From our friends over at Grlshred:
There’s something about snowboarding that keeps you coming back. It’s not always about progression, getting the clip or landing the trick. Most of the time, it’s much simpler than that. It’s the places it takes you, the people you meet, and the friends standing at the bottom laughing when you eat shit.
This time, snowboarding took seven of us to Japan.
We started in Tokyo with ramen, karaoke and a few days of getting lost in a city none of us really understood. Then we picked up a rental car, loaded it with an unreasonable amount of snowboard gear and headed north in search of snow. Driving on the wrong side of the road was interesting enough, and seeing “WANTED” posters of previous renters hanging at the rental company didn’t exactly make us feel better about our chances.
But somewhere north of Tokyo, it started snowing. And it didn’t really stop. For the next few days it just kept dumping. We woke up to more snow every morning, rode powder up to our hips and spent our days disappearing into trees, digging each other out and trying to find something that vaguely resembled a landing.
We didn’t land much, but nobody really cared. Because when you strip away the tricks, the clips and all the pressure to constantly get better, this is why we started snowboarding in the first place. Being outside, riding with your friends.
Eventually we left the deep snow behind and headed south to Myoko and Blanco Escape. The storm gave way to blue skies and spring weather, and chairlifts were swapped for splitboards. We walked into the mountains, rode whatever we found and came home to good food and long dinners.
And then, somehow, we were back in Tokyo. Back where it started. We drove go-karts through the city, ate even more ramen and tried to take in the last bit of Japan before it was time to leave.
We went to Japan for the snow, and it definitely delivered, but looking back, the powder isn’t really what we remember most. It’s seven friends crammed into a car. The stupid joke, the crashes, the waiting, the cheering, the meals after riding and that feeling of being somewhere completely different, doing the same thing that brought us together in the first place.
Snowboarding doesn’t always have to be about being the best, sometimes you don’t land shit, sometimes you just eat it.
Riders: @sigmy , @anegyll , @rebekkalit , @julenjulia, @eirineiken , @mariakanstad , and @maria.hopen