REPORT

The morning sky was tinted with a peculiar haze, presumably due to Asian Dust carried into the area by yesterday’s strong winds. The Panorama Course was groomed with a moderately soft, granular snow surface that quickly turned more slushy as soon as tracks started to be carved into the slope. I caught some of the athletes warming up for the Ski Technical Championships early on as well. (*Pictured: Keiya Saito, an athlete representing Nagano)
[Panorama Course]

Today the finals for four separate disciplines were held for the Ski Technical Championships in three locations: along the Alpen Quad (pictured, background left), on Sodeguro (pictured, background right), and on Kurobishi. As the pre-competition course inspections began, the racers could be seen carefully checking the courses.
[Panorama Course]

As scheduled, the “Long Turn (Steep Slope / Hard-pack)” (pictured) and “Short Turn (Steep Slope / Natural)” disciplines kicked off simultaneously at separate locations at 9:00 a.m. When the athletes showed off their impressively-quick and rhythmic turns, spectators could be overheard marveling over their speed and technique. (*Pictured: Yusa Kawabata, an athlete representing Tokyo)
[Usagidaira]

It was warm starting off, but temperatures rose even higher during the day, and some of the cheering spectators could be seen shedding clothing and going down to only thin layers. I spoke with Nagano’s Shohei Tanaka, who told me, “It’s so hot today, I wonder if I’ll have enough energy to last until the end (lol).” Tomorrow, 3/12 (Sun.), will be the climax of the tournament: the Super Final and the Winning Match!
[Usagidaira]

*Results for the Final of Technical : Men – 1st Ryu Takeda (Hokkaido, 2,218 points), 2nd Shun Okumura (Kyoto, 2,215 points), 3rd Yuki Kawakami (Gunma, 2,210 points), 6th Takao Maruyama (Nagano, 2,198 points), 10th Keiya Saito (Nagano, 2,192 points), 12th Katsutomo Ishimizu (Gifu, 2,190 points) / Women – 1st Yui Sunohara (Nagano, 2,197 points), 2nd Nagisa Watanabe (Niigata, 2,194 points), 3rd Kurumi Kamiya (Hokkaido, 2,188 points), 4th Miku Kuriyama (Niigata, 2,187 points), 8th Yusa Kawabata (Tokyo, 2,171 points), 19th Yui Katsuura (Hokkaido, 1070 points)

　　
[Happo-One Opening Information for 3/11 (Sat.)]
*All courses are available!
*Available Lifts … Gondola (8:00 a.m.-), totally 16 lifts
*Fees … Adult JPY6,500, 6-17 y/o JPY3,200, Over 65 y/o JPY5,800

*Printable Rental Discount Coupons!
Carving Ski・Snowboard 1-Day Rental Set JPY3,000 / Outerwear JPY2,500!
Carving Ski・Snowboard High Performance Model Rental JPY500 OFF!
Kid’s Ski・Snowboard 1-Day Rental Set JPY2,500 / Outerwear JPY1,500!

*Click here to purchase photos found in this report
　
　
reported by Snownavi