JaPOW Adventures & Learnings 23-24 Season

For me, this season was about new adventures and learnings.

In early December I headed to Japan to work as a ski instructor in Happo-one, Hakuba. I took the cheapest flight I could from London to Tokyo, the only downside seemed to be an 8 hour stop-over / plane change in Cairo. I’m cash poor but time rich so it seemed like a good trade. The one thing I hadn’t factored in was lost luggage, in this case a ski bag rammed full of skis, boots, avi kit and clothes.…..with only 1 flight a week from Cairo to Tokyo and the missing bag not making it onto the next flight this became an increasingly irksome problem. On reflection the few pounds saved may not have been worth it.

Kuraokami, the Shinto deity of rain and snow, finally got his act together

After a few days exploring Tokyo it was time to start work – I felt ill prepared with my handful of Japanese words and phrases (Konnichiwa – こんにちは, Arigatou Gozaimasu ありがとうございます, Hajimemashite はじめまして, Sayōnara さようなら and Hai はい) and no real grasp of a culture seemingly dominated by indirect communication. Arriving in resort I found myself assigned to staff accommodation that I can only describe as having ‘detention centre chic’. Fortunately I had the nicest manager who, after a few days, managed to relocate me into a shared apartment with a few other English speakers, from here on things really picked up.

This was my first full time ski instructor contract and it turned out to be an incredibly rewarding experience. Not only was I helping others learn and improve in a sport I love, I also learned and re-learned so many things, the most important being: never underestimate the mountains – more on that here!

A memorable season of face shots and bottomless POW

Happo-one, like a lot of Northern hemisphere ski areas had a slow start in terms of snowfall. Fortunately Kuraokami, the Shinto deity of rain and snow, finally got his act together towards the end of December and blessed Honshu Island with dump after dump after dump of Japan’s famous cold light POW.

This set us up for an incredible memorable season of face shots and bottomless POW. Made all the better courtesy of a new pair of K2 Mindbender 116s which were the perfect tool when I wasn’t donning my instructors uniform.

Anyhow back to new adventures and learnings…..these are the top 5 things that I’m sure will stay with me for the rest of my days.

Cheap flights can have other drawbacks other than long stopovers or questionable safety records
You never forget your first earthquake
People are wonderful – finding common ground is easier than you may think – even if you don’t have a common language or culture
Age is just a number – teaching someone twice your age feels empowering and teaching someone half your age feels rewarding – the main difference is the number of toilet breaks
Fail to prepare, prepare to fail – although I should really credit this to ‘Goose‘ as he’s been saying it to me since I was in junior school