Wilkins’ love for snowboarding and the outdoors motivated him to start hosting weeklong snow adventures in Niseko, located on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. He wanted to encourage and expose his friends and other black skiers and snowboarders to Hokkaido’s unique powder snow. In 2013 he teamed up with his friend—Akron, Ohio, native Leon Henderson, a firefighter, snowboarder and certified thrill seeker—to host these events. Next, they reached out to their friend Noriko Kanda, the sales manager for the Green Leaf Niseko Village Hotel, to provide accommodations.