Chasing Winter: The Life Snowboarding Gave Me

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I never planned to chase winter for a living. But after being stuck in Morocco during Covid, I came home, wiped the slate clean, and everything changed. It all started at Ohau in 2020. A grassroots ski field in remote New Zealand, that feels like its from the 80s. Living in an old wooden house built in 1902, on the lake, a fire with damp wood, freezing my bones all winter but frothing. One lift, one lodge, no shops, no wifi, were the ingredients for a good time. I snowboarded over 100 days that winter, fished at sunset. It opened my eyes to a new way of living I never knew before. A guy who had just finished a commerce degree, a career in Accounting beckoned.

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💬 "But I decided to throw that career prospect off a cliff and follow the joy I got from sliding down a hill on fibreglass."

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How I Became a Snowboard Instructor?

A tight crew of instructors inspired me to become one. I got my qualification and there began my career as a snowboard instructor. I worked at the Remarkables in Queenstown. Queenstown is great for mountain time and stacked with adventure. With night skiing, and the fields a hop, skip and a jump away from my doorstep, I was riding my guts out. The terrain is steep, and there is some wild backcountry options. I got my avalanche certificate and I began dreaming about the big mountains around the world.

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A Season in Japan

A season in Japan was something I was patiently waiting for. In 2023, I worked at Nozawa Onsen. A winter of snowboarding tree runs, vending machines, ramen, snow monkeys, shrines and Onsens. Nestled in an ambient ski village in the Japanese Alps. Life here is simple yet, fuelled with adrenaline and excitement. There is such a beautiful rhythm and peace to living here, the mountain lifestyle as soulful as it is stoked. I lived with 45 ski and snowboard instructors, and could snowboard most of the way home. The snow is otherworldly, light and fluffy. There's nothing quite like ripping bottomless, waist-deep powder through the birch trees.

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I got myself a Korua board. I can't rate these boards enough. It's a swallow tail, light as a feather in pow, and awesome for rail to rail carving. It completely changed the feeling of snowboarding for me. Everything is so sensitive. It gave me that weightless freedom of powder riding. I started dabbling in backcountry missions within Nagano.

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For a taste of life as an instructor in Japan, watch the clip below:

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A post shared by EA Ski and Snowboard Training (@easkiandsnowboard)

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Day In The Life Of A Snowboard Instructor In Japan

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Daily life for me is waking early and having my morning percolator coffee. On my stroll to work I pass shrines, waterfalls, and traditional Onsens. If it's a powder day, I hit the tree runs with the snowboard gang. Lessons run from 10-12.30pm, then we meet for Katsu Curry and miso soup. There is complimentary green tea up the mountain and it's a good way to warm up the hands. Afternoon lessons finish at 3.30pm. Depending on what day of the week it is, I do yoga, jujutsu, Japanese lessons or go to the bouldering gym. This is always followed by a rejuvenating soak in an onsen. There are 13 free Onsens dotted around the village as well as free foot-baths. It's the perfect way to put a bow on the day. A day with the perfect mixture of peacefulness and exhilaration.

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💬 “In what other place in the world can you have a morning onsen, slap yennies in the vending machine for a hot brew, snowboard the best snow in the world, go bouldering, and finish the day in a foot onsen, with a beer in hand, beside your friends that you live with, overlooking the sun set over the mountains. You can't beat these days”

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Why Choose Japan For A Winter Ski Season?

Japan has got everything. It's wonderfully unique. In my ski town we have had many cultural festivals and traditions such as a Fire Festival and Janken tournaments (paper scissors rock festival). You can play retro Mario kart in the pubs, and listen to the town song at night or go visit snow monkeys bathing in natural hot springs. There's amazing hiking, you can dive in the south in the tropical islands of Okinawa, scale mountains, and surf along their Kyushu coast. In Aoshima you can surf a perfect right hander and then hang out on an island of cats. Japan has it all.

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Why Do I Snowboard And Instruct Snowboarding?

It's a sport that connects me with nature. Snowboarding Japan is like surfing a mountain of whipped cream. With instructing, I get to experience this incredible feeling every day.

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What Instructing Has Taught Me

Instructing has taught me to back my own horse, to connect all sorts of people, speak with conviction, to be patient, have a gritty persistence, to inspire, to let the creative juices flow, and to live with passion in my blood. I have mates from all necks of the world, and stories to tell the grandkids one day. I was on a slippery slope to a life reconciling bank accounts, congested traffic, water cooler chit chat, but being a snowboard instructor led me to roll up my sleeves and craft a life of fiery passion and ultimate freedom. Anyone can have this life. You just have to put all your eggs in the basket and go for it!

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