Whiteout in Japan

It was full-on winter in Japan. They haven’t heard about global warming there yet, tons of snow. The weather changes there every five minutes. It mostly dumped and blew hard. I certainly remember the inconsistent weather from Nagano ‘98 Olympics. The Furano World Cup PGS was challenging, flat light and soft conditions. I felt so strong in training leading up to the race, but struggled in the difficult conditions. Growing up in the Northwest I’m used to racing when it’s dumping and vertigo like visibility. I just had a hard time finding the rythm at the beginning and then spun three-sixty halfway down and didn’t advance. Not what I was hoping for. My teammates Justin Reiter and Tyler Jewell advanced to the top sixteen final, but both got knocked out in the first round. Canadian Matt Morison won his first FIS World Cup PGS, Simon Schoch second and Roc Marguc from Slovenia third.

My friends from Aspen’s Sister City Shimukkapu, which is about thirty minutes drive from Furano, made the trip to Furano to cheer me on. We went out to lunch in Furano and caught up. It’s really interesting to speak with them and discuss the cultural differences between our two countries. I always have so many questions when I’m traveling I want to ask, but often struggle for answers with the language barrier. This was a great opportunity to learn more about Japan and gain a different perspective. My book, “To the Edge and Back,” was published in Japanese last week and just came out. I was stoked to share a few copies with my friends. The text is written vertical and the book opens backwards. I can’t understand a word, but it looks cool. If you’re in Japan check it out and let me know what you think. Organ donation is nearly non-existent in Japan. Hopefully our book will have an impact and encourage Japanese people to consider this important message.

I arrived in Sungwoo, Korea late tonight after a long day of planes and buses. The mountain is lit up like Vegas. You can ride all night long here. I don’t think I’m going to make it out there tonight. We’re training here the next week and racing a World Cup PGS Feb. 25th. Aspen High School hosted a National Donor Day event Feb. 14th on campus promoting life-saving donation. Thanks to the outreach club for supporting donation. I’ll take some shots and post ’em from Korea. Thanks for dropping in. Enjoy the Japanese photos below.

CK

US – Sweden Snowboarding Team Japan 2007

Euro’s Emanual, Alex and Fish Enjoying some Sushi

My friends from Aspen’s Sister City Shimukkapu, Japan

Aspen High School Outreach Club, National Donor Day 2007