There was a strong south-southeast wind which eventually turned into a blizzard. The snow was washed away and soared up into the air which blocked my vision considerably. Occasionally the sun broke through the clouds and shone on the snow surface, but I could ony see 30 meters ahead of me. Even with a 4-square-meter skisail (the smallest one I had), the sled was carried further away by the wind. At times, my ski boards would sink under the soft snow, and I would almost fall over forward.

When skisailing, it is always the case that my body is pulled in opposite directions by the skisail in the front and the sled in the back. I must be very careful to keep my balance. If the weather condition is bad and visibility is poor, it is quite easy to get stuck on the edge of a Sastruga, lose my balance and fall over.

Mr. Ohba skisailing on the ice cap

A pin that connected a control bar (a handling pole used to control the sail) and the came undone and the sail was carried away 100 meters by the wind. For a moment, I thought "what am I going to do?". Nagatani-san and I chased after it but is was moving away from us faster than we could catch up to it. Fortunately it became stuck on a Sastruga and stopped. We were lucky to retrieve it!