Until the 2010s, free-skiing competitions were actively held all over the country, but now most of them are sponsored by FIS and SAJ.
The "Japan Jr Freeski Open", a gateway competition for kids aiming for the world, finished its role at the turning point of 10 years, and now the number of competitions has decreased, and adults and children alike are losing opportunities to interact and experience. On the other hand, the rise of SNS has made it possible to easily send videos and photos, so the number of people who enjoy freeskiing regardless of location or level has become more apparent than before.
A new form of exchange is emerging in which such loose connections on the Internet are also born in the real world. In particular, free skiing is much more fun than skiing alone by having a session with multiple people.
Daisuke Kurata making freeski videos since the 2000s, to report on the competition "Fresh Star Cup" held at X-JAM Takaifuji on Saturday, March 19th .
・
・
・
Cold Star Cup is a free ski competition organized by Daimi Sato (ZUMASKIS) and Higuchi (ARMADA) "Cold" is taken from the initials of the two names, Hiromi and Eigo, and "Sta" is borrowed from the event where the two met for the first time. Some mysteries remain, such as why the Chinese character for "cold" and which event it was, but the two people in their 20s were concerned about the decline in competitions and session events over the past few years, It was planned with the purpose of providing a place for skiers to interact.
The competition items were originally planned to consist of two sections from 2way kicker to Rail/Box, but due to the bad weather the day before, it was changed to 2 sections from 5m kicker to 8m kicker.
Although it was cloudy on the day of the competition, about 20 free skiers from a wide range of ages, from teens to 40s, gathered to participate. The qualifying session was a JAM session, with 16 players advancing to the final. The final will be a one-off tournament format, the same as PARKAIR, with the passion of the two planners. After the semi-finals, it was contested in the super final by four advanced players.
As a competition trick, SW tricks from SW landings that emphasize the flow of middle class double kickers, and transfer jumps that make use of the first wide landing were often seen. The winner was Shohei Ayuda, who decided Rodeo 3 to Cork 7 truck drivers.
2nd Kenti
3rd Shu Wakayama
4th Shibata Yuito
guest riders and judges are Shunsuke Uemura (Riotskis) , Kosuke Kusakari (ON3P) , and Akane Nakata (ROXY) . During the demo run, he showed a full style jump with two planners. The MC is Seita Kimura, also known as SEI Ent. .
Like JIB FES., which has become a specialty of Takai Fuji, the event was greatly excited with MCs that focused on individual participants.
While there is a feeling of a session at JAM, there is also a sense of tension of a single match.
It was a competition event reminiscent of the atmosphere of the old grass tournament.
Photos and videos of the competition will be posted on Instagram and YouTube in the future.
Taiki Sato and Eigo Higuchi are planning to hold such competition events in the next off-season and next season.
Check the Instagram of the two and the cold studio cup for information.
Daimi Sato (@hiromi__0220) Eigo
Higuchi (@eigorian2)
Cold Star Cup ( @hiesuta )