You draw in a sharp, crisp breath of clean air, point your board straight ahead and blast off full speed down a short, steep drop, then up a narrow slope that launches you high in the air. Landing in a meter-deep pillow of fluffy, white snow that swallows your board, your bindings and your knees brings on a fit of giggles and whoops as you float on down the mountainside. To the side, someone launches off a large jump ramp. He goes into a spin, doesn't pull out and lands squarely on his head. Seconds later, he is back on his feet -- the snow is that deep.

Here you are, high above a valley ringed with glistening, snow-crested mountains, and being off-course doesn't matter at all. For that matter, nothing matters anymore, except this fantastic elation that's moved beyond description, beyond the boundaries that separate boarders and skiers. It's the best powder on planet Earth.

There are boarders and skiers the world over who'd give anything to know anywhere like the place described above; to know where they, too, can "float on Earth." Those of you who have spent time in Japan's snow resorts, though, are probably licking your lips in fond memory. Perhaps you've experienced such excellent conditions at quite a few places here. If so, it'll come as no great surprise that those giggles and whoops, and that elation, were all part of a day spent last February at Tenjindaira in Gunma Prefecture -- just three hours from Tokyo and 20 minutes up a ropeway.