive holidays in March at the end of the season.Events were held in various places this weekend.Under such circumstances, despite the sudden decision, a large number of fans were gathered.
Photo & Reported by SHINGO
Participants waiting for the opening ceremony.The center is Erik Leines
Inside the headquarters tent before the opening ceremony
And it was the local Inawashiro BRAVE PROJECT who created a wonderful park for this event.
The first thing that surprised me was the high degree of perfection of the park.Each section is designed to be easy to fly and not easily injured, and it has a beautiful finish.It was a wonderful shape that was conscious of the audience's view.In the section, in addition to powerful items such as 25m big kicker, 8m hip, 15m kink rail, straight rail and Y-shaped rail were arranged in a well-balanced manner.
9:30 Opening Ceremony.About 200 participants gathered.The day before and the day before, 100 to 150 participants gathered, so it is truly the ability to attract customers.
The riders pick up the microphone and start greeting one word at a time.
Mikey LeBlanc: “Hi, Make Love and No War !!”
Nice comment, as expected Mikey!Free session time between general participants and riders in the morning.Everyone has a lot of attacks that I can't think of as the first in the morning.Aim at the hips of the final section closest to the base.This section can be attacked both as a table and as a hip, but most riders attacked straight as a table. Local riders attack hard, mixed with COLLECTION and RIDE riders.It's a Vitamake series that is comparable to professionals.A female local rider (MC says, "Inawashiro Ne-san") is also a 25m kicker and is the first man to wear B3 bita.Inawashiro Local is scary. Mikey also had a cold and was attacking happily, and Ali and Erik also heated up from the morning.
It is a valuable experience for the gallery to be able to see the COLLECTION riders who are active in domestic big air competitions at close range and at the park session to their heart's content.The most memorable thing this time was Takashi Nishida's Kinkler Try.Rock-style backsideboard slide to fully pull out the double-down 10m kink rail!Guts pose.The audience and cameramen who were watching were also applauding.
By the way, the demo session will start in the afternoon.Haku Suzuki, who has been late, is finally on standby.Several people from the COLLECTION team, the RIDE team, and the BRAVE PROJECT members participated.The gallery is also ready to gather on the side of the final section.Riders also attack around the hips and tables in the final section where the galleries gather.
Perhaps because of the spring sunshine, the snow surface gradually began to loosen, and although the speed was a little slow, each rider was able to meet the final section well.ALI's B7, which was suddenly shown, has plenty of time to stay.Feel the strength of the ollie. ERIK also made B5 and B7 without losing.Roll up in style by making the best use of long limbs.
At the Big Air tournament, Haku, who was in a row of nine, also showed off Switch B9 and F3.I'm having fun with the aura. When the MC asked the gallery "What do you want to see?", The voice "I want to see Aki-kun's flip".In response to your expectations, make an Akiflip with a 5m kicker.The service is perfect.
After that, because the snow surface condition became a little worse, the riders gathered in front of the base tent and an interview corner from the gallery was held in a hurry. "Takashi-kun seems to like alcohol, but are you going to drink tonight?" And other laughter questions popped up, and the event proceeded in a friendly mode.
INTERNATIONAL RIDERS COLLECTION / RIDE JAPAN SNOWBOARDS / KUU / BRAVE PROJECT / Inawashiro Ski Resort
Let me introduce the K2 Japan kids riders who participated in this event.
In the morning free session, two little riders who were mixed with COLLECTION riders and RIDE riders, and had a hip B3 and a curve rail full out with a board slide.We talked to the father who was supporting us.
Brothers of Teddy Koo (11 years old) and Kevin Koo (9 years old).They are decent Japanese kids.I attend an international school in Tokyo.In addition to snowboarding, they are also energetic kids who can skate and surf.I can speak Japanese, but most of my brothers' daily conversations were in English.Global kids looking forward to the future.
During last year's Windell camp, he made friends with COLLECTION riders and has since accompanied him to COLLECTION events.Also, at the K2 event, it seems that he was skating with Travis Parker and others, and Travis recommended him to K2 Japan.
Today, Japan has been in contact with action sports since childhood and has an environment in which it can take on challenges.It is an advantage that parents have an understanding, but they seem to have actively tried and experienced serious injuries, but while feeling painful and scary, they continued to challenge and improve their skills steadily. There is.It is said to be the game generation and the virtual generation, but if the number of kids riders like them increases in the future, the snowboard culture and the future of Japan should be bright.
(Photo) Younger brother Kevin (9 years old) on the left and older brother Teddy (11 years old) on the right.
photos & text: shingo
