Rhythm Rail Jam 2019

So what is a rail -jam …

It's pretty simple really, a rail jam is a whole group of skiers and snowboarders riding a rail or group of rails together. The term "Jam" probably got borrowed from the 60's hip-at-time saying used to describe a group of jazz musicians getting together to perform freestyle with no real set boundaries or rules. The term "Jam" then spread far and wide and was made most famous by Bob Marley in his hit song "Jammin". It's no wonder that the free thinking kids who made up the snowboarding subculture soon adopted it and that the free-skiing movement embraced it as well.

The Rhythm Rail Jam in Niseko has kept this tradition of gathering to ride rails alive here in Niseko and it's no small undertaking. This year the event was held on a custom built park at the Hirafu Sun-sports facility and it's the largest event held by the local business community each winter in Niseko. Every small business that makes up the local community gets behind Rhythm and their team who run the event and build the site. Events like this are crucial to the ski town feel that makes Niseko Japans number 1 snowsports destination in Asia.

This year the location took on a real Winter matsuri feel and with the lights of the ski hill behind the site twinkling, DJ's providing a soundtrack, food onsite and an ultra good vibe it was a very fun scene. The crowd was solid and the performances matched.

The Rail Jam keeps going from strength to strength but the best way to sum it up would be a conversation observed on the drop in point between two competitors who clearly did not know each other, "Hey hit that thing you got this", "Yep for sure, your next … have fun man".