NISEKO NEWS
By Maria Kato
Photos Tanaka Ryunosuke
Niseko high school student, Shinnosuke Tanaka, will be competing in the 2024 YETI Freeride Junior World Championships for the first time in Kappl, Austria this winter.
Currently 17-year-old and raised in Kutchan, Shinnosuke earned his spot in the world championship by winning the TOYO TIRES FWT JUNIOR 1* U-18 SKI MEN category at both Maiko Snow Resort and Lotte Arai Resort earlier this year.
The world championship is scheduled to take place from 20 to 25 January.
Shinnosuke was also crowned champion in the Japan Freeride Open 2023 OPEN SKI MEN category in February at Hakuba Cortina ski resort, where he competed against a lot older participants.
“I’m excited for the World Championship, and my goal is to come out on the top,” said Shinnosuke, who added that he is also thrilled because this is his first time traveling overseas.
”Skiing is something I love enough to bet my life on.
Shinnosuke started skiing when he was around three years old, but his passion began to grow after he entered a local big air competition at Niseko Tokyu Grand HIRAFU in 5th grade.
“I didn’t do well in the competition, but that’s when I began to practice skiing and started to enjoy jumping,” said Shinnosuke.
Suggested by his father, Shinnosuke entered his first freeride competition in the first year of junior high school.
Although he did not get the results he wished for, this experience led him to officially get into freeride, a category that requires jumping and skiing in powder snow — both activities that Shinnosuke enjoys.
“I was ambitious to win so I practiced skiing at night at HIRAFU during the weekdays after school, and I didn’t have a coach so my father acted like one, giving me advice” explains Shinnosuke.
During his weekends, he would spend the whole day skiing with his friends at Niseko Tokyu Grand HIRAFU or Niseko Hanazono Resort, creating a strong foundation for his upcoming ski career.
Things started to change for Shinnosuke when he moved up to high school, where he earned his first victory at the Powder Freeride Kiroro Open 2022, and from there it has been an uphill journey.
“During junior high school, I didn’t achieve the results I wanted, but right when I got into high school, I think all the practice I’d been building up started to kick in” said Shinnosuke.
Shinnosuke’s father, who has been watching his son’s journey throughout, said “I want local kids to know that they can be anything they want if they work hard, and I hope Shinnosuke will become an inspiration for them.”
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