Sam Pilgrim is Big in Japan
Nice guy Sam Pilgrim embarks on an Alan Partidge-esque “Pilgrimage” to Japan to soak up the culture and inspire local young riders.
Along the way Sam nearly invents a new sport…Sumo Freeride and discovers that there is over 500 ski resorts in Japan. That’s a lot of potential for bike parks right there.
Alan Partridge tells us about his “Pilgrimage” or “Partrimage” or “Pilgrimartridge”
And finally I couldn’t resist a bit of 80′s power pop with Alphaville and Big in Japan.
I live here and can unfortunately report that even though there are 500 ski resorts in Japan I only know of around 5 that operate any kind of uplift tied to dedicated MTB.trails. With the population aging the resorts look to bring in the retired rich during the summer do you are much more likely to find orchid fields being planted rather than lines being cut. It makes commercial sense for the resorts over trying to attract a niche market. Bugger basically. However the good news is that undetected groups of riders here are working together with forestry landowners to create bike parks closer to major conurbations. If anyone wants more info about riding in Japan say so; there is a large group of us out here…
That’s meant to read “undeterred” not undetected!
Holy crap that’s weird, I was in the same Sumo stables in Ryogoku that those guys train in recently, I saw each of the pictured guys doing their thing!
The little one at the back on the right hand side was probably the best!