Spring has sprung in the Northern Hemisphere, but snow is still a welcome element to round up the season in many countries. SKYSNOW – the fast-growing discipline of running on snow – will launch the first ever SkySnow Asia-Pacific Championships on April 5-6 in Tsumagoi, a ski area located in North Eastern Japan.
This relatively new skyrunning discipline has already celebrated two SkySnow World Championships, in 2022 and 2024 in Spain and Italy. On the skyrunning calendar, World Championships alternate with Continentals, and after the recent success of the first SkySnow European Championships in Italy, it is now the turn of Asia Pacific.
Teams from the region include Australia, Mongolia, South Korea and, of course, super-strong host country, Japan which was the first to introduce SKYSNOW in 2021. For most of these countries it will represent an exciting novelty – apart from Mongolia, where, thanks to its cold climate, the discipline is already active.
Mongolian Luvsansharav Natsagdorj, 24, a gold medallist in the 2023 Youth Skyrunning World Championships, is one of the favourites and will be aiming to pocket another gold in this new discipline. “I’m so excited to compete in the first Asia-Pacific SkySnow Championships in Japan. I did my training in the western region of Mongolia, in the mountains of Gobi-Altai province in the wintertime and I’m ready to compete!”
Twenty-one medals are at stake across the VERTICAL and CLASSIC disciplines, the Combined title and the country ranking.
The VERTICAL discipline will launch the Championships on Saturday, April 5 at the Tsumagoi SkySnow Vertical, a 3.5 km-long course with 610m vertical climb reaching 2,080m altitude.
The CLASSIC will take place on Sunday, April 6 at the Tsumagoi SkySnow, a 10 km-long loop and 850m vertical climb summiting at 2,110m altitude.
As in all SKYSNOW races, for safety and speed, micro crampons are a compulsory piece of equipment to grip the snow.
For Australian Billy Curtis, running on snow is a distinct novelty. “I’m expecting a lot of action in this weekend’s racing with plenty of grit from the athletes for this inaugural SkySnow competition. There will be a fair number of athletes competing with experience on the snow showing how we can all push! Queenslanders from the snowless region of Australia are creatures of heat, so getting our feet in the snow is as foreign as running on the moon,” he commented.
“This weekend I’ll be aiming to be a positive ambassador for Australian SkySnow running. I’m sure many Aussies would love to see a home ground Asia-Pacific SkySnow competition up in ‘The Snowies’ in years to come.”
Japan is a major player at an international level, placing high on the ranking in many Skyrunning Championships. Now, it is ready to bring the spotlight for this winter discipline to Tsumagoi, a scenic village at 2,000m altitude, surrounded by volcanoes and hot springs in Gunma Prefecture, home of Japan Skyrunning Association President, Dai Matsumoto.
“I am honoured to host the first Asia-Pacific Championships in my hometown and also very pleased to see entries from different countries. Exchanges through SKYSNOW will further deepen the ties in the Asia-Pacific region.
“I think it is significant that the championships are being held in Japan, far from Europe, and hope that this championship will prove that SKYSNOW is a global sport and encourage other regions, such as North and South America to host championships.
“At the same time, it will help convey the origins of skyrunning to the next generation in the Asia-Pacific region – an opportunity to inspire the spirit of challenge to reach beautiful mountain peaks.”
Representing the strong and very young line-up from Japan are medallists from the 2023 and 2024 Youth Skyrunning World Championships, including twin sisters Yuna and Rina Ogake, just 15-years old; Riko Obata, 17-years old; and 20-year old Karen Kobayashi who boasts a stunning curriculum after participating in three Skyrunning Youth Championships, the 2024 SkySnow World Championships and is also the National SkySnow Champion.
Interesting to note, the top favourites are all very young and mostly women – no doubt a recipe for the future of SkySnow led by a new generation of skyrunners.
The races carry the ISF Course Certification Label, the stamp of approval certifying that they conform to skyrunning parameters. All athletes are automatically included in the ISF Ranking, while the medallists will qualify for the SkyMasters, the final of the 2025 Skyrunner® World Series.
