The Red Bulletin UK 08/21

UK EDITION AUG/SEP 2021, £3.50

BEYOND THE ORDINARY

TONY HAWK’S BRO SKATER THE HALF-PIPE LEGEND HANGING WITH HIS HOMIE

WAVE WATCHER DIVING BENEATH THE SURF IMAGERY OF BEN THOUARD

NAI PALM HIATUS KAIYOTE’S LEAD SINGER ON LOVE AND PAIN

WINNING SPIRIT

SUBSCRIBE: GETREDBULLETIN.COM

Stubborn, impetuous, hot-headed... serene?

MAX VERSTAPPEN on his new Zen attitude to Formula One victory

Editor’s letter

Our cover star Max Verstappen (page 32) is facing a mythological battle. But it’s not against his main F1 rival, world champion Lewis Hamilton; rather it’s a head-to-head with expectation – since the start of his career, the young Red Bull Racing driver has been anointed as a future number one. His solution is not to rush in, but to stay calm; to choose his moment to shine.

Stories of metaphysical struggles fill this issue. Skateboarder Tony Hawk (page 56) and windsurfer Robbie Naish (page 28) are legends of their sports, but, at 53 and 58 respectively, time might seem to be against them. The reality, as you’ll discover, is far from it. Surf photographer Ben Thouard (page 42) routinely combats the power of the ocean; however, beneath the surface – both literally and figuratively – he’s discovered tranquillity. Black British climber Rotimi Odukoya (page 26) and Pakistani female footballer Karishma Ali (page 24) are pioneers in sports where, despite having no role models of their own, both have become exactly that to others. And singer Nai Palm (page 64) channels her hardships into her art, making them memorable and beautiful.

Enjoy the issue.

CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE

JUSTIN HYNES

A Formula One journalist for more than two decades, and editor of The Red Bulletin when it launched in 2005 as an F1 pit magazine, Hynes was the perfect candidate to interview Max Verstappen for our cover story. “Max’s ability to process setbacks and not dwell on the negative is remarkable,” says Hynes.

“He also has a good sense of humour. That helps.” Page 32

PIERRE-HENRI CAMY

“I first met Tony Hawk in 1989 – he was 20 and I was 12,” recalls the editor of our French edition, who interviewed Hawk with fellow pro skater Vincent Matheron for this issue. “I asked for his T-shirt or sneakers; he kindly gave me stickers.

But for our story he gave us his time. That’s the most beautiful thing I could receive from this skate god 32 years later.” Page 56

Photographer Ben Thouard immerses himself in his craft – and the waters around Tahiti – with his weighty camera kit. “I want to make images that are timeless,” he says. Page 42

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THE RED BULLETIN

FORMULA 1/ADRIAN GREEN (COVER), BEN THOUARD

SHINING EXAMPLES

“ Therabody allows my team and I to perform at our best race after race.”

Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing Driver

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CONTENTS

Air apparent: skate colossus Tony Hawk watches on as 23-year-old rising star Vincent Matheron takes flight

Aug/Sep 2021

8 Gallery: clinging to the past in

Germany; flow motion in Iceland; BASE solos in the Gulf of Finland; and a tribute to an American ledge

15 Golden years: Avant-pop star and

Bowie fan St Vincent picks her four favourite tracks by the late icon

17 Rocket Women: the online

platform promoting diversity in space exploration

18 The CyberLandr camper module:

it’s like a loft conversion for your next-gen Musk-mobile

ATIBA JEFFERSON

20 Drawn from experience: the joy

and pain of adventure sports as lived by illustrator Semi-Rad 22 Chewy wheels: the eco-initiative

taking gum off the pavement and putting it, erm, on the pavement

THE RED BULLETIN

24 Karishma Ali

Kicking up a storm in Pakistan

26 R otimi Odukoya

Giving Black climbers a foothold

2 8 Robby Naish

On board with a windsurf legend

32 M ax Verstappen

We talk cars and Karma with the now-calmer Red Bull Racing ace

42 B en Thouard

This guy catches all the breaks

56 Tony Hawk and

Vincent Matheron

Mr Skateboarding rolls back the years with his French protégé

64 N ai Palm

The Aussie singer on hardship, hope and healing through nature

73 Running into trouble: meet the

Brit whose global ultramarathon odyssey almost cost him the ultimate price 78 Chill factor: how a cold-water dip soothes the body and the mind 79 Splash mob: essential kit for

swimmers – wild or otherwise 80 Minimalism: liberating, apparently 82 O pen Country: the game bringing

the great outdoors into your home, minus grizzly poo on the carpet 83 Recovery plan: hands-on devices

that’ll help you out of a tight spot

84 Gritty slickers: the best bikes,

packs and wearables for your next off-road cycling adventure 94 Essential dates for your calendar 98 Platform game: freestyle football

skills in the Tokyo subway

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RAINER EDER/RED BULL ILLUME

DAVYDD CHONG

DUISBURG, GERMANY

Captain of industry Each year, one million visitors stroll around Germany’s Landschaftspark, a unique public space where architectural relics of an industrial past nestle in verdant gardens. The late David Lama – who sadly died in an avalanche in 2019 – didn’t do strolling, though. Here we see the muchmissed Austrian climber, shot by countryman Rainer Eder, taking a less leisurely route 40m above an old blast furnace. A high achievement, for sure. rainereder.com 09

LANDMANNALAUGAR, ICELAND

Frozen in time “The story is always the same,” says Chris Burkard. “A beautiful landscape being threatened.”

Aboard a Cessna, the Californian photographer traced the flow of Iceland’s glacier rivers, which snake through the Highlands like the roots of some monstrous plant, the yellow Piper Cub plane (flying 300m below) a mere aphid. See the whole project in Burkard’s book At Glacier’s End. chrisburkard.com

GULF OF FINLAND

Beacon thrill

CHRIS BURKARD, VICTOR SUKHORUKOV/RED BULL ILLUME

DAVYDD CHONG

Lighthouses: they’re more fun than you think. Here’s proof, courtesy of photographer Victor Sukhorukov. The Russian overcame the dual threat of a fierce fog and a malfunctioning drone to catch BASE jumper Semjon Lazarev descending this 40m-high beauty near St Petersburg. tankizt.com

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CALIFORNIA, USA

Rock-abye baby Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and Alexander Wick definitely had a tribute in mind when he shot climbers Philipp Bankosegger, Luke Lalor and Chris Rudolph taking a nap beside Salathé Wall on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. The German was inspired by American Tom Frost’s image of his compatriot Royal Robbins kipping during the first-ever ascent in 1961. Instagram: @alex.ander.wick

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ALEXANDER WICK/RED BULL ILLUME

DAVYDD CHONG

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POWER SERIES

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ST VINCENT

Sifting stardust From one innovator to another – the avant-pop star picks her four Bowie favourites When Annie Clark, aka St Vincent, released her sixth album Daddy’s Home this May, the work received nearuniversal acclaim. But then, the 38-year-old art-rocker is used to being the critics’ darling, her songs and albums frequently appearing in ‘all-time greatest’ lists. And there’s arguably no contemporary musician with a higher-profile fan club. Artists from Taylor Swift to David Byrne and Paul McCartney have queued up to collaborate with the Texan-born innovator whose experiments with sound create songs that are equal parts catchy and avant-garde.

Among her many inspirations is another true innovator, the late David Bowie. Here, the two-time Grammy winner chooses her four favourite tunes by the Thin White Duke. ilovestvincent.com

Sons of the Silent Age

ZACKERY MICHAEL

MARCEL ANDERS

on Heroes (1977)

“Around 2015, I was listening to Bowie every day. During that time, I was morbidly depressed. I remember flying back [to the US] from a press tour in Germany on a nowdefunct airline called Air Berlin. It was so bad I quietly cried as the plane took off.

But then I put on Bowie’s Heroes album, which made me feel better. I really love the music he made in Berlin [between 1977 and 1979].”

THE RED BULLETIN

Always Crashing in the Same Car

It’s No Game (Part 1)

Girl Loves Me on Blackstar (2016)

on Low (1977)

on Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980)

“This song is about him [ramming his car into] the car of a drug dealer who had ripped him off. I have yet to do that, and I have yet to write a song like this.

I love music that takes me someplace else, like the second half of Low; stuff that reminds me of things that matter, instead of pure escapism. It just floors me.

This song in particular.”

“I love that aggressive Japanese voice in this one, and the menacing guitar part.

I mean, every single element in this song is perfect. It makes the back of your brain tickle in a strange subterranean way that nobody else ever really speaks to. The song unites beauty and paranoia, and it reminds me what a funny writer and a consummate performer [Bowie] was.”

“This is my favourite song off his final album, which I received as a gift [from then-partner Cara Delevingne] alongside a guitar Bowie had signed for me. I actually met him a few years prior, with my friends from [choral-rock band] The Polyphonic Spree. I went to see their show in New York and ended up in the same room with him. I said hello, but I hadn’t made anything yet, so it wasn’t that kind of a meeting.”

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TH E ON LY TH I N G MO R E R EWARDI NG THAN C HAS I NG YO U R D R E AM , I S CATC H ING IT.

b fg o o d ri ch .c o .uk

WHAT ARE YOU BUI LDIN G FOR?

LOU BOYD THIS IS ENGINEERING/ROYAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING

In 1993, when Vinita Marwaha Madill was six years old, she found a book about space in her local library. On one page was a photo of Helen Sharman, the first female British astronaut and first Western European woman in space.

“Until then, I hadn’t seen anyone British who’d been an astronaut,” says the now 34-year-old from Kingston upon Thames, south-west London. “Seeing the image of Helen Sharman at a young age showed me that my dreams were possible.”

This inspired Marwaha Madill to embark on a journey that has taken her from studies at the International Space University in France to a job as a space operations engineer at the European Space Agency (ESA); she is currently project manager for space exploration and robotics company Mission Control Space Services in Ottawa, Canada.

Keen to inspire and assist other young women to enter the space industry and join NASA’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) programme, in 2012 she founded Rocket Women, a global platform that showcases amazing female stories in space, science and engineering. Recently, the site featured Dr Chiara Manfletti, head of policy at ESA, and the late NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, a Black female trailblazer whose calculations were vital to many space missions, including Apollo 11’s historic Moon landing in July 1969.

“I was [also] inspired by Sally Ride, who was the first American woman in space,” says Marwaha Madill. “She [famously] said, ‘You can’t be what you can’t see,’ and it’s absolutely true.”

As well as providing a network for women studying STEM subjects to meet and THE RED BULLETIN

ROCKET WOMEN

The female frontier When Vinita Marwaha Madill was a girl, she dreamed of being an astronaut. Now, she wants to fuel the aspirations of generations to come speak with female professionals, Rocket Women offers a line in apparel. Proceeds from this will fund a scholarship for one young student to attend the International Space University – a progression that was crucial to Marwaha Madill’s own career path. “I wouldn’t have been able to [study at ISU] without one,” she says.

Increased diversity in science and engineering is something that Marwaha Madill, a British Asian, believes needs to be addressed, not only with regards to gender but also social and racial background. “In the UK, only

On a mission: Marwaha Madill’s work has included designing spacesuits and writing astronaut procedures

around 12 per cent of all engineering professionals are female, and just under nine per cent are from a Black, Asian or minority ethnic background,” she says. “Statistically, if you’re studying engineering or a STEM degree you will sometimes be the only woman in the room, so it’s vital to have a community around you.

“It can’t be overstated how important it is for engineering and STEM to reflect society.

It affects the engineering that we do. The systems that we build, and the world we create, are for everybody.” rocket-women.com 17

Elon Musk may be one the world’s most innovative minds, but apparently his next electric vehicle misses a trick: nomadic travel

Musk-have: you can sleep in the vault of the Cybertruck without a CyberLandr, but it might feel like a kidnap

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The visionary entrepreneur proclaimed the Cybertruck an “armoured personnel carrier from the future”, and it’s still very much in the future – a 2022 release is mooted – but one person has already decided it needs an upgrade.

And they’ve built it: a camper module that turns the truck into a space-age motorhome.

“We see [the Cybertruck] as an adventure vehicle,” says Lance King, the 58-year-old Las Vegas entrepreneur and co-creator (with fellow tech innovator Bill French) of the CyberLandr. “This transforms it into exactly that.” Fitting into the Cybertruck’s vault, the module contains a kitchen with heated floor, induction hobs, a refrigerator, and a sink with a voice-controlled faucet.

There’s also an office with pivoting tables and freestanding chairs, the latter folding down into a high-density bed next to a shower room.

“We use every inch of the vault,” says King. But key is its ability to telescope fully into

THE RED BULLETIN

BEN KEMPTON

Space camp

Two years ago, Elon Musk unveiled the Tesla Cybertruck, his all-electric answer to the pickup truck. Contoured like a stealth fighter, with a ‘bulletresistant’ stainless-steel shell and a transparent roof made of near-unbreakable Tesla Armour Glass, it has a range of 750km on a single charge.

And the pièce de résistance?

A 2m-long vault-like flatbed at the rear. housed beneath a garage-door-style roller cover.

CYBERLANDR

CYBERLANDR

the flatbed. “Aerodynamics is a huge issue for electrified vehicle range. By putting the camper in the vault, you can go overlanding in places you couldn’t possibly in a traditional RV. It opens up wilderness adventures.”

Owning the RV of tomorrow isn’t cheap. In addition to the price of the Cybertruck – from $39,900 (around £28,000) for the rear-wheel drive model – the module costs $49,995 (around £35,000). But King says that compares favourably with other pickup campers: “Some in the $25,000 [£18,000] range don’t include a toilet or stove. Top of the line is typically $45-60,000 [£30-40,000]. What justifies the price is the light but insanely strong composite panelling. Hit it with a sledge hammer and it bounces off.”

Cybertruck customers clearly agree – within two weeks of advertising the CyberLandr, King received more than 1,000 orders, equating to $50m [£35m] in pre-sales.

One Cybertruck fan, however, has yet to express interest. “[Musk] hasn’t called,” says King. “We knew that unless we got a lot of orders, he wouldn’t notice.

We intend to have a great relationship with him.” There’s also one outspoken critic: King’s daughter. “She says it’s the ugliest thing she’s seen.”

Despite this, King is confident of the CyberLandr’s place on the open road of the future. “Over the next 20 years, travel will turn into a living space,” he says. “The nomadic lifestyle is a megatrend.

When you combine that with economic disruption, social unrest or natural disaster, it’s nice to know you’ve got a vehicle to go somewhere safe in a moment’s notice.”

As for his first CyberLandr destination? “Moab, Utah – red rock desert. It looks like the surface of Mars.” cyberlandr.com

SEMI-RAD

Drawn to adventure “We’re a community of idiots.”

Meet the adventure-sports illustrator who thinks we’re all a little too serious about our outdoor pursuits

“I’ve done lots and lots of climbing with very little chalk in my chalk bag; have done a first ascent of a route wearing two different shoes; and have literally never run out of food during any outdoor endeavour.”

“I really needed a paper clip for something one day and I just thought it was ridiculous that I couldn’t find one in our house yet I had all this stuff for surviving in the wilderness.”

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You may not recognise Brendan Leonard from his photo, but it’s likely his work is more familiar.

The Colorado-based journalist/illustrator’s pictures – created under the pseudonym Semi-Rad – have been shared widely on the internet over the past decade. From the pain of long-distance running and the ordeal of sleeping in a chilly tent, to the trials of buying a mountain bike, his doodles show the lighter side of the great outdoors and what it’s like to love adventure sports while not being particularly good at them.

Leonard’s signature illustration style came about by accident in 2013. “I’d been trying to write for magazines for about seven years and wasn’t seeing a ton of success, so I started a blog,” he explains. “One day, I drew a flow chart called ‘Pooping in the Outdoors’ on a piece of typing paper and I posted it.” The picture went viral – Leonard’s new career as doodler for the adventure-sports community had begun. “It’s just a fun way to try and condense an idea down to something people can figure out in five seconds,” he says. “Things that we all have in common.”

Today, the Semi-Rad website has more than 700 humorous doodles on adventure sports and the outdoors. “Sport is funny,” says Leonard.

“We focus on the most high-achieving winners, but if you go to an ultramarathon you’re on the starting line with [not only] the people who are going to win the race [but also] 90 per cent of us who have zero chance yet still turn up.”

This 90 per cent are who Leonard’s doodles speak to – the everyman and woman who’ll never feature in a magazine for their adventures but keep going back. “We’re a community of idiots.

You get together with all these people and you’re like, ‘Wow, we’re all really different, but we all have a screw loose in the same way.’ I try to find the commonality that brings everyone together.” semi-rad.com THE RED BULLETIN

“This was inspired by conversations I’ve had with people on planes when we get to talking about what I do for a living.

Most people have had only a little exposure to adventure sports and that exposure is usually very high-profile stuff. So they may think all rock climbers aspire to be like Alex Honnold and free-solo El Capitan (which, of course, we don’t/can’t).”

BRENDAN LEONARD

LOU BOYD

“This chart is a play on the scene in The Hangover Part II where Chow keeps asking, ‘But did you die?’

What we consider to be ‘adventure’ nowadays has a lot of discomfort and sometimes a bit more risk than we’re normally comfortable with.”

“I catch myself out all the time while walking our dog in the winter. I scold myself for not putting more layers on my legs, out of laziness.”

THE RED BULLETIN

“I laugh at myself whenever I return to ‘civilisation’ after being out for two or more days (OK, let’s be honest, four or more hours). I feel like I need to reward myself with about 1,500 calories’ worth of food, and I’ll leave a backpack by the front door for several days, thinking, ‘I really need to unpack that.’”

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How two design students plan to clean up the streets with freshly minted minty-fresh skateboard wheels Boardsports devotees are understandably protective of their terrain. From surfers in the ocean to snowboarders in the mountains, if their playgrounds are spoiled they can’t play in them. So when Hugo Maupetit and Vivian Fischer, two 23-year-old design students from Nantes, France, were looking for a new way to clean up city streets, it was only natural they should turn to the skateboarding community.

Their plan? To collect all the discarded chewing gum and make it into new board wheels.

Some gum trivia for you to chew over: swallow a piece and, contrary to rumour, it won’t stay in your guts for ever (you’ll poop it out), but spit it onto the pavement and it will stay there for a very long time.

This is because modern gum contains plastics including polyethylene (which carrier bags are made from) and butyl 22

rubber (used in tyre linings).

If this surprises you, you’re not alone – a 2018 study by food retailer Iceland found 85 per cent of those surveyed were equally unaware. What’s worse, more than 80 per cent of the billions of pieces of gum chewed each year aren’t disposed of properly, most often discarded on the pavement.

“While walking in the streets of Nantes we noticed hundreds of white stains on the ground,”

Sticking point: a Gum Collect board

THE RED BULLETIN

LOU BOYD

Gum control

HUGO MAUPETIT, VIVIAN FISCHER

SUSTAINABLE SKATING

says Maupetit. “Skaters are an extremely committed and environmentally friendly community and we realised that recycling gum could be a great initiative. The gum reminded us of the softness that skateboard wheels need to ride. Plus, skaters wear out their wheels quite quickly.”

Choosing locations near skateparks and local meet-up spots, Maupetit and Fischer installed collection boards where skaters could stick their old gum. Each board is then sent to a factory to be ground up along with the gum; the material the board is made from (polymethyl methacrylate) stabilises the texture. This is mixed with an undisclosed material that Maupetit claims is an “industry secret”, before being injection-moulded and machined, recycling between 10 and 30 pieces of gum per wheel, depending on the hardness desired.

Maupetit and Fischer are still at the testing stage, but hope to partner with relevant brands to bring their initiative to a broader market; they’ve reached out to gum maker Mentos and skate company Vans, although there’s no official backing as yet. “Mentos really like our project, but we haven’t heard anything from Vans,” says Maupetit. “Brands should develop new projects for the environment, but often they wait until they’re under duress to change.”

Maupetit says he and Fischer have also experienced pushback from the local authority that the project aims to help. “We haven’t installed any new boards, because we haven’t had authorisation from the city to place them where we want.

But we hope this will change soon. This concerns everyone.

We could help the city to make savings on the maintenance of their public spaces.”

Instagram: @hugo_maupetit; @vivian_fischer_

Karishma Ali

Squad goals The Pakistani football star on winning matches, battling for gender equality, and shutting down online trolls Words ALEXANDRA ZAGALSKY Photography ABUZAR MIR

In 2016, Karishma Ali set a bittersweet record. Chosen to represent Pakistan at the Jubilee Games in Dubai, the then 19-year-old football prodigy became the first girl from her hometown of Chitral to compete in a major sporting tournament. A fan of football since the age of nine, Ali had spent her high-school years in Islamabad, where her athletic career flourished thanks to a more liberal take on female physical education.

Having won a silver medal in Dubai, she returned home focused on encouraging female participation in sport. When Ali organised a small, low-key football camp, she expected a modest response; to her surprise, more than 50 girls signed up.

But her sporting efforts came at a price. Chitral District – a remote mountainous region in northern Pakistan noted for its scenic valleys – is particularly conservative and patriarchal, and she became the target of online abuse and threats.

“At 18, I was overwhelmed by all the hate and criticism,” she says today, aged 24. “I’d cry myself to sleep.”

Undeterred, in 2018 Ali founded the Chitral Women’s Sports Club, which offers not only football but volleyball, cricket and even skiing, and now has more than 200 members, aged between eight and 16. In January last year, she arranged for 37 club members to attend a football camp in Islamabad, where they received professional coaching. “They were amazed to see tall buildings, and women driving cars,” she says.

“And their confidence on the pitch was inspiring.”

Ali’s own team, Highlanders FC, took part in the National Women’s Football Championship earlier this year, reaching the quarter finals before the competition was cancelled

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when FIFA suspended the Pakistan Football Federation due to a political dispute. But hurdles have never stopped this young woman. As well as her sports academy, she runs a craft centre for Chitral’s female artisans, helping them to generate their own income by collaborating with fashion designers. In 2019, their intricate embroideries appeared on the dresses of Italian couturier Stella Jean during Milan Fashion Week. That same year, Ali featured on Forbes’ ‘30 Under 30 Asia’ list of young entrepreneurs.

Now, having completed a degree in business and management from the University of London in Islamabad, she’s intent on improving sports infrastructure in the Chitral region.

“I want to build a stadium for these girls and take the sports club to many other valleys. Change doesn’t come overnight, but football is much more than a game – it’s a tool that brings positive change to communities.” the red bulletin: Football isn’t an obvious hobby for a Chitrali girl… karishma ali: I have my father to thank. We watched the 2006 World Cup together and soon I was outside kicking anything I could. He’s very open-minded and I was encouraged to go for it. In 2002, he helped found Chitral’s first English-medium school.

If parents wanted their sons educated, they had to enroll their daughters, too. It was in high school that I really progressed as a footballer. Before class, I’d kick the ball around in my salwar kameez [traditional Pakistani dress and trousers]. I didn’t care if I looked sweaty or ‘unpretty’.

Did you know how popular your first football camp would be?

I printed only 20 enrolment forms, but the girls photocopied them, so the group ended up much larger.

I realised they were ready to fight

for their rights, and that I could help them. Instead of calling their fathers and brothers to attend tournaments, I invited their mothers, who don’t usually get to enjoy such activities.

How did the summer camp evolve into a fully fledged sports club?

The players I work with come from 40 villages. Even when we settled on a [playing field], many girls were still walking up to two hours to get there. In 2019, we won a Made to Play grant [set up by Nike and Gurls Talk, a non-profit that promotes the mental wellbeing of young women], which enabled us to hire Jeeps for transport to and from the club, and membership doubled. Chitral has Pakistan’s highest suicide rate, and a large number are young women.

Many are from underprivileged backgrounds, so football gives them a fresh perspective. It teaches and unifies them. The club created itself through the joy of playing.

Your work earned you a place on Forbes’ ‘30 Under 30 Asia’ list…

I was proud to see my name among inspiring leaders such as [Japanese tennis ace] Naomi Osaka. The first thing I did was call my father, who couldn’t hold back his tears. Before, I was considered crazy for pursuing my dream, but as the first Chitrali to feature in Forbes I made headline news in Pakistan and that helped to positively change the perception of women’s participation in sports.

Earlier this year, I was selected as a member of the first National Youth Council of Pakistan. I hope to use this to empower young women.

You must be doing plenty right – you’ve stirred up the trolls…

Back then, those hateful words were so upsetting that I shut down my social media channels for two months.

The insults continue: after the Islamabad trials [for the National Women’s Championship] I received a lot of abuse. But you know what?

If they didn’t stop the 19-year-old me, they have no chance of doing so today. No one is going to stand in my way. I’m crazy right now.

Twitter: @karishmaAli22

THE RED BULLETIN

“I’d kick the ball around before class.

I didn’t care if I looked ‘unpretty’”

THE RED BULLETIN

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Rotimi Odukoya

Upward momentum Two years ago, this London computer coder tried indoor bouldering for the first time. Today, he’s leading a growing movement of Black climbers Words TOM WARD Photography EDWARD HISCOX

Rotimi Odukoya remembers the day a tennis coach visited his primary school in Brixton Hill, south London.

Encouraged by his mother’s love of the sport, the six-year-old Odukoya became hooked, and he stuck with it until finding basketball in secondary school. This was followed by a keen interest in callisthenics. In short, if there was a sport to throw himself into, Odukoya was up for it. Climbing, however, had never been on his radar.

“There are many climbing facilities in London, but it’s a peripheral sport compared with tennis and football,” says Odukoya, now 27. “I don’t think I’d ever encountered someone who said, ‘I do rock climbing as a hobby.’”

Having tired of the gym, the software engineer took up a mate’s invitation to try climbing. Soon, more friends tagged along and their twice-a-month sessions at the local climbing wall evolved into a wordof-mouth movement, Clmbxr, with its own Instagram page.

“It was born from a friendship group and my friends are Black,” says Odukoya. “That doesn’t mean we only have Black people climbing, but the majority are.” This is a significant feat in a sport where, according to the most recent survey by the British Mountaineering Council, 98 per cent of participants are white.

Two years later, Clmbxr has 2,300-plus followers on Instagram and has helped more than 160 people take up climbing. “We came together as a group to climb, says Odukoya.

“It’s how society works: you see people who look like you doing something and you’re drawn to it.”

Clmbxr – short for ‘Climb X Rotimi’ and pronounced ‘climber’ – now works with major sports brands keen 26

to share its message of inclusion. And unwittingly Odukoya has become a figurehead in a sport where very few others look like him. “Sometimes you just need visual representation,” he says. “My enjoyment has been contagious, but my community also climbs when I haven’t organised one. They don’t need me to be there.

I didn’t wait for someone to give me permission. The opportunity came because I had the belief in myself.” the red bulletin: You’ve created a movement through the power of self-belief. How? rotimi odukoya: I feel that, in life, if you put yourself in certain spaces, opportunities gravitate towards you.

I’ve always had that mindset. At 17, I dropped out of college because I knew that pattern of education wasn’t for me and I could figure things out on my own. I just approach something and see what happens. Even if I didn’t have friends I’d still be trying this.

What appeals most about climbing?

The visualisation aspect is superimportant: planning your route and thinking, “OK, how do I debug this to ensure I get through that path?”

It’s similar to my job as a software engineer where you have a problem and have to locate the issue. But in climbing you can solve problems as a community – you watch someone else do it first, or tackle it together.

Is that what you were doing with Clmbxr? Addressing a problem?

I wasn’t trying to tackle a diversity issue – I just wanted to get more people climbing. My friends saw me do it and it grew organically. It’s nice to see underrepresented people

front and centre. Diversity only brings a positive impact to a sport.

Why aren’t more people of colour involved in climbing?

I can only speak for myself, but my parents didn’t have the resources to take me to extracurricular activities.

To say, “Hey, I’m going to climb rocks,” is a privileged thing. My parents are Nigerian; taking your kids climbing wasn’t something they did there, so they weren’t going to do it in the UK. Did you have a role model?

I’ve never needed a role model in climbing, but there are other people like me who’ve set up their own communities. I spoke with Charlie Dark [founder of London alternative running club Run Dem Crew]. I really appreciated having him as an elder statesman. One piece of advice he gave me was about sponsorship.

He said not to sell out to one brand.

“If you’ve got shorts, get them from Adidas, trainers from Puma, tops from Nike.” That was really helpful in terms of speaking to brands.

And his advice has paid off…

Yes, Adidas reached out to us when we were coming out of the second lockdown last summer. They wanted to show communities coming back together and getting ready for sport.

And North Face asked us to be part of a series highlighting community sports, which is cool. There’s stuff in the future I can’t talk about yet, too.

What has climbing taught you?

The importance of community. Come to a session and you’ll realise there’s a friendship. I love that. Two of our members are getting married now, and some go climbing together on their own, which would never have been the case otherwise. It has also taught me to conquer fears. There isn’t only one way to climb, and even if you’re tired and unsure how to complete one, keep going. Sometimes in life, incremental changes can make a big difference to the result. clmbxr.co.uk Point your smartphone’s camera at the QR code to go behind the scenes with Odukoya THE RED BULLETIN

“Diversity only brings a positive impact to a sport” THE RED BULLETIN

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Robby Naish

The greatest windsurfer who ever lived isn’t ready to look back on his life.

At 58, he’s still riding the wave Words JÜRGEN SCHMIEDER

Robby Naish was born in La Jolla, California, in 1963 – five years before the first patent for a windsurf was filed. In 1976, he won the Windsurfer World Championships. Naish was just 13 years old. It would be the first of 24 windsurfing world titles he’d claim over the next two decades.

“There wasn’t the slightest thought it might lead somewhere,” says Naish today. “There was no career path, no thought of what would happen next year or 10 years after. I was just along for the adventure and trying as best I could, in case it lasted a little bit longer.

More than four decades later, it’s fair to say it has. At 58, Naish is still flipping his sailboard, and the sport, on its head. He’s a living legend, but even more – he’s the embodiment of the evolution of global watersports.

In 1968, Naish’s father, an avid surfer, moved the family to Hawaii.

Robby was five. He still lives there today, but the scene around him has changed. Alongside surfing and windsurfing, there’s kiteboarding, stand-up paddleboarding (SUP), foil surfing, and more. Naish hasn’t just mastered these sports, he helped pioneer them. In the mid’90s he launched his own business, Naish Sails, innovating gear for these emerging sports.

“It was never a goal to do something new – it just happened,” he says. “Whether I’m windsurfing on a waveboard, a slalom board or a kite board, or on a foil with an inflatable wing, or on a longboard or SUP, they’re all surfing. I’ve

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adapted from one to the other; I had all those tools and the know-how.”

In 2016, Naish was approached

by Joe Berlinger, director of 2004 rockumentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, to make a film where he tackled the world’s longest waves.

Then, weeks before the first stop, Naish landed an aerial move badly, resulting in a life-threatening pelvic fracture. The film, released this year, became a candid insight into an athlete facing a different kind of long wave – his own mortality.

Now fully recovered, Naish is older and wiser, but just as optimistic as he was that first time. “My last world title was decades ago, but I don’t look at it that way. I don’t sit around talking about the good old days. I’m as active as I was 30 years ago, enjoying where I’m at right now as an old athlete waking up and taking ibuprofen, polishing my old tricks or developing new sports for younger people to get out and enjoy.” the red bulletin: It can’t only be ibuprofen. What’s the fountain of youth you’re drinking from? robby naish: Red Bull. I’m not joking – I drink it every morning with my vitamins. I’m in good shape for my age, but it’s just luck, good genetics and a healthy lifestyle. I eat pizza and hot dogs, hamburgers and French fries, but I exercise enough to balance it out. I don’t do drugs, smoke or drink alcohol, and that helps as you get older. I couldn’t do what I do if I drank alcohol every day.

Do you have a fitness routine other than being in the water?

No, which is totally not normal.

Other people [in my profession]

Let’s talk about that injury…

The moment I did it, I thought I’d broken my back. I didn’t crash hard, I just came down from a landing.

Everything was perfectly wrong – if I tried 100 times to do it again, I couldn’t. My back foot came out of the strap and went into the water behind me, but my front foot stayed in and went with the board. The kite was going fast and I couldn’t get my weight off my front leg. Then I felt a pop in my back. I was in the water trying to see if I could move my legs, and I could, so I thought I’d torn a ligament. I dragged downwind back to the beach and I guess I looked bad. The next thing I know, I’m on a stretcher to hospital, then on a medivac plane to Honolulu. I’d never really had a bad injury my entire career, so it was educational.

Certainly unpleasant.

Your first major injury at 53 – did it change your perspective?

I used to think I was invincible, and not just when I was young.

I’ve been lucky to have a body that can recover quickly, and I’d never even thought about age or what would happen if I got really injured.

I’ve spent my entire career avoiding injury. My friends rode dirt bikes, I didn’t. I wouldn’t skateboard other than cruising on the street.

I’ve only got one plate and four screws in my entire body.

They say an athlete dies twice: once when their career is over, THE RED BULLETIN

CRAIG KOLESKY/RED BULL CONTENT POOL, THE LONGEST WAVE

Ride of the ancient mariner

stretch, do half an hour of yoga each day. I hate yoga. I think stiffer is stronger, so I barely stretch. That hasn’t changed since I was 20. If a trainer spent a month with me, they’d think I was doing everything wrong. Falling into water is pretty forgiving; my joints are slowly wearing out, but nothing like if I had repetitive injuries in my knees, elbows and shoulders. I try to get on the water every day – taking a break isn’t good for you when you get older. Injury is the enemy, but I worked hard to come back after my recent injuries [alongside his 2016 fracture, Naish broke his right foot a year later]. Living in Hawaii, where there’s no off-season, helps.

“I’m lucky to be who I am, how I am, when I am”

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Robby Naish

Teenage dream: a 16-year-old Naish at Diamond Head on Oahu, Hawaii, in 1979

then the next time for real. You seem to have cheated that first death…

I completely understand what they mean by that. Most athletes last a few years then move on to something else, and even that is tough. But if you’ve been focused on one thing and it suddenly ends, that’s super-difficult. I slowly transitioned out of competition, but never retired from sports. In all the things I do, competition is honestly a sideshow to the main activity, so not much changed; there were six or seven events a year that I wasn’t chasing points for, but everything else intensified.

Development, promotional trips, videos – there’s not one day where I feel empty or lost. I’m also lucky that my arsenal of sports grew; kiting came along, SUP, now foiling and wing surfing. I still have more to do than time to do it.

When did you first think, “I could make a living from this”?

I was graduating high school in 1981 when we had our first professional windsurfing events. It was a big decision: would I stay amateur and maybe go to the Olympics [windsurfing was included for the first time in 1984] or turn pro?

At that point, if you took one dollar as an athlete you were a professional and couldn’t go to the Olympics, so to retain amateur status I donated the prize money from my first two pro windsurfing events to my school. That’s when I realised maybe 30

there was something there. I’d been accepted to the University of California at Santa Cruz, and sponsors wanted to pay me to windsurf. I said, “I’m going to defer admission for a year and see what this becomes.” I never looked back.

Many athletes who’ve had success at a young age have burned themselves out. How have you stayed the course?

Luck, and being there from the start. My personality helped: I was a loner, antisocial, self-driven. I don’t hang out with other people and I almost never go to dinner with friends; I’m kind of a weird person. It helped me avoid some of the distractions that drag athletes down and steal focus from their sport. Others just get tired of it. I’m not goal-driven – I’ve never set a goal in my life. If you’re going for a target rather than for enjoyment, eventually you lose that drive to achieve.

I just love what I do.

You talk of being anti-social, but today everything is about social media…

The positive [aspect] is it gives every kid an opportunity to showcase themselves.

“I still have more to do than time to do it”

You don’t have to be seen by an agent or a magazine photographer – you get famous by doing your own thing. But it’s also not about getting good; it’s about getting more likes, or doing whatever it takes to earn a million views. Clothing sponsors wants to know how many followers you have on Instagram, how many times a week you’ll post, and what the content will be. The self-promotion aspect of being an athlete isn’t new, but it’s not a great personality trait – the loudest guy in the room is usually an asshole. So I hate it, but I do it. Part of my job is trying not to be embarrassed that I’m taking pictures of myself and posting them online. And it creates false expectations. A lot of young sports people are going to be disillusioned, because they’ve been told they’ll make millions as a YouTube star. I have a 13-year-old daughter, and [young people] are under so much pressure.

She gets it, but she also doesn’t want to be that weird kid who doesn’t participate. I’m trying to instil in her that life isn’t a popularity contest, humility is an asset, and to create value in what you do, not what you show.

How damaging is all this to a sport like surfing?

The sport will be fine – it’s just different.

The purity of going out into nature is gone. We used to get on a plane and have no idea what conditions we were going to get. Now, you can see there’s going to be a swell in Fiji in two days.

I know a lot of kids who are doing really well at surfing and they seem to be enjoying it just as much [as we did].

It’s just strange knowing that your goal is to get home and post your moves, not to just enjoy them and be stoked for the next good session.

Looking back on your life, do you have any regrets?

No, that’s what tears people apart. I’m happy with my life. It’s not perfect, but damn, I’m lucky to be who I am, how I am, when I am. Being able to wake up and do whatever I want, never taking for granted the fact that people pay me to do what I love to do. That could end any day – there’s no less guaranteed future than that of a professional sportsman.

I relish being able to live the way I do.

The Longest Wave starring Robby Naish is available to watch on Red Bull TV from August 10; redbull.com THE RED BULLETIN

Few people are blessed with a destiny.

Max Verstappen is one of them. Since becoming the youngest-ever Formula One winner at 18, he’s been heralded as ‘the chosen one’, destined for the World Championship crown. This year, he could achieve just that. And yet, where once he was impetuous, now he’s calmer than ever. This is the Zen of Max…

Words JUSTIN HYNES 32

MARKUS BERGER/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

Karma chameleon

Max Verstappen

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En route to eventual victory – six years after crashing spectacularly on his debut in the race, aged just 17 – Max Verstappen leads the field in the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix

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t’s one in the afternoon in the sovereign state of Monaco, a little over 96 hours until lights out for the start of the most glamorous Grand Prix on the Formula One calendar. Pandemic restrictions mean this playground of the rich and famous on the French Riviera is operating at a fraction of the excess usually associated with motorsport’s loudest and proudest display of conspicuous consumption, but the tournament’s competitive levels are still peaking. For Max Verstappen, this weekend is a watershed moment – the 23-year-old Red Bull Racing driver is embroiled in the first real World Championship dogfight of his six-year career. But to see him standing at the quayside in the pretty harbour of the Port de Fontvielle, you wouldn’t know it. There’s an easy serenity about the Dutchman.

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Max Verstappen

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erenity is not a trait you’d expect from a racing driver normally possessed of a no-holds-barred attitude that pays scant regard to the vaunted reputation of his rivals.

Right from the start of his Formula One career, Verstappen has been a race winner – his first at the record-breaking age of 18 – and routinely tipped as a future champion. But it’s only this year that the stars have aligned to turn that burden of destiny into actual possibility.

Last year, new regulations shifted the playing field. After tyre supplier Pirelli highlighted worrying aerodynamic loads on the tyres of F1’s fastest-ever cars, bodywork changes were introduced to drastically reduce the downforce that 2021 cars would generate. Worst affected were seven-time Constructors’ Champions Mercedes and their seventime Drivers’ Champion Lewis Hamilton, the arcane alterations to floor dimensions and rear brake ducts carving away huge chunks of the Silver Arrows’ historic advantage and reeling the sport’s dominant force within touching distance.

For Verstappen’s team, the changes were more benign, and a redesigned power unit from engine supplier Honda morphed Red Bull Racing’s 2020 RB16 car from a machine routinely capable of delivering Verstappen to the podium – but rarely to the top step – into a match for Mercedes in poise, power and pace.

And yet, while Verstappen now wields a giant-killing weapon seemingly capable of toppling the almighty Hamilton, the first few races of the season have left the Red Bull driver trailing the reigning champion by 14 points.

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“It’s going to be a long season and we cannot afford to make any big mistakes” Left: A relaxed-looking Verstappen arrives by boat at the Circuit de Monaco, ahead of final practice for the principality’s iconic Grand Prix

At the season opener in Bahrain, Verstappen signalled his intent by blazing into pole position, only to be strategically mugged in the race by the wily Hamilton, who tempted the younger driver into a fluffed late overtake that guaranteed the Brit victory. Verstappen fought back at the next round in Imola, shoulderbarging pole-sitter Hamilton at the start and powering to unchallenged victory as his rival recovered to take second.

But while that bruising encounter appeared to indicate that the Red Bull driver wouldn’t be easily cowed, the following two rounds – in Portugal and Spain – produced masterclasses in victory from Hamilton.

By contrast, Verstappen’s races were compromised by minor errors – a momentary slide at Turn 14 in Portugal; a garbled call to the pits and a locked front right wheel on his out lap in Barcelona – fractional indiscretions that, in the tightest battle Formula One has seen for a decade, were enough to hand glory to Mercedes’ indomitable avatar.

Now, as the young Dutchman boards the boat for the short trip around the harbour wall of the Port de Fontvielle to that “sunny place for shady people” and the Circuit de Monaco, he’s ready for redemption. But there’s one problem: Verstappen has never prospered here; he’s never been on the podium. In 2015, at his first Grand Prix in the principality, a bravura comeback from a slow pit stop ended when he missed a braking point and smashed into the back of Romain Grosjean’s Lotus. In 2016, he crashed in qualifying and spun off in the race. In 2017 he was fifth, but in 2018 he thumped the barriers in final practice, missed qualifying, and started from the back of the grid. Two years ago, on F1’s last visit, he was fourth. To keep Hamilton in check, to stop a 14-point gap ballooning from inconvenient to irreconcilable, Verstappen needs to draw deep.

“Monaco is something very different,” says Verstappen when asked about how much he’s looking forward to the weekend. “It’s so narrow. There are other street circuits, but it always feels there is more room at those. Here, there’s not.

Especially in qualifying when you go to the limit.” But while he once might have viewed the walls closing in as an incentive to simply drop the throttle and risk all on the red line, this year’s Max Verstappen is different. Gone are the occasional volcanic displays of temper.

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Max Verstappen

move past Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to secure victory at the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix. For 2021’s Verstappen, the overarching vision is down to the closeness of the battle with Hamilton.

“I’m up against a seven-time world champion who has a lot of experience, but nevertheless you try to beat him.

When it’s not possible, you settle for the best possible result, because it is going to be a long season and we cannot afford to make any big mistakes,” he says. “I know that Lewis is also very good at knowing how to pick his moments, at knowing when it’s not happening but still getting the best possible result out of it.”

Ahead of the curve: Verstappen leads Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes AMG Petronas around the famous hairpin during lap one of the race

Gone is the bullet-headed obstinacy that saw him flatly admit to ignoring yellow flags on his way to pole position in Mexico two years ago; a stubbornness that led to him being demoted to fourth place on the grid. In its place is a new competitive sense of balance and a Zen-like calm constructed around a philosophy he says is all about “choosing your moment to shine”.

“You have to understand that if it’s not your day, it’s not your day, and you have to settle for a certain result,” he says. “Last year, or in the years before, we knew that we weren’t in a championship fight, so in that situation you go for every single opportunity to win it – or bin it. Well, not really, but you do go over the limit to try to get a better result. But we now have a car that’s more capable of bringing the fight to Mercedes. It’s more than just a one-weekend wonder. We have to make sure that even if we don’t have a perfect 38

weekend, we still score a lot of points.

It’s a different approach.”

This seems a lifetime away from the Verstappen who famously threatened to punch rival Esteban Ocon after the Frenchman crashed into him during the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix, or who risked all in a bruising, wheel-banging late-race

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hursday afternoon. Seventy-two hours to go and the likelihood of a positive outcome is being severely tested. Verstappen’s new teammate, Sergio Pérez, goes quickest in the opening practice session of the weekend, but in the afternoon both Red Bulls drift inexorably off the pace.

Pérez is ninth fastest, Verstappen better placed in fourth, but he still sits a disheartening four-tenths of a second off the pace-setting Ferrari of Leclerc.

More importantly, he’s a place behind Hamilton. “We’re too slow,” he sighs.

“Normally I’m quite comfortable in the car, I quite easily get to a pace, but it all takes too long and it’s just not how I like it. It’s the most difficult weekend.”

Things are not made easier by Hamilton cranking up the psychological warfare. Asked about the closeness of the on-track battles between the pair, the Mercedes driver attempts to seize the high ground. “I think I’ve done well to avoid all the incidents,” he says. “But we have 19 more [races] and we could connect. [Max] feels he perhaps has a lot to prove. I’m not in the same boat.”

Verstappen smiles and refuses to take the bait. “We’ve raced hard and avoided contact on both sides. Let’s hope we can keep doing that, keep being on track and race hard against each other.”

Friday in Monaco is a day off, a local tradition that dates back to the earliest days of the race, when it was held in and around the religious holiday of Ascension Day. But while the circuit opens to civilian traffic in the afternoon and Monégasques can briefly go about their business as normal, there’s no respite for Verstappen. Having chosen Monaco as his adoptive home in 2015, the Dutchman spends the morning at his

“We now have a car that’s more capable of bringing the fight to Mercedes” Red Bull Racing’s RB16 car has been redesigned for the 2021 Grand Prix season. The RB16B features refinements including reshaped side pods and an upgraded Honda power unit

“Monaco is so narrow. On other street circuits it feels there’s more room. Here, there’s not” On the tight and twisty Monaco circuit, which spans Monte Carlo and the neighbouring area of La Condamine, overtaking is near impossible

Max Verstappen

he tells reporters hungry for controversy.

“We all push, and a mistake is easily made.

All in all, everything is very positive. It’s always better to start first, but I don’t think we were only the second fastest today. It’s also racing that there will be a red flag; Charles isn’t doing it on purpose.”

Verstappen’s karma is righteous.

Crucially, however, Hamilton, unhappy with his car, is five places further back on the grid.

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Elevated position: a bird’s-eye view of the victorious Dutchman clutching the spoils of his 2021 Monaco Grand Prix win

apartment, digesting the previous day’s struggle. “It’s very close and I would say Mercedes is still faster, especially in the race, so we definitely need to step up,” he muses. “But I’ve done it before, in gokarting and junior formulas, when you’re having championship battles. It’s not anything new for me.”

And, during Saturday’s qualifying stage, Verstappen demonstrates just why he’s been routinely tipped as a future champion from the moment he became the sport’s youngest winner at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. Qualifying is where Formula One’s true greats excel.

Modern F1 races are exercises in controlled technicality, encompassing fiendishly complex notions of tyre management, fuel saving, and tactical energy deployment from hybrid powertrains. Qualifying, however, is far purer: man and machine, the smallest fuel load possible, absolute commitment on the limits of adhesion.

And in Monaco – at a track where overtaking is nigh-on impossible and the result is regularly defined by grid position – qualifying is everything.

Divided into three sessions, the slowest five drivers are ejected after each of the first two rounds, leaving the top 10 to battle for pole position in a furious THE RED BULLETIN

12-minute spell at the end. Get it wrong, as Verstappen did in 2016, and you might as well stay in bed on Sunday.

Get it right and one of motorsport’s most lustrous prizes is suddenly in reach.

And in Monaco, where risk is hyperamplified by the closeness of the barriers, and mistakes are met with extreme punishment, Verstappen chooses his moment to shine... almost.

After sailing through the opening two sessions, he’s poised on his final run of the top 10 shoot-out to blaze past local hero Leclerc’s provisional pole time.

Verstappen is 1,500ths of a second quicker than the Monégasque through the first of three lap sectors – Thursday’s deficit has been erased – but ahead Leclerc clips the barriers at the principality’s outdoor swimming pool.

His Ferrari hits the barriers hard on the outside of the corner and the session is immediately red-flagged. Verstappen’s lap is ruined and he will line up in second place on the starting grid. But if he’s frustrated he doesn’t show it.

Talking to the press afterwards, Verstappen vindicates the Ferrari driver of any blame, saying he shouldn’t have his pole position revoked.

“It’s different if someone does it deliberately, but that wasn’t the case here,”

unday. Thirty minutes until the race start. The pit lane opens and cars spill onto the track to make their way to the grid. As Leclerc climbs the hill towards Casino Square, a forlorn howl echoes from his radio.

“No, no, no, the gearbox.” The Ferrari driver retreats to the pit lane, where the diagnosis is driveshaft damage from the previous day’s crash. Verstappen will start with a clear view to Turn One. When the lights go out, the Dutchman shines once more. After swiftly closing the door on any challenge from behind, he storms into the lead. And, as Hamilton becomes mired behind slower cars and limps to seventh, Verstappen grows in confidence to take a flawless, glittering, first Monaco win.

There’s even time in the wake of the race to deliver a sharp riposte to Hamilton’s earlier mind games. “Actions always speak louder than words – I think that’s a good lesson after this weekend,” he smiles. “I hope we can keep that going for the rest of the season.” It’s a season that Verstappen, at least in this moment, now leads by four points over Hamilton; the immortal champion’s armour has been pierced.

Confidence in the machinery at his disposal, trust in the team around him, trademark unwavering self-belief, and now a resolute determination enhanced by awareness of the big-picture demands of a title challenge – the 2021 version of Max Verstappen may just be the one that brings the Driver’s title back to Red Bull for the first time in eight years. Except that even now the Dutchman cautions against empty optimism.

“I’m pretty realistic and I just want to focus on the race ahead,” he says. “I don’t want to put unnecessary pressure on anyone. I want to focus on the race weekends and I prefer to remain quite silent. I don’t need to hype anything up.

Dreaming doesn’t get you anywhere.” verstappen.com; redbull.com 41

The glass wave, December 2015 “This is the north coast of Tahiti, with swells coming from Hawaii and even further away.

A big wave – what we call a shorebreak – forms at the edge of the black sand beach and this is stirred up, creating a variety of colours. We’re at sunrise with a cliff behind, so it looks black.

The first rays of sunlight go over the cliff and light up this lip of water, giving strong contrast as if it were glass or lace. I’m at the edge of the beach, the tips of my fins almost touching the bottom. You don’t want to get caught by the wave – it can hurt. I’ve lost my camera and fins before. You can get dismembered by the impact of the lip on the sand.”

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THE SHAPE OF WATER

Surf photographer BEN THOUARD captures unbelievable images of the monstrous waves around the coast of Tahiti, and those foolhardy enough to ride them. How he gets his shot is every bit as incredible

Words PH CAMY

Ben Thouard

Emergency exit, August 2017 “We’re underwater with Australian surfer Adrian Buchan, beneath the famous Teahupo’o wave [routinely considered the world’s most dangerous due to its size and power and because it breaks over a sharp coral reef]. Often with waves that break on the shore, there can be a sandy bottom that stirs up, but here, several hundred metres offshore, it rolls over a coral reef devoid of sand and particles and we have exceptional clarity. Here, you can see it’s crashing and the wave doesn’t ‘open’, so Adrian decides to get out by going through it – he slips under the lip. I was about to shoot Adrian through the tube and then he popped through the wave as it crashed. That’s what gives this unusual shot: Adrian is standing on his board, but underwater.”

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Ben Thouard

Blind mode, April 2016 “I’ve always liked shots close to the action, so here, with French surfer William Aliotti at Teahupo’o, I’m just under the lip of the wave and it’s about to crash completely onto the waterproof case that contains my camera. I’m already completely underwater, starting my dive to escape the impact, but my arm is still out of the water to shoot. And then – hop! – I pull my arm under. I have to get beneath the surface to avoid being thrown. I shoot blind and play with risk, getting fraction-of-asecond shots before everything explodes.”

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Slab hunter, April 2020 “In addition to my work as a surf photographer, I got interested in locations that are not necessarily surf spots, where the waves become incredible shapes. Here, not far from Teahupo’o, is an overhang of reefs where the waves break into tubes. I’m in the water with a 300mm [telephoto zoom] lens, which isn’t common to shoot swimming, but it allows me to have this concentration on this curve, this detail. I love the texture on the surface, and this gigantic majestic curve. You can’t see the bottom of the wave on the right, but it’s 4-5m high. This kind of atypical shape has a name: a slab.”

“I shoot blind, getting fraction-of-a-second shots before everything explodes” THE RED BULLETIN

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The wait, May 2019 “These two pictures are the same place, same day: Teahupo’o at 6am. The morning breeze is ripping the foam off the lip of the wave, the low-angled light of sunrise illuminating the flying foam, with big mountains in the background. In the top photo the surfers wait, eyes riveted to the open sea. In the photo below, a surfer has rolled out with a wave, and the others are positioning for the next one. I work a lot on a jet ski, because it allows me to be very mobile, reactive and, above all, alone and autonomous. Here, I’m behind the waves, looking towards the shore. It gives me a completely opposite angle.”

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Ben Thouard

“If you make a mistake, the ocean is unforgiving” the red bulletin: How did you begin your career? ben thouard: I’ve been a surfer since I was very young, but I lived in Toulon [on France’s south coast], which isn’t the best region for surfing, so in my teens I started windsurfing, then photography, doing an internship with Bernard Biancotto, one of the pioneers of windsurf photography. At 19, I got the chance to go to Hawaii to take windsurfing photos. I had my camera and a waterproof housing I’d made myself. That took me to Tahiti in 2008 and it was love at first sight. The culture, the people, the quality of the waves, the clarity of the water, the changeable light and different atmospheres in the same day – everything was attractive. I settled here to develop photography around surfing. I was 22 or 23.

At what point did you decide to take pictures of waves without surfers?

About six years after I moved to Tahiti. There was a gradual evolution in my work. It may sound sad, but surf photography is more of a job; wave photography has become a personal work, a reverie. I wanted to free myself from the constraints of the press or brands that commissioned me and to communicate what attracts me about the ocean; to make images that are timeless. The surfer’s outfit and board will date a surf photo, but a good shot of a wave will still be good 20 years from now. I worked hard on the subject, shooting waves in all kinds of conditions, then started selling the photos online. I self-published my book dedicated to waves, Surface, in 2018. This November I’ll be bringing out a new book, probably titled Turbulences.

Why do you choose to photograph something so untameable?

What fascinates me about waves is capturing a single, fixed image that can be aesthetic, graphic or simply beautiful; one that communicates the power of the ocean – a majestic shape, an explosion, a vortex that appears under the water as the wave breaks up. It’s fabulous to convey the beauty of nature and its strength, which can be frightening.

What do you feel when you’re in the waves?

Excitement. And when it’s a big wave, a bit of fear, of course. I’m also awestruck to be in front of so much beauty. When you’re under the waves of Teahupo’o, it’s an extraordinary sight.

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There’s a high level of physical fitness to what you do. What’s your routine?

I surf as much as I can. Also, I shoot several times a week, and when we have great conditions I’m in the water for three hours in the morning and three in the evening – that’s a lot of swimming on the spot, waiting with my camera. Then suddenly a series of big waves arrive and there’s a sprint, either to escape the wave or to get in the right place to shoot, before diving under – it’s a dynamic kind of freediving.

What kind of camera do you need to shoot above and below the water?

I use a Canon, but not a special waterproof camera. It’s a classic from the professional 1D and 5D series, which can shoot bursts of 15-20 images per second with very fast autofocus. There’s not only one way to shoot surfing.

I use classic lenses: a fisheye, wide angle, or others when the waves are bigger. You can also use a big telephoto lens that fits inside the Aquatech waterproof housing.

I have a little under 5kg of equipment at my fingertips.

Do you use a grip?

Yes, it’s a bit like a speargun, for shooting with my arm out of the water to get those last moments. There are also interchangeable windows on the waterproof housing to swap lenses, and buttons for camera adjustments and to operate the shutter, because I shoot manually. It’s all attached to my arm with a leash like the one on a surfer’s ankle.

You have to swim, position yourself, frame and focus, and when the surfer breaks into the wave at Mach 12, don’t miss.

And if you make a mistake, it’s unforgiving.

What do you mean?

I’ve found myself thrown onto the reef as if plastered to a floor of razor blades. You feel torn apart.

It can rip your fins, or your leash can throw the camera into your face. The goal is to be in the heart of the action without being locked inside the wave, and to always have an exit.

Ever feel like you’ve had enough?

I’ve been on the water for more than 15 years, but I’m still amazed by what I see. It’s always moving and changing, so it’s exciting. That’s the power of passion. benthouard.com

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The belly of the beast, July 2015 “This swell was so big, surfers were being towed in by a jet ski.

You can see tons of water coming down on the reef. Despite these conditions, Tahitian surfer Matahi Drollet surfs with the strength of his arms, just managing to get over this rolling monster. I’m on a boat, really close. The success of this photo is in the hands of the boat captain; local fishermen who know the Teahupo’o wave very well.”

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Ben Thouard

The believer, May 2013 “Teahupo’o again. Australian Dan Ryan went for a wave that nobody wanted. He believed it all the way, but when the wave hit the reef, the lip threw him into the air before crashing down the next second.

The wave took him into the lagoon without too much injury.”

Master, May 2019 “People ask if I’ve doctored this picture. Not at all. We’re an hour before sunset, with a mountain behind us, looking in the direction of the sun, with offshore wind pulling spray from the swell. This creates a play of light: droplets of reflected water contrasting with a background in shade. Two elements fighting – water and wind.”

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Ben Thouard Surf

The unknown surfer, May 2019 “Under the Teahupo’o wave. On this day, the wait between waves was very long, sometimes 25 minutes, but with big waves creating a lot of water clarity – you can see the fish and coral in the foreground. I shot all morning to get two or three photos, placing myself at the bottom of the water. You have to anticipate the wave, dive at the right moment, turn around, and prepare your settings and framing – all underwater.

It looks like the surfer is flying, with the sun hitting the fish. This image may be relaxing to look at, but not to shoot.

I still don’t know who this surfer is.”

“I took thousands of images before I got this – years of failed photos”

Ben Thouard

Full speed, June 2016 “Matahi Drollet, nicknamed the ‘Prince of Teahupo’o’, is one of the world’s most gifted surfers.

I shot this using a slower shutter speed, catching everything during the tenths of a second the shutter remains open, which gives this ‘spin blur’ movement.

It’s aesthetic but complicated, because you must have something sharp in the image.

We have his gaze fixed on me, and his board and legs sucked by this ‘washing machine’, allowing you to feel the speed and power of the wave.

Luck is needed, but more so determination; I took thousands of images before I got this one – years of failed photos. I’m on a boat with other photographers, everyone shooting the same thing, and I think about this technique, saying to myself, ‘If you get zero photos in the end, it’s not a big deal, but if you get something it will be different.’”

Pure happiness, April 2017 “A simple photo, but a magical moment. It’s about 6am and I’ve left home in the rain, but I arrive at the spot and there’s this big breakthrough of light in the sky, with a squall that has just left. It’s one of life’s little pleasures when you get up early in the morning, arrive at the sea and see this. The day starts well – it’s pure happiness.”

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Birdman & the Joker

Dynamic duo: Tony Hawk and Vincent Matheron in Encinitas, California, on March 24, 2021. “Tony has had the greatest success in skateboarding and yet he’s the humblest guy I’ve ever met,” says Matheron

One is the most famous skateboarder of all time, the other a young skater with his destiny yet to unfold. Thirty years separates TONY HAWK and VINCENT MATHERON, but what connects them is mutual respect, a love of their craft and a shared mission to push it forward

Words PH CAMY Photography ATIBA JEFFERSON

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Tony Hawk and Vincent Matheron

“Guys like Tony paved the way for us to do something bigger than they could” Vincent Matheron

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“

ony is up for the story with Vincent, but now Vincent has broken his ankle and is going back to France for an operation.” It was in June last year – when The Red Bulletin received this WhatsApp message from California – that we conceded 2020 truly was a crock of shit.

It looked as if the opportunity for a crossover story with Tony and Vincent was buried for ever.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. First, some introductions… ‘Tony’ is Tony Hawk – skateboard pioneer, inventor of an insane number of tricks, architect of modern skateboarding, and one of the world’s most influential actionsports entrepreneurs. Nicknamed ‘Birdman’ – a reference to both his name and his ability in the air – the 53-year-old is a media icon whose name appears on the most successful skateboarding video-game franchise of all time (the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series); who warranted his own ‘Got Milk?’

US print ad (a lactose-tolerant A-lister club that also includes Britney Spears, Serena Williams and Kermit the Frog); and who has even featured several Hollywood films including Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol, the first three Jackass movies and Sharknado 5: Global Swarming. In short, he’s a superstar.

‘Vincent’ is 23-year-old French skateboarder Vincent Matheron. When Matheron was just four, his father and uncle took him to the famous Prado Bowl beachfront skatepark in his hometown of Marseille, and he hasn’t stopped skating since. Relaxed, with an endearing personality, Matheron has 58

a skill for making others laugh. “My nickname is ‘The Joker’,” he tells us from his apartment in Encinitas, California. He also has an instinct for seizing the opportunities his passions present. When an 11-year-old Matheron was encouraged by his future manager, skater-turned-agent Jérémie Grynblat, to take part in skate competitions, the youngster didn’t hesitate, although out of respect for his parents – his mother is a teacher, his father a refrigeration technician – he made sure not to neglect his school work. Matheron took his science baccalaureate before enrolling to study PE, sports science and technology, but it wasn’t all plain sailing. “[The teachers] wanted me to be good at sports I’d never done; I wanted to be graded for skateboarding, not badminton. And with all the skate competitions, I didn’t really have time to do any work.

The school wasn’t very flexible; they didn’t really understand what I was doing.”

So, at the end of 2019, he gave up on that and moved to the US. And that’s where The Joker met the Birdman.

Rolling with the punches

“I was super-close friends with his sons and that’s how it all happened,” says Matheron of meeting Hawk. “Tony is always at competitions as a host or commentator for US TV and he always brings his family; it’s almost part of the deal. I’d meet them at competitions, especially Miles and Calvin [Goodman – Hawk’s stepsons, 21 and 18 respectively] and they became my THE RED BULLETIN

“Vincent is unique. He isn’t just trying to do the tricks that are cool right now” Tony Hawk

“Can you imagine Tony Hawk teaching you a trick that he invented?”

Vincent Matheron 60

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Tony Hawk and Vincent Matheron

“If I see a new technique, I want to champion the person doing it” Tony Hawk

Flip side: it’s a case of each to his own at the Hawk family’s skatepark, but while Tony is content to focus on his favoured vert skating, he admires Matheron’s willingness to mix styles

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best friends in the US. Tony speaks a bit of French, and I have a big mouth, so we got on well. I’d talk to him the way I would to anyone, and I think he appreciated that. He can tell when people are trying to get something out of him. I had no interest in trying to get anything out of him.”

“Vincent is someone who’s easy to get along with and doesn’t expect very much,” says Hawk, whose family were kind enough to put Matheron up for a couple of months when he arrived in California. The Frenchman lived in a house in their garden “between the pool and the skatepark”. Hawk even invited Matheron to use his ramps, which brings us full circle to where he got that injury in early June last year.

“I had a trimalleolar [three-part] fracture in my right ankle,” recalls Matheron a year later. “I broke my medial, lateral and posterior malleoli. I still have 15 screws, three pins and two plates in. I should have had all those removed in March, but I’d prefer to wait until after this summer’s competitions.”

Out of action, Matheron returned to France. “I went back to my parents’ place, but I didn’t have a bed there any more,” he says. “My brother was in my old room, so my father put a mattress on the living-room floor.” It was a literal ocean away from the Hawk family garden, and Matheron, who had been reaching new heights in California, wasn’t on top form. “The summer was approaching and I was injured – bedridden for a month and a half, and on crutches for a month and a half after that. Three months of doing nothing. I was in a bad way.”

What followed was an intense period of rehabilitation for Matheron, first at a clinic in Capbreton, south-west France, then at the Red Bull Athlete Performance Center in Thalgau, Austria. Once his doctor gave him the go-ahead, the skater returned to the US to resume his sport, reconnecting with Miles and Calvin. Birdman was never far away.

“Vincent is unique,” says Hawk. “He has his own style and isn’t just trying to do the tricks that are cool right now. You can be successful in skating without the absolute best skills if you’re fun to watch and fun to connect with. Vincent has the skills but also a very good personality, and that can take you further. Even if you’re the best skater, if nobody wants to work with you it only goes so far. You need to be someone who others enjoy being around.”

As far as Matheron is concerned, Hawk practises everything he preaches in that regard. “Others in his position might look down on you,” says the young skater. “Tony has had the greatest success in skateboarding and yet he’s the humblest guy I’ve ever met. I have so much respect for that.”

This cross-generational courtesy is something Hawk believes to be one of skate culture’s most positive characteristics – there’s a reverence from the younger generation to the scene’s pioneers and elders; a high regard for those who rode the 61

“We need less division in skateboarding, and Vincent is someone who could bridge that gap” Tony Hawk

sidewalk before them. “I think the respect now is greater than ever,” says Hawk, “because of the information available to [the current generation]. Now, someone like Vincent can understand the origins of the tricks he does; the reasons why people do certain styles or techniques. Ten or 15 years ago, those generations didn’t easily have access to that information.”

Birdman begins

Hawk’s skateboarding story began at the age of nine, when his older brother gave him his first board. By the time he was 14, in 1982, he’d turned pro, but the rulebook on what that meant was still largely unwritten. Among Hawk’s mentors was Stacy Peralta, one of the Z-Boys – the legendary surfers-turnedskaters whose experiments in the drought-drained backyard pools of mid-’70s California laid the foundation for modern aerial skate tricks. By the ’80s, Peralta was a successful skate62

brand owner, team manager and film director who devised a visionary and sophisticated aesthetic around skateboard culture with, among others, his famous Bones Brigade team, which brought together Hawk and other phenomenal skaters such as Steve Caballero and Tommy Guerrero. “[Peralta] gave us the opportunity to do things beyond the skate industry, like commercials, movies, other forms of promotion – he showed us that skateboarding can be more than just a hobby,” says Hawk. Peralta also taught him not to focus solely on skills or practice but to develop an overarching, inquiring and diverse approach to his passion. “If you want to have any longevity, if you want to have a long career, you have to think outside of your industry,” Hawk adds.

In 1992, Hawk formed his own skate company, Birdhouse, but no matter what activities he engaged in, it was the lessons he learned from his sport that guided him. “A lot of people who THE RED BULLETIN

Tony Hawk and Vincent Matheron

Breaking borders

Board meeting: two generations of skateboarding talent talk tricks during down time in California

don’t skate, they just give up, but when you skate you know you have to keep trying, keep trying, keep trying until you get it. It’s about taking risks, enjoying taking risks, the value of perseverance – trying over and over to do something, not just physically but also in business. Skateboarding is a community, but it’s more about doing it yourself. It teaches you to find your own path and create your own style.”

As Hawk learnt from Peralta’s perseverance before him, so now Matheron does from Hawk. “Tony is a really good coach,” says the Frenchman. “Among other things, he taught me how to do a ramp trick called the ‘invert’ [a one-handed handstand at the top of a ramp]. He’d give me tips: ‘Keep your head more like this. Place your hand between your legs – it’ll help.’ He’d film me, then we’d watch the videos. I posted a clip to Instagram saying, ‘Filmed by Tony Hawk – thanks!’ Can you imagine him teaching you to do a trick he invented?”

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Matheron may have studied sports science at school, but he has also done his history homework; he’s particularly well-informed about the challenges Hawk set himself in those early days before the scene enjoyed mainstream exposure.

One event stands out for Matheron: a literal and figurative pivotal moment that helped transform the sport into a global phenomenon and Hawk into its de facto figurehead. This was the San Francisco X-Games in 1999, when he landed a neverbefore-recorded two-and-a-half-revolution aerial spin, ‘the 900’. “Before then, he was only known in the skateboarding scene,” remarks Matheron, who was just a year old at the time. “[Suddenly] the whole world found out about him. Guys like Tony paved the way for us to do something even bigger.”

The last time Hawk publicly performed the 900 was in 2016, on its 17th anniversary. He was 48 and hinted it was likely the last time he’d attempt it. Not bad considering he’d declared his retirement from competitive skating right after the 1999 X-Games. Yet today Hawk remains a dominant presence in the scene. “I never quit skating,” he says. “I continue focusing on what I’m best at: my style [ramps] and being able to push it further. I stayed relevant, I guess.”

Hawk is frank about his lack of desire to pursue other styles – “I don’t care to fit in something else like street skating” – but through his social networks he actively encourages the modern generation to adopt new techniques: “I like to amplify them, to show them to the world. If I see a new style, I want to champion the person doing it.” For Hawk, one of those people is Matheron.

“With Vincent, what I like is that it’s a new generation of skating that isn’t defined by vert [ramp], pool [bowl] or street skating.

He does everything, and that’s exciting, because we need less division in skateboarding. Vincent could bridge the gap; he’s a good all-round skateboarder. He enjoys the adventure and isn’t focused on a career. If he continues to challenge himself, he can go much further than he ever imagined.”

For Matheron, there could be no greater incentive to keep pushing himself than the encouragement of a man whose name remains synonymous with skating. “It’s thanks to Tony that we are where we are today,” he says. “All the bowl tricks, all the airs – he invented those. They say he invented 150 tricks.

There’s one he created that’s called ‘the Madonna’ because he was wearing a Madonna T-shirt the day he did it the first time.

And a version of the Madonna is called ‘the Sean Penn’ because Madonna was going out with [the actor] at the time. Tony has tons of stories to tell, he’s seen and heard it all in the world of skateboarding, he has a major video game named after him… It’s great listening to someone who knows what they’re talking about, who was there when it happened.”

“It’s nice what Vincent said,” says Hawk with a smile. “I’m happy that those opportunities are opened to him, and if I had something to do with it, I’m proud. I think he’s capable of taking advantage of these opportunities now and he can do it in a good way.”

As our interview winds up, Hawk has just one final trick to share. “My best secret,” he says, laughing, “is whether you’re skating, travelling, or doing business… be on time!” tonyhawk.com; Instagram: @vincent_matheron Point your smartphone’s camera at the QR code to go behind the scenes with Hawk and Matheron

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Savage sensitivity NAI PALM, singer of Australian band Hiatus Kaiyote, has gone head-to-head with adversity all her life. Here, she reveals how her art and the power of nature helped her come back stronger Words LOU BOYD Photography TRÉ KOCH

Mood for motoring: (left to right) Perrin Moss, Paul Bender, Simon Mavin and Nai Palm of Hiatus Kaiyote

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Nai Palm

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The second track of Hiatus Kaiyote’s new album, Mood Valiant, opens with the sound of birdsong. For the band’s lead singer and songwriter Nai Palm – real name Naomi Saalfield – there couldn’t be a more perfect backdrop; the call and company of birds has been a constant for the 32-year-old Australian throughout her life. “But it wasn’t intentional,” laughs Saalfield during a Zoom call with The Red Bulletin. “It’s not a choice – we always just end up with birds. I was vocal-tracking and they were outside. They sounded really cool, so we thought, ‘Why not keep them in as an environmental detail?’”

Saalfield’s relationship with birds and wild animals is well represented in Hiatus Kaiyote’s discography: she jammed with an owl on the band’s second album, Choose Your Weapon (2015), and her late pet parrot, Charlie Parker – named after the jazz legend – was often in the recording booth at band sessions.

Though often described as ‘future soul’, Hiatus Kaiyote prefer to label their music ‘multi-dimensional, polyrhythmic gangster shit’. It’s a genre that could easily be inaccessible, but has overwhelmingly proven to be the opposite: not only did the band receive Grammy nominations for tracks from their first two albums – Nakamarra (featuring Q-Tip) and Breathing Underwater – but they have also been lauded by musical icons including Prince and Erykah Badu, and sampled by the likes of Beyoncé, Anderson .Paak and Drake.

Saalfield, together with bassist Paul Bender, keyboard player Simon Mavin and drummer Perrin Moss, has spent the last decade creating music together that examines the relationship between all elements of life, from science and art to nation and culture, as well as between humans and the rest of the natural world. “We try to make music that gives people a plethora of different things to discover,” she says. “There’s so much detail in there that you can find something new and still continue to have a relationship with the tracks over the years.”

Spontaneous and dream-like encounters with wildlife have been a staple of Saalfield’s life since way back before the band formed in 2011. Born and raised in Melbourne, she was forced to move to the countryside at the age of 11, following her mother’s death from breast cancer; her father also died shortly afterwards in a house fire. While the move, to the small town 66

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“We’re often ashamed of the darker parts of our humanity, but they’re a tool to learn about yourself. Fight it less and you’ll probably have a better time. Look for the beauty in grief” 68

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Nai Palm

of Mount Beauty in Victoria, south-east Australia, took her away from everything she had known up until that point, it was also the start of an important and enduring relationship with the native fauna. “I lived with wildlife carers and we had a dingo, a spread eagle and wombats,” Saalfield says.

Looking for a way to comprehend her grief at such a young age and in unfamiliar surroundings, she began playing the guitar and spending most of her time outdoors, befriending a wild dingo pup that slept near the house. “Moving to a very remote alpine valley and spending lots of time with ancient native wildlife was really beautiful and healing,” says Saalfield.

“Animals are really empathic, and I often sang to them. I think that the role of music and of being a musician are to essentially remind people of magic and wonder. To me, nature is the best example of the real magic that exists in the world.”

Running down the singer’s face from her lip to her chin is a tattoo tracing the line of a scratch she received from one animal friend – an orphaned fledgling crow she rescued, raised and set free when she was 15. For Saalfield – an orphan herself – the relationship with the young bird and the scratch it left were imbued with a deeper meaning. “I felt like it was a lesson from my mother. To let go and still carry her with me.”

S

uch early trauma seems more than enough for anyone to have to endure, but adversity hadn’t finished with Saalfield just yet. Three years ago, while Hiatus Kaiyote were on tour in the US, she was diagnosed with breast cancer – the same disease that had killed her mother. The singer says the diagnosis shook her in a way that she hadn’t experienced until that point. Posting the news on Instagram at the time, she shared, “I am riddled with anxiety while trying to practice courage and patience daily in the face of the scariest and most emotionally triggering shit I’ve ever had to endure.” Saalfield flew back to Australia where she underwent life-saving surgery, and thankfully in 2019 she was given the all-clear. Looking back, she believes that music was the outlet through which she could process and understand her experience.

“I think art is really powerful, and my favourite art usually comes from turmoil,” she says. “Sometimes you need the harsh life experiences to really appreciate gratitude and value the good. It seems you can’t have one without the other.” This is the philosophy that seems to shape all of Saalfield’s life experience.

“I think it’s at the centre of my being,” she agrees. “We’re often ashamed of the darker parts of our humanity, but they’re also a tool to learn about yourself. Fight it less and you’ll probably have a better time. Look for the beauty in grief.”

While recovering from the mastectomy that saved her life, Saalfield reached out to others with the same illness. In a short video posted on Facebook, she sits on her hospital bed, framed by a golden sunset streaming through the window, and sings a cover of late soul legend Curtis Mayfield’s song The Makings of You, accompanied by Hiatus Kaiyote bassist Paul Bender on guitar and filmed by the band’s manager Scott Barkham.

“I wanted to capture something from the most vulnerable place, live and direct from my hospital bed, to help others feel strong in the same position,” Saalfield says of this moving performance in which her quiet resilience is clear for all to see. “When your life force is threatened, you just want to live more life, and that’s how I feel most alive. It was a horrible time, so I thought, ‘Alright, where’s the beauty in this moment?

You’re alive, you’re surrounded by people who love you, the

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Nai Palm

“Wear your scars with honour – they’re powerful, beautiful” sun is setting and it’s all beautiful and golden.’ I just wanted to lean into that.”

Saalfield is now working to support other women with breast cancer in a more tangible way, taking a public stand against the beauty standards that she believes can push women post-mastectomy to opt for superficial surgery without proper consideration. Wearing the beauty of her experience is something that has always seemed natural to Saalfield, so when she was offered reconstructive breast surgery after the operation, she turned it down.

“I was pretty adamant from the get-go that I didn’t want the reconstructive surgery,” she explains. “It’s really invasive and dangerous – you’re putting a giant piece of silicon inside your body.” While certain of her decision, Saalfield found the medical reaction to be less than accepting and she was shocked to find herself being recommended psychiatric counselling. “The plastic surgeon told me, ‘You might regret it later; this will make you feel normal again,’” she says, shaking her head. “I just found that so fucking baffling. I thought, ‘Who are you to project onto me what I’ll regret? I’ll never be normal; this has changed my life for fucking ever.’”

Instead, her torso now features a fresh tattoo in the space where her breast once was, and she has a decorative golden likeness – modelled on her breast before it was removed – that she plans to wear as part of her stage outfits. “I’ll never be what I was, but that’s fucking awesome,” she says, suddenly 70

animated. “It’s an opportunity to flip it, you know? Not only am I not going to get the reconstruction, but I’m going to be really fucking visible with it.” Her stance has prompted hundreds of messages of support and gratitude from women in the same situation. “One in five women have breast cancer and yet in real life I’ve never seen a woman with one breast, ever,” says Saalfield, shrugging. “I decided that if I can’t see any examples, I’m going to be one for other people. Show people another alternative and show them that they can still be fly. Wear your scars with honour – they’re powerful and they’re beautiful.”

After the trials and tribulations of the past three years, is the Hiatus Kaiyote of 2021 the same band as before, or does Saalfield feel that her own experience and the collective ordeal caused by the pandemic have created a tonal shift? “Every single song we’ve ever made has been its own little world,” she says, thoughtfully, “but the intention remains the same.”

This is a band, after all, whose music has tended not to look inwards but instead outwards into the world. Hiatus Kaiyote’s breakout track, 2013’s Nakamarra, directed its audience to learn about the Aboriginal artist Doreen Reid Nakamarra.

Get Sun, the first single off Mood Valiant, features a snippet from the 2009 documentary Corumbiara: They Shoot Indians, Don’t They? by Brazilian filmmaker Vincent Carelli.

“You can listen to Get Sun and just be like, ‘Yeah, that’s fun,’” says Saalfield, “or you can go deeper and find it’s more than that. It’s a talking point and it can push people in the direction of educating themselves on what’s really going on, especially with Indigenous communities. As a white artist in the public eye, it’s important to me to focus on things that are worthy of love and attention.”

So does that mean Saalfield sees her music as having a higher political purpose in the world? She shakes her head.

“All I want to do with my time is contribute beauty and sanctuary, because that’s what music is for me,” she says.

“When I feel like the world is going to end, the thing that brings me peace is music. It saved my life. If I can be that for someone else, then I feel like I’m more a part of the universe and that my life has value.”

Today, Saalfield is healthy, Hiatus Kaiyote have a new album, the world is opening up again, and the band plan to embark on their first tour since 2018 – a limited number of gigs around Australia. The singer says that while she’s happy to be out and back playing with the band, she’ll miss the quieter life she’s led over the past couple of years, which included adopting a kitten – “Not a bird this time,” she laughs.

“Plot twist!” – and enjoying the space to create music and art from home. Over the past 12 months, Saalfield reveals, she’s been teaching herself Kintsugi – the Japanese art of repairing cracked or broken items using a special lacquer mixed with gold or silver dust, which creates a conspicuous but attractive join – and has been practising the craft on her own broken pipes and pottery around the house.

“So often in life, it’s like, if you break something, you discard it and throw it away because it seems too hard to do anything else,” she explains when asked what attracted her to the craft. “But with Kintsugi you decide to make it into something beautiful in a new and different way. The bit where it was broken is now the illuminated part.”

Hiatus Kaiyote’s new album Mood Valiant is out now; hiatuskaiyote.com; Instagram: @artykarateparty THE RED BULLETIN

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VENTURE Enhance, equip, and experience your best life

ENDLESS RUNNER

Completing a marathon in every country on Earth

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VENTURE Travel

“A common misconception is that running two marathons a day is twice as hard as running one. It isn’t – it’s worse”

I

t was in Samoa in 2019, about 182 countries into my plan to run a marathon in all 196 countries of the world, that I suffered a heart attack.

While running, I’d always hire a local to drive or cycle beside me, carrying water for safety. But on this occasion the guy was quite overweight and obviously hadn’t ridden a bike in a long time. It was a hilly route and he quickly became too tired to ride with me. I found this funny, because I was on my way to running almost 200 marathons and he couldn’t ride a bike for one.

So I took the bike from him and ran ahead, pushing it. It was more than 40°C

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and hanging from the bike were a few litres of water in a basket. Running up and down these hills with the bike was getting me pretty overheated, but I’d got complacent and thought I could push through any dizzy spells.

Then, all of a sudden, I felt a tightness in my chest and down my arm. I sat down and thought, “What’s going on here?”

I have a heart condition and some of my grandparents have died from heart attacks. It was horribly painful and very scary because there was nobody around.

I waited for 30 minutes until I felt OK. I only had two miles of the marathon left, so I finished and then hobbled back

to the hotel. Afterwards, the doctors told me I’d had a minor heart attack and that it could have gone either way.

On November 11, 2019, I arrived in Athens, completing my ‘Running the World 196’ mission. It had taken two years to plan and 674 days to achieve.

Along the way, I encountered extreme poverty, language barriers, and countries dealing with issues caused by wars and politics. I had to be situationally aware at all times; I was mugged at gunpoint and knifepoint, bitten by dogs and given rabies shots. Everything under the sun happened, and each time I’d think, “Will the next time be worse?” When it was THE RED BULLETIN

TOM WARD

Nick Butter, ultrarunner and adventurer

VENTURE Travel

Above: it’s October 2019 and Butter runs marathon 188 in Malawi. Opposite: Running the World 196 hits Athens for its final stage. Below: a hot and exhausted Butter in Chad

finally over, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief, and gratitude towards all of the people in my team and family.

I’m 32 now. I took up running for the same reasons as most people: I wanted to get fit and be outdoors. I grew up in the Dorset countryside and got into skiing at an early age, earning a place on the GB Snowsport under-19s team. When my skiing career faded, I got a ‘real job’ in finance, and running helped me deal with the long hours and stress of work.

I ran a few marathons and found I did even better in 100-mile-plus [160km] races.

In 2016, I signed up for the Marathon des Sables [the famously tough, six-day, THE RED BULLETIN

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VENTURE Travel

Mission accomplished: on November 11, 2019, a jubilant Butter crosses the finish line in Athens, having completed his gruelling 674-day running odyssey

251km ultramarathon in the Sahara Desert]. There, I met an ultrarunner, Kevin Webber (@thekevinwebber). He was 49 and had just found out he had terminal cancer. He told me, “Don’t wait for a diagnosis.” In other words: don’t wait to do what you want – life is precious, so do it now.

Kevin inspired me to raise money for Prostate Cancer UK, which is how Running the World 196 was born. Since then, I’ve completed many challenges, going north to south in Ireland, running in the Arctic Circle, doing the Italian Grand Tour… I’ve run more than 100 ultramarathons and 900 marathons – 51,500 miles [almost 83,000km] in total.

I’d been planning to run New Zealand and Malawi when COVID got in the way.

“Doctors said I’d had a minor heart attack and it could have gone either way” 76

Kit list

The items that keep Butter moving Abbott Libre Sense Glucose Sport Biosensor “This is a live monitor to avoid crashes and spikes. I think it’ll revolutionise how people train” MyoMaster MyoPump compression sleeves “These squeeze dirty blood up to your heart, then release to flush your legs with oxygenated blood” Airofit breathing trainer “Resistance trains lung capacity.

This ensures mine can push harder” Freetrain V1 vest “This holds my phone and other essentials, and it’s reflective” Carb powder “Getting the 8,000 calories I need daily is hard. This makes it easier”

I thought, “Right, what works with the timing?” I realised I’d been around the world but never around Britain. So, in April this year, I set off on my #RunBritain challenge – two marathons a day over 100 days, covering the 5,240 miles [8,430km] around the British coast.

The average British person spends 90 per cent of their life indoors.

Exercise is beneficial for our mental health, but being outside is good in so many ways. Understanding what we have around us – the types of birds, trees and ocean formations, and how we’re just guests on this planet – brings a smile to my face. As well as encouraging people to get outside, I’m raising money for my 196 Foundation.

We ask people to donate £1.96 per month, and the fund goes towards supporting one project each year, which could be anything from building a gym for disabled boxers in Hackney [east London] to a homeless shelter in Kenya.

As I’m telling you this, I’m still on the first of the five phases of #RunBritain.

I’ve already had a lot of injuries. I’m recovering from two stress fractures in my right tibia and fibular from the sheer number of hills – we climbed the height of Everest three times over the first few days in Cornwall, which ruined me. I’ve had tendon pain, lots of blisters, and tore some fibres in my Achilles tendon.

A common misconception is that running two marathons is twice as hard as running one. It isn’t – it’s worse.

Doing double marathons takes a huge physical toll on the body, but mentally you don’t have any time in the day that isn’t running; I’m going 10 to 14 hours a day with about five or six hours’ sleep.

If I’m lucky I get eight hours, but then I’m more tired anyway because it means I’ve gone quicker.

When entering into something like this, you have to realise it’ll involve more suffering than you could possibly imagine. But you do it for the awareness it brings to the charity, the long-term gain of accomplishing it, and having people come out and run with us.

Nothing beats that.

Nick Butter is an endurance athlete, adventurer, speaker and author. He told this story through voice texts during his #RunBritain challenge, which he hopes to finish at Land’s End in Cornwall on July 26. Follow the live tracker at nickbutter.com to run with him on specific days. For more on his charity, go to the196foundation.com THE RED BULLETIN

www.hotlines-uk.com

VENTURE Fitness Feeling chilled: Ashe (right) with her partner, Cory Hughes

Immersion builds resilience

“Cold water is a stressor on the body,” explains Rachel Ashe. “When you get used to dealing with the shock of immersing in cold water, it makes you more able to deal with day-to-day stresses.

Mindfulness and meditation haven’t really worked for me; instead, I trick myself into being present. Getting into cold water forces my mind to be outside itself. Many of us hold anxiety in our chest, so slowly walking into the water really helps as the cold starts at the bottom and works up.”

Comfort in company

“Lockdown was rocket fuel for Mental Health Swims,” says Ashe. “Many people have felt incredibly isolated over the past year, so meeting in the water was a real support. It’s more than just swimming – it’s about connecting with others. I want to show those struggling with mental health that they’re much stronger than they think.”

Jumping into freezing water might seem like a bad idea, but as the founder of Mental Health Swims reveals, it can change your life for the better It was New Year’s Day 2019 when Rachel Ashe took her first plunge into the North Sea. “I felt like crap, but I ran down with hundreds of people and dunked into the water.”

The occasion was Loony Dook, an annual sea dip in the Firth of Forth estuary, just outside Edinburgh. The water was only a degree or two above freezing. “Once the pain had passed, I felt this calm that I hadn’t experienced in years.

It was a lightbulb moment.”

Since childhood, Ashe has suffered with mental health challenges; in 2018, this led to a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. However, after that first dip, the now 34-year-old was inspired to continue cold-water swimming near her home in Swansea and saw a significant improvement to her mental health.

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“In winter, I used to feel grey with depression, but swimming outdoors opened up the whole world. There’s something about the biting cold on your skin. It makes me feel like I have possibilities again.”

After nine months of swimming through rainstorms and hailstones, she organised the first Mental Health Swim at Caswell Bay, a beach 10km from Swansea. “I wanted to get in the sea with people who would accept me as I was, however I was feeling.” Almost 30 people turned up, which encouraged her to run swim meets once per month. Now,

“Getting into cold water forces my mind to be outside itself”

there are close to 90 Mental Health Swims across the UK. So how does cold-water swimming help support your mental wellbeing? Dr Mark Harper, a director of Mental Health Swims and consultant anaesthetist at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals, is studying the benefits of cold-water immersion and its effects on inflammation.

Ongoing research suggests inflammation could be linked to mental health issues, and tests have shown that exposure to the cold can help treat depression and anxiety.

“Cold-water swimming is not a cure,” says Dr Harper. “But it provides a package of benefits – exercise, community, autonomy, achievement, fun – which, put together with cold water, is incredibly beneficial for mental health.”

Specialised kit not required

“Wear whatever feels right for you. It can be a swimsuit, a wetsuit, even a T-shirt and leggings. It’s not about fancy equipment – it’s just about getting into the sea, feeling the benefit of the cold water and spending time with people who understand you.”

Dips not distance

“Always listen to your body.

Never ever swim alone. You don’t have to go for a triathlonstyle training session.

Sometimes even just getting in waist-deep can make a huge difference. At our swims, there’s always a local swim host on hand, running the session; you can spot them waving the pink pirate flag.

They’re all Mental Health First Aiders and trained in the basics of cold-water safety.”

For more, go to Instagram: @mentalhealthswims THE RED BULLETIN

NINA ZIETMAN

Take the plunge

LAURA MINNS

HEAL

VENTURE Equipment SWIM

Immerse yourself

TIM KENT

Get back out into the world with a splash. Here’s the essential gear you need to hit the beach, the pool, a natural lake or a jungle waterfall

Clockwise from top left: RED ORIGINAL SUP Deck bag, redoriginal.com; SALT & STONE Natural mineral sunscreen lotion SPF50, saltandstone.com; ROBIE Dry-Series recycled long-sleeve changing robe, robierobes.com; FINISTERRE Natural History Museum reversible bucket hat, finisterre.com; ROXY POP Surf bralette bikini top and bottoms (sold separately), roxy-uk.co.uk; CORAL EYEWEAR Rose Albacore polarised mirror sunglasses, coraleyewear.com; SLOWTIDE Matron 100% cotton velour beach towel, slowtide.co.uk; FOAMLIFE Lixi flip-flops, thefoamlife.com

THE RED BULLETIN

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VENTURE How to...

Simple pleasures: for Millburn (left) and Nicodemus, the bottom part of the photo was non-essential

Spare us the clutter Millburn and Nicodemus share five techniques for shedding stuff and stress The why

Feel trapped by your lifestyle? The Minimalists are here to liberate you from the stuff and nonsense of materialism…

What do you imagine when you hear the word ‘minimalism’?

For many, it’s an aesthetic: a white room stripped to its bare essentials, music reduced to a single instrument, a gadget with just one button or none at all. But for best friends Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, aka The Minimalists, it’s the key to a happier way of life.

The two childhood pals from Dayton, Ohio, were first introduced to minimalism in 2009, when Millburn’s mother died and his marriage ended in the same month. “Those two events forced me to look around and realise I was focused on the wrong things: achievement, status and accumulation,” says the 40-year-old today. “The average American household 80

owns 300,000 items, and I probably had more.”

While letting go of his mother’s belongings, Millburn began to also rid himself of his own, finding that the less he kept, the more liberated he felt. When Nicodemus came to him feeling depressed, Millburn suggested the same approach. “I was working 80 hours a week and forsaking some of the most important aspects of my life, including my relationships,” says Nicodemus, 39, “so I stopped putting things above people.”

Through their podcast, blog, speaking tours, books and Netflix documentaries, The Minimalists have spread their acquired wisdom to millions worldwide. Their message is appropriately simple: instead of trying to buy

The Minimalists’ new book Love People, Use Things is out on July 13; theminimalists.com

Seasonality rule

“Ask yourself if you’ve used an item in the last 90 days, or if you will use it in the next 90 days. If not, give yourself permission to let go of that item.”

20/20 vision

“Look at any item that you’re keeping hold of ‘just in case’ and ask yourself if you could replace it for less than £20 in less than 20 minutes. If you could, let it go. You’ll find that you never replace more than a couple of those items.”

One in, 10 out

“Any time you bring a new item into your house, donate 10 things you already own. This will make you more calculated with new purchases, as well as making you constantly reassess which possessions you’re ready to let go of.”

Spontaneous combustion

“How would you feel if an item you’re holding onto spontaneously combusted?

You’ll be surprised how many times you feel relieved. Give yourself permission to let it go.”

THE RED BULLETIN

LOU BOYD

Unburden yourself

the perfect life by engaging in capitalism and consumerism, we can find true happiness by shedding that mindset. “Most of us are trying to create a life – through the objects that we collect and place around our homes – rather than living one,” says Millburn. By cherrypicking only the objects we need, we give ourselves space to see past the physical and reconnect with what really matters to us. Or, to quote the title of their latest book: love people, use things.

“We’re not against stuff,” says Millburn, emphasising you needn’t let go of everything you own to benefit from this lifestyle. “It’s important to not renounce or denounce stuff.

It’s about understanding what truly adds value to our lives – 90 per cent of our [belongings] are junk masquerading as essential but getting in our way. Once we deal with that external clutter, we can then look inside [ourselves] and deal with our internal clutter.”

JOSHUA WEAVER

SIMPLIFY

“Before you do anything, ask yourself, ‘How would my life be better with less?’ If you declutter but don’t know why, you’ll be cluttered again in the notso-distant future.”

VENTURE Gaming says Nimara, who’s based in Romania. “Remember landmarks and where they are.

Use a compass and don’t lose sight of where you are on the map.” And if it’s too difficult to see in front of you, think twice about ploughing on. “There are cases where you can find yourself in an intense blizzard with poor visibility.”

Sleep smart

Common sense should always dictate where you bed down.

“We don’t force players to camp in specific locations, but it’s wise to look around and see what resources are close at hand. Don’t camp where you’re not shielded from the elements, or in a dangerous location.” Basically, if you see fresh bear tracks, think twice about pitching there.

Keep warm

In game as in life, weather is unpredictable; you must adapt quickly when it changes. “The player has to equip themselves properly, So you must use the right clothing; watch to see if you’re getting hot and thirsty, or cold. We looked into bushcraft techniques, too – for example, making a fire shield.

Gather wood and put it on one side of the campfire to work as a reflector; it’s more efficient.”

SURVIVE

Code of the wild Leave the big city for the great outdoors from the comfort of your gaming chair. But come prepared...

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campfires, tracks lead to animal herds, and rivers guide you to lush vegetation.

“It lets you really scratch that outdoors itch, using bushcraft techniques, hunting and fishing to survive,” says Tudor Nimara (pictured), lead designer for the game’s developers, FUN Labs. “But we also wanted moments to just admire the beautiful views, reconnecting with nature.”

And, just as everything in the universe is connected, so this game is intrinsically hitched to the real world. Here are some of the wilderness skills you’ll discover in-game that could prove useful for your next real-life adventure…

Get your bearings

“One thing that keeps you in the zone when outdoors is ensuring you don’t get lost,”

Your BFF

“The game lets you scratch that outdoors itch”

In Open Country, you’re accompanied by a loyal friend.

“Your dog can sniff out animal tracks and alert you to danger, but you won’t see it fighting off wolves – we didn’t want anything bad to happen to it,” says Nimara, noting that respect for nature is a key aspect. “It’s not a game where you can go on a rampage against grizzly bears. When confronted with a predator, you should consider stepping away, or you face a bad injury.

Hunting is utilitarian – it’s not about trophies but putting food on the campfire.”

Open Country is out now on PS4, Xbox One and Steam; opencountrygame.com THE RED BULLETIN

STU KENNY

“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.” So wrote John Muir, legendary explorer, conservationist and father of America’s mighty national park system upon first seeing the Sierra Nevada mountain range in 1869. It’s a sentiment that players of Open Country, a new outdoorsmanship challenge from Italian gaming publishers 505 Games, will quickly come to appreciate.

Controlling a character who trades the city life for wildlife, you’re dropped into a giant immersive simulation of the great outdoors, inspired by the likes of Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks.

Here, understanding the interconnectedness of nature is vital for survival: wood becomes shelters and

VENTURE Equipment

RECOVER

Deep impact TIM KENT

Massage is one of the most ancient forms of muscle therapy. Take tradition to the cutting edge with these scientifically proven tissue-and-nerve repair devices Clockwise from top left: THERAGUN PRO percussive therapy device (delivers up to 2,400 percussions per minute) with six attachments, theragun.com; THERABODY PowerDot 2.0 Uno provides targeted transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and neuromuscular electrical muscle stimulation (NEMS), theragun.com; PULSEROLL vibrating massage ball with four speed settings, pulseroll.com; HYPERICE Vyper 2.0 high-intensity vibrating fitness roller, hyperice.uk; YOGI BARE Paws natural-rubber extreme-grip yoga mat, yogi-bare.co.uk

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SALSA Cutthroat GRX 810 Di2 bike, salsacycles.com; ORTLIEB Handlebar-Pack, ortlieb.com; HJC Ibex 2.0 road helmet, hjcsports.com; DRAGON ALLIANCE Ventura sunglasses, uk.dragonalliance.com; DHB Merino Short Sleeve jersey, Trail shorts, Aeron mitts and Aeron Mid Weight Merino socks, wiggle.co.uk; FI’ZI:K Terra X5 off-road shoes, fizik.com

VENTURE Equipment

Hot on the trail All-road adventure bikes to take you down rugged routes this summer

Photography JOE McCORTY

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VENTURE Equipment

Left: 3T Exploro RaceMax bike, 3t.bike; SPECIALIZED S-Works Prevail II w/ANGI helmet, specialized.com; OAKLEY Kato sunglasses, oakley.com; POC Haven rain jacket, Ne-Plus Ultra VPDS bib shorts and Ultra socks, pocsports.com; SIDI MTB Tiger 2 SRS Carbon shoes, sidi.com. Right: CANNONDALE Topstone Carbon Lefty 3 bike, cannondale.com; DRAGON ALLIANCE Flash sunglasses, uk.dragonalliance.com; ENDURA SingleTrack LiteKnit gloves, endurasport.com

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THE RED BULLETIN

VENTURE Equipment CANNONDALE Topstone Carbon Lefty 3 bike, cannondale.com; MET Trenta MIPS helmet, met-helmets. com; DRAGON ALLIANCE Flash sunglasses, uk.dragonalliance. com; ENDURA GV500 Foyle T top, Reiver bib shorts, SingleTrack LiteKnit gloves and Bandwidth Jagged socks, endurasport.com; SPECIALIZED Recon 2.0 MTB shoes, specialized.com

VENTURE Equipment

This page: RONDO Ruut X bike, rondo.cc; MUC-OFF Technical Riders gilet, Riders long-sleeve jersey, Technical Riders shorts and Technical Riders socks, muc-off.com Opposite: SPECIALIZED S-Works Diverge bike, specialized.com; EVOC Handlebar Pack Boa, Top Tube Pack Boa and Seat Pack Boa, evocsports.com; POC Omne Air SPIN Helmet, pocsports. com; SPEKTRUM Blankster sunglasses, spektrumsports.com; SPORTFUL Escape Supergiara W jersey, Supergiara bib shorts, Race gloves and Matchy W socks, sportful.com; GIRO Sector MTB/gravel shoes, giro.com THE RED BULLETIN

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RONDO Ruut X bike, rondo.cc; HJC Valeco road helmet, hjchelmets. com; SCOTT Shield sunglasses, scottsports.com; MUC-OFF Technical Riders gilet, Riders long-sleeve jersey, Technical Riders shorts and Technical Riders socks, muc-off.com; SPECIALIZED Recon 2.0 MTB shoes, specialized.com

VENTURE Equipment

CANYON Grizl CF SL 8 1by bike, canyon.com; KASK Mojito 3 helmet, kask.com; KOO Demos sunglasses, kooworld. cc; ALBION Ultralight Windproof gilet, shortsleeve jersey, ABR1 bib shorts and socks, albioncycling.com; FI’ZI:K Terra X5 offroad shoes; fizik.com THE RED BULLETIN

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VENTURE Equipment

Above: CANNONDALE Topstone Carbon Lefty 3 bike, cannondale.com; ENDURA Pro SL helmet, endurasport. com; JULBO Fury sunglasses, julbo. com; CHAPEAU! City jacket, Dry Tech tee, Gravel shorts and Merino Tall Hoop socks, chapeau.cc; GIRO Sector MTB/ gravel shoes, giro. com; BROOKS ENGLAND Scape handlebar pouch and frame bag, brooksengland.com

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Left: GIRO Helios Spherical road helmet, giro.com; POC Will sunglasses, pocsports.com; SCOTT Trail Flow Check shirt, scottsports.com Models: KASIA MADEJ, AARON HARDIN Photographer’s assistant: SAM ROYSTON Bike mechanic: ALF OWEN Photographed on the route of North London Dirt, an annual gravel bike event; Instagram: @northlondondirt THE RED BULLETIN

IT’S NOT ABOUT A PLAN. You don’t always need to have a goal. Sometimes it’s enough to just do things because you want to, and to stop when you feel the need.

It’s about the experience. It’s not about an objective. #notaboutaplan

SPORTFUL.COM

VENTURE Calendar

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to 31 July BREW//LDN 2021 Ah, the simple act of gathering at a public watering hole and sharing a beer with friends – something we once took for granted and now appreciate more than ever. Consider this epic festival of the amber nectar a welcome celebration of all that we’ve missed. More than 50 craft brewers from across the world will be in attendance, serving up their spin on the golden throat-charmer, with street food and music for all tastes.

Even before lockdown you’d have found it hard to take this for granted.

Printworks, London; brewldn.com

27 July onwards RISK VS REWARD: A NAZARÉ ANTHOLOGY SERIES What would you be willing to risk everything for? For most of us it’s thankfully little more than a hypothetical question. But for the surfers in this series it’s very real. Nazaré in Portugal is home to the biggest surfable waves on the planet, where records and bodies can and have been broken. It’s a legend that has been told before, but what’s rarely covered are the human stakes: the families, the partners and the pets left behind in pursuit of this prize. The first two episodes of this series focus on the lives and loves of France’s Justine Dupont and Brazilian Pedro Scooby Vianna as they risk all. redbull.com

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to 29 August RUNFESTRUN It is said that life is a journey, not a destination.

But, hey, why not both? It’s a quandary this festival in the Hampshire countryside elegantly solves. By day, take part in runs – from 5k and 10k events to a 2.5k family jog or 3k ‘sunset shuffle’, all designed by event organiser and former British Olympic runner Steve Cram – and enjoy fitness workshops and seminars from three-time London Marathon winner Paula Radcliffe or two-time Commonwealth Games 110m hurdles champion Colin Jackson. By night, party to live music from Rick Astley, McFly, James Blunt and more. And if those names don’t get you running, nothing will. Laverstoke Park Farm, Hampshire; runfestrun.co.uk 94

THE RED BULLETIN

VENTURE Calendar

2

August onwards ACCOMPLICE

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KONSTANTIN REYER, KHRIS COWLEY/HERE & NOW, LUKE WALKER/SAATCHI GALLERY

August YAM CARNIVAL In recent years, West African music has taken the world by storm, and a huge contribution to this has come from SMADE and Obi Asika, the Nigerian co-founders of Afro Nation. The annual summer festival in Portugal gathers together the biggest and freshest artists in the worlds of Afro-fusion, reggae, dancehall, hip-hop, soca and more for a four-day celebration of love, peace, unity and the beauty of African culture. Now, the Afro Nation team are bringing the party to the UK and widening their lens with an exciting new concept.

Taking place on August Bank Holiday weekend, YAM Carnival aims to be a true melting pot of Black excellence, with music from Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, the US and the UK. Headlined by Nigeria’s Davido (pictured), widely acknowledged to be the King of Afrobeats, YAM Carnival boasts a genre-busting line-up across three stages, from Jamaican reggae singer Koffe and American alt-R&B highflier Ari Lennox to South African house producer Culoe De Song and Femi Kuti (son of legendary Afrobeat godfather Fela Kuti). Food trucks will serve up a huge selection of African-influenced cuisine, and The Masquerade will see traditional masked dancers from different communities come together to celebrate and worship their ancestors through dance.

Clapham Common, London; yamcarnival.com THE RED BULLETIN

Getting your first bike is a coming-­ of-age moment in anyone’s life. This film is a homage to that ticket to freedom;the bond forged between human and two-wheeled sidekick.

But the people recalling their stories here aren’t just anyone – they’re biking legends, set on a path from the moment they first discovered what two wheels can do. For Brandon Semenuk, that journey led to the Canadian winning Red Bull Joyride for the first time in 2011. For American Paul Basagoitia, it brought a fall at Red Bull Rampage in 2015 that left him paralysed and having to relearn how to ride. Far more than just another bike film. redbull.com

13 July to 3 October JR: CHRONICLES French street artist JR is famous yet anonymous (although he openly shows his face and admits those are his initials), his photo collages simultaneously epic and intimate. From 2008 to 2014, his Women Are Heroes project covered roofs, trains and walls in Europe, South America, Asia and Africa with photos of women who live in slums; for Giants (pictured) in 2017, he erected a towering Xerox of a child peering over the US-Mexico border wall. These and other works feature in this exhibition, which is big in scope but small in scale by JR’s standards. As his biography states: “JR has the world’s largest art gallery... the walls of the whole world.” Saatchi Gallery, London; saatchigallery.com 95

GLOBAL TEAM

THE RED BULLETIN WORLDWIDE

The Red Bulletin is published in six countries. This is the cover of our Austrian edition for August, featuring Brazilian slacklining pro Caio Afeto in action, as shot by New Yorkbased photographer Keith Ladzinski For more stories beyond the ordinary, go to: redbulletin.com

The Red Bulletin UK. ABC certified distribution 145,193 (Jan-Dec 2020)

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Head of The Red Bulletin Alexander Müller-Macheck, Sara Car-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, Cornelia Gleichweit, Kevin Goll Photo Editors Eva Kerschbaum (manager), Marion Batty (deputy), Susie Forman, Tahira Mirza, Rudi Übelhör Digital Editors Christian Eberle-Abasolo (manager), Marie-Maxime Dricot, Melissa Gordon, Lisa Hechenberger, Elena Rodriguez Angelina, Benjamin Sullivan Head of Audio Florian Obkircher Special Projects Arkadiusz Piatek Managing Editors Ulrich Corazza, Marion Lukas-Wildmann Publishing Management Ivona Glibusic, Bernhard Schmied, Anna Wilczek 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), Jennifer Silberschneider 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 Senior Manager Creative Elisabeth Kopanz Art Direction Co-Publishing Peter Knehtl (manager), Erwin Edtmaier, Andreea Parvu, Dominik Uhl Commercial Design Simone Fischer, Martina Maier, Alexandra Schendl, Julia Schinzel, Florian Solly, S ­ tephan Zenz Subscriptions and Distribution Peter Schiffer (manager), Marija Althajm, Nicole Glaser, Victoria Schwärzler, Yoldaş Yarar 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 Mariia Gerutska (manager), Klaus Pleninger MIT Christoph Kocsisek, Michael Thaler Operations Melanie Grasserbauer, Alexander Peham, Yvonne Tremmel Assistant to General Management Sandra Artacker Project Management Dominik Debriacher, Gabriela-Teresa Humer Editor and CEO Andreas Kornhofer Editorial office Heinrich-Collin-Straße 1, A-1140 Vienna Phone +43 1 90221-0 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 Acting editor Tom Guise Associate Editor Lou Boyd Chief Sub-Editor Davydd Chong Publishing Manager Ollie Stretton Editor (on leave) Ruth McLeod 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.

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THE RED BULLETIN Austria, ISSN 1995-8838 Editor Wolfgang Wieser Proofreaders Hans Fleißner (manager), Petra Hannert, Monika Hasleder, Billy Kirnbauer-Walek Publishing Management Bernhard Schmied Media Sales & Partnerships Thomas Hutterer (manager), Alfred Vrej Minassian, Franz Fellner, Ines Gruber, Thomas Gubier, Daniela Güpner, Wolfgang Kröll, Gabriele Matijevic-Beisteiner, Nicole Okasek-Lang, Britta Pucher, Jennifer Sabejew, Johannes Wahrmann-Schär, Ellen WittmannSochor, Ute Wolker, Christian Wörndle, Sabine Zölß

THE RED BULLETIN France, ISSN 2225-4722 Editor Pierre-Henri Camy Country Coordinator Christine Vitel Country Project M ­ anagement Alexis Bulteau 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 Nina Hahn Media Sales & Partnerships Thomas Hutterer (manager), Alfred Vrej Minassian, Franz Fellner, Ines Gruber, Thomas Gubier, Daniela Güpner, Wolfgang Kröll, Gabriele Matijevic-Beisteiner, Nicole Okasek-Lang, Britta Pucher, Jennifer Sabejew, Johannes Wahrmann-Schär, Ellen WittmannSochor, Ute Wolker, Christian Wörndle, Sabine Zölß

THE RED BULLETIN Switzerland, ISSN 2308-5886 Editor Stefania Telesca Proofreaders Hans Fleißner (manager), Petra Hannert, Monika Hasleder, Billy Kirnbauer-Walek Country Project Management Meike Koch Media Sales & Brand Partnerships Stefan Brütsch (team lead), stefan.bruetsch@redbull.com Marcel Bannwart, marcel.bannwart@redbull.com Christian Bürgi, christian.buergi@redbull.com Jessica Pünchera, jessica.puenchera@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 Publishing Management Branden Peters Media Network Communications & Marketing Manager Brandon Peters Advertising Sales Todd Peters, todd.peters@redbull.com Dave Szych, dave.szych@redbull.com Tanya Foster, tanya.foster@redbull.com

THE RED BULLETIN

PROMOTION

The Technical Riders Jacket has next-level waterproofing

MUC-OFF

P

icture the scene. You’re sessioning your local trails, the sun is shining, and the loam is of the highest order. But, as this is the UK, the weather can change in a flash. A torrential downpour comes out of nowhere, leaving glistening brown puddles on every stretch of singletrack, and you with a decision to make: call it a day, or carry on and prepare to get wet?

Fortunately, there’s a solution at hand: Muc-Off’s Tech Apparel range. Perfect for Britain’s fourseasons-in-one-day forecasts, the garments are designed with year-round riding in mind, and are durable enough to hold their own, regardless of what you throw at them.

The centrepiece of the range is the Technical Riders Jacket.

Fashioned from MOD-94 (MucOff Developed) fabric, its threelayer construction and Durable Water Repellent pairs nextlevel waterproofing with a breathability that ensures you stay dry. The jacket has been designed by riders for riders, meaning that whether you’re on a mellow cross-country spin or pinning some flowing trails, its fit supports rather than restricts you. Two side pockets and a chest pocket with waterproof zips allow you to keep essentials at hand, while a removable storm hood will even fit over your lid.

The jacket isn’t solely for summer showers, either. Pair it with the Technical Riders Gilet – an insulating layer made from 100-per-cent recycled polyester fill that can be attached to the inside – and you’ve got one less excuse not to head out in the depths of winter.

Top half sorted, it’s time to turn your attention to the Technical Riders Shorts, made from the very same proprietary MOD-94 fabric as the jacket.

You can sit comfortably knowing that your downstairs is protected from the elements and spray, with no amount of water able to ruin a ride. An integrated elasticated waist adjuster and rear stretch panel boost comfort, and storage is taken care of with two zipped side pockets and a handy cargo pouch that’s perfect for mid-ride necessities (aka snacks).

All of the range is finished off with Muc-Off’s signature neon flourishes, guaranteeing you’ll be noticed for all the right reasons next time you hit the trails.

For more information on Muc-Off’s Tech Apparel range, head to muc-off.com

Comfort in the saddle: the Tech Apparel range was designed for riders

NO MORE RAIN CHECKS Muc-Off’s Tech Apparel range keeps you dry in all conditions

Action highlight

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The next issue of THE RED BULLETIN is out on September 14

THE RED BULLETIN

JASON HALAYKO/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

Yes, your all-time record of 10 keepy-uppies is very impressive, but you’re a ball-juggling novice compared with Japan’s Kotaro ‘Tokura’ Tokuda. Tokura, 29, switched to the acrobatic sport of freestyle football after injury in his teens thwarted his ambitions in the conventional game.

But now he can play his sport anywhere – while waiting for a train in Tokyo (as seen here), while dressed as a Samurai (in a Japanese noodles commercial in 2014), even in the shower (possibly). For more on the former Red Bull Street Style World Final champion, go to redbull.com

DAVYDD CHONG

Free spirit

GIVES YOU WIIINGS. ALSO WITH THE TASTE OF CACTUS FRUIT.

omegawatches.com

RECORDING OLYMPIC DREAMS SINCE 1932 Every athlete has a dream. It lives in their heart and it pushes them towards victory. At the Olympic Games in Tokyo, these dreams will be given a stage. This is the moment when inspiration meets performance, when ambition meets precision, and when the Official Timekeeper OMEGA records it all.