Asahikawa!

While the kids and I were in the Midwest, Kyle was in Japan! He spent a week in Asahikawa, outside of Sapporo, on Hokkaido, at a nordic Paralympic World Cup event. Here are a few of his documented memories. He had fun at the events, experienced an onsen one night, and tested a few fabled Japanese whiskeys while he was there!

Star Wars snow sculptures. After all, what is a snow festival/ski race without a huge Darth Vader and stormtroopers?

Kyle and his fellow classifiers. The snow in the area was amazing, and the mountains, he says, felt like Eastern mountains in the US: old and weathered. 

This guy won a lot of races. I unfortunately cannot remember his name. 

Japanese media was there, snapping pictures of the athletes and officials. It almost makes one feel like nordic skiing is a popular sport that the general public might be interested in!

Another race!

Trails were awesome and grooming was perfect.

Kyle and the muckety mucks at the event.

Getting out for a ski! He doesn't have any photos to prove it, but when he was in Japan, our dear friend Kathleen was also there, in the same town, for a backcountry ski trip to celebrate her 40th birthday. They were even staying at the same hotel, by coincidence! She had some epic days of skiing, and tragically ended up fracturing her patella while she was there. Sad ending to an amazing trip for her. 

This is Kyle and Atushi, the assistant coach for the Japanese paralympic team. He's apparently a great guy.