2005-01-HokkaidoTrip2 (100 images)
Our second trip to Hokkaido for the season, and Travus' first. Had the hardcore crew up on this one, and was a pleasure to board in the back bowls with group of such dedicated fanatics to the sport such as Chizuko and I. In a word, the conditions were: "biblical". Had on average 30-40+ cm of fresh powder *every* day/night while there. All of us had to move our bindings to the furthest back positions just to stay on top of everything (a first for all of us as well). That's no small thing considering that most of us have powder specialized boards! Highlight for Travus was that it was his first time on real skis (last season he started on plastic strap ons). Bought him real skis and boots, and put him on the slopes the first day. I had a lot of help this time around versus last season. I used a setup from www.kid-ski.com that allows me to tether him to me and stear him where I want to go (better to look at the photos as to how it fits/works). The most amazing thing of all was that Travus is a natural (okay, maybe not such a surprise given everything he's been through up until now)! He took right off the first time I let him go, and didn't fall for the first 10 minutes or so. In fact, he was getting *most* irritated by the fact that I had him on a leash, and wasn't going fast enough for him!! In Japanese he was saying: "jibun-de" (let me go by myself), and "hayaku" (go faster)!! Exceed both of our most optimistic expectations on his ability to say the least!
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