Swatch Nines Japan setup reveal

If you know the Nines, you’ll know the drill: invite a stacked roster of riders, give them an absurdly creative playground, and see what happens when the pressure of competition is replaced with a week-long progression session. More than 50 riders from skiing, snowboarding and skateboarding will be on hand in Niseko to do exactly that.

The Setup

Classic Nines madness. This year’s build blends snow and skate into one hybrid playground. With a 50-metre rail, a big air jump, a bunch of flowing transition features, and even a skate pavilion designed to be ridden on skis, boards or a skateboard. After studying the renders, there’s no doubt we are going to see trains of riders all on the same rail, snow athletes sliding rails over the skate park as well as some unimaginably creative riding.

Like always, the course wasn’t designed in isolation either. Back in October, riders including Jesper Tjäder, Kaishu Hirano, Cool Wakushima, Takeru Otsuka and Japanese skater Yurin Fuji met in Niseko to throw ideas around. Some of those concepts—including a huge PVC spine rail with rollers either side—have now made their way into the final build.

Creative mind, Sämi Ortlieb has once again taken a lead with course design incorporating his flowy style into the plans.

“We want to diversify and push skiing and snowboarding in as many directions as possible, and that is where the Nines comes in with an annual, long-standing progression session. Not only pushing trick progression but also exploring park and feature design with new ideas. And that’s what makes me most excited about this year’s set up. Especially with the “curly bracket” and a 50 meters long PVC spine with parallel running rollers – something I haven’t seen in this form before. It’s super fun exploring creative park design when you are catering for world class riders.” – Sämi Ortlieb, Course Designer.

Public Day – 11 April 2026

If you happen to be in Niseko, you’ll be able to see the whole thing in person. Public Day goes down on 11 April, when a brand-new audience can watch the riders session the setup live. It’s a rare chance to see progression happening in real time—and with this Nines setup, you can expect some pretty weird and wonderful tricks.

Spectating is free with a lift pass for Niseko Tokyu Grand HIRAFU.

With Japan’s famously deep snow and the Nines crew bringing their usual creative chaos, this first edition in Niseko could end up being one of the most interesting builds the event has ever produced—and that’s saying something.

With Japan’s famously deep snow and the Nines crew bringing their usual creative chaos, this first edition in Niseko could end up being one of the most interesting builds the event has ever produced—and that’s saying something.