Words: Dave Lee / Photos: Arlie John Carstens

Bags packed and ready for a long drive, we woke up to our first rainy day, perfect timing! After two beautiful days in the sun, we all welcomed the rainy drive as it made the road and landscape more interesting. Next stop was Takasu Snow Park, which is nestled in easily the most beautiful mountain town I have ever been to in Japan, Hida. Takasu had prime spring like conditions with long runs and quirky obstacles.

Then we carved out a small hip-to-gap and worked on some sweet tweaks for a while. Jake lofted huge frontside stiffies and a tailfish, which was amazing.

Oh, and he split the ass out of his pants.

Peter tweaked those stylish methods.

Spencer stayed back at the dojo nursing his injuries.

And our Japanese Signal riders Hide Sato, Yusaku Horii, Jin Saito, and Yosuke Akagawa threw down as well.

After putting in a solid 8 hours on the hill, we headed back to Hida to relax in our dojos and get ready for dinner. The restaurant was classic, and the food tasted amazing. The only issue was there were a few chewy pieces of chicken that none of us Yankees could seem to get down. Laughing at our expense, our Japanese distributor tells us it’s intestine… Yummy!!

Day 6 we had a photo shoot ten miles from Takasu where they built what they call a classic 90’s style kicker. It was slushy, fun, hard to gage your speed, and kind of awesome! Now we are off for a shop visit at Piledriver, which is located in the three hundred year old city of Takayama.

Check out Signal Snowboards Japan Tour: First Three Days

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