High-Fivers at the Japan Alps

Magic moments at the Winter Olympics?

I had two, and, as luck would have it, they occurred within minutes of each other.

My assignment that day was the qualifying session for freestyle aerial skiing at Iizuna Kogen, about a 40-minute bus ride up the mountain.

As is usual at the Olympics, I was tired. Days too long, nights too short.

But it was a bright, sunny morning, crisp, yet not so cold as to be intimidating. In fact, I wasn’t even wearing gloves. I was going to be glad of that in a few minutes.

I stepped off the chairlift and turned to walk down the hill, toward the competition site, when I simply had to stop.

Before my weary eyes was as magnificent a panoramic view as I have been privileged to see. Far off in the distance, framed by close-up evergreens, the Japan Alps stood in all their considerable glory, garbed in snow, dappled with clouds, illuminated brilliantly by the high sun.

My spirit soared. I don’t know if I have ever actually gasped, but I came close with that sight. I wanted to share it with someone and turned to a volunteer worker, gesturing at the scene before us.

Alas, she didn’t understand. She thought I was asking which way I was to go and pointed down the snowpath off to the side. I stood, looking, for a few more minutes, taking a mental picture, then walked on down.

Moments later, at the jumping hill, I noticed a group of schoolkids, probably fifth- or sixth-graders, behind a plastic fence. As I walked by, one kid stuck out his hand.

I high-fived him.

Instantly, 50 more hands shot up.

I high-fived as many kids as I could, and I really couldn’t tell who was having more fun, the kids or I.

When I missed one little girl, she ran to the far end of the line so I could catch her last. I did. She grinned and giggled and said something to me, then turned and yelled something to the other kids. They cheered.

Cheers? Unbelievable.

But it happened, and for as long as I live, I will remember the golden day in the Japan Alps that high-fiving schoolkids cheered on the ski hill.