Impossible. That’s the model of Gentemstick snowboard Hiromi Tatsumi now rides as a chairboard. Perfect, because this is a man who has made everything possible.
Like most local residents, Hiromi Tatsumi came to Hokkaido from a vastly different climate and fell in love with the Niseko powder lifestyle.
While gorging himself on perfect powder for four months in 1998, he started dreaming of an eternal winter. At the end of that season he headed south to New Zealand for a three-month working/snowboarding holiday, with another month surfing in Australia. After this adventure, life going back to his hometown Tokushima – a small city on Japan’s second southern-most island Shikoku – to help at his father’s iron factory was no longer enough. He needed more from this life. Tatsumi-san’s passion for snowboarding once again led him back to Niseko in 2003.
On 10 March – early spring – in 2008, a fateful set of circumstances changed the course of Tatsumi’s life. He had planned to snowboard at Hanazono’s park but it was closed. Instead, he spent the morning riding in Hirafu, before heading back to check if Hanazono had opened for one last run. It had opened and he headed for the park. He hit one jump, then another. As he approached the third, he matched his speed to the rider in front of him and went for it, heading towards a jump he’d been over 1000 times. Today though, the snow was soft, the lip was soft. He went for a backside turn completely clearing the landing. He slammed into the flat, landing on his back on rock-solid snow – not the powder he loved.
“I wanted to lose consciousness,” Tatsumi says. “An electric shock-like pain went through my body and the next thing I knew, I couldn’t move my legs. My wife was riding with me and I called her for help. While she went to get somebody, I was thinking, ‘This isn’t good. This is really bad.’”
Mountain patrol also sensed this was bad. An ambulance took him to the nearby army base, from where he was airlifted by helicopter to a hospital in Bibai, just north of Sapporo. Tatsumi fought against pain and fear before arriving in hospital where he would spend the next four months.
“It was a long four months!” he now laughs.
These days Tatsumi has a constant smile on his face. His dark Japanese tan hints at his love for the outdoors. His friends and family can still see the old Tatsumi.
But what he went through following that fateful instant was nothing many of us could imagine. A few hours after he was airlifted to hospital, and one hour before his surgery, a doctor told Tatsumi that he may not be able to walk again. He would probably need a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
The official diagnosis was that he had a fracture-dislocation of the spine. It was bad.
Usually doctors wait some time to tell patients about the potential ramifications of this injury. Time and care is important. The nurse that spent so much time with Tatsumi in the days and weeks after his accident couldn’t bear to discuss it.
But for some reason, his doctor decided not to withhold the inevitable news for too long. Perhaps he saw Tatsumi’s inner strength. And it was exactly what Tatsumi needed to hear.
Hearing the truth freed his mind from fear. Fear of not knowing. Fear of never-ending pain. Fear of losing something precious.
“My doc did the right thing,” Tatsumi says with a glint in his eyes.
“Reset. I switched my frame of mind. I decided to be positive, to go forward, and to challenge myself to do whatever was possible. If this had been a car accident, I might have still been angry. But in my case, it was me who caused this accident. Everything was my responsibility. Besides, the hospital I was at, Bibai Rosai, was located near a coal mine, meaning the doctors who treated me were the best in the field of spinal cord damage. I was glad to be sent to such a great hospital with such great staff.
“I’m so thankful for my family, too. Without them and their help, I wouldn’t be here today.
“People often asked me how I could be this positive. But it’s the other way around – I wonder how people could ever reach their goals with a negative mind! I don’t want to look back at what I did. Iwnstead of regret, I want to go forward. I want to go forward even if that means taking a detour.
“If my doctor tells me to cry for two straight years so I can walk, I’ll do that! But in reality it’s not like that, it’s not that easy. I guess I was always positive at heart.
“You know, when you take a detour – a winding road – you still have to make choices along the way. Sometimes it will take a long time to reach where you want to be, life being what it is. Interestingly, you might stumble over the finish line, find yourself just over the destination, or simply time warp.”
Time warp. That’s exactly what he did.
Fast forward seven years and Tatsumi Hiromi is now a brand ambassador for multinational outdoor clothing label Patagonia, as well a host of other sponsors who are helping him pursue his dreams.
He has started a rafting company – Yotei Outdoor – which focuses on introducing physically or mentally challenged people to rafting in Niseko. There’s a link on his website to a documentary that Japan’s national broadcaster NHK produced, in which you can witness the happiness Tastumi now brings to so many people by personally introducing them to the water and Niseko’s great outdoors.
How did he do it all? “I just did what I loved,” he smiles.
“I searched for what was possible. When I found something, I didn’t stop. I continued whatever I started. First, chair-skiing. I could do it, but something was missing. I couldn’t get snowboarding out of my head. I used what I had to build my own chair-snowboard.
“The more I rode, the more people noticed, including Taro Tamai (founder of world-famous Niseko powder snowboard company Gentemstick). One thing led to another, and my friend, Sheesa (Gentemstick pro Tomomi Kuwahara) set up a dinner meeting.”
Tatsumi still remembers the first time he met Tamai-san, and the first words he spoke:
“I’ve been watching you chair-snowboarding for a long time,” Tatsumi remembers hearing.
“Yes, I was watching you, Hiromi. I thought how wonderful it would be if you rode with Gentem. And then you came to me. Finally.”
After the two met, they quickly came to an understanding, collaboratively making the perfect chair-snowboard. After five years of trial and error, “Impossible” was born.
“Tamai-san and I would ride together and he would come up with a new design just by watching how I move. He is incredible!
“My father owns an iron factory so I’m a pretty handy guy. I first made a chair-snowboard by myself before I met Tamai-san. But it didn’t really work. I used my old snowboard and attached a 10mm aluminum plate to it and put a chair on it.
“I could ride on it but it had a lot of faults – it wasn’t fun. Most of all, I didn’t have the energy and time to make the real thing.
“The real thing is the one I have now – the one from Gentem. It’s amazing! The design, its durability and the material; everything is perfect. Gentem really changed how I snowboard; it changed my mind.”
Tatsumi says he was satisfied with his life before the accident. Like many Niseko locals, he rode powder every day, had good jobs as a backcountry guide for the winter and as a rafting guide for the summer. He says he was “a regular Niseko rider – not good, not bad”.
Not good not bad? He was being modest. He took out the Fox Japan Boardercross in 2003, placed second in Snowboardcross Hokkaido region in 2004, and went on to compete and place well in All Japan Snowboarding Championships several times. It’s safe to say he was very good. Obviously a natural talent.
Beyond the snow, Tatsumi enjoyed Hokkaido as much as he could, kayaking in the spring and fall, surfing in the summer, and, of course, snowboarding throughout the winter.
Tatsumi says after moving to Hokkaido, he enjoyed more of what life has to offer. Along with the four seasons, and the seasons of his life, Tatsumi always found fun activities to fill his days and made time for what he loved. He truly enjoyed life. That’s why even after his accident Tatsumi’s words to his wife were, “Please let me do as I like. I need three years!”
After four months in hospital, in the summer of 2008, Tatsumi began kayaking, and by the following winter he was back in the mountains. Yes, this was the very same year of his fateful accident.
It was his strong mind and iron will that led to his quick recovery and presence on the mountain. But it was one photo that kept him moving forward…
While resetting his life in hospital, he saw a picture in a foreign magazine – a photo of someone chair-skiing in powder. From that moment until now, his courage never subsided.
Tatsumi feels enthusiastic about his life and speaks passionately about his family, his hopes and his dreams. “Now anything I do, people will say, ‘Wow!’ Because I’m different. I’m in a wheelchair and I do all kinds of different things. Of course, I get nervous when I first try. With my heart pounding I get scared, but I don’t stop. I don’t want to stop anything I start. Although I’ve lost the ability to walk, my confidence still remains in my heart. My confidence helps a lot. With confidence, things that are possible multiply!
“Oh, and I love snowboarding, kayaking, surfing and my life! When people hear this, they admire my patience and hard work. And then they help me grow, as a person, as an athlete. Through their support I have what I have now. What I do gives me the chance to share my thoughts. I want people to know that somebody like me can do so many things. I want people to know that finding and chasing goals is fun but hard, and that’s okay. I want people to know that things I do are precious because of the love and support I receive.
“You know, recently my wife asked me something. She asked me if I still want to walk again. She loves me dearly but worries if I’m satisfied with my current situation. Without a doubt, I still have hope to walk again and I believe I will. But meanwhile, I want to use my opportunity to share my abilities and hopes. One of my hopes is that someday Niseko could offer chair-ski and snowboard rental at a reasonable price, giving many people the chance to try something new.
“Yes, my accident was something I never planned to have – it changed my life dramatically. But it widened my perspective on life. I used to think the speed, the trees, the crashing waves were the things that made sport fun. But now, when I see my customers try rafting for the first time on calm waves, I realise those other things don’t matter. Giving people the chance to experience pure joy is what matters. What I want to do is break down the barriers for people with physical challenges, allowing them to enjoy what they love by searching for what they love.”
Since 2012, Tatsumi has been selected as a member of the national Paracanoe and Sprint Team (TA class) four years in a row. In 2012, he ranked 10th in Paracanoe and Canoe Sprint World Championships. He also competes in chair-skiing, finishing 3rd and 2nd respectively in 2013 and 2014 at Dirksen Derby at Oregon’s Mt Bachelor.
Tatsumi says his ability is infinite. He is who he is because of others, a person with nerves of steel who keeps showing us stories of courage.
Gentemstick Impossible, 186cm. In winter, Hiromi Tatsumi goes riding on Impossible every morning from 8.30 to 10. He does backcountry, sidecountry and half-pipe. But more importantly, he’s able to snowboard independently. Maybe some day, some of you might spot him at his favourite spot – Fujiwara Gate. Tatsumi says, in the end: “Life is good.”