UK EDITION JAN/FEB 2021, £3.50
BEYOND THE ORDINARY
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SAM SUNDERLAND THE CHAMPION BIKER GEARS UP FOR DAKAR GLORY
NEW HOPE AMERICAN ARTIST NICK CAVE ON CHANGING THE WORLD THROUGH CREATIVITY
POWER GRAB
HOW KATIE ORMEROD AND A NEW GENERATION OF GREAT BRITISH SNOWSPORTS PROS ARE TAKING OVER
Editor’s letter
If you want to get the measure of a person, don’t look at their triumphs – how they’ve reacted to tough times will tell you far more. In this issue of The Red Bulletin, we feature high achievers who have found innovative ways through. Our cover star, champion snowboarder Katie Ormerod (page 32), grew up far from snow and mountains. Instead, she trained on Yorkshire’s dry slopes and at indoor centres. But, thanks to the resilience, persistence and adaptability that she and her teammates learnt from using less-than-perfect facilities, the 23-year-old has turned these disadvantages into a strength. Now she’s part of a new generation of athletes aiming to make Great Britain one of the world’s most successful nations in winter sports. Motorcycle master Sam Sunderland’s victory-studded career (page 60) has also included hard knocks. Having suffered numerous physical injuries, the Dorset-born rider has become a reluctant expert at getting back in the saddle. And, as he prepares for this year’s Dakar Rally, once again he’s come back stronger. Then there’s the renowned US artist Nick Cave (page 54). Inspired by life’s most difficult subjects, from racism to gun violence, Cave creates colourful, interactive, thought-provoking pieces that he hopes will promote a brighter future. Plus, surf’s up as we look at Africa’s thriving wave-riding culture (page 42), and we wrap up with this season’s best snow wear (page 86). Enjoy the issue.
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE
SHAMIL TANNA
London-based Tanna has shot many a sporting great, but Katie Ormerod and her GB Snowsport teammates gave him a new perspective. “It was amazing to see them train. Even with limited access to mountains and snow, they can still become the best, which proves it’s not the facilities that make you a champion, but the hard work and dedication.” Page 32
ALICE AUSTIN
When offered the chance to interview filmmaker, cultural explorer and general overachiever Nadir Nahdi, Austin jumped at the chance. “Nadir has done too much amazing work to fit into one interview,” says the Londonborn, Berlin-based writer. “He’s full of unique ideas and isn’t afraid to go out and execute them. The dude is unstoppable.” Page 26
Board meeting: photographer Shamil Tanna catches Katie Ormerod in flight on her home turf in Halifax Page 32
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THE RED BULLETIN
SHAMIL TANNA (COVER), MATT BRAMSTON, ELIZABETH DANA
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CONTENTS Jan/Feb 2021
08 Gallery: bark and ride, Vermont-
style; freeskiing at its finest in Switzerland; and winter wave adventures in the surfing capital of, er, Germany
15 ’Tis the season to be melancholy:
Chilly Gonzales says ‘bah humbug’ to happy-clappy festive tunes
16 Crawly space: need to know if that
spider’s bite will make your lips turn blue? There’s an app for that 18 All-round performer: the Circle
Guitar is such a smart instrument it (almost) plays itself
21 Crater value: the housing scheme
that offers space, peace and quiet, and off-Earth parking
22 Going places: the game-changing
adventure wheelchair powered by love (and a high-capacity battery)
2 4 Gert-Jan Oskam
From paralysis to participating in the Wings for Life World Run – one man’s incredible story
26 N adir Nahdi
The filmmaker creating spaces where ethnic communities can come – and run – together
28 V ictoria Evans
The sports lawyer who rowed out of her comfort zone and into a transatlantic solo challenge
32 G B Snowsport
No mountains, no snow, no problem: how Britain’s winter sports stars hit the heights
42 Afrosurf
Long ignored in mainstream surf culture, Africa is ready to enjoy its place in the sun
54 N ick Cave
NICOLE SWEET
No, not that one. This US artist is blowing minds and promoting change with his fantastical works
60 S am Sunderland
The road to Dakar 2021 has been strewn with injuries, but the rally biker is back on track
THE RED BULLETIN
69 Pride after a ’fall: the thrill of
scaling frozen water in France
73 Snow and steady: the best skis,
boots and boards you can buy
78 Top-notch gear for winter running 80 Hot foos: how to master table
football (hint: spin at your peril!)
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Making waves: there’s more to surf culture than blonde hair and blue eyes, as new book Afrosurf illustrates
83 Pimp my hide: are future cyborgs
more than just a gaming trope? 84 Bring your DNA game: fitness is
in the genes, apparently 86 Piste offering: don’t disrespect
the slopes – get this ski wear 94 Essential dates for your calendar 98 Pillow play in British Columbia 07
BURLINGTON, VERMONT, USA
Trunk call
PETER CIRILLI/RED BULL ILLUME
Have you ever looked at an atmospheric image of a frozen landscape and thought it was lacking that certain something? Like, say, a dude on a skateboard? That was photographer Peter Cirilli’s motivation for shooting this picture of skater Levi Glenney in their local forest. “I took a similar photo the year before, but with no action, just as a landscape,” says Cirilli, “and I couldn’t help but think how much better it would look with someone on a snowboard or a skateboard. I really wanted a skateboard, because I felt the contrast from season to sport would help catch the viewer’s eye.” cirilliphoto.com
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ENGELBERG, SWITZERLAND
Slope progress Patience, so the saying goes, is a virtue. It’s also a handy trait if you’re a snowsports lover constantly in search of nirvana. Freeskier Connery Lundin and photographer Oskar Enander knew that near the Swiss alpine village of Engelberg stood a slope so shaded and protected from the wind that perfect snow was guaranteed. Bad news: reaching the top would involve an hourlong schlep. So, did the US skier and Swiss snapper give up and retreat to the nearest mountain hut for a schnapps session? This image is a clue. oskarenander.com
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OSKAR ENANDER
MUNICH, GERMANY
City break As surfing hotspots go, Munich’s River Eisbach is far from the norm. Although 500km from the coast, this 2km-long branch of the River Isar attracts surfers thanks to its standing wave, formed by a combination of surging water, a concrete weir and submerged planks. French photographer Dom Daher snapped this bunch getting on board one snowy March day. Being snowboarding pros on downtime from the Freeride World Tour in Austria, a sprinkling of the white stuff was always unlikely to deter them. domdaher.com
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DOM DAHER
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CHILLY GONZALES
O glum, all ye faithful
Hoping for some joy this Xmas? This Canadian’s festive playlist might not float your candle Chilly Gonzales doesn’t get stuck in niches – it’s all about the thrill of a new challenge for the 48-year-old. Some will know his early-Noughties rap albums; others love him for his impressionist Solo Piano albums and concerts, performed in a dressing gown and slippers. You might have seen his name in Guinness World Records for playing a show that lasted 27 hours and three minutes, or his fan book on singer/songwriter Enya. Gonzales also runs a music school, The Gonzervatory, and has played on albums by the likes of Drake, Feist and Daft Punk. To mark the release of his melancholic festive album A Very Chilly Christmas (out now), the musical polymath shares four downbeat yuletide favourites… chillygonzales.com
Purple Mountains
ANKA
FLORIAN OBKIRCHER
Snow is Falling in Manhattan (2019)
“What I love about this track, written by the late David Berman of the group Silver Jews, is that it wasn’t intended as a Christmas song. It was actually Jarvis Cocker who heard the potential for it to be one. If you listen closely to the lyrics, it does have that solemn Christmas carol kind of energy – a bit like Die Hard is a Christmas film despite having none of the obvious hallmarks.” THE RED BULLETIN
David Bowie and Bing Crosby
Unknown
Chilly Gonzales feat Feist The Banister Bough (2020)
Little Drummer Boy (1982)
Maria durch ein Dornwald ging (possibly 16th century)
“It’s said that Crosby didn’t know who this androgynous guy in a dandy suit was when he showed up to the video shoot. Whereas Bowie, even though he was pushing the envelope of pop music, adored Crosby. You can see it in the footage – as soon as Bowie opens his mouth, Crosby gets it. His face is like, ‘This boy is incredible – I’d better bring my A-game!’ An incredible clash of generations.”
“This hymn is only known in Germany, and not by many. It’s one of the darkest Christmas songs ever. Christmas songs tend to pressurise the listener into being happy, but I wanted to create the first mixed-feelings Christmas album, because that’s my experience. When I decided to play this, I thought, ‘Perfect, I don’t have to do anything to it. It’s already super-dark and depressing.’”
“Sorry to pick a song I co-wrote, but all the credit here goes to [Canadian indie musician] Feist, who doesn’t like to kill a tree every Christmas. Instead, she gets branches and brambles from her backyard, twists them into each other and ties them around the banister of her staircase. She’s made a very eco-friendly, modern Christmas tradition, and we decided to immortalise it in a carol. The lyrics are almost instructional.” 15
Killer app The deadliest thing about venomous creatures is our ignorance about them. This mobile database plans to change that and restore our harmony with nature
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Could you tell the difference between the venomous funnel-web spider and the intimidating but much less dangerous huntsman? In Australia, a continent famed for its unique and sometimes deadly fauna, knowing your critters is a necessity. With this in mind, a pair of outdoor enthusiasts have created Critterpedia, an app that can instantly identify any snake or spider you encounter – and tell you whether you should be running away. Queensland-based couple Nic and Murray Scarce hatched the idea when Nic’s British-born mother came to visit and found herself surrounded by unfamiliar creepy crawlies. “The questions relating to their identification and danger levels were relentless,” says Nic, “and the fact we didn’t have all the answers exacerbated the situation. We turned to each
THE RED BULLETIN
LOU BOYD
CRITTERPEDIA
other and said, ‘How good would it be if you could just take a photo with your phone and it identifies an animal?’” The result is an app described by many – although, the Scarces are keen to stress, not by them – as “the Shazam of spiders and snakes”, because it works in much the same way as the music discovery platform. A machine-learning engine within the app crossreferences an uploaded photo with a huge image bank of various species and, together with other information such as GPS location, identifies the creature. The initial database was sourced from zoological experts, but the AI’s accuracy has improved as more users have supplied their own photos. “The visual differences between two species can be quite subtle, so a great deal of training data is needed,” says Matt Adcock of Data61, the digital arm of CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, who collaborated with the Scarces on the project. With around 170 species of snake and more than 2,000 of spider to catalogue, it’s a gargantuan task. “Once the Data61 team has perfected the algorithm with snakes and spiders, we’ll move on to insects and animals,” says Nic. But, for CSIRO and the Scarces, this is more than just a fun tool. They hope that it can be an educational platform to empower people outdoors and even restore humankind’s relationship with nature. “If Critterpedia can play a part in changing negative and naïve mindsets towards wildlife and our global environmental concerns, the blood, sweat and many tears will have been worth it,” says Nic. Critterpedia is currently in the testing phase, with a target date of May 2021 for its full release. To become a tester and contribute photos to help train its algorithm, head to critterpedia.com
CRITTERPEDIA
If you see one of these, be like Nic and Murray: make yourself Scarce
Without the electric guitar, there would be no rock’n’roll. And now this innovative axe is changing the tune once again The history of music – and specifically the instruments used to play it – is one of great invention. From the piano, which evolved from the harpsichord in around 1700, to the first electric guitar – built in the 1930s – the instruments we now see as commonplace were all considered subversive and revolutionary at their inception. Now, London-based inventor and designer Anthony Dickens is testing the limits again with his Circle Guitar, a self-picking instrument with an electric
Motor-driven disc with 128 magnetic slots for picks
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The player can mute strings manually as they’re struck by the picks
The signal from each string can be processed differently thanks to a hexaphonic pickup
Six buttons to action notes or chords
THE RED BULLETIN
LOU BOYD
Revolution in music
motor, which can play chords at speeds of up to 250bpm – faster than a human – and with more precision than any guitarist. Dickens, 45, says he wanted to explore the “sonic possibilities” of redesigning the way this iconic instrument is played, to create new sounds and even new genres of music. “I’m interested in looking at traditional instruments and using mechanical interventions to change or augment what you’d normally do,” he says. “If you look at any classic instrument, they’re designed around the ergonomics of the human body. But altering that might take the playing of that instrument into a new realm.” While the neck of the Circle Guitar retains a familiar look, the body features a mechanical ‘step sequencer’ disc that spins beneath the strings and is ‘programmed’ by the player with interchangeable picks to produce different melodies and rhythms. “Initially, people think it’s just a self-strumming guitar and your right hand doesn’t have to do anything, but you soon realise that’s not the case. What the right hand does now is make two-handed chords, vary the harmonics or mute the strings. You get the precision of techno or house with the lovely, imperfect sound of a string that is different each time it’s plucked.” The instrument has already been tested by Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien, and is soon to be picked up by Muse maestro Matt Bellamy, who is in talks to produce it commercially through his own company. “[The guitar] polarises people and a lot of traditional musicians hate it,” Dickens says. “It’s interesting how a lot of those people love the music from the past and have a fixed idea of what instruments should sound like. A lot of their heroes were agitators in their time. When music progresses, it’s never initially accepted.” circleinstruments.co.uk
ANTHONY DICKENS
CIRCLE GUITAR
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BROCK CROUCH
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LOU BOYD
In space, no one can hear you stall...
Andy Weir’s 2011 novel The Martian was lauded for its attention to scientific accuracy. But, with his 2017 follow-up Artemis, the US author went one better, offering a detailed vision of humanity’s first Moon settlement – one that could now become reality. NASA has commissioned its first Moon construction plan, Project Olympus, and its contractor of choice has a unique track record for building habitats where no one has gone before. US firm ICON first made headlines in 2018, when it constructed the first 3D-printed house in Austin, Texas, for just $10,000 (£7,700), using a huge proprietary printer and special form of concrete. The following year, work began on a whole village of houses for families in need in Tabasco, Mexico. For ICON co-founder Jason Ballard, the next step was always going be a giant leap. “From the very start, we’ve been thinking about off-world construction,” he says. With this in mind, in 2018 the firm entered NASA’s 3D Printed Habitat Challenge. It won a prize for printing a fully-sealed structure – essential for a dwelling that must shield its inhabitants from the vacuum of space as well as intense temperatures, radiation, and micrometeorite impact. As the Moon is more than 384,000km from Earth, the work must also be sustainable and use indigenous resources such as ‘lunar soil’, and ice found in the shadows of craters. The endeavour, which requires an even larger 3D printer – the Olympus Construction System – has added benefits for us all, says Ballard: “Learning to build on other worlds will provide the breakthroughs needed to solve our own housing challenges.” ICON has joined forces with two other winners from NASA’s challenge: New York-based SEArch+ (Space Exploration Architecture), a design firm dedicated to realising humanTHE RED BULLETIN
PROJECT OLYMPUS
supporting space dwellings, and Danish architects BIG. “The Danish word for design is formgivning, which literally means to give form to that which has not yet been given form,” explains BIG founder Bjarke Ingels. “This becomes fundamentally clear when we imagine how we’re going to build and live on new worlds.” NASA’s schedule is tight: its Artemis Program – inspired not by Weir’s book, but by the Greek goddess of the Moon – plans to send the first woman and next man to the Moon’s surface by 2024, and establish a settlement by 2030. Eight countries have already signed the ‘Artemis Accords’ – an agreement on inhabiting and sharing resources on the lunar surface. Says Ballard, “Building humanity’s first home on another world will be the most ambitious construction project in human history.” iconbuild.com
Living la vida luna When NASA decided it needed a Moonbase, the space agency turned to a firm that has already built the impossible here on Earth
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THE RIG
Love machine Zack Nelson built an off-road wheelchair so his wife could go on adventures. Now they’re selling them to people all over the world It might look like a customised dune buggy, but the all-terrain vehicle pictured above serves a vital purpose. This adventure wheelchair, named The Rig, was built by Zack Nelson for his wife, Cambry – who is paralysed from the waist down – so they could explore the great outdoors together. Cambry, a former equestrian vaulter, broke her back in 2005 during a bad dismount, leaving her unable to walk again. For many years, Cambry believed her disability would prevent her ever finding a partner, but then, in 2018, she met Zack. She could tell from the start 22
that he wasn’t a typical date – the Utah-based DIY enthusiast runs his own YouTube channel, JerryRigEverything, where he takes products apart and customises them for his sixmillion-plus subscribers. It didn’t take long for Zack to turn his engineering eye to her chair. “I think it’s safe to say Zack was thinking about this from our first date,” says Cambry. “I remember him looking round the dining table at my wheels and thinking, ‘What upgrades could we do to that?’” In reality, he was trying to find a way to help Cambry get back on the trails she loves to
explore. “I looked into outdoor wheelchairs, but they were $15,000 [almost £11,500],” he says, “and when you’ve just started dating someone, you’re not quite ready to drop that amount of money. Then I realised I could take two electric bikes, splice them together and make my own version.” The result of Zack’s experiment is much more than that. The Rig features a sturdy aluminium frame, detachable bumper, and 4in-thick off-road bike tyres that can drive over forest floors, gravel and even packed snow. And with a top speed of more than 19kph and a maximum battery range of 56km, it can keep pace on a bike ride. “I just took off on it and there was no resistance,” says Cambry. “I was like, ‘OK, we can really go places now.’” The pair got married on September 2019, with a ring Zack had forged from the titanium of Cambry’s first wheelchair. Zack has now started to produce The Rig commercially, keeping the price down to $4,750 (around £3,600) – the cost of Cambry’s original vehicle. “In the US, if something goes through medical insurance it’s marked up a ton,” says Zack. “Ours is not a medical device, and it’s mostly made from bike parts that are already mass-produced.” With its low price, The Rig won’t make the Nelsons any profit; instead, the aim of this passion project is to give others the freedom Cambry now enjoys. “It’s only been sent out to a few people so far,” she says, “but the coolest thing for me is the look on people’s faces when they receive it; that feeling of being overwhelmed by all the places they can go. It opens so many doors.” notawheelchair.com THE RED BULLETIN
LOU BOYD
Ready to roam: Cambry and (inset) Zack Nelson with his liberating invention
Gert-Jan Oskam
Stepping into the future Following a traffic accident, the Dutchman was told he’d never walk again. Then, incredibly, last year he took part in the Wings for Life World Run Words FLORIAN OBKIRCHER Photography RUTGER PAUW
Gert-Jan Oskam can barely recall the day of his traffic accident in 2011. All he has are flashes of memories: waking up in a moving ambulance in excruciating pain; being asked by a doctor if he had enough money to receive treatment; realising that he had no feeling in his lower body and was paralysed from the waist down. On his flight back to the Netherlands – at the time of the accident, Oskam worked in China as a logistics coordinator – he was sure that back home they’d fix him. But, after the surgery, the doctor seemed pleased that his patient was even able to reach his nose with his arm. “He said, ‘You can scratch your nose – that’s good. You shouldn’t expect further improvement,’” Oskam remembers. Being asked to accept his condition felt like a smack in the face. “I’m pretty stubborn,” he says. “So, when he said that I wouldn’t be able to walk again, I decided to do anything to prove him wrong.” The first few years were shaped by tough training. In addition to his physiotherapy sessions, Oskam would go to the gym, and play wheelchair rugby several times a week. “As a paraplegic, working out is essential to keep your energy level up,” he explains. “Even simple tasks
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like getting dressed require a lot of time and energy.” When a doctor told him about a new study in Switzerland, STIMO (Stimulation Movement Overground), Oskam was excited. “Taking part in a clinical trial is the only hope you have when you’re paralysed,” he says, “because normal training just won’t get you to the level of walking you dream of.” Oskam joined STIMO at the Lausanne University Hospital in 2017 for a seven-month trial. First, he had electrodes surgically inserted in his lower back. Through these electrodes, electrical pulses are delivered to the spinal cord to stimulate the muscles, potentially helping the remaining nerves that weren’t severed in the accident to carry signals from the brain to the legs. Following the surgery, Oskam spent the remainder of his time in Lausanne stretching, standing up – and walking, first with a harness, then with crutches. Eventually he was able to take a few steps without the aid of any device. Today, the 37-year-old walks six times faster than before entering the STIMO trial. Whereas at first walking meant forcing one foot in front of the other for a maximum of 20m before he had to stop, Oskam can now move for 100m without getting exhausted. “Make no mistake, though,” he says, “my condition has improved a lot, but the wheelchair is still part of my life. There is no cure yet.” In order to raise awareness, Oskam took part in 2019’s Wings for Life World Run – the global running event organised by the not-for-profit foundation of the same name, which
is working to find a cure for spinalcord injury. Over the last 16 years, Wings for Life has supported and funded more than 200 research projects and clinical studies in 19 countries, the STIMO trial being one of them. Red Bull covers all of the foundation’s administrative costs, so 100 per cent of all donations and entry fees from the Wings for Life World Run go to spinal-cord injury research. “It’s different from other runs – people are enthusiastic and very relaxed,” says Oskam, describing the event’s atmosphere. “It’s not so much about competition as it is about charity and togetherness.” The Dutchman managed 100m with his walker, but, despite how impressive this seems, he wasn’t satisfied: “It took me 30 minutes, whereas at home I can walk the same distance easily in 15 minutes.” Last year, Oskam paused his plans due to further surgery, but in 2021 he aims to be back at the starting line. His new goal: 250m.
Wings for Life World Run Be part of the global running event when tens of thousands around the world start running on May 9, 2021 – all at the same time – to find a cure for spinal-cord injury. Experienced runners, beginners, wheelchair users… everyone is welcome. And there is no finish line; instead, 30 minutes after the start, a Catcher Car begins pursuit, passing the runners and rollers one after the other. Download the Wings for Life World Run app and run against a virtual Catcher Car, no matter where in the world you are or what COVID-19 restrictions are in place at that time. Register at wingsforlifeworldrun.com
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“I was told that I’d never walk again… I decided to prove everyone wrong”
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Nadir Nahdi
The 30-year-old filmmaker never knew quite where he belonged – until he made a space for himself and others like him Words ALICE AUSTIN
Nadir Nahdi, a 30-year-old Londoner of Yemeni-Indonesian-KenyanPakistani descent, never quite felt he belonged. He wasn’t enough of anything to feel anything, Nahdi says. Which is why he created BENI, a cultural space and YouTube channel that celebrates people just like him. In #findingnenek, Nahdi follows the footsteps of his Indonesian grandmother to learn why she left her country. In Am I Just a Number? he unpacks the experience of celebrating Ramadan as a refugee, and most recently he created The Doppi Project, a series about Sydneyborn Uyghur/Uzbek Subhi Bora. Nahdi’s films are as much about friendship, family and food as they are about social causes. And his influence extends offline, too. Last year, he launched BENI Run Club, a weekly 5km run in London. Within three weeks, all 100 slots were filled and the waiting list topped 300. The club became an inclusive space for first-time runners, with just one rule: we start together, we finish together. the red bulletin: How would you describe what you do? nadir nahdi: I create cultural products and experiences for a generation growing up in the West with multiple identities – one culture at home, a different one outside. I explore how they navigate this space, and I create experiences for these people through products and content, primarily video. My intention is to show we don’t have to decide to be one culture or the other. We can be all of them and create something new.
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Why is this so important to you? I’m super mixed-race and I was born and raised in London, so at home there were different foods, cultures, languages, people, colours – we had a different cuisine on the table each day. Navigating that became second nature. So I want to translate that as we interact more with those of different ethnicities and backgrounds. Being able to articulate my own experience might help others relate, which could be powerful in the world we’re trying to create; one that's loving, compassionate and sincere. Was filmmaking your ambition? I actually started in humanitarian development work. I worked in the UN for a while, then I did a masters. I grew up around creative people, but I didn’t have the courage to start my own thing. Then in 2014 I made a video for fun and it got, like, a million views overnight. I realised I could really connect with people worldwide though this medium. And become creatively fulfilled… If I could go and do my life again, I’d be an actor. But, growing up, there was no roadmap. Our communities aren’t really pushed to be creative – they’re not shown it’s a viable career path. So what do we do? Ethnic minorities become doctors, lawyers, investment bankers, because there’s an obvious return. But now the tide’s turning and we have more references, so minorities can see themselves in that space and feel confident to take part in it.
Why did you start BENI Run Club? Running is a big part of my stress management process. A lot of people in my community – brown and Black people – don’t run often, which is bizarre as it’s the most accessible sport. But it’s [seen as] a very corporate, white middle-class thing. So I decided to share this passion of mine on my platform. I wanted to create a sense of community and belonging via running. The club started with 15 friends running through beautiful parts of London, then my social was flooded with interest. It was amazing to see people who didn’t feel confident running trying it out. Due to insane demand, it went international. So I’d travel and run in those cities. I did one in Berlin, and now it’s starting in New York, Toronto, Norway… What’s next for BENI Run Club? We’re going through an exciting evolution. We proved that we could create a community and get people running. Now we feel like we need to connect with nature. So we’ll have treks, nature trips and hikes in the UK. My ambition is a 5km relay race from the bottom of the UK to the top. An even bigger ambition is to do it through Europe, like a pan-Western experience. There are people in France, Germany, Spain, every European country, who have the same experiences as me, with multiple backgrounds. Imagine connecting that experience through a run. How beautiful would that be? Instagram: @beni.lab; @nadir.nahdi NADIR NAHDI
Creating community
about representation, and that’s important. We’re criticising now, but what’s the future? We need to build narratives that aren’t rooted in negativity; we need an alternative future to walk into. I want to create stories that show our communities in fresh ways that aren’t rooted in pain and trauma. Because that’s not what defines us. We come from beautiful communities and cultures with so much to draw from.
What’s your goal with BENI? I want BENI to be part of the next conversation. Like, yes, today it’s THE RED BULLETIN
“Being able to articulate my own experience might help others relate” THE RED BULLETIN
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Victoria Evans
Turning the tide The once activity-shy sports lawyer is about to row the Atlantic. Why? Because she used to think it was impossible Words RUTH McLEOD Photography JANE STOCKDALE
In February, London-based sports lawyer Victoria Evans will attempt to become the fastest solo female ever to row the Atlantic. What makes this all the more notable is that, until six years ago, the 33-year-old avoided sport completely. Until 18 months ago, she’d never rowed a boat. But, after discovering sport at 27, Evans’ life was transformed, and now she’s taking on this challenge to raise £50,000 for the charity Women in Sport, to help others experience the same benefits. Despite huge setbacks to her fundraising because of COVID-19, having to give up her job to train fulltime, and missing out on valuable months of on-water training due to lockdown, Evans is feeling positive. Come a good weather window in February, she’ll be setting off from Gran Canaria on the completely unsupported mission in her 7m by 1.4m boat. She’ll cross almost 5,000km of ocean, following the Trade Winds I route from east to west, in her attempt to beat the current world record of 49 days, seven hours and 15 minutes. When she crosses the finish line in Port St Charles, Barbados, she’ll become part of a very select group – fewer than 15 women have made the journey successfully – and will have dealt with isolation, physical exertion and potential peril en route. For Evans, that’s part of the appeal.
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the red bulletin: In the Atlantic, you could face 12m waves. Can you really prep for that in the UK? victoria evans: Everyone tells you rowing on a tideway in the UK is harder than rowing the Atlantic, because there’s so much to think about in terms of where you anchor, whether there’s any traffic, what the wind and tide are doing… On the Atlantic, you deal with fatigue and the bigger conditions. We’ve ended up with such bad weather in the UK that we’ve done the necessary wave work off the south and east coasts. At one point it was, like, 27 knots [50kph] of wind, gusting 35 [65kph], which is a lot in a one-person rowing boat. But I loved it. The idea is that you row as you see a wave coming in, then while you’re in the trough of it you get yourself into a position where you take a big pull and surf the wave. That’s such a great feeling. It’s like hitting a golf ball really well; that feeling of, “I nailed that.” You’re aiming to raise £50K for Women in Sport. Why that cause? They do a lot of research into the barriers preventing women getting into sport, and a lot of lobbying. Women are statistically more inactive than men. There are so many factors playing into that, whether socioeconomic, cultural etc. I don’t think there’s a quick fix where you set a shining example and everyone gets into sport. It’s about more than encouraging women and girls to get active – it’s about looking at why they’re not active in the first place. There needs to be a culture shift to show women are capable of these kind of sporting endeavours and it’s not a male-only domain.
Have you always been sporty? No. Sport used to seem like this other, unobtainable world. I was self-conscious and unfit. What changed things was living with a friend who’d signed up to do some running. I started running, too, then I did a half marathon with her. At 27, it blew my mind that I was able to run 13 miles in two hours. Then I moved to Switzerland to work for [European football governing body] UEFA. It’s so sporty there. I was integrated into a friendship group with all these amazing active women. Weekends were spent hiking, skiing or cycling. I climbed Mont Blanc, Kilimanjaro, and San Paradiso in Italy, all in the space of five weeks. A total change, then… Absolutely. I’d had a pretty tough time as a kid, which resulted in all sorts of issues – I had an eating disorder for a long time, and I had depression. Sport gave me that forum to build my confidence, and a reason to look after myself. It has completely turned my life around. It’s been transformational in the sense it’s allowed me to redefine what I’m capable of. It teaches you discipline, and the rewards from putting in effort. And you achieve things you didn’t think possible. Suddenly I thought maybe there were things within my reach that I hadn’t previously considered. Like rowing the Atlantic… Everyone has their own ocean to cross. It might not even be an actual ocean – it could be anything. For me, it’s setting the example that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. I’m a corporate lawyer who didn’t like sport, so I never thought I’d be doing this. It’s just so outside my previous definition of who I was. Why a rowing challenge? When I moved back to England in 2018, I looked at what outdoor sports I could do in the UK. I’d just met someone who was about to do the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge [an ocean race from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua and Barbuda in the West Indies] and it sparked my interest. I followed the race that year and it THE RED BULLETIN
“Everyone has their own ocean to cross”
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built from there. I didn’t actually set foot in a rowing club until after I’d signed up for the crossing! I’d never rowed at all when I decided to do it. But rowing is all about strength and height – it’s the perfect sport for me. What appeals most to you about taking on such a huge challenge? Making an ocean crossing is pretty intimidating in all forms, but doing it solo adds a whole new dimension of dealing with the psychology of solitude and having only yourself to rely on. But that’s also the appeal for me: exploring. On Mont Blanc, I was constantly fighting that voice saying, “This is too hard. I’d quite like to turn around and have a sandwich.” The process of pushing yourself and beating that voice in your head is what appeals to me about adventure sport, and it’s something I’m quite good at. You can be the fittest person, but if you don’t have that mental resilience, you won’t finish. Doing the row solo offers the ultimate opportunity to explore where you go in those moments. The adversity I encountered in my younger years has actually set me up perfectly for this – it gave me resilience.
At times during this challenge, the closest human to you will be in outer space. How will you deal with total isolation? I lived on my own for the first time when I went to Switzerland, and I hated it at first. But if you force yourself to spend time alone, you face up to yourself and who you are. This is already the hardest thing I’ve ever done, though, and I haven’t even started yet. It requires a lot of commitment and self-belief and picking yourself back up when every sponsorship opportunity has gone because of a recession. I really do believe that absolutely anything is within reach if you want it enough. I didn’t think I could run a halfmarathon or hike 400 miles [640km] or do a triathlon, but I have. Selfbelief comes from setting goals you don’t think are achievable and succeeding in them, realising that you set your own limits in life. How are you physically preparing? I’m working with a former Olympic pentathlete, Greg Whyte. He’s been doing my land-based training and set me six-week training blocks based on various goals. For the first one,
while I was locked down, I used a rowing machine at high intensity to build my CO2 capacity. Now, I’m doing strength training and high-intensity stuff to maintain my base-level fitness, and that involves on-the-water training now I’m able to get back in the boat. You can be super-fit, but ultimately you need to know how the boat works and reacts in different conditions. Nothing beats time on the water. What will you have with you? First and foremost, my boat. I actually bought a boat, then decided to use
Home craft: Evans will row, eat and sleep in True Blue for 40-plus days during her epic Atlantic crossing
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“Spending time alone, you face up to who you are” THE RED BULLETIN
Victoria Evans
to determine my circadian rhythm, how much rest and recovery I need, and when is the best time to sleep. There’s no such a thing as a fixed schedule for a solo rower; you have to work with the conditions. You can’t simply row in a straight line all the way, because of the weather. You have to be thinking through the bigger picture, forecasting and looking two steps ahead to factor in what you’re about to face. There’s certainly much more to it than just getting in a boat and rowing for two months. A lot of macho men try this, thinking their strength is enough. But actually you really need to know your boat and have spent a lot of time in it before setting off.
Hit the row: Evans puts her boat through its paces on the River Crouch in Essex
a different one. The first boat was eight-by-two metres, and the new one is even smaller. It’s a slightly different set-up in terms of cabin and rowing position, which makes a big difference to life at sea. She’s an R10 [made by British firm Rannoch Adventure] called True Blue. What can you fit inside? It’ll clearly be minimal! This challenge is entirely unsupported, so you carry everything you need to sustain yourself for two months. In terms of loose equipment, you take a life raft and a para anchor – it’s a parachute you can put out the front of the boat if the weather is dragging you in the wrong direction. You also carry safety equipment – such as an electronic positioning beacon, in case you need to send out a distress call – plus a well-stocked medical kit and all your food. And you take a watermaker, THE RED BULLETIN
“Sport has let me redefine what I’m capable of” and a Jetboil to cook with. As this is a record attempt, there can’t be any excess weight. By the time I set off, I need to know exactly how much water and gas I’ll need to cook my dehydrated food, so I take the exact number of gas cannisters. And I need to know how many days a tube of toothpaste lasts! It all counts. And will you have a schedule each day, or just play it by ear? I’m working with a company called Firstbeat and a sleep scientist named Sophie Bostock. We’re monitoring my heart-rate variability and sleep
What’s your biggest fear? Cleaning the underside of the boat could be daunting – getting into 5km-deep water on your own, with all the marine wildlife that’s there, with no one on deck to check you’ve got back on board safely. I’ll have to do that once a week. I’m also scared about getting rolled in bad weather. I’ll be doing inversion tests, which is where we put the boat in the water and flip it, with me inside, to check that it rights itself. It’s intimidating right now as I don’t have any experience of it. But I imagine that if it happens a lot, you just… get used to it? [Laughs.] How fast do you think you’ll do it? I’m just aiming to beat the record, so anything under 49 days, seven hours, 15 minutes I’ll be happy with. It’s so dependent on the weather. This is something only 10 women have done on their own – there’s another girl going for it this winter before me, so maybe there will be 11. It’s such a gargantuan challenge that it will feel like an amazing achievement, record or no record. Will you be ready? I feel a lot more ready after the last few proper training rows. There’s been a big progression in terms of focus and my knowledge of how to be at sea rather than just how to row. It’s the first time I’ve felt, “Yep, I’ll be ready when I set off.” Support Evans in her challenge at seachangesport.com/support 31
Slope and glory: Halifax Ski & Snowboard Centre, where some of GB Snowsport’s finest hone their skills. Opposite: Katie Ormerod in action
The white stuff
For a country without snow, Great Britain is making an unlikely bid to become one of the world’s most successful winter sports nations. Here’s how the GB SNOWSPORT team are turning pipe dreams into podiums Words TOM WARD Photography SHAMIL TANNA
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“Skiing on snow was a big change at first after training on dry slopes�
Kirsty Muir, a 16-year-old freestyle skier from Aberdeen, won silver in big air at the Winter Youth Olympics in January 2020
GB Snowsport
“At this rate, we‘ll miss the 2022 Beijing Games!” (Left to right) GB Snowsport athletes Katie Summerhayes, Kirsty Muir and Katie Ormerod wait patiently while teammate Tyler Harding hogs the slide
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attling a howling wind, Katie Ormerod is practising her backflips. It's late October, but Ormerod – the first-ever Briton to win a World Cup snowboard title – is not, as you might imagine, surrounded by mountains, or even snow. Instead, the 23-year-old is high in the hills above the West Yorkshire town of Halifax, a stone’s throw from where she was born. When Ormerod flips, it’s against a backdrop of empty green fields bordered by dry stone walls. When she lands, it’s on a mossy dry-ski slope that has seen better days. These facilities may seem low-rent by many countries’ standards, but this unlikely setting is helping to generate
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world-class talent. Ormerod, one of the best winter sports athletes the UK has produced, has been training here for as long as she can remember. “Most of the British team grew up riding dry slope,” she says. “You’re out here in the elements. My memory is standing at the top of the drop-in, wind in my eyes, waiting in the rain. It’s all part of [learning]. It makes you really go for it when you have the opportunity.” Training with her today are GB Snowsport freestyle skiers Tyler Harding and Katie Summerhayes and newcomer Kirsty Muir. With the exception of Muir, who’s based in Aberdeen, all the athletes still regularly train at Halifax Ski & Snowboard Centre and Graystone Action Sports indoor centre, an hour’s drive away in Salford, Greater Manchester. Like Ormerod, Harding is from Halifax, while fellow Yorkshire native Summerhayes honed her skills at Sheffield Ski Village before it was destroyed by fire in 2012.
While competitors from countries such as the US and Austria are able to master their craft on actual mountain snow, for the UK’s freeski and snowboard athletes it has always been about making clever use of the resources at hand. But, thanks to a combination of gritty determination and creativity, an injection of muchneeded funding and some innovative coaching techniques, this approach is already paying off – for them and for athletes in numerous other disciplines, from alpine skiing to speed skiing. Across the 2018-19 season, GB Snowsport claimed 24 World Cup podiums and brought home 12 World Championship medals. Last season, the team turned this into 31 World Cup podiums, including a first-time Crystal Globe win for para snowboarder Owen Pick. In one competition alone – last February’s Snowboard, Freestyle & Freeski World Championships in Utah – GB athlete Izzy Atkin won a bronze 35
GB Snowsport
medal in big-air skiing, James Woods became world champion in slopestyle, and Charlotte Bankes took silver in snowboard cross. To top it all, Ormerod’s 2019/20 Crystal Globe win in snowboard slopestyle – which came in her comeback season after a devastating heel injury, no less – was nothing short of spectacular. “As a kid, I remember people telling me, ‘A British athlete will never win a World Cup,’” says Charlie Guest, a slalom goldmedallist in both the 2019 and 2020 FIS European Cup. “But when you see Katie Ormerod picking up the Crystal Globe, you go, ‘Oh my goodness - it’s possible!’ It wouldn’t have even crossed the minds of the athletes here 20 years ago.” To the international scene, the message is clear: despite our geographical disadvantages, GB Snowsport are a force to be reckoned with. “For me, winning the Crystal Globe was a really big moment,” says Ormerod. “It was nice to show that, even though we don’t have snow resorts or mountains in Britain, it’s still possible for us to win the overall title and those big medals. It makes me really proud. Now, when someone sees the British flag at the starting gate, they know it’s going to be a challenge.”
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n April 2018, after the most successful Winter Olympics of all time for British snowsports, Vicky Gosling joined as CEO. A former group captain in the Royal Air Force and CEO of the Invictus Games, Gosling knows how to make good teams great, and she started by bringing together the Olympic and
What Britain lacks in snow, it makes up for in sporting talent Paralympic disciplines into one programme and rebranding what was then British Ski and Snowboard into a unified, modern GB Snowsport. “It needed a bit of a shake-up,” she says. “It had been pretty stagnant. Every discipline did its own thing, and I felt like the athletes were trying to find their own way. I rebranded to GB Snowsport so we could create this one-team sensation. Suddenly, we had much more belief in what was achievable.” Impressed by Gosling’s vision and GB Snowsport’s recent successes, this July UK Sport announced it would invest £11.1 million in funding for the 2022 Winter Olympics and £4.4 million for the Paralympics – a vast improvement on the £5.2m and £2.8m the teams were given respectively for PyeongChang 2018. Though the funding total is still less than that given to canoeing alone for the Summer Olympics, for the athletes the increase has been life-changing. “It was a struggle before,” says 24-yearold Olympic competitor Harding, who has been skiing since the age of four. “Really good training camps are expensive. Slopestyle is evolving and we need to train at the best parks in order to
Pole star: medallist Katie Summerhayes wasn’t deterred by the lack of skiing options during her youth
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evolve with it. Since the Olympics we’ve had so much help with that. Now, I don’t have the constant anxiety of not being able to make it away for my next trip. I can put 110 per cent into my skiing.” It’s a similar story for Summerhayes, the first British female to win a World Championship medal in freestyle skiing. “When I was younger, the only snow time I’d get would be on family vacation,” she says. “My parents would save up for months for our one-week holiday. Even in bad weather we’d make the most of every opportunity, because, unlike in some other nations, you can’t just drive an hour down the motorway and be at some world-class resort. Some people have the best mountains 20 minutes from where they live. I’m from Sheffield and our ski slope burned down. It makes you so proud to have come from that. How the hell have we managed it?”
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hile an injection of cash has helped the team make smart investments, money can’t buy medals. The extra funding for GB Snowsport has helped push a programme of change that was already yielding results. What Great Britain lacks in mountains and snow, it makes up for in sporting talent, and one of the tactics GB Snowsport are employing to great effect is seeking out excellence, everywhere from athletics or Formula One. Former Premier League and GB Cycling coach Dan Hunt became GB Snowsport’s performance director in October 2016, despite having no in-depth knowledge of winter sports. Armed with the belief that what was needed was a shake-up in expertise, in 2017 he set the team the seemingly mountainous task of making Great Britain a top-five performing nation in snowsports by 2030. But Hunt revels in a challenge. “I haven’t had a day off in 15 months,” he says. “That’s how much I enjoy what I do.” Today, coaches and athletes alike credit Hunt with GB Snowsport’s current run of success. He started out as a sports scientist and helped GB Cycling and Team Sky achieve Olympic gold medalwinning and world record-breaking victories. He has also immersed himself in the high-octane world of the Premier League. But Hunt has described the move to GB Snowsport as the most exciting of his career. It may not be immediately clear how the secrets of cycling success translate to THE RED BULLETIN
“Everyone’s so positive. We’re all progressing really fast” GB Snowsport ace Katie Ormerod fought back from injury to win the 2019-20 Crystal Globe in snowboard slopestyle
Team GB
good at this.’ My narrative is that, as a nation, Britain can be good at what it chooses to invest in being good at.”
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Flight school: Muir trains at Graystone Action Sports in Salford. The centre is a six-hour drive from her home in Aberdeen, so for day-to-day training she uses her local dry slope
the slopes. For Hunt, the eureka moment came during a trip to the McLaren F1 team factory back in 2008. “I asked what was the single biggest thing that has changed performance, and they told me it was a simulator,” he says. “A guy from outside Formula One had created it. I suddenly realised that even in some of the world’s biggest sports, people from outside can come in and give a different perspective.” To achieve that top-five status by 2030, Hunt knew the focus couldn’t remain on the most successful part of the team, Park and Pipe (the name refers to the snow parks and half-pipes that freeski and snowboard athletes use to perform tricks). Instead he’s been developing more athletes in more disciplines than ever before, including ski cross, snowboard and moguls. And to reach his 2030 goal, Hunt knows 38
It’s always been about making clever use of the resources at hand that each team needs to become worldclass – no mean feat for a country with no home-based winter sports scene. But his attitude is one of defiance. “People who are successful across any industry embrace change,” Hunt says. “They recognise that if they carry on doing what they’re doing, they’re going to keep getting what they’re getting. The narrative that was pushed down my throat when I arrived was, ‘We’re British, we haven’t got mountains, we can’t be
unning with Hunt’s approach, GB Snowsport have recently signed up former Olympic rower turned McLaren Formula One race engineer Tom Stallard as technical director, and the team now benefit from his engineering nous a few days a month. He’s currently designing a cutting-edge racing helmet. And former Paralympic sprinter David Henson – who recently completed a PhD in Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering at Imperial College London – has been brought in to help develop a pair of boots to prevent injury, following Ormerod’s struggles with a debilitating fractured heel. The theory is also being applied to GB Snowsport’s coaches. “The majority of the investment money went into building a world-class coaching team,” Hunt says. “Some of the coaches I was bringing in, I barely understood the event they would be coaching. What I see in [them] are the same traits I see in the good coaches in cycling.” An obvious move was promoting Pat Sharples, who in 2012 had joined the British squad as its first-ever freeski coach, to head of the GB Snowsports coaching team in 2018. “Pat Sharples is the best coach I’ve ever met, across every sport I’ve worked in, from people who’ve coached Tour de France winners to those who have helped Olympic goldmedallists,” says Hunt. Sharples was a professional skier in his youth before becoming integral to the coaching scene in the north of England, working to nurture some of the best upand-coming talent in the country. “Dan [Hunt] was the one who had the balls to take snowsports to the next level,” says Sharples. “We were successful in Park and Pipe, but he set up world-class programmes across different disciplines. We agreed we needed to recruit worldclass coaches and put them around athletes who were showing signs that they could perform at world-class level.” Ross Hill is a gymnastics coach who joined GB Snowsport in 2016, originally to help Park and Pipe athletes focus on spatial awareness. Now the team’s lead acrobatic and athletic coach, Hill was integral in helping Ormerod return from injury. In 2017 he became involved with the moguls, and this summer he worked THE RED BULLETIN
GB Snowsport
“Slopestyle is evolving and we need the training to evolve with it” Halifax-born Tyler Harding was a skiing prodigy – he began at the age of four and took up freestyle three years later
Raising the game: “When someone sees the British flag at the starting gate, they know it’s going to be a challenge,” says Ormerod
with para athletes for the first time. Hill sees the benefits in introducing coaches from outside, like himself. “It’s a different set of eyes,” he says. “If you always surround yourself with the same people, you’ll end up with the same outcome.”
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he benefits of this united approach are being felt across the board. Prior to Hunt’s arrival, Scottish skier Charlie Guest – who has been competing at international level since childhood – was having to Google 40
what exercises she should be doing, as there was no central instruction. As an athlete competing on the world stage, this brought her to tears. “I was so lost,” says the 26-year-old racer. “At college in my spare periods, I’d go into the gym with the rugby team and think, ‘OK, that’s a squat, that’s a deadlift.’ Now, we have in-house physio, in-house fitness. Dan’s vision introduced a new way of thinking to GB Snowsport. “In his first presentation to us all, he said, ‘We’re going to be a top-five
country by 2030.’ That was massive. It brought a new lease of life. It didn’t matter that he didn’t know anything about skiing, because he knew sports, he knew science, and he knew how to make people work effectively. “A lot of the thinking [at the time] was, ‘This is how it’s always been done.’ Dan brought his expertise from football and cycling and said, ‘No, this is how it’s done, and this is how we’re going to do it in the 21st century.’ That separated the old-school thinkers from the new THE RED BULLETIN
GB Snowsport
The benefits of a united approach are being felt across the board “They’re young, driven and ambitious skiers. Now, for the first time ever, they have the belief they can do this. And that makes us dangerous.” For her part, Gosling recognises that for Britain to turn its current success into a legacy, the focus also has to be on developing the next generation at a grassroots level. A new initiative, Be The Pipedream, will work to attract a range of athletes from inner city areas, helping the sport address its lack of diversity. But for now she’s welcoming the GB team’s growing international reputation, which is also bringing in athletes from abroad; snowboarder Charlotte Bankes, who had previously represented France, joined in 2018, and American Olympic slopestyle silver-medallist Gus Kenworthy, who was also born in Britain, followed shortly after. “We created a real attraction for athletes like Charlotte and Gus,” says Gosling. “With Gus, people thought it was a joke at first – why would an American Olympic silver-medallist want to come and compete for us? But he made it quite clear that what had attracted him was our professionalism and the sense of being one team.”
O generation who wanted to make things happen. We’ve got a real common goal to work towards.” A particular source of excitement for Hunt has been the freestyle moguls team which, when he joined, had never won a medal. In March 2020, after expert coaching, Thomas Gerken Schofield took home silver in the dual moguls at the World Cup in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. “Given the average age of the moguls athletes, we might have the same cohort for the next three Olympics,” says Hunt. THE RED BULLETIN
pened in 2013, the Graystone Action Sports centre is the freeski and snowboard riders’ second training hub and a welcome escape when the rain is lashing down on the Halifax hills. Located at the rear of an industrial estate in Salford, the centre boasts a huge skateboarding bowl, vert ramps, trampolines and foam pits across multiple rooms. It’s an impressive facility, one the athletes know well. Harding, Summerhayes and Ormerod all split their time between the Halifax Ski & Snowboard Centre, the dry-ski slope in nearby Castleford, and Graystone, where they share the space with members of the public. Graystone is useful not only for its trampolines, which allow the athletes to practise movement in the air under Hill’s tutelage, but also for the large
foam pit at the end of a gnarly-looking vert drop-in. This is where new tricks are safely honed without risk of injury. Inside, the team use snowboards or skis fitted with wheels to hone aerial tricks. These pros are able to make expert use of them, showing off complex aerial manoeuvres. But while these tools are sufficient for training, they pale in comparison to the real thing. And these freeski and snowboard athletes use them more frequently than most. Though they regularly train abroad, spending most of every winter away – often in New Zealand, and Laveno, Italy – and attend international performance camps on world-class features, when the athletes return home it’s here they come, while their competitors may go back to top resorts such as Park City or Aspen. But Sharples believes the team’s success is strongly rooted in their having had to learn indoors and on dry slopes, and be creative with the resources they have. “Because we’ve always had to make the most of what we’ve got, as a team we’re really adaptable,” he says. “Change doesn’t faze us. Not having access to the same natural or financial resources as other nations has made us creative and resilient – we’ve turned our disadvantages into strengths.” It’s a view that Ormerod, grinning after emerging from the foam pit, shares. “There’s a really exciting future for GB Snowsport,” she says. “This has been by far the best season of my whole career. Everyone’s so positive and we’re all progressing really fast.” Sharples is at Graystone to watch the training session. He looks on as Harding completes a backflip and lands in the foam pit. Summerhayes – who has decided to sit out the Graystone session after picking up a slight niggle in her knee – ribs her teammate for not attempting a double. With the countdown to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics underway, the pressure is on for Sharples and his entire team to grow their world-class talent. But, like his athletes, he’s unfazed. “Great Britain has never been known as a winter sports nation, but I feel proud that over the past few years we have made ourselves one,” he says. “We’ve had Olympic medals and we’ve been dominating in the X Games. We’ve been consistently successful. We’ve already achieved the unachievable.” gbsnowsport.com 41
New book Afrosurf celebrates an area of surf culture too often overlooked in the history of the sport. Co-publisher SELEMA MASEKELA tells us why it’s time for the vast continent, with its 30,500km of shoreline, to slide into the spotlight Words FLORIAN OBKIRCHER
TATE DRUCKER, NICOLE SWEET
African giants
Ones to watch: Sung Min Cho (opposite), a coach at Surfers Not Street Children, is set to become Mozambique’s first pro; Senegalese Chérif Fall (this page) is the first Black surfer to have won the West Africa Tour twice
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Afrosurf
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egendary documentary The Endless Summer (1966) follows two US surfers, Mike Hynson and Robert August, as they travel the world in search of the perfect wave. On their way to South Africa, they stop off in Ghana. The pair arrive with their surfboards at Lambadi Beach and, seemingly much to the bewilderment and astonishment of the locals, ride the waves. The film suggests that the Ghanaians have never seen anything like it before. But, if you look closely, there are local boys surfing on pieces of scrap wood in the background when Hynson and August arrive at the beach – a fact that the film never addresses. Far from being insignificant, this detail is part of a bigger problem: surf culture has historically been defined by images of blond hair and blue eyes. Afrosurf – a new book co-published by TV presenter, activist, musician and passionate wave-rider Selema Masekela and the team behind African surf brand Mami Wata – aims to change that. For the first time ever, they’ve comprehensively documented the surf culture that exists along Africa’s vast coastline, from Morocco to Somalia, Senegal to Mozambique, South Africa and beyond. Featuring more than 200 photos, 25 profiles on some of the continent’s best surfers, and 14 thought pieces, the book challenges popular surfing stereotypes. For example, contrary to popular belief, surfing was not first documented by Captain Cook’s botanist in Tahiti in 1767. In fact, the first known account of surfing was written during the 1640s in what is now Ghana. “This is a book that 44
Liberia’s unspoilt beaches gained the attention of the surf community via the 2007 documentary Sliding Liberia (sliding is their term for surfing), which featured local pioneer Alfred Lomex THE RED BULLETIN
ARTHUR BOURBON
“It always been like, to be taken seriously as a surfer you had to have blonde hair and blue eyes”
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“I remember stepping out of the elevator with a surfboard and the whole lobby froze”
I believe will redefine and expand how the world looks at surf culture,” says 49-year-old Masekela.
Why did you feel it was necessary? From when I was young, right up until the present day, 99.9 per cent of images [meant to show what] surfing looks like haven’t included anyone who resembles me. It has been always like, if you want to be taken seriously as a surfer, it would be best if you had blonde hair and blue eyes. That’s the identifiable marker of what a surfer is – despite the fact that surfing [as we know it today] was invented by Southern Polynesians. And was also, as we learn in the book, pioneered by Ghanaians. How has this important aspect of surfing history been ignored, even within the scene? There are all these weird ways in which history gets whitewashed and edited conveniently to make it look like a 46
certain sector of people did things first because they’re greater, more talented or blessed by God. It’s a mix of all these different things that we’ve been convinced of, right? This has led to misconceptions. I see people have to negotiate with images of African people surfing and doing it at a very high level. It’s like, “Huh?” When I first learnt to surf, people would ask, “How is it that you would learn how to surf, when people like you don’t even swim?” If you look at surf movies, the majority of them are rooted in this idea of [white] people going to exotic lands and searching for incredible waves as the natives gather on the beach and watch them in disbelief. Then they leave. The Endless Summer is a classic example. Was your plan to reveal the history of whitewashing in surfing? Our intention is not to say, “Hey, everything you’ve been told about surfing is a lie.” We want to expand
For the Bikoumous, surfing is a family affair. Kelly (above) learnt the craft from his father Patrick, a passionate surfer himself, who owns a beach restaurant in Pointe-Noire, Congo
the lens of how we perceive surfing, and grant people access to the richness of Africa. This book is just a scratch on the surface of the surface. South African surf pro Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker says that African surf culture is about to explode, just like the Brazilian scene did 10 years ago. Would you agree? Totally. The ‘Brazilian Storm’ was one that mainstream surfing didn’t see coming. The Brazilians were always looked at as a nuisance, because they THE RED BULLETIN
GREG EWING, ALAN VAN GYSEN
the red bulletin: How did you come up with the idea for the book? selema masekela: My father [South African jazz legend Hugh Masekela]’s dying wish was that I continue his work in fostering people’s relationship with – and eagerness to explore – the continent of Africa. After his death [in 2018], I was trying to figure out how to unfold this legacy. Then I realised my way to do it was through surfing. We began a conversation about how the book could use surfing as a lens through which to showcase the beauty of Africa as a whole; to show these images and tell stories never told before.
Afrosurf
In 2018, South African Mikey February – born in 1993, a year before his homeland’s first democratic election – became the first African of colour to qualify for the World Surf League Championship Tour
Afrosurf
kids surfing as some sort of a charity activity. They view it as some kind of benevolent act taking place. It’s like they’re holding the door open for people to enter something, as opposed to it being just as much theirs as it is yours.
were culturally different. Their level of passion for surfing was different, and people didn’t understand the how or the why of what it took for them to get to the world stage. When the Storm arrived in 2011, it turned everything upside down. It was very difficult for the surf community to actually stomach and accept the dominance and the level of performance that the Brazilians were bringing, to the point where they would make excuses about [the South Americans’] style. I never thought that Brazilian surfers would be part of the global teams of the world’s biggest brands, but now they are dominating the World Surf League Championship Tour. I think the African Storm is developing. Africa has the youngest population and it’s a massive continent. It’s not a matter of if, but when, it happens.
Why is that? In South Africa, for example, surfing was an activity that was distinctly regulated by apartheid. I remember they tried to arrest me at North Beach in Durban in 1991. This was after the separation act [the Group Areas Act, which, between 1951 and 1991, assigned racial groups to different districts] had been lifted, so technically I was allowed to be there. But the idea that I was there, doing ‘their thing’ without caring, so incensed the cops that they watched me for three days before finding some ridiculous and antiquated charge to try to arrest me on. That’s how it was back then. I remember stepping out of the elevator with a surfboard and the whole hotel lobby froze. Everyone stared at me and stopped moving. It was not something they ever thought they’d see.
Why now and not 10 years ago? Because there are role models now. In 2018, South African Mikey February became the first non-white African surfer on the World Tour. That opened the door to possibilities for young indigenous African kids across the continent, as well as Black surfers around the world. It was powerful. Before Mikey, they didn’t know they could look like that and do that. Across Africa, surfing has historically been viewed as a white people’s sport.
And that was only 30 years ago… But even in South Africa right now, there are still plenty of people who look at Black
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“The African Storm is growing. It’s not a matter of if, but when, it happens”
Running through the profiles like a golden thread is African surfers’ spiritual connection to the ocean… This idea of surfing as a sexy leisure experience doesn’t exist in African culture; instead there is a very powerful reverence for the ocean. When my father was young and first started playing these regional tours through the South African townships, my grandmother would ask him to bring back a jar of seawater from certain provinces. That was her one request. And she would keep those jars on a shelf in her living room. My father wrote a song titled Mami Wata, an ode to the spiritual energy of the ocean. Does this spiritual aspect impact on people’s approach to surfing? Community and closeness are ubiquitous in indigenous cultures. In South Africa’s case, the Ubuntu philosophy is all about a bond of sharing that connects all humanity. If you apply that mindset to surfing, you’re going to end up with something completely different. Do you think that this sense of community makes you a better surfer? If you look at all of the world’s best surfers, regardless of race and culture, many of them come from adversity; many had to overcome something in order to become great. Kelly Slater had a broken home, with alcoholism in his family, so surfing became his oasis. Or look at the stories of these Brazilian surfers. Many of them come from very strong communities in their favelas, right? They all managed THE RED BULLETIN
MAGNUS ENDAL, MARCO GUALAZZINI
Established in 2012, Bureh Beach Surf Club was the first of its kind in Sierra Leone. “Very few people knew what surfing was when we opened,” says co-founder Jahbez Benga
In the book, several surfers say that a strong trait of African surf culture is that there is none and they’re making it up as they go along… I agree. Not being saddled by magazines or years of generational inheritance like, “You have to do it this way or you’re not doing it right,” allows a different approach. The beauty of not knowing any better is where the magic happens. It’s the same in art, music, and life in general: having no governing body, real or perceived, dictating what’s right has always been key to creating culture-shifting moments.
“When we learn to combine our culture with talent, hard work and opportunity, that’s when we rise”
In 2015, photographer Marco Gualazzini visited war-torn Mogadishu in Somalia (above). Today, women, surfers and the youth of Mogadishu pack Lido Beach (left), indicating a growing sense of optimism. The beach has become the symbol of the city’s rebirth THE RED BULLETIN
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Afrosurf
“In 20 years’ time, I can see there being as many Black Africans on the world surfing tours as there are Brazilians now,” says South African Big Wave champion Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker
MARTIN CAPRILE ,DJIBRIL DRAME
Aita Diop’s waveriding skills won her a scholarship with the International Surfing Association, so now the 15-yearold Senegalese can focus on her passion. “I feel free and happy in the ocean. It is my playground,” she says
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“In Africa, there’s a powerful reverence for the ocean”
In Afrosurf, well-travelled photographer Alan Van Gysen reveals his favourite African surf spots, including this South Angolan beach with its “3km of waves and empty walls”
Afrosurf
For TV presenter Selema Masekela, surfing is more than just a sport. All profits from his book will go to African surf-therapy organisations including Waves for Change and Surfers Not Street Children
to overcome economic strife. When we learn how to couple our culture with talent, hard work and opportunity, that’s when we rise.
ALAN VAN GYSEN, YORIYAS YASSINE ALAOUI ISMAILI
“Being a Black surfer means a lot,” says South African Open champion Joshe Faulkner. “It’s a white-dominated sport, but Mikey February opened the door for Black surfers”
“Morocco is a surf nation. We have 3,000km of coastline and world-class waves,” says Ramzi Boukhiam, who will represent his country in surfing’s debut at the next Olympics THE RED BULLETIN
What future do you see for surf culture in Africa? It’s going to be about the ways in which surf communities across the continent craft their own definition of African surf culture, from starting brands that appeal to others around the world to redefining the surf tourism economy. Right now, it’s dominated by expats from America and Australia who go to these countries and hire locals but dictate how the economy looks. What if these were businesses run by Africans as opposed to outsiders who come in and create this top-down situation? There’s a huge opportunity for local cultures to build and shape their own version of the service economy. In his essay, Mikey February says, “I feel like African surf communities are going to be the ones to influence a lot of people around the rest of the world instead.” Do you agree? Yes. Mikey says that African expression is very raw and honest. There’s no bullshitting, no trying to impress anyone. And that’s important to consider, because all your experiences on land shape you into who you are when you stand on the board. That’s what you’re expressing. It’s the food, it’s the music, it’s the dance. It’s the culture and traditions. It’s all these things you can’t recreate anywhere else, and it will influence the way you surf. It’s why Brazilians have the flair that they do, and why the Tahitians do the dance in the manner that they do. Essentially, it’s what gives surfing its richness and depth and diversity. It’s what makes surfing so cool. mamiwatasurf.com/pages/afrosurf 53
Bright ideals His outlandish Soundsuits made him ‘a rock star of the art world’, and now he’s aiming to reunite a divided nation through his statues. US artist NICK CAVE explains how to turn despair into hope Words FLORIAN OBKIRCHER
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NICK CAVE/JACK SHAINMAN GALLERY
Enter The Momentary and you feel like a child in a sweetshop. More than 16,000 aluminium wind spinners of all shapes and colours dangle from the ceiling. Everything is shiny and sparkly; the constant spinning all around you is dizzying. At first, your brain finds it hard to focus, due to sensory overload. Then, after a few minutes, you settle into this surreal environment, feeling almost hypnotised and strangely calm. Until you detect some uncanny elements that wake you up sharply… The Kinetic Spinner Forest is part of US artist Nick Cave’s immersive mega installation Nick Cave: Until (on display until January 3, 2021), which covers 2,300sqm of The Momentary, a contemporary art museum in Bentonville, Arkansas. Most of the Forest’s spinners look like the kind you find in souvenir shops. But among them are a few that stand out – spinners created from images of bullets, guns and teardrops. What at first seems like a light-hearted experience is, in truth, an exhibition dealing with the issues of gun violence, race relations and police brutality in America today. “The idea is to create this fantastical world and disrupt it with these harsh forms and images that we, particularly THE RED BULLETIN
Super furry activism: Cave’s colourful oversized Soundsuits perform a dance to traditional drumming. The project is more than mere fluff – these fullbody costumes are a comment on prejudice, be it racial, class-based or gender-related
Nick Cave
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Horse play: made from raffia, with masks adorned in Asian and African patterns, Cave’s equine Soundsuits stunned commuters at New York’s Grand Central Terminal
“At first, a piece will seem larger than life, blissful. But get closer and it’s like, ‘Oh, this isn’t so pretty!’” For Cave, who studied with modern dance legend Alvin Ailey’s company in New York in the ’80s, wearing the Soundsuits is an essential part of his artistic intention. His performances draw inspiration from ritual celebrations by Bantu ethnic groups in Central Africa. There’s a lot of drumming and dancing, joy and exuberance. The Soundsuits come to life. In 2013, Cave turned New York’s Grand Central Terminal into a surreal stable where 30 colourful lifesize horse-like figures in Soundsuit costumes galloped and danced for hundreds of surprised rail commuters. “The performance was about this multicultural world we live in,” Cave says. “The horse is created by two individuals that make it. It’s really about collective modes of working together and how we move as a collective in the world.” In 2018, he turned a former military drill hall in New York into an immersive dance experience in which visitors were invited to ‘let go’ during Soundsuit performances and dance workshops, allowing them to speak their minds
through movement in politically tumultuous times. “How do we find refuge to release the anguish and frustration in a non-verbal way?” he remembers asking himself. “I was looking at a town hall, taking this idea and transforming it into a dance hall.” Last year, Cave organised Boston’s first Joy Parade, a colourful 5km-long procession featuring 75 local artists and performers and 500 members of the public, with the goal of bringing together the city’s different communities. Cave sees himself as a messenger first and an artist second: “I use my art as a vehicle for change. I’m interested in thinking about art as an array of vast options. Like, how can this work serve as a catalyst for intervention? I want my work to be defined by the greatest effect I can have on the world.” The more he follows this calling, the further he moves away from the traditional gallery space. Cave believes art should be about creating communities and providing people with platforms. One example of this is the dance training he gave to the youth of a Detroit LGBTQ shelter so they could take part in his 2015 multimedia performance As Is – a collaboration with underprivileged residents of social service organisations in Shreveport, Louisiana. “In a way, I’ve always done that,” Cave says when asked about his positive motivation. “When I was 14, I’d put together talent shows THE RED BULLETIN
JIM PRINZ/JACK SHAINMAN GALLERY, TRAVIS MAGEE
me as a Black male, are confronted with in our day-to-day experience,” explains Cave. “The sort of imagery we try to turn our backs to, but in reality we cannot.” This artistic approach – blending the playful with the deadly serious, bringing a light touch to the heaviest of themes – is a recurring strategy in his work. Cave’s art might appear provocative to some, but his artistic goal is to create a space for dialogue, to celebrate positivity. It has made the 61-year-old, Missouri-born artist one of the most respected figures in the contemporary art world. Cave’s sculptures sell for as much as $150,000 a piece and reside in renowned institutions such as New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), as well as in the homes of celebrity art collectors including Jay Z and Beyoncé. Cave’s gallerist, Jack Shainman, even describes him as a rock star. “When I see people start to ask my artists for an autograph,” says Shainman, “that changes into a different realm.” And, in these turbulent times, Cave has an aim that’s incredibly ambitious: he wants to heal a torn country with art. Cave’s career really began in 1992 on a park bench in his adopted hometown of Chicago. Shaken by the beating of unarmed Black American Rodney King at the hands of the Los Angeles Police Department – an event that sparked the LA riots of that year – the artist, sculptor and dancer confronted himself with questions like, “How do I exist in a place that sees me as a threat?” This feeling of dislocation drew Cave’s attention to the detached and disparate twigs on the floor around him. He carried a large bag of them to his studio without an idea of what to do with them. The result was his very first Soundsuit, a wearable installation that would become Cave’s trademark. Over the years, he has created more than 500 of these full-body costumes (some are 3m tall), constantly experimenting with colours and materials. Some are made of fluoro fur; some use buttons, wires, human hair or beads; others he creates with found objects from flea markets and thrift stores. But each is an oversized suit of armour that conceals the wearer’s race, class and gender. With unexpected sounds created by its ornaments, the Soundsuit warns you of the wearer’s presence and, due to its otherworldly appearance, encourages you to face it without judgment. “The moment you wear it, you are shielded. Your identity is no longer relevant.”
“I want my work to be defined by the greatest effect I can have on the world“
”The moment you wear the suit, you are shielded. Your identity is no longer relevant” Head count: to make this Soundsuit, Cave used hundreds of plastic buttons and an abacus he found at a flea market. “I saw it as a face guard,” he says
Nick Cave
NICK CAVE/JACK SHAINMAN GALLERY, JIM PRINZ/JACK SHAINMAN GALLERY
with friends. I need to collaborate, to pull people together. The studio is one thing, but there’s a world out there. And I see that as the canvas, as my playground.” Like many people, Cave saw his optimism tested in 2020. When COVID-19 hit in spring, he created Cultural Stimulus, a series of short performance videos featuring colourful smiley face objects to cheer up his social-media followers during the lockdown. Things got more difficult after the killing of George Floyd in May. “I was really not doing very well,” he remembers, “and I started to think my work wasn’t purposeful enough.” As a quick intervention, Cave and his partner and fellow artist Bob Faust initiated a community-based project titled Amends, where neighbours, friends and local leaders were invited to visit their Chicago gallery and fill the windows with ‘Letters to the World Toward the Eradication of Racism’. In these handwritten messages, participants could open up about their privilege and role in the context of racism. Cave believes the only way to reunite a divided nation is with honesty and dialogue. However, at the time of our interview, this goal seems more distant than ever. It’s the day after the first presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, a TV event described by the US media as “a train wreck”. “Let me tell you, I am in full outrage for sure,” Cave says in his gentle yet firm tone. “But I am also strategically thinking about
Bird brain: the first statue in Cave’s A·mal·gams project – his solution for empty plinths that once celebrated icons of colonialism
how my [work] can be a tool to seduce, to bring us together collectively, all of us.” He calls this strategy “conceal and reveal”. The idea is to create colourful worlds that seem appealing and broadly accessible at first glance. By the time you discover a darker side, it’s too late – you’re trapped like a fly in Cave’s web. “When you first encounter that experience, it is
Shining a light: a trip through the Kinetic Spinner Forest – Cave’s installation at The Momentary in Arkansas – is first dizzying, then hypnotising, and ultimately illuminating THE RED BULLETIN
larger than life, blissful. Then all of a sudden you get closer and you’re like, ‘Oh shit! This isn’t so pretty!’ What do you do in that moment when you are confronted with that? Do you continue to experience this installation? Or do you turn away? I hope it’s the former.” This simple yet effective trick can be seen in the Until installation as well as the Soundsuits, and thanks to the interwoven ambivalence of his work, Cave has gained popularity beyond the narrow boarders of the art world while retaining his credibility. “My audience [and I] may all come from different backgrounds and have different political intentions,” he says, “but we’re collaborating, because [they’re all] my partners in this project.” Last year, Cave began work on a new series of bronze statues, titled A·mal·gams, which have become part of a new project, Soundsuits 2.0. The first statue (pictured left) is a seated figure with a human lower half decorated in floral tiles and an upper body that resembles a tree filled with ceramic bird sculptures. A·mal·gams is Cave’s response to a current debate: what should be done with the empty plinths where icons of slavery, racism and the Confederacy stood before being toppled by Black Lives Matter protesters? How can we turn these former reminders of hatred and pain into symbols of hope? “My proposal is the tree of life,” says Cave. “A tree is a migration hub where flocks of birds come together collectively and nest within the structure.” In terms of its detail and exuberance, this new project is clearly a relative of the earlier incarnation of Cave’s Soundsuits, but the differences are clear: it’s not wearable and it doesn’t make a sound. But for Cave this isn’t a contradiction, more a natural progression. “You know, I don’t always want to give it all away,” says the artist with a warm chuckle. “I think it’s all in the mind. You can imagine what it would be like to move around in it, what it would be like if the figure were to stand up. I want you to walk up to the bronze sculpture and ask yourself, ‘What am I feeling?’ It’s important to stay in this space of curiosity. For me, it’s all about dreaming, and imagining what a bright future looks like.” To see Cave’s contribution to the Jack Shainman Gallery’s online show States of Being, visit jackshainman.com/ states_of_being 59
Going for broke He’d sooner be in pain in a dirty operating theatre than spend a normal day at the office. How Dakar winner SAM SUNDERLAND goes all-out in life – and why we should, too Words WERNER JESSNER Photography MARCIN KIN
Roaring back: Sunderland rides through barren landscape in the 2020 Andalucía Rally
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t’s not always about the winning. Sometimes it’s enough to be taking part again at long last. Sometimes you don’t even have to feel bad if you don’t reach your immediate goal. Because sometimes, deep down, it’s actually about something much bigger. Sam Sunderland, the man who, in 2017, became the first British winner of the world’s toughest motorbike rally, had ridden his last race stage on January 9, 2020. At kilometre 187, the joint favourite from the KTM Red Bull factory team crashed at high speed and broke five vertebrae. The 31-year-old, who was about to become a father, did what he always does when faced with such setbacks: he fought his way through tough, tortuous rehab, back to normal life and into the seat of his motorbike. Because hurtling through challenging landscapes as quickly as possible on a dirt bike is more than a job for this man from Poole, Dorset – it's his life. 62
There is one race that outshines all others in his sport: the Dakar Rally, an infamous, two-week, hell-for-leather sprint through terrain the riders barely know. The first race – an adventure from Paris to Dakar, hence the name – took place in 1979, before the event moved to South America 30 years later and finally upped sticks to Saudi Arabia in 2020. Winning the Dakar is the pinnacle of achievement on an adventure bike, comparable to victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for a rally driver, or becoming Super Bowl champions in American football. The riders spend 50 weeks of the year preparing for those two allimportant weeks in January. Everything else is just that: preparation. When Sunderland finally got back on his KTM 450 rally bike at the Andalucía Rally on October 8, 2020, he was happy that, at long last, it was all systems go again. Winning the race really would have been of secondary importance; this was an exploratory mission. The months since his crash at the Dakar had largely consisted of waiting. Through no fault of his own, all his plans were
scrapped and, like every other sportsperson, he was forced to sit and wait as the world went into lockdown. Sunderland loathes waiting around, but down the years he has – reluctantly – become very good at it. Time and again, he has been thrown off-track by his injuries, and yet they have never kept him out for long. Anyone who has come back once develops their own approach to overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles, and Sunderland has become something of an expert in this. While working on his rehab yet again in his flat, at the gym, or at the Red Bull Athlete Performance Center in Thalgau, Austria, he would think back to the Merzouga Rally in October 2015, one of the smaller rallies he had contested in preparation for the Dakar. Sunderland had already won the Rallye du Maroc and was now favourite for Merzouga, contested in the middle of nowhere in Morocco. He was well out in front when suddenly everything went horribly wrong. He crashed, twisted his leg terribly, suffered excruciating pain, and had to wait 40 minutes for the rescue THE RED BULLETIN
KONSTANTIN REYER
Sam Sunderland
“I don’t hold with good or bad luck. You won’t improve if you believe in luck” Injuries have blighted Sunderland’s racing career, but his mental strength gets him back on track every time
Sam Sunderland
helicopter, which finally came to deliver him to hospital in Errachidia. But if Sunderland thought that everything would get better from there on in, he could hardly have been more wrong. The worst day in his career had only just begun. The doctors didn’t speak English, and Sunderland spoke no French or Arabic. Could he be flown to Spain for the operation, he desperately tried to ask? There was no chance of that. The swelling in his leg, which was still inside his enduro pants, was getting worse and worse. He was worried he might lose the leg altogether. And the sight of cats wandering around the hospital didn’t fill him with confidence. From the limited translation available, Sunderland gleaned what the doctors were planning to do: they wanted to nail the shattered thigh bone back together under only a local anaesthetic. In his desperation, Sunderland managed to insist on at least a general anaesthetic before they began. He woke up to find the doctors brimming with pride – the operation had gone wonderfully, they beamed. Sunderland almost keeled over when he saw the X-rays. Both parts of the thigh bone were displaced by 15°, and the doctors explained there was an extra hole in the bone because they hadn’t got it right the first time. “I don’t believe in self-pity,” he says, “but at times like those you really retreat into the human condition in its purest form with your pain and desperation. No one can see you. You’re all alone in your head.” But by the following morning he’d got himself back under control. He checked out of the clinic, spent four hellish hours in a 4x4 on the road from Errachidia to Ouarzazate, and took the first possible flight to England. The diagnosis there was devastating. His right leg would always be 2cm shorter. He would never be able to go jogging again. It was only two months until the 2016 Dakar. Sunderland worked like a madman when back home, which was then in Dubai. “The injury was too serious just to power through. I set myself lots of intermediate goals to achieve the ultimate aim. I slipped on my crutches in the shower once and had to break my fall with my injured leg. The pain was huge, but what was worse was knowing that this one careless move had set my recovery back by at least two weeks.” By the time the Dakar came around, Sunderland had trained so hard that he 64
“I know how bad treading water feels. I can barely stand holidays” was physically fitter than at any other time in his life – but the thigh bone still hadn’t fully healed. Sunderland, joint favourite for the overall victory, had to skip the Dakar and look on as teammate Toby Price took home the Tuareg trophy. That moment laid the foundations for Sunderland’s Dakar victory the following year. “I learnt to give results added value,” he explains. “It felt as if something that belonged to me had been taken away; something I’d only made valuable thanks to my work, my training, what I ate, the sacrifices I made, the effort I put in, and my willingness to take my life in my hands on the bike. I didn’t take a single shortcut, and I never cheated. That’s what made holding the Tuareg trophy in my hands the following year so special. All that time, all that effort. From an objective point of view, it’s just a heavy and interesting-looking lump of metal. Its true value comes from all the effort you put in to get your hands on it.” Sunderland has had the same attitude all his life. “My first car was a Peugeot 106. I’d invested all my savings in it. That little car meant everything to me. I was incredibly proud of it. But that Peugeot would never have meant as much if it had been a gift. I want to set myself goals and attain them. That’s what spurs me on. What value do presents have?” There has to be a reason why you go to the gym. There has to be a reason why you don’t eat junk food. There has to be a reason why you go to bed early. This is what Sunderland visualised when he crashed in Morocco, or at the Dakar in 2019. “The physical pain is only one per cent of the suffering,” he says. “The overwhelming majority of it is disappointment. All that time, the testing, the training, the sweat, being consistent, the work for the team... all for nothing.” After such depths of pain and dejection, achievements are appreciated all the more when they do come. “I’d love to be able to bottle that feeling of THE RED BULLETIN
Road to recovery: the Andalucía Rally ended in disappointment, but Sunderland is raring to go in the 2021 Dakar
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Goal getter: “I’d rather have a life full of emotion with crazy highs and terrible lows and die at 50 than live to 90 with no highlights at all,” says Sunderland
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THE RED BULLETIN
SAM SUNDERLAND
Sam Sunderland
victory and smell it every day. The Tuareg trophy is my substitute. Whenever I look at it, I see the work that went into it and not just its external appearance.” How do Sunderland’s teammates Toby Price and Matthias Walkner – both of them Dakar winners – rate the Brit? According to the Austrian Walkner, “There’s no one quicker than him on sand.” This is a skill born from Sunderland’s professionalism and commitment; he even moved to Dubai for a couple of years to have perfect training conditions on his doorstep. The Australian Toby Price says he’s in awe at “how fit Sammy is and how he always gives it his all, even though accidents have clearly taken a toll on his body”. Were these accidents down to sheer bad luck? This is a question Sunderland won’t brook at all: “I don’t hold with good or bad luck. You won’t improve if you believe in luck, as you don’t mentally take responsibility for your actions.” Sunderland could easily have sat back and enjoyed his life to the full after winning the Dakar in 2017. Everything he’d dreamt of had come to pass. But that’s not the way he thinks. “After the win, my gran asked me, ‘Are you world champion now?’ No, Gran, I’m not. The Dakar might be the most important race in our sport by far, but that doesn’t make me world champion.” Sunderland’s gran had unwittingly given her grandson the next goal to aim for: winning the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship, which consists of four rallies (cut to three in 2020) in Asia, Africa and South America. Then, as of 2019, Sunderland could officially call himself a world champion. So what now? “I want to win the Dakar for a second time,” he says, “to stamp it.” Sunderland knows very well what it means to pursue such a goal; few people have more experience of the trials and tribulations involved. So why all that effort for something he has already achieved? “I need something to aim for when I wake up in the morning. Before I turned professional, I worked for a company that made lifts. So I know how bad it feels when you’re just treading water. I can barely stand holidays.” How does someone like Sunderland cope in a year when racing isn’t an option? “I set myself different goals,” he says. “To lap the second-fastest guy on the motocross track, or to set a new THE RED BULLETIN
Terrible truth: the post-op x-ray that stunned Sunderland in Morocco
“The physical pain is only one per cent of the suffering” race-bike personal best on Strava. If there’s no chance of you attaining your main goal at any given time, then set yourself a number of smaller goals and reward yourself that way.” That’s why crashing at the Andalucía Rally barely bruised his ego. The primary goal wasn’t to win or even just to finish. The goal was to feel the nerves and tension again; to expose his body and mind to that addictive cocktail of natural intoxicants that only come when you’re doing something you really love, and that you excel at. That tingling feeling of being alive drives Sunderland on, and he recommends that everyone pursue it, even if that means being selfish. “If
running is your passion, stick with it. Don’t sit around with your smartphone. Ask your partner to look after the children, then put on your trainers and go. If you don’t, you’ll end up frustrated sooner or later. I’d sooner be in pain in a dirty hospital than do an office job every day. I’d rather have a life full of emotion with crazy highs and terrible lows and die at 50 than live to 90 with no highlights at all.” In Andalucía he showed, up until he crashed, that he has the speed to keep up with the world’s best, even after a long hiatus. But, more importantly, Sunderland acknowledges that he has used this long period of no competition to give added personal value to his Dakar result. For better or for worse, when the 2021 Dakar Rally is done and dusted, he’ll be able to look himself in the mirror in the knowledge that those long months were still worth something. The 2021 Dakar Rally begins on Sunday, January 3; Instagram: @sundersam 67
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VENTURE Enhance, equip, and experience your best life
CLIMBING FROZEN WATERFALLS
JONATHAN GRIFFITH
Argentière, France
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VENTURE Travel “Until the '70s, no one was crazy enough to attempt scaling a vertical frozen waterfall. Now it’s a thriving winter sport” Tarquin Cooper, ice-climbing commentator
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Safety first: the writer, Tarquin Cooper, clips up
THE RED BULLETIN
JONATHAN GRIFFITH
circuit. I first got into it about 15 years ago, building on my skills as a mountain climber. But, when I was asked to cover the UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup as commentator for the 2019-20 season, it had been a few years since I’d last made an ascent. Watching the pros in action, I felt compelled to be part of the action again myself, so a few weeks after the finals I booked a session with Jon. The day began with us meeting at the Grands Montets car park in Argentière, a few kilometres up the road from Chamonix, a hub for adventurers, climbers, big-mountain skiers and thrill-seekers the world over. From here, the Argentière falls are
TARQUIN COOPER
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he Argentière waterfalls in the French Alps are a spectacle – a thundering cascade of water drawn from the huge Argentière glacier in the Mont Blanc massif. During summer, that is. In the winter months, at an altitude of almost 2,000m and shaded from the sun’s power, this raging torrent freezes over to become one of the most compelling ice-climbing destinations in the region. It’s February, and I’m attached to those frozen falls by the axes in my hands and the steel points of the crampons strapped to my boots. At my waist is a rope – my lifeline – connected to my mountain guide, Jon Bracey, 50m above. He cries out to me, but his words are lost to the wind that whips across the valley. Then the rope goes taught – my signal to climb. I pull one axe free and sink it into the wall above, then the other, before stepping up and kicking my front points into the ice… Ice climbing is a wild, remote and incredibly physical pursuit. Climbers may have been tackling steep ‘frozen snow’ ice during mountain ascents for decades, but until the ’70s no one was crazy enough to attempt scaling a vertical frozen waterfall. Then along came American climber Jeff Lowe, a proponent of the alpine style of travelling fast and light, who, in 1974, scaled Colorado’s 110m Bridalveil Falls with fellow climber Mike Weis. It took more than two decades for the gear to catch up – axes went from straight to curved, picks became more aggressively angled, and ice screws were developed to anchor you to the frozen wall. And so ice climbing was opened up for others to experience. Today, it’s a thriving sport among winter climbers, with festivals around the world and a global competition
VENTURE Travel
Iced gem: in winter, the Argentière falls become a beautiful, textured carpet of frozen water
Carve up: the journey to the waterfalls involves a lift ride, a hike and some skiing THE RED BULLETIN
relatively accessible, requiring just a short lift ride, ski and hike. We’re there within a couple of hours, and the view is spectacular. Behind us loom the legendary north faces of the Aiguille Verte, Les Droites and Les Courtes – all mountains around 4,000m high – whose steep walls and snow gullies were once pioneering climbs, but today are the playground of steep skiers. My gaze turns to the ice above us. Routes range from 40m to 120m in height, and from slightly scary to absolutely terrifying. Jon scans the terrain and is soon effortlessly scampering upwards, stopping only to place a couple of ice screws. Now it’s my turn. Within a few minutes, my previously cold hands are flush with warm blood – painfully so – and muscles that have been standing idle are suddenly in anaerobic mode, being exerted to maximum capacity. The thrill is nextlevel – I’m climbing pure ice. My brain is telling me it shouldn’t be possible, yet here I am. The swing of the axe is a relatively effortless movement: lean out, draw back your arm, then flick your wrist above your head to drive the pick-end home. Ka-thunk! The sound as it sinks into the ice is unmistakable and deeply satisfying. You can trust it with all your weight. But it doesn’t always go sweetly… About 20m into the 50m ascent, at a steep section of 90° ice, I strike with my tool and the surface shatters into a hundred pieces. I try again and still it fails to penetrate. Two, three times I try, but the ice is too cold, too brittle, and it refuses to take. My brain starts to go into overdrive: “How much longer can I stand on the inch of sharpened steel sticking out from the front of my boots before my calf 71
VENTURE Travel
Swing state: Cooper prepares to sink his axe into the ice as he continues his laborious but exhilarating ascent
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At the top, the satisfaction is overwhelming, and we embrace like long-lost friends. Jon then prepares the ropes so we can lower ourselves back down, and I soak up the view of glittering peaks in every direction. After taking on the seemingly impossible, everything in life feels less daunting.
Tarquin Cooper is a climber and official commentator for the UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup; theuiaa.org/ ice-climbing
Cold climbs Scaling Europe’s top ice spots Chamonix, France There’s always something to do here thanks to the sheer size of the mountains. The left and right sides of the Argentière Glacier are home to dozens of ice routes. Rjukan, Norway The site of a famous anti-Nazi raid in WWII, this small town boasts steep-sided valleys that never see the sun in midwinter, usually guaranteeing good ice. Cogne, Italy There’s no ski resort here, so it’s also a great way to experience winter nature – spotting mountain goats is not uncommon Kandersteg, Switzerland A winter wonderland of glaciated peaks and frozen waterfalls in the Bernese Oberland. Home to some of the Alps’ hardest ice climbs.
Solid as a rock: Cooper and mountain guide Jon Bracey
Innsbruck, Austria Austria’s famous Inn Valley has numerous steep-sided offshoots, each offering dozens of ice climbs when the mercury drops. THE RED BULLETIN
JONATHAN GRIFFITH
muscles surrender?” Upper-body strength is key, but it’s your calves that do the heavy lifting. I glance down at my feet, trying not to focus on the empty space between them as the ice falls away to the glacier below. My good arm is holding on at chest height and it’s starting to complain, too. At the top, anchored into the ice, Jon is holding the rope tightly, but if my axe were to rip suddenly I wouldn’t be in a great situation. With all the sharp bits attached to my body, falling – even for the climber coming up second – is best avoided. My weaker, swinging arm is rapidly losing strength. Instinctively I keep my head to one side to avoid hitting myself in the face – not an uncommon injury – should the axe rip the ice. I shuffle my feet into a different position, reach up, draw back and drive the tool down as hard as I can. It’s my last shot before my stamina gives. If I fail to connect, I will fall. Ka-thunk! It could be better, but it’ll do. Gingerly I pull down and step up, swing the other tool, and continue the ascent, following the rope over less-inclined terrain until it eventually reunites me with Jon.
VENTURE Equipment RIDE
Slope stars
TIM KENT
Whether on pristine pistes or untouched backcountry hills, here are the skis, boots and snowboards you need to tame the mountain
The snowboard has evolved dramatically since Minnesota teenager Vern Wicklund first strapped a sled to his feet in 1917. Computer engineering, technical materials and aerodynamic science have delivered these state-ofthe-art shred decks. Left to right, from top left: ARBOR COLLECTIVE Annex board, arborcollective.com; SIMS ATV board (simscollective.com) with THE RED BULLETIN
UNION Milan bindings, unionbindingcompany.com; DEELUXE ID Dual BOA boots with dialled-in lace system, deeluxe.com; CAPITA Super DOA board, capitasnowboarding.com; SLASH ATV board, slashsnow.com; JONES Stratos board ( jonessnowboards.com) with ARBOR Sequoia bindings, arborcollective.com; BURTON Felix Step On boots, burton.com
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VENTURE Equipment
There are many factors to consider when choosing your ski, including the terrain, your own ability and your personal riding style. Then there’s the snow: powdery, choppy, hard, crusty, groomed – it comes in all forms. So too does the modern ski. As a rule, the deeper the snow, the fatter the waist (or middle) needs to be; the longer the ski, the faster it goes.
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The camber (how far the mid-section is raised off the ground), rockers (the upward curve of the tip and tails) and turn radius (from tight and quick to long and slow) all need to be considered. Advanced skiers know what they need for terrain ranging from the piste to freeride trails and alpine backcountry, but if you’re starting out on the slopes, go short with a narrow THE RED BULLETIN
TIM KENT
VENTURE Equipment
waist, medium radius, not too much camber and plenty of flex. And if you’re going to do it all, hit up an all-mountain option. Opposite page, clockwise from top left: HEAD Kore 105 freeride skis, head.com; ARMADA Magic J soft-powder skis, armadaskis.com; K2 Mindbender 130 freeride boots, k2snow.com; VÖLKL Phantastick Free AA adjustable freeride poles, THE RED BULLETIN
voelkl.com; FULL TILT Soul Sister 100 all-mountain boots, fulltiltboots.com. This page, clockwise from top: VÖLKL Revolt 121 all-mountain tip-and-tail rocker skis, voelkl.com; HEAD Kore 2 W freeride boots, head.com; K2 Mindbender 108TI all-terrain freeride skis, k2snow.com; VÖLKL Secret 102 all-mountain skis, voelkl.com; HEAD Kore White backcountry poles, head.com
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THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
Combining breathtaking snow with cultural delights, Innsbruck is truly a winter holiday destination like no other
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winter holiday spent on the slopes is a trip where you’re automatically onto a winner. But what if you could divide your time between powder-perfect pistes and city streets teeming with sights and attractions? If this sounds too good to be true, you’ve never visited Innsbruck. Surrounded on all sides by the Austrian Alps, the capital of the Tyrol region is winter sports heaven, with 13 ski resorts, roughly 300km of pistes, 111 lifts, and eight different spots where you can hit the slopes beneath the stars. What’s more, Innsbruck caters to all abilities, from the familyfriendly slopes of Muttereralm and Kühtai to the table-heavy Golden Roofpark Axamer Lizum, the freeride descents of Stubai Glacier, and Nordkette, which offers easy access
to city-centre cable cars in just 20 minutes. If that wasn’t enough, all the resorts are within 45km of the city centre, allowing you the freedom to explore to your heart’s content, and to go a whole holiday without riding the same mountain twice. Basing yourself in a cosmopolitan hub such as Innsbruck means you can say goodbye to a mediocre après ski and swap the usual Europop and schnitzel for attractions, sights and culinary delights to rival any other European city. Innsbruck’s proximity to the slopes also allows you to get your cultural fix without having to sacrifice a whole day of snow fun – perfect if you want the flexibility of a morning on the mountainside followed by an afternoon exploring the Imperial Palace, taking in an exhibition at Ambras Castle, or getting to grips with the city’s iconic 16th-century Golden Roof. Bag yourself a SKI plus CITY Pass to get access to 13 separate ski areas in the Stubai Valley and Innsbruck region, as well as free transport to the resorts, and entry to 22 of the city’s most popular attractions. Available for stays of two nights or more, from €179 per person, the pass offers amazing value and features that are hard to beat. Your winter holiday was just taken to the next level.
INCLUDED WITH THE SKI PLUS CITY PASS: Access to 13 ski resorts Entry to 22 city sights Free ski bus and sightseer bus Three public pools
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INNSBRUCK TOURISMUS/TOM BAUSE, INNSBRUCK TOURISMUS/ DANIJEL JOVANOVIC, INNSBRUCK TOURISMUS/CHRISTIAN VORHOFER, INNSBRUCK TOURISMUS/GOT IT!/JOE MANN
Nordkette mountain: from city to the slopes in just 20 minutes
INNSBRUCK FACTS Nearest airport: Innsbruck Airport (5km) Number of ski resorts: 13 Number of lifts: 111 Total piste distance: 291km Elevation: 820m-3,212m Highest mountain: Schaufelspitze (3,332m)
A five-day adult ski pass costs €237. Ski packages with hotels can be found at innsbruck. info/skiing
VENTURE Equipment
“When I’m in the zone, I’m not really listening to lyrics,” says Brown. “It’s more about the beat – something that goes with my cadence, like dance or hip hop. But no music will distract you when you’re freezing.” SKULLCANDY Push Ultra earbuds stay in place with mouldable hooks and feature IP67 water resistance, skullcandy.co.uk
“You’ll be warmer after 10 minutes, so don’t get too covered up or you’ll sweat and get colder. Go for a light jacket that’s water-repellent (but not water-resistant – they’re like a sweat chamber), worn over a single layer.” The CRAFT Glow Run training vest has sweat-zone ventilation and 360° reflective details, craftsportswear.co.uk
“When it’s really cold, I wear ski gloves, because once your hands get cold it becomes challenging. When you arrive home, you have to get out your keys and open the door with numb hands.” CRAFT Thermal gloves have a brushed inside for warmth and moisture transport
RUN
Subzero tolerance Prep your cold-weather run and turn pain into gain
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DAVID EDWARDS
“I prefer running in the colder months – it takes you back to your core,” says marathon runner Marcus Brown. “You look inside and think, ‘What strength do I have?’” Here, the 37-year-old Londoner reveals the winter training wisdom that helped him win a medal in the World Marathon Majors – a series comprising six of the world’s largest and most renowned marathons: London, New York, Boston, Chicago, Berlin and Tokyo – and shave down his personal best from 4h 55m to 2h 56m 19s. “I ran Boston in 2018 in torrential rain, 30mph [48kph] winds. These are the workouts you bank. If it’s a really bad day, I ask myself, ‘Is it like Boston rain?’ That gets me through it.” Marcus Brown is the host of podcast series A Runner’s Life; Instagram: @themarathonmarcus
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VENTURE Equipment
For your head, you want a hat that covers your ears – it’s your extremities you need to protect. The CIELE CR2Beanie is reversible and double-layered, cieleathletics.com
“My neck is generally covered by my jacket, but if it’s really cold you want a layer to cover your face. If it sleets, you’ll be like, ‘Damn, I should have put it on.’” The MONS ROYALE Decade Wool Fleece neckwarmer has a super-soft merino fleece interior, eu.monsroyale.com
“To avoid chafing, don’t go for cotton socks but instead something like merino wool, which is breathable and helps with odours.” STANCE Feel360 Run socks are made from a nylon/polyester breathable mesh with arch support and terry cushioning, stance.com
“Most shoes are breathable, not water-repellent. When running in the rain, you need water resistance or your socks will get wet, add weight to your feet and cause blisters.” ADIDAS Terrex Agravic Tech Pro trail-running shoes are water-repellent, have extra grip for wet conditions, and the BOA Fit System allows you to dial in the laces easily when wearing gloves, adidas.co.uk
Opposite page: Robbie also wears CIELE GOCap Century–Shadowcast, cieleathletics.com; DRAGON Freed sunglasses with Lumalens copper ionised lenses, dragonalliance.com; MONS ROYALE Double Up neckwarmer, monsroyale.com; FREETRAIN V1 vest for carrying phone and small essentials, freetrain.co.uk; SMARTWOOL Men’s Intraknit Merino 200 Crew top, smartwool. com; SUUNTO 9 Baro multisport GPS watch, suunto.com; DHB Aeron Run 5” Impact shorts and Aeron Equinox Run tights, wiggle.co.uk; STANCE Feel360 Uncommon Run Crew socks, stance.com; SALOMON Predict 2 running shoes, salomon.com This page: Annette also wears DRAGON Ventura sunglasses with orange ionised lenses, dragonalliance.com; ODLO Zeroweight Pro Warm Reflect jacket, odlo.com; COLUMBIA Midweight Stretch Baselayer Long Sleeve Half Zip shirt (worn underneath), columbiasportswear.co.uk; CRAFT Thermal gloves, craftsportswear.co.uk; SALOMON Agile Long tights, salomon.com Models: ROBBIE LUBOYA and ANNETTE REGIS @ W Model Management
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VENTURE How to...
Table football is more than a pub game – it’s a sport with world-class athletes. Here’s how to excel in the beautiful (table) game
W
hen a teenage J-P Thompson discovered table football in his native France, he was no better than your average dive-bar punter. He spun the wooden footballers – very much against the rules – and played on poorly lit tables where matches were more often decided by whichever way the table wobbled. A quarter of a century on, Thompson has carved out a living from the sport by sticking to one belief: that foosball, as it’s commonly
known – a name believed to be derived from the German word fußball – deserves recognition as more than just a bar game. “Many people don’t think of the skill involved,” says the 39-year-old, now based in London. “When you start to control the ball and eliminate the spin, it becomes a realtime strategy game. It takes mental strength, and it’s physical.” Thompson says this while wearing a wrist brace; he picked up a sprain while winning gold in a tournament. His mission to bring the sport to the masses through
Step 1
The snake shot Nail this matchwinning move
Trap the ball under a footballer’s foot with the point of contact exactly on top
2 Place your wrist on the handle. Push or pull the handle sideways to line up the ball
3 Pull up your wrist quickly to execute a backward roll
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The footballer’s 340° spin will strike the ball with force, firing it into the goal
Catch the handle before making a full (illegal) 360° spin
Playing for kicks: J-P Thompson, the FrenchEnglish founder of Foosball Club in North London
would they know what to do with it? Would they realise its potential if they’ve never seen anybody play?” A hungry little circle named Pac-Man put an end to the golden days of foosball, but the pro game lives on. The key rules are: first to five goals wins, no spinning, and if you concede a goal you restart with the ball. Technique is paramount, and one move has helped restoke interest in the game – the snake shot, made famous by US player Terry Moore, which adds power to a shot by rolling the handle with your wrist (see left). In 2006, Thompson took the first ever British national team to the ITSF Bonzini World Championships in France: “We walked into a stadium with 100 tables and more than 500 participants. Our team got murdered, but seeing that stadium changed my life.” Thompson quit his job as a business analyst, set up the London Table Football Championship and built a thriving community of players across the city. In 2016, he even showed Lionel Messi how it’s done for a Walkers Crisps commercial, making him one of the few people on Earth to have given the Argentinian tips on playing football. “It’s about a love for table football and representing how great it can be,” Thompson says. “Not everybody needs to play like a pro, but the fun explodes when there’s a skill element. Once you start engaging, it’s addictive.”
Foosball Club is at the Victoria Tavern, Holloway Rd, London N7; foosballclub.co.uk THE RED BULLETIN
STUART KENNY
Play foosball like a pro
Foosball Club – a dedicated space in North London with four International Table Soccer Federation-standard tables made by leading Italian manufacturer Garlando. “I want the venue to showcase the sport,” he says. “[In some venues] there’s a table but the handles are bent, the balls are knackered, the bars aren’t oiled, and there’s no lighting.” If you didn’t know foosball had an federation, you perhaps wouldn’t guess there’s also a roster of pro players. Back in the ’80s there was even a million-dollar tour, and prizes for winning a tournament included a Porsche 911. In its bar and dining areas, Foosball Club screens videos of the sport’s greats. Thompson points to a quote from one, Colorado pro Robert Mares: “If you gave someone a guitar,
CHRISTINA LOCK
MASTER
PROMOTION
THE PRO’S CHOICE
DAKINE
Why the Heli Pro is the only backpack worth considering this snow season When you’re in the depths of the backcountry and conditions are at their most challenging, you want to know you can trust your kit. With 25 years of pro-riderdriven testing and refining, Dakine’s Heli Pro guarantees peace of mind, even if you’re in uncharted territory. Constantly improved over a quarter of a century to be able to withstand the ever-shifting demands of winter sports, Dakine’s latest iteration of its iconic snow backpack is the perfect companion for some powder-based downhill action. Available in 12L, 16L, 20L and 24L capacities, the range is in the Goldilocks zone of day bags: compact enough to not slow you down on ski resort runs but big enough to lug snow shovels, boards or skis off-piste without breaking a sweat. The pack itself is made from heavy-duty, bluesign-approved materials, while a waterrepellent finish ensures your belongings are protected from the elements. Inside, there’s a compartment designed specifically for telescopic snow tools; a dedicated fleece-lined pocket that will keep goggles crisp and clear; and a quick-stash external pocket for refuelling on the go. Throw in an insulated hydration sleeve that doubles as a laptop storage space off the mountain and the Heli Pro truly is an all-in-one bag. It’s just the start of Dakine’s winter sports range, though. From the cutting-edge Gearhart GORE-TEX shell jacket to its DWR-treated Maverick gloves, the extreme-sports specialist has a selection of gear that’s firmly at home on the slopes. dakine.com
A selection from Dakine’s winter sports range: (clockwise from top) Heli Pro 24L backpack; Axel beanie; Team Maverick GORE-TEX gloves; Gearhart jacket
ALPHATAURI.COM
VENTURE Gaming UPGRADE
Building the new you Cyberpunk 2077 is a game filled with cyborg fashion, but is it also a realistic depiction of the future? Transhumanism – the philosophical concept of humans evolving through technological augmentation – has been a staple of sci-fi and, more recently, actual achievable science. It’s also at the heart of Cyberpunk 2077, a new video game that stars Keanu Reeves (perhaps the living embodiment of a philosophically enhanced human) in computerrendered magnificence as a body-augmented street poet. Set in a dystopian future where people willingly replace their limbs and organs with ‘upgrades’, the game sees players assume the role of a mercenary named V, who can be customised with ability-enhancing implants. Cyberpunk 2077 itself has also been developed using real tech at the forefront of transhumanism – lip-syncing, for example, is mapped in real-time by a neural network analysing the sound, meaning the game can be localised in multiple languages without any change to the animation code. But how close are we really to a cyborg future of souped-up body parts? ‘Applied futurist’ and self-confessed video-game obsessive Tom Cheesewright uploads his vision of a realworld cyberpunk 2077…
Cyberpunk 2077: half a century from now, all YouTube make-up tutorials will look like this
Artificial intelligence
The AI-augmented human is a hot topic in current sci-fi, and one that Cheesewright sees becoming reality very soon. “I think within a decade most people will have an AI ‘personal digital assistant’ to outsource basic life tasks. No way should I spend two hours buying car insurance. And why only get a better deal once a year? Why not renegotiate it every six minutes? [AI] will anticipate our needs via 360° cameras, microphones, galvanic skin sensors, heart rate and
MATT RAY
Becoming a cyborg
“Building bionic arms and legs is all good, but how do you transport the power?” asks Cheesewright. “And how do you prevent these mighty machines damaging the body they’re attached to?” He foresees body mods that are subtle, augmenting existing THE RED BULLETIN
already small devices that pass electric current through the brain to increase focus and calmness. That could be implanted subcutaneously. Press a button in your earlobe to instantly drop yourself into a flow state for higher athletic performance and creativity.”
senses. “Like vibrating vests, electrodes on the tongue, tiny cameras in a pair of lenses. The obvious next step is mixedreality headsets, which we’ll see within the next 10 years.”
breathing. It’s going to know a hell of a lot about you.”
Improving your aim
One feature of Cyberpunk 2077 is a smart pistol linked to your avatar’s brain, optics and cyber limbs to react with inhumane speed, always on target. “I studied mechatronics [mechanical/electronic automation] and can see how surface gyroscopes could correct the aim on a small weapon,” says Cheesewright. With smart glasses, a soldier could react to a target before they realise they’ve seen it.
Brain hacks
Tom Cheesewright is the author of Future-Proof Your Business and advises organisations on future change; tomcheesewright.com
We’ve all seen Reeves plug a cable into his skull in The Matrix and download kung fu to his brain. Cheesewright thinks future cyber-hacks will be less invasive and more circumstantial. “There are
Entering the Matrix
In his 1984 novel Neuromancer William Gibson, the ‘grandaddy of cyberpunk’, envisioned cyberspace as a shared “consensual hallucination; a graphical representation of data”. Cheesewright sees all human interaction with computers heading that way – a process called abstraction. “The experience is generative, translating data into a ‘physical’ form people can interact with. You could interact with other users in this virtual space, but also with AIs so complex and multilayered you wouldn’t know if they’re human or machine. Our interactions in those environments are going to be quite scary – it will be really challenging to know what’s real and what’s not.”
Cyberpunk 2077 is out now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Windows and Stadia; cyberpunk.net 83
VENTURE Fitness DECODE
Body of evidence
Strands of fitness
Is the mirror telling you to get fit? You’re looking in the wrong place. Start instead with your DNA
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The sprinter gene “There’s a protein, ACTN3, which impacts how you recover from certain exercises,” says Grice (pictured above). Produced in ‘fast-twitch’ muscle fibres, which release quick bursts of energy, it’s regulated by the ACTN3 gene, often referred to as ‘the speed gene’. “Some people have it, others don’t. Most elite sprinters do. If you do, it can give you an advantage in power-related sport.”
cycling team, now Ineos Grenadiers] how to make their riders faster,” Grice says. “But we can provide information on individual athletes – on their internal variabilities with food sensitivity, for example.” He describes an example where the DNA analysis of one cyclist showed she has a tendency to gain weight postseason. “She had a lot of the genetic variants associated with overeating. If you’re exercising it’s fine, but as soon as you stop you start eating a lot. So we created a post-season program for her that not only gave a solution but destigmatised the athlete, showing that her weight gain wasn’t due to laziness.” One of the big challenges in fitness genomics is the
human body’s complexity. “Biology is complicated, with contradictions,” says Grice. “Vitamin C is important for immunity – it’s an antioxidant – but high doses can mitigate improvements in aerobic exercise. It’s crucial to understand the person as a whole.” He compares it to economics: an injury is like a company going bust, and even though we know all the moving parts, it’s hard to predict how the ripples through the system may change the way it behaves. “That’s the future of our industry: key predictions around when something changes within the system,” he says. “There’s still plenty of work to do.”
fitnessgenes.com
Vegging out Genetic variance can affect how efficiently oxygen is transported through your blood vessels and into muscles. However, if that isn’t one of your body’s strong points, Grice says there are natural ways to help it along. “For some people, increasing their intake of foods containing nitrogen – such as beetroot – can be beneficial.” THE RED BULLETIN
FLORIAN OBKIRCHER
Gene genie: for a tailored fitness plan, just add water (well, spit)
The body clock Our sleep cycle is dictated by an internal process known as a circadian rhythm, which in itself is regulated by certain proteins. “Mutations in these proteins can impact on when it’s best to eat and train,” says Grice. “Optimal performance time can range between midday and 8pm, which is why many of the elite competitions take place in the early evening. However, that may not be good for some athletes.”
ALEX AULD
Algorithms. They’ve brought a new level of personalisation to our lives. Netflix knows what we want to watch, Amazon knows what we want to buy – all based on the collected data of our online behaviour. “We love to choose things,” says Stuart Grice, a biologist and former researcher in genomics at the University of Oxford. “We love our pseudo-independence. So it’s strange that until recently we approached health with a one-size-fits-all mentality. It’s very glib: ‘Don’t smoke! Reduce your calories!’ None of this advice understands the individual.” In 2013, Grice and two colleagues set out to help people achieve their goals by developing fitness plans based on genetic evaluation. Or, as he puts it, “Imagine you have a tool that presents you with things you might want to do – not based on your behaviour but on your biology.” Seven years later, the science is still in its infancy, but the personal genomics industry has exploded. Grice’s company, FitnessGenes, works with professional athletes worldwide, as well as with general consumers. The process is straightforward: for £129, you order a test kit, take a saliva sample, then send it to FitnessGenes, who extract your DNA and analyse it in the lab. A few days later, you access the analysis, personalised workout advice and genetically tailored diet plans via the company’s app. “We can’t tell the coaches of Team Ineos [the British pro
Three ways in which our genes influence our performance
10 ISSUES
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BEYOND THE ORDINARY The next issue is out on Tuesday 9 February with London Evening Standard. Also available across the UK at airports, universities, and selected supermarkets and retail stores. Read more at theredbulletin.com LORENZ HOLDER/RED BULL CONTENT POOL
SNOW SHOW Start the year anew on slopes of pristine powder with the freshest seasonal snow gear Photography MADS PERCH
Taka wears DC SHOES Chester Pom-Pom beanie, ASAP Shell Anorak jacket, Franchise mittens and The Laced boots, dcshoes-uk. co.uk; POC Cornea Solar Switch goggles, pocsports.com; PROTEST Miikka Ski trousers with suspenders, protest.eu; DAKINE Heli Pro 24L backpack, dakine.com; SLASH Happy Place snowboard, slashsnow.com; NITRO Team Pro binding, nitrosnowboards.com
Ellie wears PICTURE Colino beanie, picture-organic-clothing.com; DRAGON NFX2 Chris Benchetler Signature goggles, dragonalliance. com; DC SHOES Envy Anorak jacket, Franchise mittens and Lotus BOA boots, dcshoes-uk.co.uk; 686 Black Magic Insulated bib, 686.com; CAPITA Birds Of A Feather snowboard, capitasnowboarding. com; UNION Milan binding, unionbindingcompany.com
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SMITH Altus helmet, smithoptics. com; KOO Enigma Elements goggles, kooworld.cc; MARMOT Freerider jacket, marmot.com; PROTEST Christian Ski trousers with suspenders, and Gilbert Gloves, protest.eu; OSPREY Soelden 32 backpack, ospreyeurope.com; VÖLKL Tourstick AC ski poles, voelkl. com; SCOTT Scrapper 105 skis, scott-sports.com
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SMITH Maze helmet and Squad MAG goggles, smithoptics.com; ROXY GORE-TEX Stretch Haze jacket, roxy-uk.co.uk; BURTON [ak] GORE-TEX Insulated Summit pants, burton.com; DOUCHEBAGS The Explorer backpack, douchebags.com; 686 Rodeo Leather mitts, 686.com; CAPITA Birds Of A Feather snowboard, capitasnowboarding.com; UNION Milan binding, unionbindingcompany.com
SMITH Mission helmet, smithoptics. com; SWEET PROTECTION Interstellar RIG Reflect goggles, sweetprotection.com; THE NORTH FACE Steep Series Brigandine Futurelight jacket, thenorthface. co.uk; HELLY HANSEN W Lifaloft Hooded Insulator jacket (worn underneath), hellyhansen.com
POC Obex BC Spin helmet, pocsports.com; SPEKTRUM Östra Bio Premium goggles, spektrumsports.com; DAKINE Beretta GORE-TEX 3L jacket, dakine.com; EIVY Icecold Hood top (worn underneath), eivyclothing.com; YUKI THREADS Meadows bib and brace and Legit mitts, yukithreads.com; HEAD Kore 2 W boots and Kore poles, head.com; SCOTT Scrapper 95 skis, scott-sports.com
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DAKINE Axel beanie, dakine.com; OAKLEY Flight Path XL snow goggles, oakley.com; ARC’TERYX Rush jacket, arcteryx.com; MONTANE Prism Ultra jacket (worn underneath), montane.com; HELLY HANSEN Legendary Insulated pants, hellyhansen.com; 686 GORE-TEX Vapor gloves, 686.com; HEAD Kore 1 boots and Kore ski poles, head.com; SCOTT Scrapper 105 skis, scott-sports.com
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SANTA CRUZ Outline Dot beanie, santacruzskateboards.eu; DRAGON RVX OTG Split goggles, dragonalliance.com; 686 GLCR Hydra Thermagraph jacket, 686. com; OSPREY Soelden Pro backpack, ospreyeurope.com
Models: TAKA SAHASHI @ W Model Management ELLIE MEEKS @ Body London
VENTURE Calendar
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December onwards
SMALL AXE Directed by Steve McQueen and starring the likes of John Boyega and Letitia Wright, this five-film anthology about Black British life between the ’60s and the ’80s won acclaim at the 2020 BFI Film Festival. On BBC iPlayer
31 December TOMORROWLAND 31.12.2020 Never has a new year had so much hope placed upon it, but first we have to see out 2020, and what better way than with a party named after an optimistic vision of the future. After the huge success of July’s Tomorrowland Around the World, the Belgian dance music festival is going virtual once again – this time inside its all-year-round digital 3D venue NAOZ (accessible by phone, tablet or PC/Mac). More than 25 artists including Armin van Buuren, Diplo, Charlotte de Witte and Snoop Dogg (as DJ Snoopadelic) will perform on four virtual stages, and the show will be synced to each of the world’s 27 time zones, giving everyone the same midnight countdown experience. tomorrowland.com
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January onwards TWIST Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist is reinvented for modern times, with Raff Law playing the eponymous orphan drawn into London’s criminal underworld by Michael Caine’s Fagin, and Rita Ora as pickpocket the Artful Dodger (now known simply as Dodge). Dickens’ Victorian tale was an unromantic portrayal of criminals of the era; this time around, they’re a lot cooler, with stunts performed by Australian freerunner (and former dustman) Dominic di Tommaso. On Sky Cinema 94
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February onwards
BILLIE EILISH: THE WORLD’S A LITTLE BLURRY At the 2020 Grammys, Eilish, 18, became the youngestever artist to win the four top awards. Filmmaker RJ Cutler has spent two years making this account of her life so far, which she says terrifies her: “Who has that much footage of them they’ve never seen?” On Apple TV+
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VENTURE Calendar
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December onwards
DARTHSTIGN.BE/FESTIVALPICTURES.BE, SKY UK LTD, BRIAN HALL/RED BULL CONTENT POOL, MISAN HARRIMAN, ANDREW CHISOLM/RED BULL CAPE FEAR/ RED BULL CONTENT POOL, GASTON FRANCISCO/RED BULL CONTENT POOL
ASSEMBLY REQUIRED: TEYANA TAYLOR’S HOUSE OF PETUNIA At the Grand Ballroom of the Manhattan Center in May 2019, Teyana Taylor delivered her dazzling musical performance House of Petunia as part of the Red Bull Music Festival New York. The Harlem-born R&B singer-songwriter, dancer, choreographer and actress was already a huge star, having worked with the likes of Kanye West, Pharrell Williams and Jay Z, but this project – a mixture of spectacular show design, choreography and performance – was, in her own words, “My most ambitious show to date – it’s all my visions brought to life.” This is just one of the candid thoughts she reveals in this unfiltered 60-minute documentary, which goes behind the scenes of her show’s production, detailing what it took to bring this spectacle to realisation, from brainstorming with producers, stylists, choreographers and her family, to the intense training and the logistics of building the sets. It’s a candid diary of her personal journey, and a masterclass in the creative processes of a music icon at the top of her game. Watch it at redbull.com THE RED BULLETIN
December onwards THE OTHER SIDE OF FEAR Mark Mathews is one of Australia’s bigwave surfing legends, but the accolade has been hard-earned. In 2016, off the coast of New South Wales, a huge wave planted him feet first in a shallow reef, causing injuries so severe that doctors almost amputated a leg. This film documents Mathews’ journey back to health, both physically and mentally, as he worked to rebuild his body and life, and to overcome a fear of the ocean so intense he couldn’t even face looking at it through his window. It’s a moving tale of human resilience and relearning to love yourself. Watch it at redbull.com
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December onwards SKATE TALES Madars Apse loves to skateboard. This passion has made the 31-yearold Latvian pro skater a favourite on the competition circuit, and with this six-part series he takes that infectious enthusiasm on the road, from Japan to the USA and beyond. Apse meets like-minded boarders on their local streets and in skateparks to discover what unifies them in their love of the sport, and also what defines their cultural differences. The trip kicks off with a visit to Jackass star Bam Margera’s skate barn, an epic session with blind skater Dan Mancina, and a look at the 150-strong-and-growing skate scene in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Watch it at redbull.com 95
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The Red Bulletin is published in six countries. This is the cover of our Swiss edition for January, featuring Olympic freeskier Mathilde Gremaud… For more stories beyond the ordinary, go to: redbulletin.com
The Red Bulletin UK. ABC certified distribution 153,505 (Jan-Dec 2019)
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Head of The Red Bulletin Alexander Müller-Macheck, Sara Varming (deputy) Editors-in-Chief Andreas Rottenschlager, Andreas Wollinger (deputy) Creative Directors Erik Turek, Kasimir Reimann (deputy) Art Directors Marion Bernert-Thomann, Miles English, Tara Thompson Designers Martina de Carvalho-Hutter, Kevin Goll, Carita Najewitz Photo Editors Eva Kerschbaum (manager), Marion Batty (deputy), Susie Forman, Tahira Mirza, Rudi Übelhör Digital Editors Christian Eberle-Abasolo (manager), Elena Rodriguez Angelina, Benjamin Sullivan Special Projects Florian Obkircher, Arkadiusz Piatek Managing Editors Ulrich Corazza, Marion Lukas-Wildmann Publishing Management Ivona Glibusic, Bernhard Schmied, Melissa Stutz Managing Director Stefan Ebner Head of Media Sales & Partnerships Lukas Scharmbacher Head of Co-Publishing Susanne Degn-Pfleger Project Management Co-Publishing, B2B Marketing & Communication Katrin Sigl (manager), Mathias Blaha, Katrin Dollenz, Thomas Hammerschmied, Teresa Kronreif (B2B), Eva Pech, Valentina Pierer, Stefan Portenkirchner (communication) Creative Services Verena Schörkhuber-Zöhrer (manager), Sara Wonka, Julia Bianca Zmek, Edith Zöchling-Marchart Commercial Management Co-Publishing Alexandra Ita Editorial Co-Publishing Raffael Fritz (manager), Gundi Bittermann, Mariella Reithoffer, Wolfgang Wieser Executive Creative Director Markus Kietreiber Project Management Elisabeth Kopanz Art Direction Co-Publishing Dominik Uhl (manager), Stefanie Werth, Andreea Parvu Commercial Design Peter Knehtl (manager), Simone Fischer, Martina Maier, Alexandra Schendl, Julia Schinzel, Florian Solly, Stephan Zenz Subscriptions and Distribution Peter Schiffer (manager), Nicole Glaser (distribution), Victoria Schwärzler, Yoldaş Yarar (subscriptions) Advertising Manuela Brandstätter, Monika Spitaler Production Veronika Felder (manager), Friedrich Indich, Walter O. Sádaba, Sabine Wessig Repro Clemens Ragotzky (manager), Claudia Heis, Nenad Isailović, Sandra Maiko Krutz, Josef Mühlbacher Finance Klaus Pleninger, Mariia Gerutska MIT Christoph Kocsisek, Michael Thaler Operations Melanie Grasserbauer, Alexander Peham, Yvonne Tremmel Project Management Gabriela-Teresa Humer Assistant to General Management Patricia Höreth Editor and CEO Andreas Kornhofer Editorial office Heinrich-Collin-Straße 1, A-1140 Vienna Phone +43 1 90221-0 Fax +43 1 90221-28809 Web redbulletin.com Published by Red Bull Media House GmbH, Oberst-Lepperdinger-Straße 11–15, A-5071 Wals bei Salzburg, FN 297115i, Landesgericht Salzburg, ATU63611700 Executive Directors Dkfm. Dietrich Mateschitz, Dietmar Otti, Christopher Reindl, Marcus Weber
THE RED BULLETIN United Kingdom, ISSN 2308-5894 Editor Ruth McLeod Associate Editor Tom Guise Culture Editor Florian Obkircher Chief Sub-Editor Davydd Chong Publishing Manager Ollie Stretton Advertising Sales Mark Bishop, mark.bishop@redbull.com Fabienne Peters, fabienne.peters@redbull.com Printed by Quad/Graphics Europe Sp. z o.o., Pułtuska 120, 07-200 Wyszków, Poland UK Office Seven Dials Warehouse, 42-56 Earlham Street, London WC2H 9LA Tel: +44 (0) 20 3117 2000 Subscribe getredbulletin.com Enquiries or orders to: subs@uk. redbulletin.com. Back issues available to purchase at: getredbulletin.com. Basic subscription rate is £20.00 per year. International rates are available. The Red Bulletin is published 10 times a year. Please allow a maximum of four weeks for delivery of the first issue Customer Service +44 (0)1227 277248, subs@uk.redbulletin.com
THE RED BULLETIN Austria, ISSN 1995-8838 Editor Christian Eberle-Abasolo Proofreaders Hans Fleißner (manager), Petra Hannert, Monika Hasleder, Billy Kirnbauer-Walek Publishing Management Bernhard Schmied Media Sales & Partnerships Thomas Hutterer (lead), Alfred Vrej Minassian, Franz Fellner, Gabriele Matijevic-Beisteiner, Nicole OkasekLang, Britta Pucher, Jennifer Sabejew, Thomas Gubier, Johannes WahrmannSchär, Ellen Wittmann-Sochor, Sabine Zölß; Kristina Krizmanic (team assistant); anzeigen@at.redbulletin.com
THE RED BULLETIN France, ISSN 2225-4722 Editor Pierre-Henri Camy Country Coordinator Christine Vitel Country Project M anagement Youri Cviklinski Contributors, Translators and Proofreaders Étienne Bonamy, Frédéric & Susanne Fortas, Suzanne Kříženecký, Claire Schieffer, Jean-Pascal Vachon, Gwendolyn de Vries
THE RED BULLETIN Germany, ISSN 2079-4258 Editor David Mayer Proofreaders Hans Fleißner (manager), Petra Hannert, Monika Hasleder, Billy Kirnbauer-Walek Country Project Management Natascha Djodat Advertising Sales Matej Anusic, matej.anusic@redbull.com Daniela Güpner, daniela.guepner@redbull.com Thomas Keihl, thomas.keihl@redbull.com Martin Riedel, martin.riedel@redbull.com
THE RED BULLETIN Switzerland, ISSN 2308-5886 Editor Wolfgang Wieser Proofreaders Hans Fleißner (manager), Petra Hannert, Monika Hasleder, Billy Kirnbauer-Walek Country Project Management Meike Koch Commercial & Brand Partnerships Manager Stefan Bruetsch Advertising Sales Marcel Bannwart (D-CH), marcel.bannwart@redbull.com Christian Bürgi (W-CH), christian.buergi@redbull.com Goldbach Publishing Marco Nicoli, marco.nicoli@goldbach.com
THE RED BULLETIN USA, ISSN 2308-586X Editor-in-Chief Peter Flax Deputy Editor Nora O’Donnell Copy Chief David Caplan Director of Publishing Cheryl Angelheart Country Project Management Laureen O’Brien Advertising Sales Todd Peters, todd.peters@redbull.com Dave Szych, dave.szych@redbull.com Tanya Foster, tanya.foster@redbull.com
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Trail blazer: Specialized’s Stumpjumper remains ‘the bike for all seasons’
The London Marathon. MTV. Indiana Jones. There were a number of iconic cultural firsts in 1981, but for mountain bikers one sticks out more than the rest: Specialized’s release of the Stumpjumper. The first-ever mass-produced mountain bike, the Stumpjumper had a design unlike anything the company had released before, and met the demands of riders looking to push themselves in the growing world of off-road. Four decades later, the Stumpjumper remains ‘the bike for all reasons’ in Specialized’s range, although things have moved on a bit from Stumpy’s original rigid steel frame and cantilever brakes. The latest edition takes the best bits of the American manufacturer’s singletrack scorching Epic EVO and rowdy Stumpjumper EVO rig, leaving you with the lightest, most efficient and most capable 130/140mm trail bike around. A new-and-improved carbonfibre frame is the backbone of the bike. The full-frame assembly weighs fractionally more than two bags of sugar (2.42kg), and its climbing characteristics and
FOUR DECADES OF THE STUMPJUMPER Specialized’s groundbreaking design remains the ultimate trail bike 40 years on
pedalling efficiency are just as sweet. It’s no lightweight, though. Made from the strongest and most expensive carbon Specialized has ever used in a mountain-bike frame, it has trailready toughness and stiffness when you need it most.
Good to go: the Stumpjumper’s carbon-fibre frame is surprisingly light but reassuringly tough
While already renowned for its ability to keep things stable in the rough, the 2021 Stumpjumper puts even more control in your hands. A switch at the rear shock eye, the FlipChip is a unique feature that makes it possible to adjust the bottom bracket height and headtube angle on the fly, allowing fine-tuning of the bike’s geometry – from low and lax to high and steep – to suit your style and terrain. Finished with balanced yet big-hit-proof suspension and the brand’s iconic SWAT door – a stash space in the frame for everything from CO2 cartridges to a windbreaker – the Stumpjumper truly is the ultimate trail bike. specialized.com
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The next issue of THE RED BULLETIN is out on February 9
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TIM ZIMMERMANN/RED BULL CONTENT POOL
There’s a name for the move that US snowboarders Blair Habenicht (left) and Travis Rice are performing here in the Kootenay Rockies in British Columbia, Canada – it’s called a ‘Pillow Line’. We prefer ‘Marshmallow Mayhem’ or ‘Shaving Foam Shimmy’, but you know these snowsports types, they won’t be told. Watch the video at redbull.com
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