As snowboarding continues to evolve, outdoor facilities that provide access to safe, year-round training have played a significant role in pushing Japanese big air and halfpipe to new heights.The first such facility in Japan is believed to have been opened in the early 2000s, with a large inflated mattress on which boarders could land without fear of major injury.When former pro rider and now high-level coach Yasuhiro Sato established Obuse Quest in Nagano Prefecture in 2010 and another facility in Saitama Prefecture three years later, he was sowing the seeds of Japan's current success."I w…READ FULL ARTICLE
