Quiet possibly my two favourite things in this world, and not necessarily in that order. In another life I was a Chef. And food has been a passion that has never left even after I left the kitchen, so coming to Japan I had a list in my mind of food conquests I was going to consume shortly after landing. The list didn’t consist of the extreme or exotic like Fugu or Horse sashimi. But on top of that list was Ramen! Without a doubt the king of all foods in Japan is the mighty bowl of “Ramen”. It sits on the throne ruling over all the other dishes. Being such a regional dish there is no end to the variety of different interpretations of Ramen as we made our way through the country chasing legendary snow. Imagine this; being up before the sun and stretching out your not so fresh legs for the day ahead to ride another textbook tree run in Japan’s famous snorkel deep snow with your buddies and coming in cold and wet after being outside in wind and snow for 6 hours to the smell of a life giving, restorative and decadently delicious bowl of Ramen.
Why I Love Travel Insurance
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I’m lying here in a Canadian Hospital in what is without a doubt the most pain I have ever been in. After being rushed to hospital while on our snowboard trip between Japan and The Canadian Rockies I am admitted in to hospital not for a torn ACL not for a broken collarbone that would be more fitting for someone that has been on hill everyday without any regard for his personal safety. But I’m in hospital praying to whatever higher power there is to take mercy on me and for that all to relaxed nurse to give me some Morphine. After X-rays and and ultrasound around my abdomen its conclusive… Bloody…kidney….stones. I’m feeling every one of my 31 years and cursing everything that might have done this to me (mostly myself for too many drink yourself sober nights from my youth.) The one thing that I’m not regretting is the assuring memory of my sweetheart having all our travel insurance details on hand and calling the emergency phone line to start what I thought was going to be the not so pleasant process of dealing with an insurance company on the other side of the world! It’s one of
Getting fit for the POW! The ultimate at home program designed to reduce injury and have you shred ready! Unfortunately some of us can’t be hitting the snow year round meaning snow trips are limited to a couple weeks of the year and the body isn’t conditioned to Snowboard… I’m going to keep this simple, to the point and easy to apply in a 2 x a week program to get you ready for your kick ass snow trip What needs to be strong? It starts with the feet! Your whole body’s structure begins with the feet, effecting everything form the knees, pelvis, shoulders and even your breathing! We have weak feet due to wearing shoes from a young age which can cause knee pain and bad posture in some cases… I’ve got 2 awesome exercises that will help you 1. Build the connective tissue surrounding the joints and reduce your likelihood for injury 2. Develop stronger feet, ankles and knees to have even better control of your board… What else do I need to do? Well your CORE is super important when it comes to boarding… 1. The lower back needs to be strong 2. The bodies ability to
Imagine for a moment that you are on your board or skis and you’re at the top of a 10,000 feet wide open mountain and you’ve just dropped in. Your attention is focused on the movements of your body, the tension in your muscles, the force of your lungs breathing the brisk mountain air and the feel of the snow beneath your board or skis. You are living in the moment, utterly absorbed in the present activity. Time seems to fall away. What you are experiencing in that moment is known as flow, a state of complete immersion in an activity. Flow State is described as the mental state of flow, as “being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.” Snow boarders and Skiers are some of the best know examples of people being in the flow state, you are living in that moment. Whether you are competing in slope style, big mountain, in the powder or just out on the hill, Flow states are common place. Benefits
5 Secret shredding throw in’s.
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Have you ever been at the top of the mountain and just thought, damn I wish I had packed my ……. or shit I should have thrown in my ……..
At some ungodly hour we are up and saying see ya later to Benny and Hamish. They are homeward bound and leaving behind a devastated Epic Snow crew. Del,Marty and I are hot on their heels but to Tokyo! We are meeting up with Epic Snow Japan’s ambassador Kimmy and his wife Miyu. After a day seeing the sights of downtown Tokyo we bid another farewell to Marty who is off to surf the North Island of NZ. Del and I are scanning the weather radar looking for the next storm. Kimmy gets word that there is a storm heading for an area 3 hours north of Tokyo, at 4.30 am the next morning the Van is packed and the 4 of us are heading north! The prediction was spot on….SNOW all the way down on the valley floor too. We are frothing! We meet Kimmy and Miyu’s friend Hayato who is a Pro Shredder who lives and owns business in the area. Hayato placed 7th in the Japan Big Air comp with his trademark “Tayo Grab.” Del and I are the only westerners on the mountain and loving a true Japanese ski hill. Iwakura has a gondola and we
Twas the morning of the night before, the hang over was real. Climbing out of my hostel built timber capsule at 1am with a very sore head, I released we are in the North of Japan! Ricky and Del who were very spritely from the minimal amounts of shochu they drank, dragged us that afternoon to the Sapporo Beer Brewery for and afternoon of beer tasting, which the sore brain did enjoy. Up early and on a bus to Niseko, where our crazy english friend Duncan picked us up and took us to the hostel in East Hirafu the Popcorn lodge!. Ramen for lunch then night riding at Grand Hirafu. Head phones in, Major Laser blaring, Hard and fast. The new snow on the groomers was a little tracked out although it was fun to bomb the hills. There was however still 20 centimetres of fresh in the trees. The next 3 days we changed to our short boards for a bit more of a freestyle throw down, as the snow forecast wasn’t predicting the 50-70 cm’s a day we were getting in Myoko. There was only around 10-15 cm’s of new snow each day, that on the groomers did
A car to a train to 2 more trains to a plane and then a bus…. We have arrived in Sapporo,Hokkaido. Back in the city and we are eager to explore! Our stomachs lead the way to a restaurant called mamas, conveniently its underneath our hotel and came highly recommended by our host Shun. We are greeted by “mama” who does not stop bringing out food that she thinks we should eat! We haven’t even seen a menu and the table is full of deliciousness and of course biru. Then she places the Karaoke machine on our table and smiles. We are all a little tentative to start with but It turns out we are all naturals and at the end of the night “mama” is prying the mic away from Benny. Haha! Mamas parting gift is a bottle of Shoju a rice liquor which has some burn to it. The boy’s head out to paint the town red and do a hell of a job of it and sing karaoke into the night with the friendly locals of Sapporo cheering them on or yelling at the to be quiet! Either way it was a hell of a time. Next
What a day we had! Blue bird Pow day, I have never had a day quite like it! Super lucky for us but not for some. That night we saw on the news that there was a rescue over at Akakura Kanko, but not just a rescue, a body was found on Sunday from the day before, the day that we were there!!!! A little bit scary. Nipple deep powder it would be easy to get lost and buried. Safety first kids! Thats why we here at Epic Snow hit the hill prepared. When the snows heavy, even when you are on piste you should have avalanche gear, Beacon, Probe, Shovel and resort map at the very least. Helmets are also a must. Anyway back to the snow….. This place does not let up!. That night the clouds came back. Only a little of the fresh stuff in the morning but all day it was F*cking PUKING as the crazy canucks say. Akakura Kanko was our destination, no rescue can scare us! Straight to the top where the snow flakes where as big as a strawberry and thats where we stayed all day. Sessioning two tree runs on either side
As we sat at the airport drinking 8:30 am beers watching Ricky, Del and Marty scramble to buy exiting tickets from japan the prospect of getting on the flight for 8 hours was getting exciting. Famous quote comes to mind, “adventure begins when things go wrong” After Tickets where purchased, next thing we know we are in the air sipping on beers en-route to the land of the rising sun. After arriving in Narita airport and picking up our bags, Our Japanese ambassador Kimi sent us a message saying “ its completely legal to drink on the trains, so grab some beers and ill see you soon” along with directions on how to navigate the rabbits warren of the Tokyo train system. Kimi and his wife Miyu welcomed us in true Japanese style beers and Ski movies! Kimi grew up skiing the Japanese alps from the age of 4 and knows the mountains of Myoko like the back of his hand. A true locals eye when it comes to powder spots! Ramen, Rain & Trains. Tokyo was a blur. An amazing city which we felt welcomed and safe. With Kimi’s wife Miyu as our tour guide we were covering some