Travis Rice is holding court. He’s smiling, bearded, giddy in a crisp blue kimono. Shin Biyajima waves over his shoulder. Travis just won the Freeride World Tour event in Hakuba. That’s where we were supposed to meet them.

“It’s Michelin-level food,” Travis says, referring to an ephemeral ryokan in the Japanese Alps somewhere beyond Yuzawa. “You guys have to get up here.”

Never mind the price tag.

On the other side of the screen, seven of us huddle together to grin back at Travis. Elena Hight organized this crew, the first trip of her two-year project with Teton Gravity Research. Hana Beaman’s joined her, along with RED cam operators Gabe Langlois and Sean Aaron, producer Justin Fann, TGR photographer/production assistant Leslie Hittmeier, and me…

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above A little Google Translate goes a long way. It might look like Travis Rice is lecturing the policeman in this picture, but really he’s exchanging notes on the best izakaya in the area—or something like that.