Nike ACG Team Blog : News from the snowbard team

After awakening from some much needed sleep after an exhausting thirty hour journey from London to Argentina (via Sao Paulo and the rest) I made my way over to the shower to get ready for our first day. Having battled for a few minutes and woken myself up thanks to extremes of hot and cold I was ready to face skiing Argentina style.

With a reputation for being extremely windy due to its exposed location, Patagonia and indeed the resort of Caviahue itself certainly lived up to its name as we hit the slopes. It was bitterly cold, and as the wind picked up it spat fresh powder into our faces- although it was impossible to feel any negativity as we looked down the piste of fresh snow and admired the lake at its base which hugged the mountain all the way around.

For most of us, months had passed since skiing had been a priority whilst in our European climate and the gentle warm up that we began with was unquestionably welcome. However that tame gradient soon became tedious as we searched for fresh challenges whilst the sun was still glowing down and reflecting pleasingly off the Argentinean snow.

After lunch, and a pizza that was more akin to cheese on toast, we headed off in the direction of the snowmobiles that were waiting further down the mountain ready for our experimentation. Indeed, due to the very few lifts around in our resort, this method of transportation is a necessity and everybody needed to learn how to use them quickly. Having never used one before, I found my introduction fairly difficult. Led off by one of our professional skiers Richard Permin, I set off up the mountain being towed along up a trail that was less intimidating than first appeared. However, connecting myself to my belt whilst being towed was a mistake that I paid for half way up the hill as it snapped in half and I saw the snowmobile speed away. Unfortunately, I was no longer connected and had to ski down through the wall of snow that was eclipsing me from every angle.

Once home, all I hoped for was another shower that wouldn’t result in third degree burns and for tomorrow to be as full of blue skies when the proper filming gets underway.