Self-introduction and 1st day in Evergreen Outdoor Center!
Hello. My name is Hibiki Itagaki, and I’m working in Evergreen Outdoor Center as an intern from May 29th 2017.
From today, I will write about what I’m doing at Evergreen and what is happening at Evergreen through this blog.
First, let me tell you a bit about my background. I am just finishing my studies at Concord University in West Virginia, USA, with a major in Recreation and Tourism Management. On this blog, I wish to relate my knowledge learned at Concord University to my experiences at Evergreen Outdoor Center. If you are interested in outdoor activities, are planning a trip to Hakuba, or you are thinking to participate in tours offered by Evergreen, please use my experiences here, during my internship, for information.
Removing fallen trees in the canyon and safety control on May 30th 2017.
Today I went canyoning with the Evergreen canyoning guides in Kamoshika Canyon.
Canyoning is the activity of traveling down a river canyon by a variety of means including scrambling, floating, swimming, sliding, jumping and abseiling. The purpose of the today’s canyoning trip was to remove fallen trees and check the river in order to allow guests to enjoy Evergreen’s canyoning tours safely.
There were plenty of big and small fallen trees in the river after the long Hakuba winter, and we took all of them out from the river in order to make the river as safe as possible. This process is so canyoneers can enjoy this exciting activity safely.
Actually, it was my first time to go canyoning, and I had heard a lot of about canyoning. However, it was much more exciting and enjoyable than I expected. The water was really clear and blue because of melting snow from the mountains, and we just descended the river and slid down the water falls and splashed with only our bodies and canyoning gears.
The water level of the river was high, and when I put my feet in the river, I got the feel of water pressure with my skin. At the 8 meter high waterfall, we used a rope and gear to descent. I felt from this experience that canyoning is an activity that you can feel the power and beauty of nature with your body. Today’s course is offered as the Kamoshika Canyon half-day canyoning tour by Evergreen. When I reached the goal of this river, I enjoyed a feeling of great accomplishment, and I sure had a blast from my second day at Evergreen!!
From today’s experience, I learned the principle of risk management in wild spaces. The principle is “remove all the obvious hazards that can be removed and warn customers of any inherent risks.” Fallen trees are dangerous while canyoning as they can catch and trap people in the water, but they can be removed. Removing fallen trees is identified as “remove all the obvious hazards that can be removed.” While canyoning, our guides told me where dangerous rocks in the river were and where I needed to go, and how to move through these areas. Even though it was my first time to go canyoning, I was able to enjoy canyoning safely because of the excellent guidance. This given guidance is identified as “warn customers of any inherent risks.” I relearned how important the principle of risk management is from accompanying our guides today.
Some people might think that canyoning looks dangerous, but as professionals, Evergreen guides are striving, everyday, to mitigate the risks to guests who participate in the activities. The guides spend a lot of time on preparation of the guided tours to make them as safe as possible. Everything done in the preparation process is for customers’ satisfaction and safety.
These canyoning tours will start on June 3rd, so if you are interested in this amazing activity, please contact us.
We are waiting for you to come and participate in Evergreen’s canyoning tour this spring or summer. I know you will have an amazing time!
See you in Hakuba,
Hibiki