Japanese Camp

We've had two great days of technical free skiing supported by video sessions at a small resort called Akita Hachimantai in the Hachimantai National Park in the far north of Japan's main island of Honshu.

There's just the one chairlift and two long, moderately steep runs which are perfect for training :)

There's no one here except us and the snow is perfect allowing us to ski hard and fast all day without getting into trouble!

We've spent the days training until early afternoon followed by some Dryland training and a bike ride in afternoon then a swim in the icy Lake Towada ( Which by the way has ice on the surface ), it's freezing but so much fun!

We're having a day off today to visit one of the nearby cities ( Towada City ) to do some shopping before we start four days of gate training tomorrow.

I'm loving my new Dynastar SL and G.S Skis ( Thanks Gerald and Bobo Sports NZ ).

My new race skis are totally different to my previous junior race ski, far more precise edge to edge, more stable under foot and powerful out of the turn, I'm looking forward to getting into a course with them over the next few days.

More to come, stay tuned...

We've Arrived In Japan!!!

Wow, what a massive couple of days!
After long drive from Queenstown, calling by my sponsors Bobo Sports in Darfield to collect my new SL and G.S skis we overnighted in Christchurch.
The alarm went off at 3:15am on Thursday morning, I was at the airport in Christchurch by 4:30am for a 5:30am flight to Auckland with my Dynastar buddy Prue Lange. We had a really bumpy landing due to a nasty storm and then a quick transfer across to the International Terminal to hook up with the other athletes travelling to Tokyo for the camp.
After an 11 1/2 hour flight to Tokyo with Air New Zealand we arrived in Tokyo early evening, thankfully all of our luggage showed up so after clearing Immigration and Customs ( Thanks to the Air NZ staff for escorting us ) we met up with our coach Simon Brown and his daughters Tegan and Rebecca in the arrivals hall.
Simon - " Guess what, change of plan the snow in Ontake isn't great we're heading North"...!
So after being awake since 3:30am in Christchurch and flying for 13 hours we headed off on a 9 Hour trek north to a small city called Moriaka in the Hachimantai National Park in the Northern Iwate Prefecture of Honshu on Japan's main island.
We arrived at 2:30am, you'd have to use they word shattered but I'm stoked to see snow :)
Awake 5 hours later at 8am we've just finished breakfast and are heading to the mountain to free ski this afternoon at Hachimantai Resort Shimokura then checking into our lodge near the mountain tonight.
Gate training will begin tomorrow, stay tuned for updates... :)