An event aming eco was held in Hakuba.

Text: Ben Gibson

Have you ever seen a polar bear drown from lack of habitat? Or been on a South Pacific atoll that is slowly being swallowed up by the ocean? Me neither. The more drastic effects of Global Warming are usually not that conspicuous to us living in the industrialized world. Or at least really, really slow to show themselves. However, if you are in agreement with the majority of scientists regarding the issue, you probably feel that it is our species that is playing a pivotal role in this change of climate.

So what is there to do? How can people be motivated to change and adopt greener habits? Fear is a pretty good motivator, but love is not too shabby either. So at Tracks Bar in Hakuba, a group of winter sport enthusiasts (ie: ski bums) tried to make use of both, and give skiers and snowboarders a reason to start thinking about how we are affecting our own snow seasons.

The event was called “Hakuba Green Session-Ondanka Wa Teki Da!” (Global Warming is the Enemy). Our aim was to draw the parallel between how we in the First World live, and how it affects our snow seasons, and the Earth in general. 　The past few seasons have seen wildly fluctuating snowfall, (anyone remember last season?) and it appears that worldwide weather patters are becoming increasingly unstable.

Of course, using snowfall as a reason to live greener is pretty selfish, I admit., The effects of global warming range from pine beetle epidemics in Canada to rising sea levels and they affect the lives of millions. But snowboarders can be pretty dense. We have to take baby steps here.

Posters and fliers were made. Sponsors were assailed. .Books were read. And in the end, a lot of snow was shoveled. Past efforts to impart info on Global Warming was met with a lukewarm response.. This time was different. The event was held at Tracks Bar, at the base of Goryu. Not only were there refreshments and DJs, but an extensive Jib course was constructed and contest held in the parking lot.

The previous night had seen about 20 cm of heavy snow fall. With the help of a loader, the crew designed a course with all sorts of obstacles that won’t be seen at the local terrain parks. Among the highlights was a speaker jib, a flat table, a pole jam, and 4-meter log spine with a channel cut through it.

As soon as the event started at 7pm, kids were out testing their skills on the course. It was an informal set-up. Both skiers and snowboarders hiked up to the drop in, and just hit whatever pleased them. As the evening went on and the contest started, the energy increased and the participants got increasingly creative in their lines through the parking lot. A large crowd had gathered as well, enjoying the grace of the airs, as well as the carnage of the falls.

The contest closed at around 8:30, and most everyone (some stayed behind to continue riding) headed for warmth. Inside, snowboard videos had been playing for those who had enough cold weather during the day. As the judges tabulated the scores, people tested their environmental knowledge with a bilingual ‘eco’ quiz, and those who answered correctly won prizes.

Next up was a power-point style presentation about Global Warming. One of the organizers chatted in both English and Japanese about the causes and effects of Global Warming. It was like a skier and snowboarder-specific ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ without all the product placement and bitter-ex presidential candidates.

The presentation ended, and the prizes for the jib contest’s best tricks and worst slams were awarded, and Hakuba’s best local DJs spun dance music deep into the night. All said and done, people had fun, over 100,000 yen was raised, and the proceeds will be given to a charity dealing with Global Warming.

If you are interested in reducing your own contribution to climate change, and have somehow missed the plethora of information on what to do, here are some handy tips that were communicated at the event.

• Get out into nature. Connect with her. See just how important she is in all of our lives, and enjoy being with her. Because we won’t save what we don’t love.
• Give your brain a break from SMAPXSMAP and read a book about Global warming. Get informed. There is a ton of information on the internet as well. Go watch An Inconvenient Truth (Futsugouna Shinjitsu in Japanese) .
• We live in a consumer society that encourages waste. We have to become smarter consumers. Buy less, and re-use/recycle/repair what you already have. When you do buy, try to support green products and companies.
• Stop farting. In terms of the greenhouse effect, methane is 22 times as powerful as CO2.
• Use your car less. Japan has an amazing rail system, take advantage of it. Or ride a bike once in a while. If you really must use the car, make sure it is running as efficiently as possible (properly inflated tires, tuned engine, no extra luggage, car pooling, all that jazz). Anyone skier or snowboarder who idles their car at 7-11 while looking at your magazines printed on old-growth forest is going to snow-sport hell (where you will be forced to teach Jr High students how to funski on ice at an indoor resort).
• Eat less meat. Raising an animal takes up a tremendous amount of resources, including gasoline. Plus they fart. Eat locally grown and/or organic produce whenever possible.
• Risk confusing the hell out of everyone around you and refuse such wasteful ‘conveniences’ like chopsticks and plastic bags. You will become very good at repeating ‘No thank you, I really don’t need one’ to cash register clerks.

• Thanks to the sponsors Snow Beds, 902 Garage, Evergreen, One Ball Jay Waxes, Sweet Riders, Powderland and Tracks Bar for supporting this event, to everyone who came out to the event, and to anyone who is working towards a future that our kids can ski and snowboard in.

Snow Tricks / Photos : Kumapix