This Northern Hemisphere winter I had the pleasure of traveling to Japan for a month to coach, guide and host Mint Tours Snowboarding clients in Myoko on the Japanese Island of Honshu.
Myoko is Japans first ski resort so it is rich in culture and topped off with awesome mountain terrain and magic views.
Mint Tours offers Snowboarding tours in Japan, New Zealand, North America, Canada, Alaska, Sweden, Norway and Finland.
Among many other tours and personalized groups we also specialize in all womens tours called Mint Chicks. This year we hosted 14 girls for a ten day camp focusing on all mountain riding, increasing skills and gaining confidence in the free-ride style of snowboarding.
We had 5 days Snowboarding at Myoko’s Resorts then headed to Madarao to finish the ten day camp with a Back Country day and put our newly learnt skills to the test in a bluebird powder day! Wow!!
During the camp we stretched and did Pilates most days to relieve our tired muscles and discuss the benefits of a healthy and flexible body for our board-riding abilities.
I love sharing my passion for the mountains and the thrill of Snowboarding. I love snowboarding, it has encouraged me to live in the moment, evolve by traveling and also through witnessing some exquisite natural scenes in many locations globally. Not to mention all the interesting and awesome people I have met along the way.
Working with women and snowboarding is challenging as we need some mental strength to over come our fears and physical strength to ride well, these are all valuable tools for a happy healthy life! Nature and riding boards has taught me so much I love to share the experience.
This year it was so cool to have so many girls coming back to our camps and heaps of new girls to share the fun with too!
Special thanks to K2 Snowboarding, and Sportive New Zealand, Groovstar Outerwear New Zealand, Smith Optics and Mint Tours for making my trip possible.
Once my work was done with Mint I headed over to Hakuba to visit my swiss sliding sister and her husband’s beautiful mountain lodge Kodama Lodge – If you are in need of accommodation in the Hakuba valley check them out they know what’s up!
Thanks for checking in and now go outside and enjoy yourself – #shredtilyadead .. x
“In the end sharing will always be the foundation for good times” taken from Paradigme a sweet Swiss snowboarding movie…..