Ice Endurance Festival がまん大会

This is not actually Narnia. I was disappointed too.

At the end of January we attended an endurance contest (がまん大会) on a snowy mountain top. It was -8 when we arrived but towards the end of the event the wind picked up and it felt much colder. There were a number of challenges involving being very cold while performing different tasks.

Here is a video of some of the events:

It was SO MUCH FUN. I'm tempted to enter the noodle eating one next year. 

The battlefield! All eating contests were held sitting on the little ice blocks. The person-sized one at the back was for the main event (ice-block bear-hugging).

Being conspicuously foreign at these kinds of events...

...is the fastest way to attract media attention.

The press then stalked them everywhere >.<

Some people didn't bother dressing "up"

Scary icicles on creepy abandoned restaurant

NEEDLEWORK FROM HEEELLLLLL

First they had to hold ice in a bucket of icy water for a minute, then thread three needles (while sitting on ice-block chairs)

Look at the colour of her hands compared to her arms!

See the frozen looking lake there? That's the one we camped at a few years back!