2nd “Bonz Cup” Report “Motivation comes first, style comes second”

The second Bonz Cup was held on Saturday, January 20th at Kamoidake International Ski Resort in Hokkaido. It is a

Bonz which brings together young skiers up to the age of 30, with a wide range of home mountains and ages, including Katsuno Tenran, Sasaki Gen, Fujii Masaori, Motoki Daichi, Hirayama Shun, Furuya Daichi, Fujii Yosuke, and Koyama Takashi.

The rider-led event was led by Shun Hirayama (in the red and yellow jacket in the center). The members all came together around him, with Katsuno Tenran (third from the left) as MC, judges Gen Sasaki (fourth from the left) and Masaori Fujii (second from the left), starters Daichi Furuya (far left), Takashi Koyama, and Yosuke Fujii, and PA and drone operator Daichi Motoki (far right). Of course, the Bonz crew will also be presenting the pre-race

we will report on the event through photos and comments from Haglofs JAPAN's Mikami Daiki,
who participated as a supporter

The participants ranged from fun skiers just enjoying themselves to well-known skiers like LINE rider Yamagishi Kenya. The other skiers were also surprised to see Kawamura Anri at the venue. The young men's category in particular was so high-level that it made you wonder what's going on with kids these days. In the women's category, a former ski cross skier showed off her power turns, but Kawamura Anri's relaxed skiing and impressive backflips showed just how different her level is. The men's winner, Muto Kenshin, was undoubtedly a master of his craft.

Personally, I was impressed by Yamagishi Kenya's skiing, even though he fell on both runs. He landed a huge rodeo 7 and a smooth nose butter 7 using the roof of a hut just before the finish line.

With Shun in charge, everyone worked together to break down the kickers on the course, and many other riders came to help.
The event is run by hand and it's not a big event, but the riders all cooperated when it came time to pack up.
It's a great, homey event. This is probably due to Hirayama Shun's personality and the fact that the "Bonz Crew" is run by riders themselves.

Speaking of rider-organized freeride events, the Japan Freeride Open, which includes Ueki Shikaichi and others, will be held for the 9th time this year, and the Chanmero Freeride Open, which is organized mainly by Oike Takuma, will move out of Hakuba this year and add a tournament in Toyama, making it a series of four races in total

When you think of freeriding, you might think of Hakuba, but Hokkaido is also home to the Kiroro Powder Freeride Open, which was started by Kodama Tsuyoshi in 2012 and is now in its 12th year. With
past winners including Endo Junpei, Kusunoki Taisuke, Sasaki Yu, Sasaki Gen, Katsuno Tenran, Kanazawa Tomomi, and Nakagawa Miku, it's no exaggeration to say that the event is part of the history of freeriding in Japan.
For Bonz Cup leader Hirayama Shun, the Kiroro Powder Freeride Open was his first freeride competition.

One day on the ferry returning from FWQ Hakuba, Shun said, "I want to hold a tournament in my hometown of Asahikawa," and I was happy to see his passionate desire take shape with the help of his teammates and pass it on to the next generation