Is it just me or has skiing and snowboarding become an agro sport this season? It feels that every week there’s a new level of fisticuffs, war of shouting words or skier and snowboarders heading to jail.

Sure, the cost of living and length of lift lines is getting everyone down and stress levels high but if you can afford a ski or snowboard holiday then you’re doing all right.

Powder panic isn’t going to hold up in court with a judge either when you defend your violent ways, and no you can’t blame Vail Resorts or Alterra Mountain Company for your increased cortisol. Aggression and how you manifest if or react to it is on you.

Yes, skiers and snowboarders in Japan have been particularly volatile this winter, but altercations in France, Austria and Utah have also dominated the internet (see below).

But let’s start with Niseko. Westerners caught on social in Japan this season have done as much for inter-country relations as tariffs from the White House right now. Take these Aussies caught on film and posted on the @jerrysofniseko Instagram account. Aussies in Japan, just add alcohol.

Jerrys of Niseko get into a punch up

Irate slanging match in Hakuba

These guys got into a slanging match with an irate Japanese local over “no smoking” signs at Hakuba and went viral globally.

 

 

Wild Bills caught on camera in Niseko

Meanwhile the guys over in Reddit discussed this guy in Niseko who allegedly jumped “behind a bar and started opening fridge to steal bottles? Then says he isn’t afraid of Japanese police because they are short?”

Tourists who tried to steal at Wild Bills Thursday night
byu/pmcakes inniseko

Meanwhile over in Utah

It’s not just Japan either, these guys in Utah went ballistic on a powder day when one guy touched another guy’s hat (yep, you read that right).

Europeans heading to jail

In Europe a full blown brawl took place between 15 Dutch and Germans on ski holiday in Flachau in Austria, with three hospitalised and police involved with numerous arrests.

And in France a young French man may go to jail after filming from a ski lift for Tik Tok. He threw a large snowball the size of a basketball at a group of people eating lunch below the lift and hit a 61 year old man in the face. Now he’s up for assault.

Seriously, people. Skiing and snowboarding is where you go to get away from life’s stressors, to find freedom in nature and the mountains, to connect with like-minded people and respectfully enjoy another nation’s culture.

Have you witnessed a heightened level of aggression this season?

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