The XNUMXth "Snowbank pay it forward" was held at Yoyogi Park in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo this year.
The scale of the event increased with each round, and the word "Tokyo Snow Festival" was added to the event name, and it is currently being held in Japan with the support of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Shibuya Ward, the Japanese Red Cross Society, and the Japanese Bone Marrow Bank. This event has become an extremely large-scale event that can be said to be extremely unusual for a snowboarding event, and has continued to grow into a big event that attracts attention not only from snowboarders but also from people of various genres.
SIMS Snowboards rider "Arai DAZE Yoshimasa" (hereinafter referred to as "Daze"), the founder of the event, developed an intractable disease "chronic active EB virus infection" in the past, but the world has successfully overcome the disease with the success of bone marrow transplant surgery. But he is one of the few snowboard riders.
Daze, a man who continues to love snowboarding even if he suffers from such a serious illness, wants to create a big event where riders slide in the streets that existed in the country in the past, and wants to spread the existence of bone marrow donors who saved himself to the world. With that in mind, we held a snowboard handrail tournament in the city of Shibuya, and called on the people who gathered there to register as bone marrow donors and to cooperate in blood donation. Creating a second snowboarding event.
Our "PSA ASIA (Professional Snowboarders Association Asia)" participated in such a big event that contributes to society for the third time, and this year we exhibited our booth for the first time.
In the booth, product sampling distribution of the attention-grabbing cosmetic brand "lapis lazuli", which is also taken care of by the tournament sponsorship, tasting party of the sake "small drum" that "Nishiyama Brewery" is proud of, and snowboarding under the initiative of "PSA LAB" We conducted a questionnaire and presented PSA ASIA stickers not for sale to those who cooperated.
During the event, various gifts will be distributed to visitors who cooperated in blood donation and donor registration by the exhibition booth, live performances of famous artists on the main stage, exhibition of various food and drink booths, big snowboard brands and apparel brands. Special sales, professional wrestling events, early discount sales of lift tickets at ski resorts, talk concerts by the mayor of Shibuya and famous entertainers, etc. were held, but the event that many visitors were paying attention to during this event is still It was a handrail tournament where riders proud of jib gathered in Yoyogi from areas far away from Tokyo such as Hokkaido and Okayama.
All-rounder "SALOMON" from Myoko, Niigata Prefecture, who specializes in jib, jump, and slopestyle as a PSA ASIA recommended rider and has a track record of participating in snowboard cross races. A unique slopestyler "Yota Hiramoto Pro" who runs "Ramen Hiramoto", which provides original ramen, participated in the race.
As in the previous tournaments, on the first day, the riders who participated in the race competed for the ranking with a small number of tickets in order to win the session of the invited players on the second day.
The section of the special slope used in the handrail session has been powered up in recent years, and from last year, a down rail is finally installed in the center and two double down rails that can approach both sides are installed on the side, and riders can It became a trend to compete for the ranking in the three-way jib section where you can choose three approaches depending on the trick you want to do.
It was a sledding event for kids, which is held every year between the tournaments, but the weather was sunny, the temperature was high, the snowmelt was quite severe, and the Brave project crew and volunteer team who were in charge of setting up I was worried.
In addition, the WOW time, which is divided by the popular WOW crew in the snowboarding world, was held during the lunch break of the tournament, and was entertaining a large number of visitors.
The high temperature easily disturbed the condition of the approach and landing burn, and it seems that it was a difficult condition for the participating players, and the fierce men who won the first day of such a fierce battle are as follows.
Women's XNUMXst place Haruna Ishihara
Women's XNUMXnd place Morita Ayana
Women's XNUMXrd place Takamori Himari
Women's Special Award Seki Holly
Men's XNUMXst place Tamamura Takashi
Men's XNUMXnd place Pea Masashi
Men's XNUMXrd place Rui Sakuma
Men's Special Award Maeda Lion
The author of this article, "Head", who has been the MC at SNOWBANK since the first year, called them general participants at the venue on the day, but many riders belonging to the manufacturer can be seen from the qualifying on the first day. , Those who genuinely enjoy participating in the annual festival event, those who have made perfect adjustments aiming for the second day, and still photos taken in the extremely unusual space of a handrail session in Shibuya, Tokyo. I felt that each player had various speculations, such as those who came to earn money for shooting movies and movies, and gathered here in Yoyogi Park.
The high degree of attention to the event was easily understood by the number of audiences surrounding the site and the number of large number of cameramen.
The second day was also a sunny day with no complaints from the morning, and it was a condition that could be said to be a perfect day for the event.
The temperature did not rise as much as the day before, and the snow conditions were good.
It is no exaggeration to say that the level on the second day, when movie stars, Olympians, Pro Tour ranking champions, World Cup and X-GAMES regular players also participated, is the top level for both men and women, and SNOW BANK is held. The most difficult part of the battle was a transcendental battle that made me think that it was actually a judge.
Those who passed the qualifying are as follows
woman
Murase Kokomo
Yamaguchi Mi-yeon
Asaya Junna
Mazda Maiko
Onozaki Karin
Murase Yura
Takahashi Aoi
Ueki Lena
Boys
Saito Kazuya
Ciba Manato
Nakamura Takayuki
Okubo Yuri
Tamamura Takashi
Pea Masashi
Tobitaruki
Matsushita Daichi
Onozaki Kite
Akamae Yoshiaki
Jinguji Kite
Sakamoto Shota
Immediately before the final, while a large number of audiences pointed their smartphones to the camera mode, SNOWBANK's customary mascot character Blood Donation-chan gliding was performed, and Blood Donation-chan achieved the feat of making a wonderful lip slide, the best ever. This time, which showed excitement, was a dramatic run that further boosted the players who were rushing ahead of the final.
There is absolutely no other event where you can watch that level of skiing at that distance, for free, and in a warmer city, so if it's going to be held next year or later, it's a good idea to take some time to watch it. do.
Click here for the final results that the judges have been worried about for a long time after the tournament.
Women's champion Yamaguchi Mi-yeon
Men's champion Tamamura Takashi
Men's runner-up Tobitaruki
Men's XNUMXrd place Yuri Okubo
Special Award Onozaki Kite
The beautiful style on the rails created from long limbs has been recognized in the world, and XNUMX (Miyon), Yamaguchi Miyon, who has now established a position as a movie star in the Japanese women's snowboarding world, won the championship.
Not to mention the aggressive stance of setting risky tricks on the double down rail many times, the spin to the approach direction using the tip of the down rail of the center is full of originality that no one has done so far in SNOW BANK history. Onozaki Kite who exploded the trick won a special prize
At the PSA ASIA Snowboard Pro Tour, the eyes of the typhoon will surely be the eye of the typhoon, and the Pyeongchang Olympics Japan representative Okubo Yuri, who has a series of runs that will surprise the viewer, will continue to attack from the qualifying with a light movement of the stone and will be in XNUMXrd place.
Tobitaruki, the current PSA Pro Tour Ranking Champion who should have returned from an overseas expedition with Okubo Yuri and has won the SNOW BANK in the past, has a flat box with double down rails on both sides as if it were not difficult. Repeatedly difficult tricks as if it were a down feather, and ranked second
From the qualifying on the first day to the final on the second day, Takashi Tamamura, the director of Shonan Blush, who continued to perform difficult tricks and continued to shine even when he was among the invited players, won a transcendental high-level rail battle and brilliantly. I got a winning product that I couldn't hold and the title of No. 1 rail in Japan.
The XNUMX SNOW BANK, which may have been more exciting than any of the tournaments held so far, ended in this way.
The number of visitors is
November 11th (Sat) 10 or more November 28,000th (Sun) 11 or more Total 11 or more (according to Yoyogi Park survey)
Blood donation / bone marrow donor results
Number of receptions: 298 Number of blood donations: 238 Number of registered bone marrow donors: 117
This event, which has hit the above-mentioned astonishing numbers, is now a tradition that heralds the arrival of the snow season in Japan, not only for snowboarders, but also for blood donations and donor registration for all parties involved and visitors. Continues to change consciousness.It is an event that I hope will continue to be held in the future, and I can't wait to be involved in the event again.
The XNUMXth to XNUMXth season has started, the schedule for the domestic Pro Tour has been announced, and I can't help but look forward to seeing the numerous dramas that will be born this season.
PSA ASIA Snowboard Pro Tour Opening Round is scheduled to be held from January 1th to 11th at Kagura Ski Resort in Niigata Prefecture. It will be a freestyle session in Takai Fuji, which will be the first slopestyle, half pipe, and straight jump event to be held at X-JAM Takai Fuji in the prefecture.
Invite your friends to watch professional games, respond loudly to the hot skies of the players, and have a hot session together on the snow.
Text: Itaru Fujinuma (head)
Photo: tqkqkun
