"It doesn't matter if you fall; the snow is so powder-soft, you just fall on fluff."
That's what they tell anyone who's learning to ski or snowboard in Hokkaido..
Ha, ha.
Yeah, right.
Like, it wouldn't hurt and break you into a million pieces if you fell from something that high???
Imagining boarders hurtle down towards the camera-toting hordes was bad enough; actually seeing it - and being witness to quite a few mishaps - made me want to vomit.
It's called PARKAIR - a clever twist on parkour, natch. So whilst I marveled at the marketing genius behind the naming of this daredevilry, I honestly couldn't stop my hands from shaking long enough to take decent photos. All the confidence I gained from days of boarding down baby slopes evaporated instantly.
Most of these pics were taken by my dear friend, Peter.
Thank goodness the boarders were mostly cute and cocky. They were the one fun thing about this eyewateringly frightful exercise!
