Topic - London Region Nordic
Ski Club trip to Japan - Feb 2008
Date first posted on eCommunity - 1
July 2007
London Region Nordic Ski Club has announced an
unusual and ambitious trip for the coming winter. This will be to Japan
in February – provisional dates are 6-18 February. The visit will
combine two major ski races, the Sapporo International Ski Marathon and
the Miyasama Ski Marathon.
Club Chairman, Paddy Field, recently issued the following notice:
"The Sapporo International Ski Marathon in Free Technique over distances
of 25 and 50 km (with a 10 km alternative for those who want it) is well
known to all followers of the Worldloppet. TV viewers of last year's
World Championships in Sapporo, the largest town in Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, will be familiar with the
type of country over which the race is run, as well as with the normally
excellent snow conditions. For Worldloppet Masters seeking to upgrade
their achievement to that of the new ranking of `Global Worldloppet
Master' (ie completion of all 14 races), this race is a `must'. The race
takes place at the same time as the world-famous Sapporo Snow and Ice
Festival, worth a visit on its own!
Full details of travel and accommodation have not yet been finalised,
but to amortise costs it is proposed to include the Miyasama Ski
Marathon the following weekend in the trip. The
Miyasama Ski Games – which include the marathon - have been running
since 1928-29 and are the oldest and most prestigious in Japan and take
place in the town of Biei, near to Asahikawa and approx 100 km north of
Sapporo. Travel between the two centres is by train. The Miyasama race
is in Free Technique and is run over distances of 12, 21 and 42 km.
The visit to Japan will be a truly cultural as well as a sporting
experience. For many cross-country skiers it will be the ski trip of a
lifetime and it will certainly be necessary to book early."
Members of other British cross-country ski clubs will be welcome to join
the trip. Expressions of interest should be addressed to Paddy at
paddyfield@ski-nordic.co.uk.
If you are tempted, but would like to have more information on the
Sapporo marathon, then a good source is:
http://www.worldloppetskier.com/adviceSM.htm. This is the website of
the International Association of Worldloppet Skiers. The Sapporo section
of the site covers international travel (flights to Tokyo then onward to
Sapporo Chitose) and local travel in Sapporo (train, bus or subway). It
talks about accommodation – and warns that hotels
book up many months in advance.
The website also gives a useful description of the course of the 50km
race:
"The race course, or at least part of it, was used for the Olympics in
Sapporo in 1972. It is really a skier's dream (or nightmare if you have
not practised enough). Don't be misled by the profile that is published
for the course. It is anything but flat and straight. Very little of the
course is flat and there are numerous downhills that will get the
adrenaline up, and long draining uphills that will get the heart pumping
at its limit. The first 4 km is fairly wide
and is also a deceptive uphill. It never seems steep to the eye but you
gain 150 meters. After that the course slims down so that it is wide
enough for one or two skiers in different sections. Passing may be
difficult at times. The first 25 km are extremely hard. After
that the hills become a bit gentler which you may or may not notice.
After 42 km they give you the last shock, it is a 90 meter climb in less
than a kilometer. If possible, save some of your energy. After that you
are home free, most of the remainder is downhill, the exception being
about a kilometer on the field before you reach the Dome at the finish
where you have a very gentle uphill. They set one classical track at the
side but because the course is narrow it will
be destroyed by the skaters. Unless you can finish in the first 20,
don't expect a classic track that is useful."
Race HQ is at the Sapporo dome, a large sporting facility. As the events
start and finish within a short walk of the dome, race logistics are
easier than at many events. You just leave your change kit in a locker
before the start and retrieve it when you finish. Hot showers are
available in the dome.
The event has a good snow record. Last winter, it was one of the few
Wordloppet races to enjoy good snow on race day. The field is fairly
small. Last year, 671 racers took part in the 50 km event, and another
621 in the 25 km race. The winner's time in the 50 km race was 2:42:15.
The 25 km race winner had a time of 1:18:22.
FURTHER INFORMATION
The Sapporo race website is at:
http://www.sspc.or.jp/ski/eng_top.html.
Unfortunately it does not have a lot of content.
The Japanese national tourist office site is at:
http://www.seejapan.co.uk/. It
says:
"Japan is one of the world's great winter sports nations. Over 80% of
Japan's land area is composed of mountains and the winters are governed
by the Siberian air mass, the coldest air mass in the world. As a result
at least four months every year the mountains in the central highlands
and northern regions of Japan are blanketed with snow, making Japan's
ski grounds among the best in the world. Japan was the first Asian
country to host Winter Olympics in 1972 and then again in 1998. Yet
despite the country's brilliant winter sports conditions and facilities
few Europeans have ever been skiing there. This is all set to change
with nine British ski tour operators offering Japanese ski resorts for
the first time in 2006-2007. The tour operators are - AsiaFare, Crystal,
Inghams, Inside Japan Tours, Into Japan, Jaltour, Japan Travel Centre
and Oxalis Holidays."
For the snow festival website go to:
http://www.snowfes.com/english/
You can see photos of the 2005 race at:
http://www.fasterskier.com/travel1933.html
For a bit of fun – and an account of the race from a laddish Australian
perspective – there is an article called Crouching Tiger, Hidden Wombat
at:
http://www.hoppet.com.au/xc/xcfiles/reports/mockreport_sapporo2006.htm
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