Q. Where you at right now?

A. Whangamata 

Q. How long you been back?

A. 5 days 

Q. Where were you before NZ?

A. USA, Canada, Norway , Swizzy

Q. You were competing alot over there aye, how many comps did you do?

A. 7

Q. What were some of the highlights, any podiums?

A. 2nd place 4 star ttr in mt hood and best trick and 26th semi finals  European open 

Q. Any tricks your working on?

A. Soggy wolfs 

Q. What’s your plan for the NZ winter?

A. Train hard and go huge 

Ben is sponsored by: Nitro, DVS. Oakley, Madwax, Skull Candy, Chop, Pro-Tec and Oneil

DCP’s Japanese Adventure with Japanese Subtitles from YES. Snowboard TV on Vimeo.

Featuring: Frank April, Matt Belzile, Alex Cantin, Dustin Craven, Bryan Fox, Will Jackways, Phil Jacques, Jake Kuzyk, Danny Larsen, Bode Merrill, Eero Niemela, Benji Ritchie

Enlighten Early Teaser from VIDEOGRASS on Vimeo.

JAPAN JOURNALS EPISODE 2 from Japan Journals on Vimeo.

Toby Somwhere in the Hokkaido backcountry

The balance between riding pow all the time and making ends meet is never an easy one and usually involves either working crazy hours, sponsorship or not riding nearly as much as you want to be. Toby Washer has figured out an enviable way to achieve this balance of dollars and freshies and during the Northern Hemisphere winter you will find him somewhere in Hokkaido, Japan, riding powder, everyday.

Ridin powder everyday

Toby grew up in sunny Browns Bay on Auckland’s North Shore and did his first day snowboarding at Ohau when he was 18 (about 15 years ago). Toby moved south from Auckland to go to University and during his time studying had a pass at Porter Heights and spent a lot of time riding at Craigeburn. A few years later Toby found himself in Japan and has been living in Hokkaido for the last eight years, the last five winters of which he has been guiding for Black Diamond Tours Niseko and well, riding powder, everyday.

Most days on the job see Toby up at 6am checking the weather and deciding what area is going to have the best conditions that day. He then drives clients to the spot, which might be a backcountry destination such as Tokachi Dake, Mt Yotei or Shiribetsu or a Hokkaido resort area such as Niseko or Furano. Not surprisingly it is the backcountry days that Toby enjoys most, however backcountry days are also more intensive in terms of safety concerns. Snow stability has to be checked and time spent figuring out the best and safest line for clients to take.

On the job somewhere near Kokusai Ski-Jo, Sapporo

Luckily for Toby and anyone else exploring the Hokkaido backcountry, the snow-pack there is relatively stable. This stability is due to a combination of consistently cold temperatures and a lack of sunny days meaning there is less chance of weak layers in the snow-pack. Toby is quick to point out that although the likelihood of avalanches maybe lower than other places in the world there is still no room for complacency especially when you consider places like  Niseko have 4 meter+ bases!

If you get a chance to visit Hokkaido on a shred mission Toby recommends renting a car and checking out the lesser-known resorts. His best riding this year has been at Furano with no crowds’ fun lines and perfect pow. As far as backcountry spots go Toby tells us Tokachi Dake is one of the best with easy access and wiked onsens (check the pic below!). Anyone interested in working as a guide should check out http://www.avalanche.ac.nz/ and anyone who needs a snowboard guide in Hokkaido should check out http://www.blackdiamondtours.com/ .

Toby soakin it up in an Onsen at Tokachi Dake

The ever Jet setting supernatural judge Mel Simmons

On the job with Mel Simmons

Mel Simmons started snowboarding at Coronet peak way back in 1997, soon after that she started snowboarding competitively in the NZ scene. Then in one of the early Remarkables slopestyle comps she blew out her knee and as fate would have it the judging panel were short of a judge and so her judging career began. Since then Mel has trotted the globe judging some of the biggest snowboard events on the international scene. Now as an International Judges Commission (IJC) judge she contracts to events on the TTR world tour and is the southern hemisphere TTR tour representative.

We caught up with Mel while she was at Baldface BC playing the role of Assistant Head Judge at the epic Red Bull Supernatural contest…

Q. Where you at right now?

Redbull Supernatural  at Baldface in Nelson, BC Canada.

Q. And before?

Munich, Germany at ISPO.

Q. What has been the best event so far this season?

Without a doubt, the Supernatural for sure!

Is this comp one of your career highlights?

This event is for sure the highlight of my career. Getting this gig was not really guaranteed, it was literally a lottery draw. I was one of a few and there were some pretty high-profile names in there , who were considered for the role as Assistant Head Judge. So I’m super pumped. It’s such a privilege to be here. Administrating a panel that consists of legends Tom Burt, Andy Hetzel, Temple Cummins, Shin Campos & Bryan Iguchi is seriously sick!

Q. Describe Redbull Supernatural in 4 words.

Nothing short of EPIC.

Q. What was the judging for that comp like, what was the format, how did it all work?

I’m the Assistant Head Judge so I’m not actually scoring, I moderate the scores coming in from the judges & keep it all in sync where Tom Burt is the Head Judge and has the final say… Basically it’s judged by combining the judging formats of the Freeride World Tour; based on line difficulty, creativity, air and style, flow and control and the TTR World Snowboarding Tour; style, variety, execution, amplitude, progression, risk combo’s and technical nature. Like the event itself, this judging format is something that’s never been done before in the history of snowboard competition, so I’m pumped to see it played out so well.

Q. What riders were killing it, any stand-outs?

All of them. Every one of them was killing it. They’re all outstanding.

Q. What was the most impressively gnarly thing you saw go down?

Lucas Debari freakin’ sending it! Kid’s a charger…

Lucas Debari “Freakin Sendin it!” Photo Danny Zapalac- Redbull photo pool

Q. What was the scariest gnarly thing you saw?

Lucas freakin’ sending it.

Q. Whats up next, where are you headed after Canada?

I’m to Oslo, Norway for TTR/WSF World Snowboarding Champs

Q. Plans for NZ winter?

I’ll head home to NZ around July for our season and head up the TTR events in Australasia.

Huge thanks to Mel for taking the time out to do this, we hope to bring you more on what Mel’s been up to over the coming months.

Some more of the action at the supernatural!