The Tenjin Banked Slalom took place March 7th and 8th at Mt. Tanigawa Tenjindaira Snow Resort. Riders from all over the world came to compete and soak up Japanese culture and powder. All 4 Cummins boys took home the handmade trophies made by Mike Cummins for their wins. In their divisions Cannon Cummins placed 2nd, Temple Cummins won Open men’s with the fastest times of the day on his Billy Goat, and Matt Cummins won the Masters division with Mike right behind him in 2nd. Next year the Cummins girls will likely be racing too, Barrett and Ayla need to experience some Japanese culture, powder, and Tenjin trophies!
“The Tenjin Race I started with the my Japanese friends. Taizo, Youske and Taka. Close to 50 companies now sponsor the race. Mike Cummins, Sam Llobet and I set the course up for the first one. Youske owns TJ Brand snowboards, Taizo is a retired pro and works for the mountain and Taka is a distributor of Oneball in Japan. This was the 5th year of the race. Over 350 people signed up before they cut off entries. 2 day event. It’s the largest Snowboarding event in Japan.
This years race track was set up with Temple, Mike, and myself. Also, including Niels and Cannon. We have a huge crew of help from the Japanese organizers and aprox 40 people to help dig. 95% of the track is dug by hand. It’s a lot of work but very rewarding when you get to test it out and very fun to shred. A couple of Pros from the US showed up and entered as well. Alex Lopez, Tim Eddy and Alex Yoder.” -Matt Cummins