Rusutsu International Toboggan Contest

　The First Rusutsu International Toboggan Contest started in the afternoon of the 10th of January, the day when it snowed so hard that there was an impression that all the snow kept in the sky for months came down at once! Merinda Drive, the place of the race, had been snowcleared twice before the contest, but was still covered with snow so thickly that it was hard to walk, to say nothing of tobogganing! But the participants were ready to fight each other as well as weather conditions!

　 Following the starting judge’s whistle they tobogganed down screaming and pushing each other. Some of them had to quit in the middle of the race because their toboggans wouldn’t go or because they crashed into other people and were thrown away from the course. But nobody would give up! They came to the start line again and again to join the next racing group! Single’s completion was followed by pairs. The participants showed not only good physical preparation for the contests, they also showed intense planning. One pair, actually a triple used a broom to smooth their tobogganing. Another pair sat back to back, with the rear partner pushing off the ground all the time, which led them to the first place in pairs! There was another very peculiar pair: Mikiko from hotel Romulus with her Yorkshire terrier Oolong! You should have seen Oolong in her blue jumper speeding down the road with

　Mikiko! That’ll probably be the memory of the season for many! Well, not all of our competitors managed to make it up to the finish line, but does it really matter?! Everyone had a terrific time, and mulled wine in Pirateman afterwards contributed to it even more. We all believe Rusutsu International Toboggan Contest will become another annual tradition.