| By repeatedly skiing down the same slope, you gradually release the doubts
you had about the slope conditions or the time you spent away from skiing.
If you can start skiing from a tense stance and start sprinting, your speed
will visibly increase, and if you can end up saying, "Ah, I was able
to ski well ==", that will be the goal of this first ski. How about
a first skiing like that? That's the annual 2 nights and 3 days/or 1 night
and 2 days trip to Tateyama. Yes, the people who come up to Tateyama and
ski round and round on the same slope. That's us. The equipment is plastic
boots/telemark, leather boots/thin skis, NNNBC, and XPLORE. In any case,
everyone is heel-free and has step-cut skis (also called waxless). This
time, there was little snow and the rocks were not completely buried. In
such a case, the strategy we can take is to create a safe slope. First,
we climb up and down the whole slope with side steps. Then we find the
head of the rock. We put a red marker cone as a marker where we hit it.
This makes it clear that "here is a rock!!" There are many other
benefits to side step climbing. One is that it is the best warm-up. Furthermore,
by stepping on new ground, everyone can understand the current snow conditions.
And if the snow is crusty, stepping on it to break it up makes it much
easier to ski. We are skiing for the first time with the aim of getting
back to the form we were in last season. There is no need to challenge
the crusty conditions here. In a situation where there is little snow and
rocks are exposed, it would be no laughing matter if you ski on the crust
and fall. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened at Mt. Tateyama
this time. It would be one thing if we were going around on step cut skis
like we were, but for the typical behavior of putting skins on skis and
climbing up and down a slope that you have never seen before, this was
simply a risk at Mt. Tateyama this time. The guide group who canceled the
plan was right! I think it was a reliable decision in terms of safety management.
On the other hand, I wonder if the reason we were able to "ski to
our heart's content" in the same environment was because of the method
we had developed over the years, including setting our first skiing goal
and choosing the right equipment? I would like to summarise this as my
first comment. Thank you to everyone who participated. We look forward
to seeing you again. November 21st - 24th, 2024 |
