Niseko Athletes Gear Up for IRONMAN Japan

18 August, 2015 Rupert Orchard

A number of local Niseko athletes will take the line this Sunday for the gruelling IRONMAN Japan.

The gruelling IRONMAN Japan is on again the Sunday, August 23, and will see athletes compete around a 226km course that begins at the picturesque Lake Toya (approximately 45km south of Niseko Grand Hirafu).

Former professional triathlete Taro Shirato, Jess Ripper (Niseko Multisport) and Chris Pickering (Ki Niseko) will compete together as part of a relay team, covering the swimming, cycling and running legs respectively. Chris will be running in support of Aid for Japan, a UK charity that seeks to raise money for the 350 orphans of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

Ironman Japan Map
Rupert Orchard
Rupert Orchard

Rupert works for HT Holidays and returned to Niseko full-time in 2014, seven years after first discovering the resort's famous powder as a ski instructor. In between, he has worked in the ski industry in China and Canada, but in the end, couldn't resist a return to the resort that made him fall in love with the sport and the industry.