Magazine: High Peaks - by Matteo Finozzi

The independent magazine for mountains, sports and nature lovers

ISSUE

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Escape Enjoy your limits Different time, new experience

INDEX OF CONTENTS

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DIRECTORS START THE JOURNEY

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ESCAPE 4

ENJOY YOUR DESTINATION

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ENJOY YOUR LIMITS

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TRIP IS THE VALUE LEARN TO SEE BEYOND EXPERIENCE

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GET TO KNOW 34 MIYON FROM JAPAN

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START AND GROW GETTING INTO FILMING

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DIFFERENT TIME, NEW EXPERIENCE

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DON'T BE AFRAID TO GO VERTICAL TAKE THE PATH YOU DON'T KNOW GET THE SUMMIT IS NOT THE END UP HIKING DOWN CYCLING

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DIREC TORS START THE JOUR NEY

I think a lot of what happens in linguistics is really, really good work that deserves to be recognized and championed for its worth and value to society, and used in multidisciplinary attempts to make the world a better place. Unfortunately, a lot of it can’t reach the non-academically inclined person with big ideas because it’s difficult to read and make sense of. Sure, Kazakh sounds like a really cool language, but where are you going to go to find information on it that you can actually read without getting a massive, jargon-influenced headache?

Unravel aims to consolidate all of that information in one place, and make it easier for you to learn about this awesome thing called linguistics, which can and should do so much more for our world.

I’m also a massive, almost devout believer in the inherent beauty of language. Call it bias, call it snarky attempts to increase readership; I love my discipline, and I love language. Language is one of those things we take for granted, like cheese and potato peelers; but unlike cheese and potato peelers (yes, debatable) it is constantly changing and evolving, and it is absolutely everywhere. In my thoughts, in my speech, in these words that I’m setting to virtual paper.

That’s why we’re doing what we do for free. It’s a passion. A love of words, and sentences, and subjectivities that make us all very much imperfect, and very much human, as we struggle to find words to express what we think and feel.

Our first issue reflects our background and humble upbringing, here in multilingual and (perennially) sunny Singapore—as well as our preoccupation with food, which several members of the team could not avoid talking about in their bios. Our gorgeous cover image drawn by Catherine May Tang sums this up perfectly: food is an everyday part of life in Singapore, but even the very words we use to label different dishes suggest how vivid and diverse the language situation in our city-state is.

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PHOTOGRAPHY: Maarten Duineveld, Markus Spiske, m wrona, Mattias Olsson, Markos Mant, Jรถrg Angeli, Flo Maderebner, tookapic, invisiblepower, Joshua Earle, Visit Almaty, Jรถrg

ENJOY YOUR DESTINATION

SKI SEASON INTO THE WILD

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ust because the slopes are bare doesn’t mean you shouldn’t visit a ski resort. From wildlife tours to stargazing, many have more to offer in the warm months than you may think.

Vail, Colo., Jackson Hole, Wyo., and Park City, Utah, may all be mainstay skiing destinations, but trips to their resorts — or those in any other ski spot in the United States for that mat-

ter — shouldn’t be confined to ski season. Pamela Lenci, general manager of Caldera House, a new hotel in Jackson Hole, said that top ski locales offer plenty of diversions in the summer and fall, too.

“You can have just as much fun without hitting the slopes,” she said.

Here are some of her best tips to enjoy those ski destinations when the slopes aren’t covered in snow.

Shouldn’t be confined to ski season. Pamela Lenci, general manager of Caldera House, a new hotel in Jackson Hole.

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Escape

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But dollars be damned. A new Charlevoix regional website that combines lodging and skiing options at all three mountains helped us book a combined lift and lodging package and it took all of five minutes to get on the slopes at Mont-Sainte-Anne.

GO DOWN THE SLOPE Ski resorts are a hiker’s haven, according to Ms. Lenci, with dozens of possible treks ranging from easy to strenuous. The slopes that are so much fun when covered in snow are great to explore when the ground is bare, and many resorts even offer hiking tours off-season.

Your hotel’s concierge or the local tourist office will be able to give you a list, along with maps, of all of your options.

And there’s beautiful scenery in store for those willing to hit the trail: “You’ll walk through an abundance of colorful wildflowers,” Ms. Lenci said.

“They’re a stunning sight.” While you’re up in the hills, she recommended enjoying lunch at a mountain restaurant and then saving your knees by taking a gondola or tram back down, a perk that many ski resorts offer to hikers in the spring and summer.

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The melted snow in ski areas fills streams and rivers with an abundance of water. For off-season visitors, this means that white water rafting, paddle boarding, swimming and float rides all become possible, and even enticing.

Check with your hotel, online at sites like TripAdvisor or a local tourism board’s website for local operators that offer these activities. Don’t forget to research the operator as well, just to make sure they have a good safety record.

Ms. Lenci said that many ski resorts in the United States are in areas with amazing fly fishing in the off season. Snake River, in Jackson Hole, for example, is one of the most renowned fly fishing spots in North America. “You don’t have to have any technical skills to go fly fishing,” Ms. Lenci said. “It’s a relaxing sport that anyone can do.” Best of all, during the spring and summer,

G O W H E R E Y O U F E E L

Isolated from city lights and light pollution, large, often remote ski destinations in the United States are generally some of the best places to see the stars.

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local outdoors shops and resorts even Remarkable People We Overlooked offer everything you need to go fly fish- in Our Obituaries. His Body Was Behind ing, available to purchase or rent by the the Wheel for a Week Before It Was day. Unlike the winter, wildlife is replete Discovered. This Was His Life. You can get in ski destinations come summer and sightings while out on walks, hikes and fall, with high chances of spotting herds bike rides, but a wildlife viewing tour — of antelope, bison, moose, elk, deer and usually led by a park ranger or naturalist big horn. You may even get a glimpse of — is another way to see and learn more about the local ecosystem. a bear, just don’t get too close.

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Many hotels, including Caldera House, have star gazing experiences for guests complete with telescopes.

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FRESH AIR, SNOW AND SWEET COLD Isolated from city lights and light pollution, large, oftenremote ski destinations in the United States are generally some of the best places in the United States to see the stars.

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In addition to hiking, the mountains beckon when it’s not time to ski with activities like horseback riding, climbing, biking and ATV rides up dirt roads. Many resorts and parks even offer these activities as destination events during the off season. “There’s actually more to do than during ski season,” Ms. Lenci said.

Isolated from city lights and light pollution, large, often-remote ski destinations in the United States are generally some of the best places in the United States to see the stars.

ONLY THOSE WHO WILL RISK GOING TOO FAR CAN POSSIBLY FIND OUT HOW FAR THEY CAN GO

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I was descending a Georgian mountain pass in a rented Renault Duster when, rounding a curve with six-foot snow drifts to either side, a dark and narrow tunnel came into view. Looking down the mountain, I could see the other end of it — and an apparently endless convoy of eighteen-wheelers making their way up, entering in the opposite direction. I couldn’t imagine how we’d fit alongside each other, but I pressed on, only to find myself in a black hole. The headlights illu-

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minated nothing. I rolled down the window — one of those useless things you do when beginning to panic — and realized that we were in a cloud of black truck exhaust so thick it was blinding.

I’d come to Georgia to ski — attracted by images of the towering Caucasus Mountains and reports of affordable skiing without the crowds.

Those who knew Georgia tended to describe it warmly: exotic and undiscovered, with great food, situated at a crossroads full of

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Isolated from city lights and light pollution, large, oftenremote ski destinations in the United States are generally some of the best places in the United States to see the stars.

history, and changing — its young population striving to show off a post-Soviet identity to the world.

I was descending a Georgian mountain pass in a rented Renault Duster when, rounding a curve with six-foot snow drifts to either side, a dark and narrow tunnel came into view. Looking down the mountain, I could see the other end of it — and an apparently endless convoy of eighteen-wheelers making their way up, entering in the opposite direction. I couldn’t imagine how we’d fit alongside each other, but I pressed on, only to find myself in a black hole.

The headlights illuminated nothing. I rolled down the window — one of those useless things you do when beginning to panic — and realized that we were in a cloud of black truck exhaust so thick it was blinding.

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ENJOY YOUR LIMITS A

fter a few seconds the smoke dissipated, revealing dozens of headlights in the murk ahead, and just enough space — a matter of inches — to carefully proceed. After what seemed like half an hour (but was really four or five minutes), we emerged on the other side, and eventually made it to Gudauri, Georgia’s largest ski resort, about an hour and a half from the capital city of Tbilisi. With me in the car was my friend Jeff, an American scientist and avid skier, and my Swedish brother-inlaw Ola, a snowboarder and hairdresser-turned-photographer by trade.

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TRIP IS THE VALUE But dollars be damned. A new Charlevoix regional website that combines lodging and skiing options at all three mountains helped us book a combined lift and lodging package and it took all of five minutes to get on the slopes at Mont-Sainte-Anne. There I gave my son over to Claude Dion, a dashing French-Canadian instructor who promised to annuler the last vestiges of Luke’s American snow plow.

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There I gave my son over to Claude Dion, a dashing French-Canadian instructor who promised to annuler the last vestiges of Luke’s American snow plow.

LEARN TO SEE BEYOND EXPERIENCE

Beginning at around 7,200 feet and rising to 10,000 at its peak, Gudauri’s slopes are above the tree line.

When we passed through there was plenty of snow on the ground and sparkling blue skies, which made for strikingly beautiful days on the slopes — nothing but marshmallowy peaks of white in every direction.

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udauri has around 20 miles of groomed runs with good vertical drops (up to 1,800 feet) and mostly fast, modern lifts. Those open at 10 a.m., and most people seem not to show up until a few hours after that. I was able to ski mostly by myself for the first two hours of the day — the snow well-groomed and just the right amount of soft, the wind light, the weather perfect. I never waited more than 30 seconds for a lift the entire day, even when it began to get crowded after lunch. I ended up spending quite a while at Megobari, the restaurant at the top of the gondola serving snacks like kebab and borscht, and the usual range of drinks but with some surprises too — including a tasty tea with honey, lime, ginger, and a few mystery herbs. There were a few dozen tables and chairs (including some of the beanbag variety) scattered on the snow outside, and an enjoyably obscure musical playlist ranging from klezmer music to “What does the fox say?”

It was below freezing, but lovely in the sun.

At the top of the mountain my phone announced calling and messaging rates in Russia, a reminder of how close the border is. Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of Russians in Gudauri. But others come here too, and in growing numbers. We ran into an Austrian heli-skiing group and a large group of Chinese visitors. One British-Australian family living in Dubai that I shared a lift with said they’d come a few years in a row, citing the easy three-hour flight as one reason.

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GET TO KNOW 34 MIYON FROM JAPAN PHOTOGRAPHY:

DANE DEANER, JOSHUA REDDEKOPP, MAX KUKURUDZIAK, PAMELA SAUNDERS, YANN ALLEGRE

IF YOU'RE NOT FAMILIAR WITH MIYEONG YAMAGUCHI AKA @34MIYON34 ON INSTAGRAMIT 'S TIME TO CHANGE THAT. THIS JAPANESE RIDER HAS BEEN STEADILY ON THE RISE VIA A STEADY DOSE OF CLIPS IN THE MANY DIRTY PIMP EDITS. IN A CREW THAT'S LOADED WITH STYLE AND HAS A DEEP BAG OF TRICKS, MIYON'S RIDING STANDS OUT, A TESTAMENT TO HER EASY SENSIBILITY WHEN LANDING HAMMERS. HER SNOWBOARDING IS INFLUENCED

BY PROPER JAPANESE STREET CHOPS AS WELL AS THE SOCIAL ETHOS OF BEAR MOUNTAIN, MEANING THAT SHE'S GOT AN ARSENAL OF TECHNICAL TRICKS AND ULTRA RELAXED STYLE. IT 'S HER FLAWLESS FRONTBOARDS, BACKLIPS, 270'S-NOT TO MENTION HER SWITCH UPS AND REVERT TAP OUTS-THAT LANDED HER A SPOT IN UPCOMING FILM, THE UNINVITED, IN WHICH MIYON WILL HAVE THE CHANCE TO TURN ANY HEADS WHO HAVEN'T ALREADY BEEN REPLAYING HER TRICKS ONLINE. HER RIDING IS MENTAL, SHE'S AN ACCOMPLISHED ARTIST, AND HER FIRST PROVINCE-SIDE PART IS ABOUT TO DROP. WE THOUGHT IT WAS HIGH TIME WE GOT TO KNOW THE 34 MIYON MUCH BETTER, SO WE HIT HER UP AND SHE WAS KIND ENOUGH TO ANSWER ALL OUR QUESTIONS. READ BELOW, TAP FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM, AND STAY TUNED FOR MORE FROM MIYEONG.

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You go by 34 Miyon in the Dirty Pimp edits and as @34miyon34 on Instagram. What does the 34 stand for?

In Japan, 3 sounds "mi" and 4 sounds "yon". These sounds perfectly fit my name, Miyeong, so that I use this number as my screenname.

Where are you from?

Fukuoka, Japan. It is a region where snow does not fall.

What sponsors do you ride for? capita, dimito, deeluxe, union, oakley, stinky socks, coal, Dirty pimp, The Uninvited.

How old were you when you first snowboarded? Why did you start snowboarding?

I was 19 years old, and my friend from a college actually asked me to go to an indoor snowboarding slope in the summer break, since I had nothing to do. It was amazingly fun, so I moved to its neighborhood then commuted there 6 times in a week!

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Interview

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START AND GROW How did Dirty Pimp start? How long have you guys been riding together?

The beginning of this crew started from Yutaro, a producer, saying that he wanted to make the best film crew ever in Japan. It has been 9 years of being together so far. We have 3 original members including me, since the beginning, and it seems we accept more younger generation in these days. It is so much fun to ride and hanging out with everyone though.

Everyone in Dirty Pimp has so much style. What influences your riding and style?

I think I got influenced by variety of things around me, such as a traditional Korean folk dance I used to learn when I was a little kid and some of the moves still show up sometimes. I also consciously improve the moves I don't really like on the film! After all, I think my style is piled up on those efforts and interests around me.

What was the first street spot that you hit?

Without clearing snow away from the stairs, I tried 50-50 on its 10m down rail. I think that was the first one I hit.

Which Japanese riders influence your snowboarding?

I respect Kazu Kokubo.

Which Western riders influence your snowboarding?

When I first watched Justin Bennee's riding on a screen, I thought it was really cool.

So many Western riders go to Japan in search of street spots. What makes spots in Japan so unique?

Honestly for me, I think Western countries have better street spots, but I guess that we are all attracted by its own exotic spots right? Whenever I see Western riders hit the spots in Japan with a creative and crazy ride, it amazes me so much!

Do you guys get busted at spots often or are Japanese police pretty understanding?

I don't think they understand us so much though.

Haha, actually, on the contrary, local people who live around the spots get really mad at us and we only have 20% of successful persuasion so far.

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Interview

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How did Dirty Pimp start? How long have you guys been riding together?

The beginning of this crew started from Yutaro, a producer, saying that he wanted to make the best film crew ever in Japan. It has been 9 years of being together so far. We have 3 original members including me, since the beginning, and it seems we accept more younger generation in these days. It is so much fun to ride and hanging out with everyone though.

Everyone in Dirty Pimp has so much style. What influences your riding and style?

I think I got influenced by variety of things around me, such as a traditional Korean folk dance I used to learn when I was a little kid and some of the moves still show up sometimes. I also consciously improve the moves I don't really like on the film! After all, I think my style is piled up on those efforts and interests around me.

What was the first street spot that you hit?

Without clearing snow away from the stairs, I tried 50-50 on its 10m down rail. I think that was the first one I hit.

Which Japanese riders influence your snowboarding?

I respect Kazu Kokubo.

Which Western riders influence your snowboarding?

When I first watched Justin Bennee's riding on a screen, I thought it was really cool.

GETTING INTO FILMING Do you guys get busted at spots often or are Japanese police pretty understanding?

I don't think they understand us so much though. Haha, actually, on the contrary, local people who live around the spots get really mad at us and we only have 20% of successful persuasion so far.

What is your favorite type of spot to hit (rail, redirect, etc.)?

I like a simple down rail and small wall which I can show my style. At the same time, I think a background is also very important, such as dirty ghetto places and neutral and modern buildings I really like! I don't think I can hardly hit the latter one since people are watching.

What has been the spot you have battled most while filming?

I guess I have a lot, but If I must say the one then, it should be a triple down rail I hit last year. I really didn't want to do that since I was so scared, but at the same time I was invited to "The Uninvited", which means I had to focus on myself asking all my crew getting back to the van and kept riding on that rail till I made it. I actually didn't like the style of the first make, so I pushed myself until I made the second one I really liked.

How many summers have you been going to Mount Hood to snowboard? Was Hood the first place you snowboarded in North America?

It was the 3 time I visited the Mt. Hood. The first snowboard in North America was Bear!

D I F F E T I M E E X P E R PHOTOGRAPHERS: WILLIAM HOOK, LUCAS CLARA, LUM3N.COM, ADRIAN, RICCARDO BRESCIANI, CHRISTOPHER BURNS, PETER CONLAN, JONAS WURSTER, KALEN EMSLEY, CONNOR MCSHEFFREY, EBERHARD GROSSGASTEIGER

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DON'T BE AFRAID TO GOVERTICAL

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few weeks after our trip, a video showing an apparent lift malfunction at Gudauri went viral. In it, we see the lift reversing at high speed down the mountain, the skiers facing the opposite direction having to jump off, and the chairs being swung violently around the lift entrance before ending up in a pile. Luckily no one was killed, and it seems to have been a oneoff, freak occurrence. Nevertheless it was, perhaps, a reminder that this isn’t yet quite like skiing in the Alps. That’s also part of Georgia’s draw — only a few hours away, it is a country that manages to feel like an entirely different world.

Georgia has few natural resources, a relatively low profile internationally and powerful neighbors that don’t always play nice. It’s no surprise that it’s eager to attract visitors and show the world what makes it special. And as visitor numbers grow and Georgia emerges as a destination, the country is pinning much hope

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on its mountains. It struck me that this is a country at an inflection point, with a generation trying to start from scratch in many ways, and make a clean break from the past. That’s part of its appeal. It’s got the basic elements covered: good food, beautiful mountains, dependable snow and welcoming people — the rest they’re figuring out as they go along.

We had begun our Georgia trip in Tbilisi, arriving on an Air Baltic flight from Riga at 4:45 a.m. The immigration officer, a young woman, addressed me in a way I would come to see many more times when making any kind of official or commercial transaction in Georgia: the initial interaction unsmiling, even tense, but giving way quickly to a half-smile and then full-blown friendliness. After locating the Enterprise rental car office, which was just a man in the parking lot who handled our paperwork on the hood of the car under a drizzle, we headed west on a deserted highway in the dark.

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here is one main commercial strip, some very old and beautiful wooden houses on their last legs, and a number of new-build “chalet” style rental houses plus a few larger hotels.

There are two main ski areas: Didveli and Kokhta. Didveli has a gondola and a few decent runs plus a couple of spots for some relaxed off-piste exploring. Kokhta has a lift that starts just outside of town, but traffic was gridlocked there when we passed through, and the parking lot full. Much better to continue east down the dirt road to find the newer lift from Mitarbi, which connects to the main Kokhta runs. These latter runs are favored by professional skiers for a bit of practice on the weekends, thanks to fewer crowds and a good vertical drop.

One afternoon I met up with Eka Chagelishvili, vice president of the Georgia Ski Federation, and her two colleagues, Nini Ninua and

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Anita Gabashvili. They were in town to put on a ski race, one of several they organize around Georgia every year. Nini, 27, had been a professional skier, and Anita was Eka’s daughter, just turned 18. The three regularly travel to mountain villages, hold events and tournaments, and scout for young people to train in everything to do with mountain life — hunting for the next ski champions of Georgia as well as the next generation of managers and business owners in Georgia’s mountain towns.

They see their work as a social project as much as a development initiative.

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SLOPES COULD BE EVEN MORE FUN “The children in these villages are really fearless,” Eka told me. “So we want to train them to participate in the Olympics, in world championships, and get medals. We have the resources, we just have to attract people, and that’s an effective way to do it.”

For those looking for some pleasant runs amid the trees, Bakuriani is not a bad place to do it. It has reliably good snow for around five months of the year, and quite a few good places to eat and drink. It was here that I first encountered chacha, the Georgian spirit made from.

Never measure the height of a mountain until you reach the top. Then you will see how low it was.

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here we found a group of teenagers bouncing around to hard house music, crowding the D.J. booth. A man who still had his white ski goggles on his head approached us, eager to chat but too drunk to really say much. Russian music videos looking straight out of the 1990s played on a monitor overhead. We stayed 10 minutes and called it a night.

The town around Gudauri, by contrast, is characterless — a collection of mostly bland rental apartments, hotels and a handful of restaurants and bars. During our days skiing in Gudauri, we stayed in the village of Stepantsminda and the Rooms Hotel Kazbegi — a beautifully restored old turbaza, or Soviet-era vacation camp, about a 40-minute drive from the slopes. From my room’s balcony, I sat staring at the looming Mount Kazbegi and the dozens of other snowy peaks rising up on either side of the valley as the fog rolled in.

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CREDITS Free University of Bolzano - Bozen Faculty of Design and Art Bachelor in Design and Art - Major in Design WUP 18/19 | 1st semester foundation course Project Modul: Editorial Design Design by: Matteo Finozzi Magazine | High Peaks Supervision: Project leader Prof. Antonino Benincasa Project assistants Maximilian Boiger, Gian Marco Favretto Photography: Adrian, Yann Allegre, Visit Almaty, Jörg Angeli, Riccardo Bresciani, Christopher Burns, Lucas Clara, Peter Conlan, Dane Deaner, Maarten Duineveld, Joshua Earle, Kalen Emsley, Eberhard Grossgasteiger, William Hook, invisiblepower, Jörg, Max Kukurudziak, Lum3n.com, Flo Maderebner, Markos Mant, Connor McSheffrey, Tyler Nix, Michael Nunes, Mattias Olsson, Joshua Reddekopp, Avi Richards, Pamela Saunders, Malte Schmidt, Markus Spiske, tookapic, Sebastian Unrau, m wrona, Jonas Wurster, Victor Xok. Paper: Color Copy Uncoated 120 gr.

Color Copy Uncoated 300 gr.

Fonts: Meta Pro Chaparral Printed: Bozen-Bolzano, January 2019 Inside pages – Digital Print | Canon Cover – Digital Print | Canon

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Above every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley