Would you do this?

Who invented summer ski jumping as an event? They would have to be crazy. It’s on again this year in Hakuba with the FIS Summer Grand Prix Tournament arriving into town on August 24th for the weekend. It is a great spectacle to watch these athletes fly through the air for 130 or so meters. No douubt the local contingent will be there to offer their support, bringing along their picnic baskets full of local fare and their coolers of asahi, sake and chuhai. It is a great event that is televised around the world so if you are in Japan throw your support behind it and visit the beautiful Japanese Alps. You will find the temperature much more pleasant there at this time of year than in the cities.

The Hakuba Ski Jump Arena was built for the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics and is used every summer and winter for national and internation events. For the rest of the year you are able to visit the dizzying heights of the, “take off zone” which is definately worth checking out.