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Aight, so before I get into this I just need to say I have not been around much partly because I still don't have internet but mainly because I have been riding the best powder of my life. Snowboarding in Japan ROCKS!

 

except...

 

Barok and I went to 47 on Wednesday. It was dumping snow and the visibility was somewhat low. First run he showed me the fat gulley skiers left of the quad. We ripped through the pow. Second run we were gonna hit it again but saw a patroller near the top so we cut right and went through the trees skiers right of the quad. The patroller did nbot see us enter and there were no ropes at all marking these areas as off limits.

 

Barok came busting out of the trees and there was a patroller near the run. He came right in front of Barok so that he would have to stop. I saw this and cruised around the other side like I was unaware. I didn't learn this until later but apparently the patroller asked for Barok's pass right away. When he said he didn't have one the patroller got angry (Barok has a season's pass and didn't want to lose it). So Barok started to take off his board and the patroller tackled him. Barok didn't struggle at all but got a little roughed up.

 

So Barok is pretty upset with all this and goes with the patroller into the office where the boss is. The boss asks for his pass and again Barok says he doesn't have one, but tells him that this treatment is wrong. It is wrong for the patroller to get so physical. The boss agrees but tells Barok he has to leave for the day and lets him board out.

 

Barok goes down to the car where he changes his jacket and hat and then moves the car over to Goryu. He then rides the lift back over to 47. This is when I met back up with him. We ride a couple great hours all in bounds. Then we head down to the half pipe on our way to the quad (which is right in front of the patrol office). I am waiting on the left side of the pipe when I look over and see 2 patrollers holding barok to the ground. He is refusing to cooperate and another patroller runs over. I unstrap and run over as well. These guys are kicking him and pulling his hair trying to get him to....we never really knew, I guess come into the office. It was crazy! I am trying to keep these guys away but they were nuts. They even picked up Barok and tried to carry him in.

 

So at this point I see a patroller grab my board and take it into the office so I run after him asking what I did. There was a really cool lady in the office who I showed my pass to and she said I had done nothing wrong. So I go back out to try to cool down the situation and bring Barok inside.

 

When he comes inside he is beat up. The patroller is yelling, being a total idiot. So we sit in there for like a half hour. The patrollers are pissed because Barok came back. We are pissed because he got the crap beat out of him. We are talking about pressing charges etc. The one crazy patroller even threatens to call immigration - Ha!

 

So the long and short of it is Barok apologizes for breaking the rules and we are told we can come back anytime we want, just not today. The main patroler (not the crazy one) even admits that he thinks Barok is completely right with his reaction to the treatment he recieved. They even let us board out of there and they never even got Barok's name.

 

Crazy times.

 

Here's the pic:

 

skibruise.jpg

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WHAT THE F**K?!?! This is TOTALLY unacceptable!! These tough guy wanna-be asshole patrols physically assaulted Barok not once but TWICE! The point is no longer that he went riding out of bound but the unlawful behaviors of these disrespectful pricks. Someone call Debito Arudo(the guy up in Hokkaido who dared to sue a discriminating bathhouse and the city of Otaru)...a lawsuit oughtta be filed! What the hell were they thinking? To actually lay a finger on an "okyaku-SAMA"...have they gone nuts? mad.gif mad.gif I personally feel some kind of retribution should be in order. If that had happened to me them sons of bitches shouldn`t be surprised if one day as they`re getting off work something happens to them! What goes around comes around I always say. I hope Barok wasn`t roughed up too badly...my sympathy goes out to you guys. Keep us posted regarding this truly f**ked up situation will ya?

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Might be worth a trip to a local law enforcement officer for an opinion. Also if you're feeling punitive, you could take some photos of barok's boat and show them to one of the legal aid lawyers who visit the prefectural offices and such every month for free consultations.

 

My commiserations. There but for the grace of god...

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Should try notifying someone at one of the English-speaking dailies in Japan (eg Mainichi Daily News) or even Reuters, etc. I can see the headlines now: "Psycho ski patrol assault local snowboarder".

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They'll only go on about how you were doing wrong in the first place.

 

I'm not doubting your honesty, but when we're talking "violence" etc, exactly how bad was it? It's hard to imagine the Japanese patrol really man-handling someone, esp a big gaijin.

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Yo ender

 

Thanks for writing it down for us. I hope barok is okay.

 

If barok wants to take this further, you should take some photos of his injuries (if you haven't already) and both write down your stories in full. One person who can probably help you is a German guy in Osaka called Alfred Weinzierl. The last I heard he was working with a non-profit law firm called "a-un" (the equivalent of A-Z in the Japanese alphabet). They speak English and help out foreigners in Japan who experience difficulties. I don't have the number at hand, but I'll get it off my mates. If one of the Osaka people knows, then please stick it up here.

 

Mr Weinzierl also helps out at this place, I believe.

 

http://www.tabunka.jp/english/english.html

 

Many years ago, my Japanese teacher helped me get the Labour Standards People in against the English school I was working when my pay was docked for some trivial reason. From that experience and what I've heard since, if you're going to take civil action, you should expect it all to end in a negotiated settlement ("wakai") and not to get anywhere near a court case. I don't know what happens with criminal action, but if you want to be taken seriously, I would advise getting someone experienced in dealing with the police to present your case.

 

I think the above course of action will be more fruitful than bothering with the media.

 

If you need someone who speaks Japanese in Hakuba, tell barok to get my number off Matt.

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yeah, thanks everybody for your help. I am trying to figure out what the hell to do at the moment, and yes, I am posting pics at the moment.

 

So yeah, I went over the story a bunch of times with ender, so he has it pretty much right, and the truth is that I`m not a big gaijin - I`m only 5`8`` and 66kg. I used to weigh more, but gyms are too expensive in this country, anyway,

 

yeah i came outta the trees, I`m fairly certain that they saw us go in or they saw our tracks, but i didn`t even think about it at the time, because I have ridden at 47 for 20 days now, all of it - I mean 95% of the runs I took were off-course, I was beginning to think it was okay, but whatever, I wasn`t going to give that fool my pass, even though in retrospect, I think I would have gotten it back. and my refusal, coupled with speaking japanese half the time and english half the time, then unstrapping, really set him off. while I was unstrapping, I got tackled from behind, totally unexpecteldy. I was half strapped in, half out, I managed to get all the way out, and to my feet. Tried to flip the guy, but judo in powder is not my forte, and it wouldn`t have mattered anyway, seeing as two more patrollers were at the scene by this time. anyways, one of them spoke english better than my japanese, so we worked it out that I was going back to the patrol office to talk to them some more. of course I wasn`t honest with them - but why should I be if I`m getting attacked. They apologized, I said I would leave, and never come back (another lie on my part) and that was that.

 

So yeah I changed - different hat, different jacket, but they recognized me at the halfpipe anyway and started tearing off my gear, hitting me kicking me and eventually carrying me halfway to the partol office. An interesting note is that they did back off from enderzero, who is about a head taller than me. only one of the original three patrollers were there during that melee, and so for that reason, I think they all just must have it in them to try to fight with people they don`t like. They were all the same size as me, and it was really quite comical - fighting in the snow - i mean, your mobility is severely limited, so everything is in slow motion, but yeah, I got roughed up, and my pride hurts a bit, but in the end I just want to snowboard.

 

lots of yelling and this and that in the patrol office - i was way pissed, I full well know that I broke the rules, but 3 on 1 assault is totally unjustified - I struggled, but never hit anyone, and didn`t attempt to, I just wanted to get away. but they were throwin` blows fo` sho`. So yeah, our agreement was after all of this crap, that I could ride, and that they would clean up their behaviour, and that I wouldn`t go off course - which is going to be interesting, seeing as I just can`t even picture riding the courses.

 

we did a backcountry session there today. not exactly off-course but not exactly on it, and no problem, so who knows.

 

I really appreciate the legal advice, but I am uncertain on whether I want to sue. It seems like alot of time and hassle for something that may or may not work, and would probably bring me down to a certain extent. I think local authorities would give favor to the businesses that pay their taxes, over a foreigner who in their eyes, (and to a certain extent, objectivley) behaved badly. so I might just take it all for what it is worth. but yeah I do have pictures, and the story is going to go down on paper.

 

just a mind-boggling experience to be sure, check the journals for pictures - nothing crazy just a couplea bruises on my cheeks.

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I'm glad to hear you're alright. Although we have only heard your side (and enderzero's version) of the story, I am fairly sure who is in the wrong on this occasion. O.K. so you broke the rules but that did not put anyone in any danger. Similar to a case of jay-walking in a totally safe situation. So I am quite sure that despite being a gaijin and presenting yourself as a challenge to authority, if you pursue the matter, justice will be done. However, I think it is also apparent that those gung-ho ski patrollers already know they have over-stepped their authority and I'm pretty sure they got a good dressing down by their superiors for that event. I therefore don't think you should waste your time pursuing retribution, better use it pursuing a good time and just laugh this one off and put it behind you.

About the hurt pride, I think you got out of this standing tall. Firstly, you stood up to them and did not surrender to their unreasonable demands, forcing them to negotiate for a mutually agreeable settlement, even though it was one-on-three. Secondly, you showed them who is more civilized by remaining defiant but not taking any physically offensive action even though you were subjected to it. Thirdly, the fact that they conceded that you are welcome to come back any time in the future is an admission of their guilt over your treatment and is tantamount to an apology.

In my books, you can be proud of how you handled yourself and that is how you should feel when you reflect on it. They, on the other hand, must surely reflect on it in shame.

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If Barok was unable to produce any form of lift ticket/pass then wouldn't it appear that he was not a "Guest" and was trespassing? I don't know Japanese property law and it is true that many ski areas in Japan are on public land but I can see why the representatives of the resort would want to remove a trespasser from their facility. I know that if you trespass in the States, you can expect to receive a lot worse than a roughing up.

If you break a rule in a night-club, say pick a fight or throw a bottle, you will get physically removed and not too gracefully. The ski patrollers clearly overstepped the boundaries of proper conduct but they were obviously frustrated by a lack of cooperation. To re-enter the resort on the same day was just stupidity and was really asking for trouble where there was trouble to be found.

What would you do if someone was trespassing and risking the safety of others at your resort, and verbal communication was not working? I don't know what I would do but there aren't to many options other than getting physical or walking away.

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Trespassing has nothing to do with it. The lift pass is not a pass to the very ground that the resort stands on. It's a pass for riding the lift, and that's all.

 

Markie, you're my hero. I'm not sure that I agree with you, but well said anyway.

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