Photographer ZIZO sneaks into VANS HI-STANDARD SERIES @ Naeba

03/14/2023

The event sponsored by VANS, which will be the first landing in Japan, is called "VANS HI-STANDARD SERIES at Naeba Ski Resort".From 8:8 in the morning to XNUMX:XNUMX in the evening, despite the bad weather, the special venue in Naeba, Niigata, was filled with men and women of all ages.Photographer ZIZO will deliver the infiltration report.

Photo＋Text: ZIZO

First, what kind of event was the "VANS HI-STANDARD SERIES"?If I had to put it in one word, it would be a cash event (laughs).

After all, the tickets are distributed when the professional riders judge the participants and decide on cool riding and impressive tricks.And the ticket is a cash exchange ticket (1 yen per ticket), and you can get money immediately after riding.It goes without saying that there were many participants who were interested in this event because it was a novel system in which if you worked hard, you would get results immediately.

From the left, the judges were Takahiro Taniguchi, Masato Toda, and Kubota Kubota.

The afternoon session was divided into the 1st heat and the 2nd heat, and a jam session lasting about an hour was held in each.So I think the participants had enough time to skate and appeal.

However, the weather was windy and the snow flickered and became heavy, so the riders who were the judges and Jesse Ikeshita, who acted as the MC, were about to get sick of the cold, but the participants' hot skating The situation continues without interruption, so you can't take your eyes off it even for a moment.I was holding the shutter the whole time.

Jessie providing commentary and laughter on the mic

With the falling snow and the wind blowing endlessly, it should be difficult to get a sense of the speed of the approach, but the participants continued to show off tricks that didn't make them feel that way.

Everyone hikes fast!Want to ski fast?Or do you want to warm your body because the weather is bad and it's cold?

By the way, this is the photo that I personally thought was cool in the first heat.

More than anything else, the tickets are distributed to the participants who think the riders are good, but it's nice to be recognized by the riders.

Kuya walks up to the participants who performed cool and hands them tickets.

There were many riders among the participants, and it seems that Yuta Watanabe, who participated in the shooting of STONP, was earning quite a lot.

Because it is a fun and aggressive event regardless of level, many of the participants try to imitate the tricks of the riders, challenge their own limits, and see how each of them exceeds their own standards. It felt like a real session, and I really enjoyed filming it.

“For an event held for the first time in Japan, it was interesting to see how noisy it was. There were so many riders, including Yuuri (Okubo), Ryoki (Ogawa), Toui (Suzuki), and Hayato (Nagasawa). I think the participants enjoyed the session with the riders, too.If I hadn't been injured, I would have wanted to skate more!It was snowing all the time, but when the hot snowboarders gathered, it was natural. It will be fun.It was such an event.”
--- Kubota Kubota

Wall ride by Takayuki Nakamura who came to the event

After the heat is over, the ticket is exchanged for cash, a scene that has never been seen before

The second heat felt like a higher level trick battle.There were a lot of kids and girls among the participants, and they used various sections freely and showed various ways to play.

Fuyu Suzuki, who was selected as the BEST IMPRESSION rider at the NISSAN X-TRAIL RAIL JAM, charms with his style

Ryoki Ogawa captures the rail with board control in a different dimension

Himawari Takamori, who showed such a cute smile but was a transcendent man.

picture?On this wall, fly so much?one of

After such a hot daytime session, the nighttime session began when it was getting dark.kicker, box and rail.A jam session was held to determine the best trick in each section.

It was quite a snowstorm, but everyone was hot at night

Pick up 3 photos that you personally thought were cool at the rail session

1 3 of

The box session was held on the same day as the large-scale test-ride event "SBJ ON SNOW", and the number of galleries increased as people flowed in from the venue.After all, one of the real pleasures of snowboarding is showing each other tricks.

“Even though the weather was pretty bad, everyone was skating solidly all the time, and in a good way, it was a great event with a great atmosphere that made me feel like snowboarders are really stupid.“I just started snowboarding recently.” It was really fun to watch the riders skating and get excited about the vibes.Well, it was my first time, so I'm glad I was able to hold it.Regardless of your level. The key to the event is to be attractive with items that anyone can put in, so next time without changing that, I'd like to think about a section myself."
-- Masato Toda

In the kicker session, I got the impression that the photographers also had their own style.I also felt like I was shooting a work using a strobe, and it was quite fun.

The riders are cool, but the photographers have style too, right?

“Regardless of whether you are good or bad, you can show off your aggressive stance, show off your best shot, be particular about your style…and we won’t even have to give a ticket to the judges. What's more, participation was free of charge and you could get money, and a lot of the riders came to play, so you could see them skating and have a session together. Above all, even in bad weather, it's crazy to have this much excitement."
—Takahiro Taniguchi

At the end of the long event, which lasted about 12 hours, participants took a commemorative photo.After that, the judges announced the best participants (excluding riders) from all sections as the MVP.This concludes the event, which was held for the first time in Japan.