At Devil's Neck

Saturday was an extraordinarily fine day at the tail end of this mild winter. The whole previous week I enjoyed some of the bluest sky I have seen in Japan. Spring, its seems, will arrive quite early.

My friend Ken and I took advantage of the beautiful day for some warm-weather snowboarding at the local ski-resort. Temperatures rose into the 50s and we were riding in t-shirts for part of the day. A recent landslide has blocked the main road, and most folks aren't willing to drive the long way round. Thus the mountain was nearly empty, we seemingly had it to ourselves. In the afternoon, we camped out in the snowboard park and played for a couple hours before Ken busted his ankle and we had to call it quits...




We had a ball practicing spins and grabs while flying through the air. As there were few people to watch and make fun of us, it was a good opportunity to snap some photos as well (notice there are none of the landings!)





Just before Ken injured his ankle however, I completed my first-ever 360 off a jump, a goal I had set for myself at the beginning of the season. As I was sitting and waiting my turn, two Japanese riders did HUGE big-air 360s, which was both motivating and intimidating. About 10 meters before take-off, I remembered a painful spill the last and only other time I attempted a 360, and nearly backed off. But just in time, I summoned a little courage/crazy, coiled myself, and spun with all my might. About halfway round, I was sure I wasn't going to make it, and then suddenly, I was facing forward again and the tail of my board touched down. I was so surprised at the landing that I threw my hands up, sat down, slid to a stop, and gave a little war whoop! Ken recorded the whole thing on video, which I will post later if possible (though its not nearly as impressive as I felt it was!).



So full of myself, I hiked to the top of the jump and repeated the feat, while Ken limped down the mountain.