The Red Bulletin UK 12/23

UK EDITION DECEMBER 2023, £3.50 SUBSCRIBE: getredbulletin.com

BEYOND THE ORDINARY

Bolt from the blue

The rapid rise of enduro supremo BILLY BOLT

FINAL FRONTIER Astronaut Tim Peake on the future of space travel FROZEN WILDS Ski-rafting in the Arctic Circle PANIC SHACK The anarchic Welsh punk band making musical mayhem

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E D ITO R ’ S L E T T E R

STAYING POWER What would you put up with in pursuit of your passion? If your answer doesn’t include losing a few fingertips, you’re not as dedicated as this month’s cover star, enduro rider Billy Bolt. Even after the unfortunate accident with a motorbike chain that left him digitally challenged from the age of seven, all the bike-obsessed lad from Wallsend has ever wanted to do is ride. Now, with five world titles to his name, he’s come out smiling. Finding her calling was less of a gory affair for street artist Zabou. She moved from her native France to London aged 20 and braved run-ins with the police in order to hone her skills with a spray can. Now she’s a pro, telling stories of people from all walks of life with her giant, photorealistic murals. And for Tim Peake, the journey to becoming the first British astronaut to walk in space meant learning basic dentistry, how to speak Russian, and enduring both zero gravity and the ocean depths. He tells us how the history of space travel is propelling a new generation to the next giant leap. Enjoy the issue.

Contributors

EMINE SANER The Hastings-based journalist spoke to astronaut Tim Peake for this issue. “After reading his book, astronauts seem even more superhuman – the sort who can land a space shuttle, fix anything from a computer to a space-station loo, and do dentistry if needed,” she says.

“Tim, though, is delightfully down-to-earth.” Page 40

ALEX DE MORA “I’m glad I took a spare change of clothes,” the London-based photographer says of his shoot with Billy Bolt at the Weston Beach Race. “Making pictures with Billy was a lot of fun as it was totally out of my comfort zone. Sand was flying in my face, a motorbike was skidding towards me… but I loved rolling around on the beach.” Page 30

Shore shot: Alex de Mora braves sand in the eye while shooting enduro ace Billy Bolt on Weston-super-Mare beach for our feature

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THE RED BULLETIN

ALEX DE MORA (COVER)

AARON ROLPH For an experienced mountain athlete/photographer, fresh tests come from mixing skills in new ways. “I’d always dreamt of putting together a project combining skiing and rafting,” Rolph says of his Norway adventure in this issue. “I’d love to take all the credit [for the imagery], but it’s hard to take a bad picture up there!” Page 75

CONTENTS

JAY RAWE

26

The BASE jumper who found new kicks after a life-changing injury

SIMONE GIERTZ

28

Got an everyday problem? This inventor has a ridiculous solution ENDURO

BILLY BOLT

30

On the beach with the Geordie superstar biker who, no matter how gnarly and chaotic the challenge, always rides with a smile on his face S PA C E E X P L O R AT I O N

TIM PEAKE

40

Britain’s first spacewalker takes us on a revealing voyage through the past, present and future of astronautics STREET ART

ZABOU

48

Huge both in scale and in impact, this French artist’s spraypainted urban murals relate intimate stories of real people’s lives PHOTOGRAPHY

RED BULL ILLUME

56

Surf to sand, snow to skate – just a handful of highlights from the 2023 edition of this global adventure and action-sports photography contest

40

MUSIC

PANIC SHACK

68

Cardiff’s meal-deal-loving punk foursome talk jiu-jitsu, festival frenzy, and biting back at online trolls

P L AY L I S T: R I TA O R A 15

VENTURE T R A V E L 75

D I S C O F O O T 16

E Q U I P M E N T: B L A N C P A I N X

19 S I N I S T E R F I N G S 21 F R I E N D S H I P B E N C H 22

S W AT C H D I V E R ’ S W AT C H 80

G A L L E R Y 8

ELITE ADVENTURES

RICK ASTLEY

24

The man, the meme: how an ’80s icon discovered a whole new audience 06

48

F I T N E S S : C O L D E X E R C I S E 82 S N O W - S P O R T S T E C H 84 H O W T O : Q U I T 86 G A M I N G : M O N O P O LY 88 B A R G U I D E : B R I X T O N 90 C A L E N D A R 92 S E M I - R A D 98 THE RED BULLETIN

GETTY IMAGES, ZABOU

HEROES

E Q U I P M E N T: P O L A R O I D I - 2 81

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Bedford, Indiana, USA

FOILING DOWN Our planet is marbled with underground rivers, and three-time wakeskating world champ Brian Grubb dreamt of riding one.

So, this July, the American took his eFoil (electric hydrofoil surfboard) 30m below ground to tour Myst’ry River, the longest navigable subterranean waterway in the US. Zipping along at 32kph, Grubb rode a tenth of its 34km length. “It was a lot tighter than I anticipated,” he admits.

“That made it look really cool in the video, but it was pretty technical riding.”

Watch his adventure at redbull.com

09

ROBERT SNOW/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

DAVYDD CHONG

San José, Costa Rica

HANDS FREE

We could tell you that Kenneth ‘Pollis’ Tencio learnt to ride a BMX on the streets of Cartago, Costa Rica. We could share that as a teen he spent all his savings on his first bike. We could mention his silver finish in Freestyle Park at the 2018 Urban Cycling World Championships. We might even tell you he got his nickname while in the Glasgow police. But we won’t (the last one’s a lie, anyway). We’ll just let you enjoy this no-hander, shot by Argentinian Agustin Muñoz, in peace. Cheers. redbull.com; Instagram: @agustinmunoz

DAVYDD CHONG AGUSTIN MUNOZ/RED BULL CONTENT POOL, PETER MORNING/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

Mammoth Lakes, CA, USA

WINTER’S TAIL Maddie Mastro is a gift to inventors of nicknames. But then, you don’t get called ‘Mad Dog’ and ‘Maestro’ if you’re not worthy. A keen snowboarder from the age of six, the Californian is now a seasoned medal-winner – three silver, two bronze – at the World Championships and Winter X Games, and represented the US at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics. Here, we witness her hard-charging attitude (Mad Dog, see?) in action at a Red Bull Snow Team session this May. Grrrr…

Instagram: @maddie_mastro

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Bernese Oberland, Switzerland

ROCK CLASSIC

Apologies to vertigo sufferers, but this shot of Austrian climber and freeskier Nadine Wallner tackling the Vertical Jungfrau Marathon this July really places you in the action. She and her Swiss colleague Simon Wahli nailed the climb – from Lauterbrunnen Valley to the top of the Jungfrau (4,158m), via two routes (rated 7a+ and 7a) and Rotbrättgrat ridge – in an astonishing 16 hours, 20 minutes.

The icing on the summit? Wallner became the first woman to complete it.

TIM MARCOUR/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

DAVYDD CHONG

Watch the incredible ascent at redbull.com

13

POC

VITREA

NEW

RITA ORA

Educating Rita The internationally acclaimed singer on four songs that inspired her on the journey to pop stardom It was as a teen performing at open mics at her dad’s pub in London that Rita Ora discovered her love for music. Today, Ora – the daughter of Albanian parents who fled the conflict in Kosovo in the ’90s – is one of the UK’s most successful artists, with more than 10 billion streams and four number ones; in 2018 she became the first British female solo artist to have 13 top 10 singles. In 2015, she tried her hand at acting, appearing in the Fifty Shades of Grey franchise; she has also dabbled in entrepreneurship, partnering with a tequila brand and launching a sustainable activewear label. But this year saw Ora return to her first love, music, with her third album, You & I. Here, the 32-year-old selects four songs that inspired her to become a pop icon back in the day. ritaora.com

Scan the QR code to hear our Playlist podcast with Rita Ora on Spotify

Bruce Springsteen

Eric Clapton

Abba

The Best (1989)

I’m on Fire (1984)

Tears in Heaven (1992)

Dancing Queen (1976)

“I love Tina Turner for what she did, and for the fight that she showed; her resilience and work ethic is something that I’m very inspired by. Her voice is, of course, incredibly iconic.

And I love her rock’n’roll approach to music, her fashion sense, her performance, and iconic songs like The Best. Plus, we shared the same birthday, so that’s cool.”

“I’m on Fire [from the music icon’s best-selling Born in the USA album] is such a delicate record. Bruce is a rock star, but it’s actually a relaxing, beautiful vocal.

It’s not complicated, it’s a very simple song, and sometimes that’s the purest. He was one of the reasons why I picked up a pen and started writing.”

“An oldie but a goodie. Eric Clapton is one of my favourite guitar players, and I loved the band Cream [his rock trio in the late ’60s] growing up. My dad had great taste in music, and this song was always playing in our house. It’s a really sad song about his child who died accidentally, and it just gets me very emotional.”

“This is a classic, and there’s a reason why: it’s just perfect.

This is a song that every pop star wishes they wrote, because it has such an uplifting hook but it also pulls on your heartstrings, and there’s just a really incredible chord progression. It also makes you feel like a queen on the dancefloor. I always play it at my parties.”

BMG

MARCEL ANDERS

Tina Turner

THE RED BULLETIN

15

Love to dance? Passionate about football?

Discofoot is for you. More spectacle than sport, this flamboyant travelling football match strikes home with an important social message, too For centuries, Place Stanislas in Nancy, northeast France, has symbolised conservatism and tradition, with its Rococo architecture and UNESCO World Heritage status. But on April 13, 2016, the city’s residents might well have done a double-take. A group had gathered, carrying a football, sporting training bibs – and wearing tiny gold shorts.

Their goal? To play the first match of a flamboyant new dance-infused, disco-football mash-up taking social media by storm. Welcome to Discofoot.

The rules are simple: two teams battle it out, performing swirling, expressive dance moves while adhering to the strict regulations of football.

There are goal celebrations, penalties, a referee and coaches (often shaking their 16

Off the barre: in May 2018, Discofoot played an away game at the iconic Centre Pompidou in Paris. The final score? A corps draw

THE RED BULLETIN

LAURA HOLT

Saturday afternoon fever

hips on the sidelines). Beyond that, the only differences are a disco-spinning DJ, a panel of steely judges… and the kit.

“We make fun of everything,” says Petter Jacobsson, one of the masterminds behind the new sport-cum-spectacle.

“The fake injuries, the action replays… The DJ rewinds the music, everything goes in slow motion and the dancers move backwards.”

A titan of the dance world, Petter was formerly a principal dancer for the Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet and artistic director of the Royal Swedish Ballet, before heading up Nancy’s Centre Chorégraphique

LAURENT PHILIPPE

DISCOFOOT

National Ballet de Lorraine – part of a network of 19 regional choreographer-run companies, set up to decentralise dance beyond Paris. Joining him was long-term creative collaborator Thomas Caley, formerly with New York’s radical Merce Cunningham Dance Company.

The pair initially came up with the idea for a local festival.

But since 2016 Discofoot has toured France, Sweden and Germany and been shared online by thousands, including Hollywood spectators Brie Larson and Jennifer Garner.

Behind the silliness, though, is a serious subtext – a socially conscious sport of sorts.

“You might ask, ‘What’s going on here?’” Jacobsson says.

“Well, disco is very liberating.

Anything goes. Suddenly you’ve got all these football players doing outrageous things, which is contrary to the masculine way of watching and performing sport.”

Accordingly, men and women are equally involved, and even the gold micro-shorts are a social commentary on gender and what’s acceptable.

“In the ’70s, it was considered masculine to show your legs – shorts were shorter!” says Caley. “The fact that ours are gold is another thing. It’s how we question where we are [in society] with our so-called masculinity or femininity.”

In consciously clashing two opposing forces, Discofoot has exposed the ingrained homophobia and sexism that still exists in sport and society as a whole. “We can laugh about it,” says Jacobsson, “but we’ve also received really threatening comments: ‘This is the end of the world’, ‘This is destroying the game’, ‘What is this?’”

Next summer, they are due to perform in Morocco. “It’s an interesting prospect, potentially inspiring many different points of view,” Jacobsson says. “This is a friendly way of us saying, ‘We’re all equal.’” ballet-de-lorraine.eu

RŌNIN SNOWSPORTS RANGE

THRUDARK.COM

When the day ends, the fun begins.

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ELITE ADVENTURES

Into the unknown

KRISTOF STURSA, NIMSDAI/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

LAURA HOLT

Going on expeditions needn’t mean quitting your day job.

Every year, more and more ordinary travellers are accomplishing extraordinary feats with the help of seasoned adventurers like Nims Purja In 2021, a Netflix documentary about a little-known Nepali climber who scaled all 14 of the world’s 8,000m peaks in a record-trouncing seven months resonated beyond the mountaineering community. “I wanted to show the world what a human can do,” says Nims Purja of his Project Possible, completed two years earlier.

Now Purja is helping ordinary travellers to push their own limits climbing alongside him and his team at Elite Exped, a company offering ascents of the Seven Summits (the highest on each continent) and ventures into the 8,000m ‘death zone’.

These were once the preserve of professional mountaineers only. “For too long, people felt the big mountains weren’t for them,” says Purja. “I hope to show people it’s never too late to start a new journey.”

In the years since Purja’s film 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible aired, interest in elite expeditions has boomed, especially among everyday explorers. But he’s not taking all the credit: “I think COVID made people think about what they want to experience; about their big dreams when they were able to travel again.”

Another company helping people realise their dreams of adventure is Untamed Borders, which began as a logistics resource enabling film crews to access hard-to-reach places and has expanded to include THE RED BULLETIN

Above and beyond: (from top) the first-ever commercial kayak trip to Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley, with Untamed Borders; Nims Purja of Elite Exped

everyday adventurers. It has seen a 20-per-cent increase in expeditions since 2019.

Untamed Borders specialises in “places with a security risk; places where you’ll need extra paperwork or logistical help”, says founder James Willcox.

These include excursions into Afghanistan’s isolated Wakhan Corridor, as well as offbeat destinations such as Tajikistan.

“When I began travelling, 25 years ago, there wasn’t a guidebook to these kinds of places,” he adds. “Now there’s so much information.” And as this type of travel becomes more mainstream, the profile of adventurers is evolving: travellers from non-Western nations now make up 15 per cent of bookings.

For Frank Cheshire, brand and product manager (cycling) for global operator Intrepid Travel, the gender profile is the most discernible shift.

“We’ve recently launched

Women’s Expeditions, designed for and led by female travellers,” he says. “The aim is to break down barriers, debunk misconceptions, and offer an insight into the lives of women in, say, Pakistan or Morocco.”

With increased demand comes increased environmental responsibility. All the companies limit or offset any impact of their trips and aim to have a positive social effect – Elite Exped and Untamed Borders train and employ local people to ensure financial benefits are felt by the community.

With more people involved, the cost of adventure has become more accessible, too; entry-level trips such as an Everest base camp expedition with Elite Exped start at $3,000 (around £2,500) per person.

Only thing is, you just might need to factor in an extra week off work to recover. untamedborders.com; elite exped.com; intrepidtravel.com 19

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LOU BOYD RICK SMEE

As teenagers growing up in the ’90s, friends Jo Buchan and Tom Passmore were obsessed with skateboarding. However, near-constant rain and a lack of skate spots in their small hometown in Wales made outdoor sessions scarce.

Desperate to sate their hunger, the pair stumbled upon fingerboarding, a scaled-down simulation of skateboarding using fingers instead of feet.

They were soon constructing their own skateparks and ramps to hone their digital skills.

As life led the two friends away from Wales and into other interests, their hobby faded into the background.

Then, in 2020, more than two decades after they’d shelved their miniature skate world, Buchan’s 12-year-old son Finlay unearthed the old fingerboards, rekindling his dad’s interest.

In no time, they were building new fingerboarding ramps and rails, just as Buchan had done when he was his son’s age.

Buchan soon realised the obstacles they were crafting exceeded the quality of most others on the market. “Much of the other fingerboarding equipment is very American, clean-cut, and depicts pristine streets,” he says. “The UK isn’t like that; we’re grittier, grimier, and we want to capture that essence. Our pieces focus on hyperrealism – details like packaging, cigarette butts, mould and rust. We’re all about those obscure little nuances.”

Under the name Sinister Fings, father and son now sell their realistic replicas of UK skate spots. From graffitied half-pipes to overflowing bins and even the concrete benches outside London’s Tate Modern art gallery, they ensure their fingerboard obstacles closely mimic the real-life skating experience by using reclaimed materials, including recycled skatepark components and items found on the street.

When it came to adding intricate details to each model, THE RED BULLETIN

SINISTER FINGS

All hands on deck

In the ’90s, two skate-mad Welsh teens stumbled upon the world of fingerboarding and began making their own mini obstacles.

Now, after a two-decade hiatus, the hobby has become a business

Sweating the small stuff: Sinister Fings’ meticulously crafted skate obstacles are just like the real thing, Greggs wrappers and all

Buchan turned to childhood friend Passmore. “I’m a carpenter by trade, but Tom is exceptionally creative,” Buchan says. “He relishes the process of crafting intricate models, particularly things like old bottles and scaleddown Greggs wrappers with discarded miniature sausage rolls for the bins.”

Their first range, Sinister Street, has now been released online, and skate shops across the UK and America have requested that their own local skateparks get the Sinister Fings treatment. “Currently we’re working on a fingerboard version of London’s Southbank,” says Buchan. “However, [Tom and I] just build them; Finlay is our CEO and heads our online marketing. He’s the man in charge.” A chairman of the board in more ways than one.

Instagram: @sinister_fings 21

Alarmed by life-threatening gaps in his country’s mental health provision, a Zimbabwean psychiatrist found hope in the heart of the community In a park in Harare, Zimbabwe, a man walks up to a bench where an older woman is sitting. He hands her a piece of paper and sits down next to her. After reading the paper, the woman smiles at him and asks a brief question: “Would you like to share your story with me?” The man begins to talk about his life, his worries and his burdens, and the woman listens. This is a Friendship Bench, part of a landmark project that employs grandmothers to deliver problem-solving therapy from neighbourhood benches to anyone in need.

A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Friendship Bench was founded in 2006 by psychiatrist Dixon Chibanda following the suicide of one of his patients, a 26-year-old woman named Erica, who had 22

been unable to access mental health services. “Erica wanted to get help,” he says. “She knew she needed to be at the hospital where she could receive care. However, she lived about 300 miles [480km] from my hospital, and her family didn’t have the money for her to travel by bus. It was an awful tragedy and made me realise how little access to mental health services there was in my country. I was one of only 12 psychiatrists practising in all of Zimbabwe.”

Chibanda made it his mission to deliver mental health services to those in need. He’d do it by giving the community the necessary tools, and by empowering the people who were already providing unofficial support every day: grandmothers and community elders. “In

Hear to help: (from top) talking through problems on a Friendship Bench; the project has a team of more than 1,600 trained therapists

THE RED BULLETIN

LOU BOYD

Seat of wisdom

CONSTANTINE JUTA/PICTURE HUB

FRIENDSHIP BENCH

our culture, grandmothers are the custodians of local culture and wisdom,” Chibanda explains. “They hold communities together and keep families united.

They possess incredible skills in conveying empathy and creating a safe space for people to share their stories.

There are all these attributes that come with age, which I realised we could tap into across all the communities in Zimbabwe.”

Training local older women in basic cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and talk therapy, along with activity scheduling and peer-led group support, Chibanda started to bridge the mental health treatment gap, setting up spaces in cities to help those with depression and improve people’s quality of life. “Every human being can be equipped with these skills,” he says of the training that Friendship Bench provides. “The more we are able to share our stories, the more we create communities that give people a sense of belonging and purpose.”

Today, Friendship Bench has more than 1,600 trained workers and has provided support to more than 240,000 people on benches in cities across Zimbabwe, Vietnam, Malawi, Zanzibar, Kenya and the US. Over the next year, the NGO hopes to launch the ‘Friendship Bench in a Box’, a do-it-yourself package that consolidates all the lessons it has learnt and tailors that knowledge to the needs of other organisations planning to set up a bench in their own city.

“The power of Friendship Bench is its ability to create space for people to share stories,” says Chibanda.

“Setting up Friendship Bench is, first and foremost, creating space for people to share their stories, because that’s how healing starts.” friendshipbenchzimbabwe.org

FW 23 TO GET THERE

H E RO ES

STAYING POWER

In his early twenties, he was one of the faces of ’80s pop. Now, at 57, he’s playing Glastonbury and drinking with Foo Fighters. Here, RICK ASTLEY plots this unlikely career path, including the song that made his name WORDS MARCEL ANDERS

While working as a tea boy for ’80s hitmakers Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW), Rick Astley had no inkling of the fame that awaited him. Then came his 1987 recording debut, Never Gonna Give You Up, a song that would hit number one in 25 countries and propel the former choirboy from Newton-le-Willows in northwest England to megastardom.

But even then, if you’d told Astley that the same track would still open doors for him almost 40 years later, drawing crowds of thousands at Glastonbury – to a set of his own songs and a covers tribute to indie icons The Smiths – and giving him the chance to share a stage with one of the world’s biggest rock bands, he would have laughed at you. To date, Never Gonna Give You Up has had 1.4 billion views on YouTube, due in part to Rickrolling, the internet phenomenon where clicking on a seemingly genuine link redirects you to the video. As a result, his music found a whole new audience.

To mark the release of his ninth studio album, with a UK tour in the new year, Astley chats to The Red Bulletin about luck, laughs and the importance of saying yes… the red bulletin: Why is the new album titled Are We There Yet? rick astley: I toured America for three months with New Kids on the Block, En Vogue and Salt-N-Pepa. We did 56 shows, 22,000 miles in a bus, which is partly the reason for the title. It’s also “Am I there?”

You know, when do you ever get there?

Never Gonna Give You Up is where your journey really started. Do you remember the first time you heard it?

I’d signed a deal [with SAW] and one day Pete Waterman said, “Do you want to hang

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PHOTOGRAPHY AUSTIN HARGRAVE

out in the studios? You’ll have to make tea, but you’ll learn a lot.” I said, “Yes!” And when Mike Stock sat down and played the chords of Never Gonna Give You Up into a Fairlight [synth], I was there getting coffee.

So in a strange way I was involved in the chemistry of what was going on, because Mike was writing that song for me.

Do you wish you’d written it?

Not everybody can be Lennon and McCartney. I’ve written a few songs, even songs that have been hits in America. But I didn’t write Never Gonna Give You Up or Together Forever [a global hit in 1988]. I don’t think I could have.

You have to be extremely blinkered and say, “I’m not trying to be cool; I’m writing a pop song that’s going to last for years.”

[SAW] found a formula and said, “We’re sticking with this because it’s working.”

That’s one of the reasons I wanted to leave, because I’d hear records I loved and think, “There’s no way [SAW] want to make a record like that.” But it wasn’t my place to ask them to change.

The song has taken you to unexpected places, like onstage with Foo Fighters…

I met those guys in Japan a few years ago and jumped onstage after a few beers.

They’d learnt how to play [Nirvana’s Smells Like] Teen Spirit so I could sing Never Gonna Give You Up over the top. I’d never met them; I just went out on stage and sang that song because Dave [Grohl, Foo Fighters’ frontman] asked me to. He just whispered it in my ear, like, “Do you want to do this right now in front of 50,000 people?” I said, “Yes!” We all had a laugh with that, then we had a few beers after. Dave wants to meet people and go, “What do you do? Why are you here? What’s going on?” He’s one of the most curious people I’ve ever met in terms of music… or anything, full stop.

You performed two sets at Glastonbury this year: a Rick Astley set and a Smiths set. In the former, you played AC/DC’s Highway to Hell on drums and vocals.

Will that be part of the new tour?

Because we played Glastonbury, a lot of people saw that, and I don’t want people to expect it. I love playing it, but we need to do something else now. Mix it up a bit.

Do you still get Rickrolled?

Not so much. Young kids come over and do the dance with me, which is funny.

I understand why people might get upset if their song was adopted by the internet, and maybe if it was a ballad I’d written about the loss of someone important I’d feel differently. But it’s a goddamn ’80s pop-dance song. It’s been amazing to me, that song. If you cut me open, it would say Never Gonna Give You Up inside. It’s part of my DNA. So it’s not like I don’t love it, but I have a sense of humour. And I can see the good fortune in having tenyear-old kids know the words. Even if they don’t like it, it’s there, like chewing gum. It gets stuck and won’t go away.

Is making music what keeps you looking youthful at 57?

I think it’s down to a very stress-free life.

I’ve never laid awake going, “I can’t pay the mortgage.” I’ve had the stress of being shit-scared of playing Glastonbury, but that’s a beautiful stress. I consider myself unbelievably lucky.

I should be so lucky…

Exactly. In fact, I’m seeing Kylie a week on Sunday.

Rick Astley’s new album Are We There Yet? is out now; rickastley.co.uk

THE RED BULLETIN

“If you cut me open, it would say Never Gonna Give You Up inside” Rickrolling back the years: the viral online video prank gave Astley a new, younger fanbase

THE RED BULLETIN

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H E RO ES

HIGH ACHIEVER

When a BASE-jumping accident left Florida-born thrill-seeker JAY RAWE with life-changing injuries, he used his mental strength and positive outlook to find a new, adrenaline-fuelled calling WORDS CHARLIE ALLENBY

the red bulletin: What inspired you to take up BASE jumping? jay rawe: When I was a kid in Bradenton, Florida, my grandpa had a pilot’s licence

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and he’d take me flying from municipal airport to airport. I always wanted to be able to fly without a plane. How could I get close? BASE jumping. You need skydiving experience, so at 21 I did my AFF [Accelerated Free Fall licence], where I met friends with the same interest. In 2013, one of them saw Red Bull Air Force’s Miles Daisher post online that he needed a roof built on his house in exchange for a first jump course. Me and two buddies packed up a car, drove from Florida to Idaho, and roofed his house that summer.

How did life change after you broke your back just eight months later?

After surgery, I was in ICU for eight days before transferring to Florida for in-patient rehab. A doctor said I might never get any [movement] back. In my mind, I thought, “I’m going to get back to 100 per cent. I’ll be BASE jumping in six months.” I’m not back to 100 per cent yet – I walk with a cane and have a brace to stop the toes of my left foot tripping me, because I’ve got drop foot [an inability to move the front of the foot]. But I’ve got much more [movement] than I had. And I did BASE jump seven months later. When I got to the bridge, I had all this fear, but it went as soon as I was up there with my friends.

How did you discover sit-skiing?

I was in a bad place. I moved home from Idaho, didn’t have a job, was drinking a lot, and was working hard in the gym but not seeing progress. I met my now-girlfriend and we decided to do a road trip. On the trip, we went to Utah, and my mom and girlfriend convinced me to try sit-skiing.

All the videos I’d seen showed people being steered down the hill, which didn’t look like anything I wanted to be involved in.

But then I saw a video of [Canadian Paralympian] Josh Dueck doing a backflip and that changed my whole mindset.

How has it helped you?

It gave me something to get up for and look forward to, and it gave me a creativity mindset [rather than] a victim mindset.

Also, being the first person to do a 360 and the second to do a backflip has given me this purpose to show there’s a way out for anyone in a similar position to me.

Are you not scared of injuring yourself again?

I could sit on the couch, watch people who are doing this and wish I was there.

Or I could find a way to do this safely and understand that I might get injured – it wouldn’t be worse than wishing I’d been doing it. Living a fulfilled life is doing the things I enjoy. Those things happen to involve a lot of risk, but I do everything I can to not step too far across that line.

You were voted male MVP by the other riders at Swatch Nines 2023.

What did that mean to you?

I had put weight on my shoulders – I was the first sit-ski athlete to be invited, so I was speaking for the craft and needed to show that sit-skiers weren’t any more of a liability than any other skier or snowboarder. When I got voted the riders’ choice for MVP, it felt like acceptance.

What’s next?

I’ve got different trick progressions on my list, including the cork 1080. I’ve also been interested in doing a sit-ski-BASE jump. Before I got hurt, I wanted to learn how to ski, for the sole purpose of doing a ski-BASE jump. I’ve found a way to do it safely, so I’m going to go for it next March for the 10-year anniversary of my accident.

Instagram: @jayrawe1695

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THE NORTH FACE

When leaping off the Perrine Bridge on the outskirts of Twin Falls, Idaho, BASE jumpers have just six seconds of airtime from launch to impact in the Snake River, 148m below. A 24-year-old Jay Rawe knew the timings like the back of his hand: Perrine Bridge is where he’d cut his teeth. But, in March 2014, it would also be where his life came crashing down.

While attempting a daring jump that involved standing on the shoulders of fellow BASE jumper Austin Carey, Rawe became unbalanced. He tried to abort and jump back onto the bridge but didn’t make it. As the pair plummeted, they were able to open their parachute canopies partially at the last second, slightly softening their fall and cheating death. Rawe suffered a burst fracture of his L1 vertebra and tore a ligament off the bone on his ankle. He also sustained peripheral L5 nerve damage affecting his glutes, hamstrings and calves.

But rather than end his participation in action sports, Rawe’s life-changing injuries led him to try a new pursuit: sit-skiing, a discipline where the athlete sits in a bucket seat attached to a single ski. Now, almost 10 years later, the 34-year-old is at the forefront of the freestyle sit-skiing scene.

This April, he became the first sit-skier to attend the Swatch Nines – an invite-only camp featuring some of the world’s best skiers and snowboarders – and was voted MVP (Most Valuable Player) by his fellow riders. Feeling fitter than ever, he hopes to keep pushing the envelope while showing others what’s possible with a disability.

“Living a fulfilled life is doing the things I enjoy” Sit-skiing has allowed Jay Rawe to pursue his passion for action sports after his 2014 accident

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H E RO ES

THE CREATOR

Inventor and robotics devotee SIMONE GIERTZ has spent years solving everyday problems in ridiculous ways.

Now she’s ready to get serious…

WORDS EMINE SANER

The challenge to create something brilliant, perfect even, is too great and overwhelming. “But make something terrible?” says Simone Giertz. “I’m like, ‘OK, this I can do.’” Giertz’s inventions, which she presents to more than 2.6m subscribers on her YouTube channel, are the things you didn’t know you needed – and still probably don’t want. She has made an alarm clock that slaps the sleeper in the face, and robots to feed her soup and apply her lipstick (badly).

Born in Sweden, but now living in LA, Giertz is almost entirely self-taught in electronics and engineering, but that hasn’t stopped her cutting up her Tesla to create the world’s first Tesla truck, the Truckla, or making an exoskeleton for her three-legged dog Scraps. Prepared to see humour in anything, in 2018 she even posted videos about the diagnosis of her non-malignant brain tumour – she named it Brian – and her post-surgery recovery.

What began as a creative outlet has become a product design business and online store – Yetch, a play on the correct pronunciation of her name – as the selfproclaimed “queen of shitty robots” moves away from her more outlandish inventions to create beautiful and genuinely useful pieces. Here, Giertz, 33, pinpoints the pivot and discusses whether there is still room in the world for a pasta-making mannequin… the red bulletin: Were you always inventing things as a kid in Sweden? simone giertz: I always had projects, but it was mostly things like whittling wood or making weird sculptures out of trash. I wasn’t an electronics kid or into engineering. I thought maybe I’d like to be an astronaut or mathematician.

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Why did you quit your physics degree?

I started tinkering with electronics.

Realising I could write code and make actual things move felt like an immense amount of power I wanted to possess.

The first thing I built was ridiculous – retractable guitar strings I could pull out [from my phone] and secure to my belt loop. Then I programmed an iPhone app that made the screen look like a guitar neck – you held the chord on the screen and the phone played the sound when you touched a string. It worked poorly, but when you turn something from an idea into a real thing you’re on top of the world.

Where did you go from there?

Next, I made a toothbrush helmet [a skateboard helmet mounted with a robotic arm holding a toothbrush].

The video on YouTube got 50,000 views.

It just kept growing from there.

Why was that playfulness and intentional failure important?

Looking back, building things with a sense of humour definitely helped quell my perfectionism. Also, I just thought it was really funny; I was just trying to make myself laugh. But then, part of it was a defence mechanism. I wasn’t an expert, but now I’ve spent eight years building things, I feel more confident in my skill and I’m trying to shed some of that selfdeprecation. I think in some way I was trying to be unthreatening as a woman with skills. Now I want to be threatening.

What’s your starting point?

With most of my inventions, I’m taking an everyday problem and solving it in the most ridiculous way possible. Then I had a brain tumour, which definitely helps sober things up a bit. When I was recovering, I had such limited energy it made me question how I spent my time.

Was I doing the things I wanted to? My stuff still tackles everyday problems, but now in more thoughtful ways.

Like your electronic, light-up, habittracking calendar…

I built that because I wanted to meditate daily but it’s hard to maintain a habit. I wanted something that hung on my wall that, if I skip a day, it’s going to be an eyesore – when you tap a day, it lights up.

When I was recovering from my tumour, it really helped me through that difficult time. I missed one day of meditation, and that was two days after surgery because I was in hospital and constantly throwing up. But I thought, “This works… maybe it would for other people, too.”

Will all your future inventions be conventionally useful?

I’ve just spent three years designing a foldable hanger for shallow wardrobes and I’m so proud of it. But I’m still building a lot of weird stuff, like a pasta maker made from a make-up mannequin – instead of hair coming out, you extrude pasta. Then it changed to a moustache for technical reasons, but then I had to change it to a goatee, which is just awful.

Inventing must teach you how to cope with frustration and disappointment…

Yes, and solving problems. It’s like doing a puzzle where nothing works the way it should. I remember that feeling I had as a kid when I finished a woodworking project and got to bring it home to show my parents. That’s my fuel now – being super-excited about something I made and wanting to show it to other people.

Instagram: @simonegiertz

THE RED BULLETIN

“When you turn an idea into a real thing, you’re on top of the world” Simone Giertz: keeping her eccentric ideas under her hat just isn’t her style

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Bike or bust

BILLY BOLT is a master of motorbike enduro who, in pursuit of glory, has sacrificed more parts of his body than he can count. But despite all the sweat and pain the moustachioed Geordie has expended on the way to multiple world titles, the most well-used f-word in Bolt’s vocabulary is still ‘fun’ Words RICHARD EDWARDS Photography ALEX DE MORA

Sand and vision: Billy Bolt, photographed for The Red Bulletin in Weston-super-Mare in September this year

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Billy Bolt

“I ride every day with a smile on my face. I like to show people that it’s not all serious”

“I

t’s nice to have something to vlog about – I’ve spent most of today drawing moustaches on kids,” says Billy Bolt, straight-faced, of his photoshoot with The Red Bulletin as he leans forward on his bike and stares down the lens of the camera.

Behind him, the early autumn waves lap languidly on the shore as the sun goes down on Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset’s famous coastal resort and the home of the fabled beach race, which this year celebrates its 40th anniversary.

That alone is reason for celebration, but the main buzz on this famous stretch of coastline is created by Bolt’s return to the event for the first time in five years. In between shots, as the shadows lengthen, the five-time world champion in enduro opens up the throttle on his new bike on the sand, tearing from a 100-plus years-old pier, past the camera and towards the promontory known as Brean Down.

“We’ll be looking to hit around 103mph [165kph] here tomorrow,” says his mechanic, Lee Edmondson.

In the absence of a speed gun, The Red Bulletin asks how he knows how fast Bolt is travelling on the bike that Edmondson has been fine-tuning since the start of the week. “Don’t worry, he’s got Strava in his pants,” the mechanic replies, laughing. The app does its job: Bolt records a top speed of 156kph.

In between his bolts down the beach, the enduro star takes the opportunity to show off with an extravagant range of wheelies and donuts on the sand as a growing band of onlookers watches on.

By the time the photographer puts down his camera, a huge crowd has gathered behind the metal railings that adorn the course for the famous race the following day. Bolt has been asked to take part in a drag race to round off day one of the weekend. His motorbike 32

is joined by such a bewildering array of vehicles that you almost expect Dick Dastardly and Muttley to appear on the start line, alongside their Wacky Races colleagues. Essentially, it’s every kid’s dream: a beach race of less than a kilometre, with only one requirement – to finish as quickly as you possibly can.

Bolt wins, streaking ahead of the opposition, his distinctive pink boots flashing past the crowds, who only have eyes for one man. More selfies, more cries of “Biiillllly” from behind the fences.

More expectant kids ready their top lip in preparation for the Bolt pen and a temporary ’tache.

“It’s becoming a thing, signing kids’ faces and drawing moustaches on them,” he says. “It’s actually harder than it looks to make both sides even. But I’ve had a lot of practice now.”

Bolt smiles broadly as he wipes away the grains of sand that have flown into his own distinctive facial fur. He then pulls out a mini malt loaf, gulps it down and heads back to his trailer. Job done.

Tomorrow he’ll tackle the three-hour beach race, with a cast list of amateur riders who just can’t wait to be on the same bill as motorbike royalty.

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ot only in Weston-super-Mare but far beyond its borders, Billy Bolt is big news. It was relatively recently, in 2016, that he got his first taste of professional enduro, riding as a privateer and learning on the job – or “crashing my brains out,” as he

puts it, adding, “It’s been rapid growth since. A pretty wild ride.”

Just two years later, in 2018, Bolt was a surprise winner of the inaugural World Enduro Super Series – which would later be renamed the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship – but then had to undergo leg surgery and miss most of the following season. Since his return, he’s won a world title every year. Riding indoors in Poland this March, Bolt took his third FIM SuperEnduro World Championship. And in late November the next one begins, providing the chance to add a fourth indoor crown to a CV that’s already full to bursting. Beach racing isn’t a natural environment for this 26-yearold; the enduro races that Bolt takes part in are far more brutal. The SuperEnduro series, for example, will see him ride over logs, sand, tyres, mud, and basically anything else you can fit inside an arena designed to be as tough, inhospitable and downright savage as possible.

“SuperEnduro is pretty crazy,” Bolt says with a grin. “In a SuperEnduro race you know it’s seven minutes, 100-per-cent intensity, 200 heartbeats THE RED BULLETIN

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Roaring success: celebrating its 40th anniversary, the Weston Beach Race attracts a diverse line-up of racers and machines, all united by a need for speed. Billy Bolt’s dad David (pictured above left, second from top) was among the many spectators at this year’s event in September

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Billy Bolt

“That was good,” he says with a grin, spitting out sand a minute, 40 seconds a lap, hard as you can, and hopefully everyone is OK at the end of it. It’s a motocross track and a building site thrown together.”

During the outdoor season, known as Hard Enduro for good reason, the insanity continues. “Hard Enduro is gnarly, extreme, chaos, bikes flying everywhere – it’s the sort of sport that puts you in extreme survival situations,” he says. “Sometimes you set off and you have no idea how long it’s going to take.

You could be out there for eight hours.

You only have a GPS on your handlebars, and you just follow the line.

“Indoors, it’s totally different: you could have 14 guys within six feet of each other, and if someone jumps further than anyone else is expecting, you can definitely have a motorbike on your head.”

This is Bolt’s idea of a good time. “I ride every day with a smile on my face,” he says.

“I like to show people it’s not all serious.”

RHL ACTIVITIES/CONWAYMX (1)

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THE RED BULLETIN

orn in Wallsend, a town in North Tyneside just 8km east of Newcastle upon Tyne, Bolt is from an area of the country that’s synonymous with football. Wallsend Boys Club has produced some of England’s most celebrated players, including Alan Shearer, the Premier League’s all-time top goal-scorer. Bolt’s North East accent is still firmly intact, but despite playing football to a relatively high level throughout his days as a junior, there was only ever one sport that truly captured his imagination.

“Where I’m from, if you don’t like football you get bullied,” he reveals.

“Don’t get us wrong, I did like football.

But for me it was always motorbikes; I was bike crazy.”

Bolt sits in a sizeable trailer that he’s been lent for the weekend. He’s used to van life as he spends a sizeable chunk of his life in his own, travelling from race to race around Europe from his base in Andorra. Today, his home on wheels is parked on a grass area above the town’s 3km-long promenade. Bolt’s bed is unmade, and the trailer already looks lived in, but finding everything he needs only takes him seconds. Edmondson pops his

head in, bringing with him the noise created by the incessant whirring of bike engines on the beach and the buzz of the 10,000-plus spectators who have converged on Weston-super-Mare for the weekend. The mechanic asks Bolt which tools he’ll need on the beach. He reels off a well-rehearsed list before continuing.

“My dad and all his mates were always super into [bikes],” says Bolt.

“They never really competed, but they would just go out and have fun. I was on the bike as soon as I can remember, and it was all I wanted to watch on TV. I’d watch Valentino Rossi, Dougie Lampkin and Travis Pastrana. They would be the guys I looked up to and admired.”

Now Bolt is the man who thousands of admirers look up to.

The rider has a big online presence, documenting large parts of his season on YouTube. His videos, which routinely attract more than 100,000 views, offer a glimpse into the enduro world but also take fans behind the scenes, allowing viewers to see just how tough these races can be on the day, and showing the physical toll they take on Bolt when he returns to the sanctuary of his hotel room afterwards. Recent titles include I crashed 15 times in one night! and The hardest race of my life!.

Despite his lofty standing in the sport, Bolt is honest, funny, and doesn’t take himself too seriously. He’s already posted a vlog from his first day here in Westonsuper-Mare, which included spending £57 on three fish and chips; an al-fresco wee; trying (and failing) to ride a glorified golf buggy over the huge, man-made racecourse dunes, and discovering the folly of wearing brand-new white socks with Crocs on a rainy day at the seaside.

“I feel like everyone feels they’re a part of my journey, because I try to be as open as possible and give as good an insight as I can,” he says. “YouTube really allows the audience to engage. I think that’s one of the reasons why I seem to be so loved when I come back home.”

The crowd as Bolt leaves his trailer on this warm Saturday evening is at least eight deep. Wearing his trademark cap and Bermuda shorts, he signs a hat, a pair of crutches, a foot and a forearm.

He grins for selfie upon selfie.

Though the journey to becoming a multiple world champion hasn’t been easy, for the bike-obsessed Bolt there was never any other option. “It surprises a lot of people, but I found school 35

Billy Bolt

relatively easy,” he says. “I got GCSEs, I got A-levels, and I enjoyed it. I was quite lucky, I didn’t have to try too hard to pass exams. I could mess about to a certain degree, getting into bother, but at the same time I was doing well enough to keep everybody happy. At the end of the day, all I really wanted to do was ride.

“I was pretty aware of the sacrifices people had to make to give me what I had.

We weren’t going hungry or living on the streets, far from it, but I had seen the hours my dad was working. He was an engineer for the Post Office. He actually hated his job, but one of the reasons he kept working was because he had access to a whole workshop with welding and painting facilities. He stuck at a job he really didn’t like for quite a few years just to keep my motorbikes going.”

Many of Bolt’s own sacrifices have been bodily ones. “He was never put off by anything – he’d crash one week and

“[Through YouTube] I feel like everyone feels they’re a part of my journey” then be back on the bike without blinking,” says Bolt’s dad David, who has travelled to Somerset with his two daughters to assist in the enduro star’s preparation for the afternoon’s race.

“He’s just like his youngest sister – she dislocated her wrist at an event last week, but all she’s talked about today is getting back on the bike and getting out there again.”

Bolt’s first brush with the brutal nature of the world he chose to enter came early. “I’ve got a few fingertips missing,” he reveals. “I did it in a [bike] chain when I was seven years old.

I remember turning up the next week to watch, with my hand not in plaster but severely bandaged. As it would be – I did have a couple of fingers missing!

I just remember that the only thing on my mind was that I was gutted I couldn’t ride that day. I wanted to be back out there as soon as possible. It’s just something that comes with [riding] – you accept [the injuries].

“I broke my leg in 2018 and had some nerve damage. I had drop foot [a condition where the sufferer has difficulty lifting the front part of their foot] with no movement in it for a year. Nerves are quite a scary thing to injure, because not many people know too much about them.

That was the worst one by far. [But] I still rode. I did a year, basically, with no movement in my foot, then I stopped and had another surgery. “[My foot] works a little bit now, but it’s still not great. I can walk without any problem, but I can’t run. Well, I could, but if I did there’s a good chance I might end up rolling my ankle. To be fair, it’s a good excuse not to, because I didn’t enjoy [running] anyway!”

Full throttle: Bolt is a world champion in SuperEnduro (top) and Hard Enduro

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FUTURE 7 MEDIA/RED BULL CONTENT POOL, FUTURE 7 MEDIA

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olt, a self-confessed lover of Greggs, doesn’t live any kind of monastic existence. There’s no discussion of paleo diets, or of daily gym sessions at dawn. But you don’t rise to the elite level that he’s managed to reach powered solely by sausage rolls and chicken bakes. Bolt knows what he needs to get through a race, a gruelling season.

“I try to ride as much as possible – it’s where I’m happiest,” he says. “I don’t train that often off the bike. Don’t get us wrong, I don’t want to say I do nothing, because there is a certain level of fitness and strength that’s required.

If I think I’m weak in a certain area, or lacking in something, I’ll spend more time in the gym. But I do most of my work on the bike.”

This simple, almost old-school approach is certainly working. “He’s a real throwback in many ways,” says Jon Pearson, editor of enduro and offroad riding platform Enduro21.com.

“Billy’s different. He was the first rider to win the World Championship [the World Enduro Super Series at the time, in 2018] and that really displayed his talents. He’s an old-fashioned rider, but his exceptional talent is on the logs in the SuperEnduro. He’s raised the bar.

He makes it look so simple – even if he

YOU MAY BE READY PHYSICALLY, BUT IF YOU AREN’T READY MENTALLY TOO, YOU WON’T DO YOUR BEST

“I enjoy riding motorbikes, riding them fast. I still feel it’s a privilege to do it every day”

Work-life balance: in motorbike racing, nothing says ‘fun’ like popping a wheelie

Il a pu arriver à B-Boy Victor de perdre sa foi dans le breaking, mais chaque nouvel enjeu le remet en selle pour donner le max à nouveau.

Comfort zone: post-race, it’s time for Bolt to recharge – and plan his meal order at the golden arches

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Billy Bolt

“I get a lot out of just knowing I’ve performed my best” makes a mistake, he’s straight back in and winning by miles.

“I’m not sure it’s bravery; it’s confidence. He knows his technique is right, but he’s a bloody strong rider. He muscles the bike. He’s able to use his body in the way that others can’t.”

Though he loves speed and the thrill of finishing on the podium, Bolt says his performances are about more than where he finishes in a race. “I get a lot out of just knowing that I’ve performed the best I can,” he says. “I don’t want to say I’m not results-orientated, because I love winning, but I can win and feel like I haven’t rode good. Even if I win, I won’t always be in a good mood. The people around me understand that.

“But generally it’s cool. I enjoy riding motorbikes, and I enjoy riding them fast.

I still feel it’s a privilege to do it every day.”

When asked about competing here, outside his usual “nine-to-five racing”, as he puts it, Bolt’s answer is simple: “I’m here for fun.”

I

t’s Sunday. The high winds that have concerned the organisers thankfully haven’t arrived, and riders prepare for the biggest race of the weekend beneath a cloudy sky. The race is a timed event,

with the riders effectively attempting as many laps of the almost 10km course as they can inside three hours. The straight on the beach is followed by a gruelling series of sand hills designed to sap energy and add to the excitement.

The elite riders have gathered on the start line, while the amateur enthusiasts, some wearing Minion masks over their helmets, others dressed as Super Mario, wait for the instruction to run to their bikes and join the queue.

For Bolt, this is an opportunity to test himself against the best – Somersetborn rider Todd Kellett is a five-time champion at Weston-super-Mare – but for others it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get close to their heroes.

The pits, set up on the beachfront, give an indication of the democratic nature of the event. Bolt’s corner includes everything needed for him to stop and refuel in the blink of an eye.

Elsewhere, hulking would-be mechanics lug enormous jerry cans around, spilling most of the contents before they get anywhere near their intended target. One team attempt to stand their bike up by using an umbrella – with predictable consequences.

The riders set off along the beach’s opening 2km straight before tackling the mammoth dunes. The scene is like something from the Mad Max movies.

Riders pile up close to the first peak, their machines spitting out plumes of sand into the faces of those behind them as they battle their way around the unforgiving circuit.

Role model: Bolt wants his followers to have fun, just as he did as a young fan THE RED BULLETIN

Bolt, meanwhile, whizzes by in third place, Edmondson holding up a sign telling him to do one more lap before refuelling. “We’ll try and do it every hour,” he says. “And it will be quick.”

Bolt whizzes in, changes his goggles, has a couple of Haribo, then – whoosh – he’s off again.

After little more than three hours, the race ends in the same chaotic nature it began. Riders zoom up the final dunes, a couple of them fall over, and the spectators – many of them now well-oiled themselves – shout to the riders.

“Well, that was good,” Bolt says with a grin as he removes his sand-coated goggles and spits out a mouthful of the stuff.

He eventually returns to his trailer, still caked head-to-toe in sand, holding a beer in one hand and what looks suspiciously like a kebab in the other.

Bolt’s happy with a top-three finish and a place on the podium. He’s also had a full-body exfoliation.

With the race done, Edmondson will be off to Italy soon to prepare the bike for the final race of the season in Spain in October. This summer, Bolt has already competed in Romania, the US, Austria and Serbia. He’ll be driving back to his home in Andorra later this week.

“I’m not in the UK a whole lot any more,” he says. “It’s why I love coming back [to Weston-super-Mare] when I am, because I know the family will be here on race day and I’ll get the opportunity to catch up with them.”

So, no champagne? No post-race party?

“Sadly not,” he says. “I’m just going to drive to a friend’s house in the Midlands.

I’ll probably have a cheeky McDonalds on the way back. I’ll go large this evening: Sweet Chilli Chicken Wrap meal, McChicken Sandwich meal, a McFlurry, and a coffee to keep me awake on the drive. I’ll be pretty exhausted tonight.”

Glamour, it seems, isn’t a big part of the life of an enduro champion. But Bolt has different ambitions. Before starting that drive, he’ll work his way down the queue of fans that has formed outside his trailer. “I was always first in the line for an autograph session, being cheeky and trying to make my heroes laugh,” he says. “You just want people to enjoy themselves, like I did when I was a kid.

That’s the most important thing for me.

“At the end of the day, we’re not changing the world; we’re just playing with motorbikes.”

Instagram: @billybolt57 39

Above and beyond TIM PEAKE is one of the 628 people who have left Earth.

To mark the release of his new book, which charts the human history of space travel, he reflects on the amazing stories of those who came before him, and what a new generation of astronauts may face

ASTRONAUT TIM PEAKE, who in 2016 became the first Brit to complete a spacewalk (opposite). Spacewalking remains the most physically and mentally demanding task for any astronaut, and the one that carries the greatest risk

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Tim Peake

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the red bulletin: Your book looks back at the human history of space travel. Do you have a favourite historic astronaut? tim peake: I did a huge amount of research, and finding stories you didn’t know definitely brings you closer to all the astronauts, some of them less known than others. One I’d have loved to have met, going back to the [mid-1960s] Apollo era, was Pete Conrad – he must have had a wicked sense of humour. In his selection process, he was given a blank piece of paper by psychologists and asked to interpret it. Pete stared at it for an unusually long period of time, then handed it back, saying, “It’s upside down.” He also delivered a stool sample in a gift box with a ribbon. He was labelled ‘unsuitable’, but [fellow astronaut] Alan Shepard persuaded him to reapply the next time. He ended up being the third person to walk on the Moon.

Have the qualities required to be an astronaut changed over time?

Some things haven’t changed, and some requirements – as we look at the Artemis program – go back to the 42

ALAN SHEPARD in the capsule of Mercury-Redstone 3 on May 5, 1961, set to become the first American in space

[early-1960s] Gemini era of test sorties, because it’s a new spacecraft. Calmness under pressure shines through. There were so many instances, such as Neil Armstrong’s very cool handling in Gemini 8, where the spacecraft went completely out of control. Few astronauts would have been able to do what he did and regain control. Decision-making, calmness and meticulous attention to detail were skills they had in spades, and we try to emulate that.

There’s extraordinary danger involved in space travel. Bravery must be a major requirement…

It’s part of it. I felt this as a test pilot – we try to mitigate the risks, but you stare residual risk in the face and say, “We’re going to push the boundaries, go and do something nobody’s done before.” You’ve got to have the courage to say, “I’m prepared to accept those ‘what ifs’.” When they were selecting astronauts for the original Mercury Seven [in the late 1950s], they were simply looking at the brightest, best people who could get them onto the Moon in less than a decade. They weren’t looking at who’d be a good ‘public’ person – most military pilots are not used to [talking to] a camera. But today, in the era of social media, astronauts also need to be an ambassador for space, to be comfortable speaking in front of the camera. That’s something that has changed.

NASA, GETTY IMAGES

loating in space, Tim Peake looked down at his boots and saw Western Australia going by, 400km below.

Tethered to the International Space Station (ISS), he wiggled his toes – a surefire way to cure vertigo, apparently – and got on with his job of replacing part of the solar energy system. Following a nerveshredding three manual docking attempts, after the automatic system failed, the Sussex-born astronaut had arrived at the ISS in December 2015 for his six-month stay, which included wrestling himself into his spacesuit and becoming one of only around 200 humans who have ‘walked’ in space.

Peake’s latest book, Space: The Human Story, celebrates the 628 men and women who have left Earth during six decades of space travel; it also looks ahead to the dawn of a new era and what the astronauts of the upcoming Artemis missions might face as they head back to the Moon and beyond.

If the earliest astronauts were portrayed as daring pilots with the (white, male, military) image to match, in more recent times these more diverse explorers have the ultimate portfolio careers – as comfortable landing a space shuttle as doing dentistry, running science experiments, and cracking jokes in Russian.

Here, Peake contemplates the big questions.

What is the universe like? Is there life beyond our planet? And what happens when you smuggle a sandwich into space?

THE RED BULLETIN

SOVIET COSMONAUT VALENTINA TERESHKOVA, the first woman in space, aboard Vostok 5 on June 14, 1963; (below) the MERCURY SEVEN – Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, Deke Slayton, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter and Gordon Cooper – pose with model spacecraft at a press conference in 1959

Do changing ambitions in space have an impact on the sorts of people taking on these missions?

During the Apollo era, the journey was everything.

It was all about getting a man – as it was then – on the Moon. But today, getting to the Moon is just a means to an end, so that we can build a research facility. You need people with medical experience, dental training; you have to know how to strip and repair a computer, this plethora of jobs. We’ve taken those Apollo skills and heaped a whole load on top, and there is a much greater diversity in our astronaut corps. Where things will change again, as we look towards Mars, is the psychological profiling. Going to the Moon is a three-to-four-day journey and perhaps six months on the surface, but you can still see Earth. When you go to Mars [on a nine-month journey] and you can’t even see Earth, or it’s a tiny speck of light, that’s going to

“You stare residual risk in the face and say, ‘We’re going to push boundaries’” THE RED BULLETIN

43

Tim Peake

Maybe the corned beef sandwich might go down better these days. In 1965, NASA weren’t impressed when it was smuggled aboard…

The astronauts had decided space food was so dreadful they were going to highlight it. John Young had the sandwich in his pocket, and he pulled it out to see what [crewmate] Gus Grissom’s reaction would be. I don’t think Gus was that impressed, and certainly nobody at Mission Control was. It went all the way to Washington, with massive ramifications about discipline. Thankfully, I think we’ve relaxed a bit over the years, and a little bit of humour has crept in. When Scott Kelly wore a gorilla suit on the ISS [in 2016], NASA thought it was amusing.

What will this new era of space exploration do for us on Earth?

We’re on the brink of an era when space can become a large part of the solution to our problems on Earth.

Artemis is very much a research-driven mission, and the technologies that will develop will have benefits – things like the water purification and food-growing systems. In terms of ongoing research, Low Earth Orbit [where the ISS is] is an active space where we can do things such as grow protein crystals to research diseases and develop new drugs. Then the potential for things like energy – solar farms in space – becomes economically viable with rockets like Starship. We could have massive structures that can beam down solar energy to ground stations, for example.

Your book brings to life the split-second, life-ordeath decisions an astronaut may have to make, such as Wally Schirra’s cool head on the launchpad (in 1965) when the launch failed, meaning his fuel-filled rocket was at risk of exploding. He should have ejected, but decided not to…

Absolutely, that gut feeling. When you practise an emergency in a simulator, it’s a textbook emergency with a textbook solution. In real life, emergencies stack up on top of each other, or things go wrong in a different way. The textbook answer was to abort in that scenario, but Schirra had the presence of mind to think, “No, that’s not the right call.” Subsequently, he found out that had they aborted, it could have killed them [sparks from the explosive ejector seats would have ignited their oxygen-filled spacesuits, which NASA hadn’t considered]. So it was a life-saving decision. That’s what you get from experience.

For all the science and rationality, there are superstitions. You had a ceremonial pee – a ritual that began way back with Yuri Gagarin – against the rear wheel of the bus on your way to the launchpad in Kazakhstan…

The Russians are hugely superstitious, so they’ll make sure you do everything according to the plan 44

on launch day, from signing the door [on the room at the Cosmonaut Hotel], to the Russian Orthodox blessing, to the departure breakfast. Peeing on the tyre of the bus is part of following in [legendary cosmonaut] Yuri Gagarin’s footsteps, doing exactly what he did on launch day when everything went right, so let’s not change it. You embrace it and go along with it. It’s all part of the culture of spaceflight – and I was glad to have that last pee stop.

Why do we still send humans, rather than robots, into space?

It could be easier with robots – safer, a bit cheaper – though not much when you look at how sophisticated robotic missions are becoming. If you’re sending robots to do something that we cannot do ourselves – to go and research the moons of Jupiter or Saturn – that’s fantastic. But when it comes to places we do know how to get to, like Mars, then I believe there’s a huge benefit in sending humans. We’re very capable beings. Despite how much technology has moved on, we’re still more capable than the smartest AI robot we can currently design, in terms of general intelligence. Then there’s the human desire to explore. The essence of who we are as a species has always been about pushing the boundaries and exploring the next frontier.

“Space could become a large part of the solution to problems on Earth”

NASA

have a psychological effect, and our selection process will have to reflect that.

AMERICAN ALAN SHEPARD returns to Earth and is hoisted from the Mercury capsule THE RED BULLETIN

THE MERCURY SEVEN in their iconic pressure suits in 1959 THE RED BULLETIN

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GUS GRISSOM, ED WHITE AND ROGER CHAFFEE, the crew of Apollo 1, during capsule training

What was your spacewalk like?

It was incredible to stare down at Earth. To have a thin visor between you and that view was the absolute pinnacle of the mission. It’s beautiful – Earth is stunning at day and night. In the daytime you see Earth’s natural features, and then at night you see the lights of towns and cities. It’s constantly changing, a very dynamic planet, 46

THE ARTEMIS II CREW was announced in April this year: Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Jeremy Hansen. NASA administrator Bill Nelson said, “We are ushering in a new era of exploration for a new generation of star sailors and dreamers – the Artemis generation” THE RED BULLETIN

NASA

The idea of astronauts as fallible humans, rather than superhuman machines, was brought to light by the rebellious behaviour of the Apollo 7 crew in 1968, who complained endlessly and refused orders. They went a bit wild, didn’t they?

It can just take the wrong group of people together to change the dynamics completely. There are no bust-ups, but you definitely get some crews on the space station whose work efficiency is just amazing, and then there are other crews who are doing a good job but not excelling. Over the years, of course, there have been a few examples, such as the Apollo 7 and also the Skylab 3 crew [who, in 1973, complained about the workload, went on strike and grew beards]. There was friction, and things were not going well on that mission between ground and crew. These things do happen, and I think they continue to be studied.

Tim Peake

AMERICAN GENE CERNAN during an Apollo 17 mission, covered in lunar dust, which has an electrostatic charge and clings to everything

different weather systems. The quality of light is incredible. It’s a light that, in all honesty, hopefully we never see on Earth, because it’s the light you’d see if a nuclear bomb went off. It’s the whitest, brightest, purest light that we think can exist in the universe, coming from the Sun. Because it’s pure white, it means that the colours you see are very pure, too. So you’re seeing a bright white light, very pure colours, and very crisp, sharp shadows, because there’s no atmosphere to kind of blur the edges.

When you’re floating out there in space, can you get your head around the vastness of the universe beyond?

The beauty of space really is the beauty of seeing something like Earth against that vast black backdrop. It’s the blackest black you’ve ever seen.

Space can be hostile; it’s quite intimidating and

“It was incredible to stare down at Earth… The quality of light is so pure” THE RED BULLETIN

scary. But when you see something like Earth against that background, it’s beautiful.

Is there life beyond ours?

I think there’s massive potential for life, all over the universe, and some of that life will have developed into something complex and intelligent. Question is, will we ever find out? It’s a vast place.

Some of the astronauts you write about embraced spirituality. Did your experiences make you contemplate something bigger?

I’m very aware of what we don’t know. We know very little: we’re not sure what happened in the beginning of the universe, we’re not sure what’s going to happen at the end, and everything in between is up for grabs because our theories are not quite there. It didn’t make me more spiritual, but it certainly puts things in a different perspective.

I think it allows you to connect more. That’s what I felt – a connection with the universe. It’s easy to forget that we’re part of nature and we’re on this planet, in the universe. We’re part of the stars; we’re stardust, really. Being out there in space helps you make that connection.

Space: The Human Story by Tim Peake is out now, published by Penguin; timpeake.com 47

Making it

BIG

In creating gigantic, spray-painted, photorealistic murals in cities across the world, street artist ZABOU has found a unique way to study the human condition Words RUTH McLEOD

PATRICK BOLGER

Grand designs: street artist Zabou, photographed for The Red Bulletin in Wicklow, Ireland, in October this year

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Zabou

O

n a grey day in September, bright pinks and oranges shout for attention from an otherwise grey wall down a narrow side street in Hoxton, east London.

A 5m-high painting of jazz musician Nubya Garcia’s face almost commands passers-by to look at her. Eyes closed, saxophone to her lips, Garcia looks so lifelike it’s almost possible to imagine that the wail of music on the wind emanates from her rather than the café on the corner. Leaning against the wall opposite is French street artist Zabou, wrapped up against the weather, eyeing her creation for the first time since she painted it in 2020.

“It’s survived really well!” she says.

“People have been fairly respectful with their tags. But you can’t get too attached, you know, because it doesn’t belong to me any more. Anyone can do anything

they want on the mural. It’s part of the game. If it gets tagged, it gets tagged.”

The fact her labour of love could be defaced at any time is part of the reason the 33-year-old has fallen in love with street art. “I love that if you decide right now that you want to take a spray can or a pen and go tag my mural, you can do it,” she says. “It’s open to everyone.”

Still, Zabou is pleased to find her mural preserved, and not only for the reason that it’s a tribute to a musician she loves, or that it took her several ninehour days and many cans of spray paint to create; it goes back to the democracy of the medium. “It’s the fact everyone is able to come and see street art. It’s free.

You can literally experience culture and arts on your doorstep, in the public space.

That’s really, really important. In a world where so many commercial images are imposed on you, having art right there gives you another choice of something to look at. That’s powerful.”

If you’ve walked around London in the past decade, chances are you’ll have seen Zabou’s murals. She has also worked extensively across the rest of the UK and Ireland, and in Europe; her work has appeared everywhere from Austria to Albania, sprayed on walls either offered to her privately or as commissions from companies and charities. She’s a master with a spray can, able to create these huge, detailed, lifelike paintings freehand while on a scaffold or scissor lift, armed only with an A4 printout as a guide.

Zabou works for hours at a time, in all weathers, her face hidden to prevent herself from becoming public property like her art: “When you’re painting in a public space, a lot of people don’t have boundaries. I’ve had people join me while they’re FaceTiming their mum!”

T

Art and soul: Zabou’s painting of Becca, a young footballer. Viewing the finished work together was “a very powerful moment” for both of them

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his life is one Zabou never imagined was possible. Born in the small town of Saumur in western France, Zabou – a nickname she gave herself at the age of 10 – began drawing as soon as she was old enough to sit up. But becoming a fulltime artist, let alone a street artist, seemed unrealistic. “I was always like, ‘I won’t be able to make a living as an artist, so what am I going to do?’ Where I’m from is a really small, conservative city. There’s not too much urban culture, not even a sticker on a lamppost. I took an ordinary path, found a day job, did the sensible thing.”

But a move to the UK to study at the University of the Arts London (UAL) lit a THE RED BULLETIN

“I love that every new face is a new challenge, a new story to explore” THE RED BULLETIN

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Elevated passions: Wicklow is her second Ireland stop, having painted a mother and child in Waterford

Zabou

PATRICK BOLGER

spark that wasn’t part of her pragmatic plan. “I remember going to Shoreditch all the time. I literally became obsessed with that culture of artwork and graffiti everywhere. This was over 10 years ago, so Shoreditch was less sanitised than it is now, more of an urban jungle, covered in paste-ups and tags. I thought, ‘I need to try this.’ I didn’t really think it would lead me anywhere. And I didn’t feel intimidated. I’m pretty proud of myself for being that [brave] kid at 20 years old.

I started on legal walls in Stockwell and Waterloo, just testing it out.”

Working with stencilled images that enabled a quick getaway, Zabou began to make her mark on the capital over the next few years – occasionally interrupted by the police – while holding down a day job as a graphic designer. But as her

ambition increased, she brought in multiple colours, shading, and it became harder to work on illegal walls. And as her skills grew, so did the recognition.

“Six years ago, I was able to leave my day job to become a full-time artist,” says Zabou, still smiling at this reality. “Wow, six years ago – that feels like another life.

Suddenly I had all the time and energy to be like, ‘Great, this is what I do now.’ In 2020, I started to take my own photos to

“Painting murals feels like a dance.

You’re always in movement”

Faces places: (clockwise from top left) Abbé Pierre, Saumur, France; Audrey Hepburn, east London; singer Eva Lazarus, and Théo (advocate for the deaf), both Saint-Quentin, France THE RED BULLETIN

work from. This was the biggest shift for me to transform my art into what I’m doing now. Because I began to meet all these people, learn their stories, share their emotions. And so it started to become more about people than about the final artwork, almost.”

W

hen magnifying the subjects of her large-scale murals, Zabou takes hours, days, studying every facial contour and wrinkle to accurately capture that person’s uniqueness. This, she says, creates a special bond between her and those she paints. “I love that every new face is a new challenge, a new story to explore, to understand the history people wear on their face. You can learn something from every person. Passers-by always think I’m painting someone with some kind of fame or celebrity. But if you paint people from daily life – a person who’s anyone, everyone – it sends a message: no one deserves to have their portrait painted more than anyone else.”

There’s the idea of democracy again.

Zabou paints students, famous musicians, members of the local community where she’s working, athletes, nurses, friends… whatever a space or idea inspires her to create. Her early, less photorealistic work often contained a clear message – about disconnection, racism, politics – using text. Now her messages are less defined.

“Sometimes the message is still obvious, sometimes not,” Zabou says. “I like that there’s a little bit of mystery sometimes.

You don’t have all the answers. Anyone is able to interpret the artwork as they wish. But I’ve also painted the portrait of people who, for example, have experienced homelessness. And I think that [message] is so important. It’s like, ‘We exist, we’re here.’ It makes people who are often invisible in the city visible.”

Zabou says reactions to her work range from those who casually thank her as if seeing their face enlarged on a wall is an everyday occurrence, to those who are more visibly moved. She recalls a mural she created in Islington, north London, in 2019, depicting Becca, a young woman from Liverpool who was made homeless after coming out as gay to her family in her teens. Becca found football through Centrepoint and managed to improve her situation. She’s now a spokesperson for the charity, which commissioned Zabou to paint her.

“I didn’t know Becca before I painted her,” she says, “then we became friends.

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Zabou

People have a right to express themselves, so for me it doesn’t really matter that it got painted over. I thought it was a really interesting development – it’s part of the life of the artwork. It continued the story.”

Z

Tight spot: Zabou’s ambitious piece The Box, painted in Bayreuth, Germany, shows two perspectives of a trapped man (photographer Benjamin Mallek)

She’s someone who’s always talking, full of life. But when she came down to see the artwork, she couldn’t say a word.

We had this moment of silence together.

Then she said, ‘It’s like you’ve seen into my soul.’ It was a very powerful moment for me. My paintings matter to the person, but they also matter to the people who pass by. You can choose to ignore it completely, but you can also choose to learn a bit more about the mural and what’s behind it.”

Although much of Zabou’s work is imbued with these sorts of positive messages, it can also be contentious.

In 2020, she was offered a blank side wall of the Duke of Wellington pub in London’s Spitalfields to paint as she wished. She created a trompe l’oeil-style image of a man’s face emerging from the brickwork – a modern interpretation of Jack the Ripper, inspired by the history of the area. After around six months, a local resident partially whitewashed the 54

“For me, street art is like the start of a discussion, a social dialogue” painting and wrote the name of one of the Victorian killer’s victims in its place.

“For me, it was another subject,” says Zabou. “I don’t mind having darker subjects, because I strongly believe that artists should be able to paint or talk or rap about anything they want. Like it or not, [Jack the Ripper] is a huge part of the history of that area – though I didn’t mention him by name. And I wasn’t making any money out of painting it. I completely understand how some people could be offended by it, but I don’t regret the painting. For me, street art is like the start of a discussion, a social dialogue.

abou has exhibited work in more formal settings – most recently, in March last year, a solo exhibition at London’s Saatchi Gallery. But the many and varied reactions she receives when working in the street haven’t tempted her to switch to more private spaces.

“You get everyone and anyone in the street stopping by to discuss [my work], from someone who’s homeless to someone parking a Porsche,” she says. “Some people will hate it. Some people will love it, and they’ll tell me so. They give their opinion without fear, because I’m in public and this should be open to anyone.

A lot of people who look at these artworks and talk to street artists wouldn’t ever step into a gallery; maybe they feel like they have no art education. But when you’re in the street, they feel they can express themselves without judgment and with no filter. I think that’s precious.”

Zabou’s murals have made her an ever-present feature in her adopted community of Tottenham and Enfield, the areas of north London where she spends much of her time. Her skills are also increasingly taking her around the world: she’s about to head off to Ireland for two projects, followed by a stint in Cyprus. But one of her proudest moments to date came last year when she completed her third mural in Saumur, helping to kickstart her hometown’s street-art story. “I went to paint in my former school, and it was just the best,” she says. “It was just so meaningful to be there. I would have never thought as a kid that one day I could come back and do this.”

That she can achieve more than she might think possible is something Zabou has learnt while high up on platforms above numerous cities.

“To me, painting my murals feels like a dance,” she says. “You’re always in movement. You do two lines here, then move across, bend down to grab something… My eyes are constantly travelling from the sketch to the wall, for eight, nine hours at a time. I’m quite petite, too, so it’s exhausting. But I guess that’s the beauty of it: you can be tiny and still achieve big things.”

Instagram: @zabouartist THE RED BULLETIN

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Art of the action

RED BULL ILLUME is a testament to the passion and commitment of action-sports athletes and those who capture their glories on camera. Held every two years, the contest showcases work by the world’s most gifted photographers. Here’s a taster of the class of 2023…

Words DAVYDD CHONG

BRYAN NIVEN Semi-finalist, top 250, Creative category BRYAN NIVEN/RED BULL ILLUME

Camera skills and a keen eye are key in actionsports photography, but never underestimate good fortune. US lensman Niven was in the water off California’s Pismo Beach, lining up a shot, when “a flash of neoprene appeared from nowhere, and a surfboard leash flew past my face! I recall thinking, ‘Well, that shot’s ruined.’

[But] later the image flashed into my mind, so I searched through the footage. Then… I saw it”. bryanniven.com ; Instagram: @bryanniven

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ELIAS GISELBRECHT Semi-finalist, top 250, Emerging with Canon A teenage dream realised. Berlin’s striking parliament building, Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus, had been top of Giselbrecht’s ‘must-shoot locations’ list since he was a 15-year-old freerunning and taking photos in his native Vienna. Eight years later, this March, while on a trip to the German capital with parkour athlete Daniel Heinzl (pictured), he nailed it.

Instagram: @brichti_revo

(opposite) HANNES BERGER Finalist, top 50, Energy “We were on a location check in India, near Alsisar,” says Austrian photographer Berger of this striking shot, “and our guide mentioned a neighbouring desert. Fabio [Wibmer, MTB ace, pictured] and I exchanged a meaningful look, because the idea of shooting in the desert had been haunting us for some time. The next day, we strapped his bike onto a jeep and set off.” hannesberger.com

ELIAS GISELBRECHT/RED BULL ILLUME, HANNES BERGER/RED BULL ILLUME

Red Bull Illume

THE RED BULLETIN

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Red Bull Illume

GUY FATTAL Semi-finalist, top 250, Masterpiece by Sölden From his childhood in Israel’s Jerusalem Hills to his current home in Whistler, Canada, nature and action sports have been Fattal’s lifelong passions. Which is why, just weeks after tearing his ACL, he was in the snow shooting freeskier Tom Peiffer near Canada’s Tricouni Peak. It was worth any discomfort: playful line [lent] a Folk hero: “I’m “Tom’s not making folk music dynamic contrast toJackson the serene backdrop, that everyone’s heard,” says. “I bringing this beautiful sceneNot to life.” always embrace my uniqueness. guyfattal.com everyone will get; itInstagram: all the time”@guyfattalphoto 60

GUY FATTAL/RED BULL ILLUME

JB LIAUTARD Finalist, top 50, Playground by Radiant Photo

“In late 2021, Brandon [Semenuk, MTB doyen] and I went out to the [Utah] desert on a shoot that was one part personal project, one part Troy Lee [Designs] apparel shoot,” recalls the American. “We found this rock smack-dab in the middle of a wellknown zone and scratched in a line deep in the night. The next morning, we came back and shot it in flat light.” Job done. iancollinsphotography.com ; Instagram: @iancollinsphotography

Sometimes a location looks too good to be true. Take this sand dune in Nazca, Peru, where Liautard shot enduro/freeride MTB star Kilian Bron. “I flew my drone up there and the view was absolutely breathtaking,” says the French photographer. “The wind just shaped that huge dune with a perfect pattern…

It was so perfect, it almost looked fake.” jbliautard.com ; Instagram: @jbliautard

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IAN COLLINS/RED BULL ILLUME, JB LIAUTARD/RED BULL ILLUME, JUAN GARCIA PRIETO/RED BULL ILLUME

(top) IAN COLLINS Semi-finalist, top 250, Playground by Radiant Photo

THE RED BULLETIN

Red Bull Illume

JUAN GARCIA PRIETO Finalist, top 50, Innovation by MPB For us, it’s a stunning image of Colombian BMXer Jorge Arias, aka Kazique, backflipping over a fountain in Santiago, Chile. But for its creator there’s a deeper meaning. “This shot is a testament to the power of friendship and the pursuit of personal growth,” says the Chilean. “In Jorge, I found… a reminder that with the right mindset we can defy gravity, both in our passions and in life itself.”

Instagram: @juanonas

KEVIN KIELTY Semi-finalist, top 250, Photos of Instagram Kielty was a latecomer to surf photography, taking his first picture at the age of 51. He shot this image at The Wedge – a surf break known for its fierce waves – in California’s Newport Beach in September 2022. “I’d been shooting [bodyboarders] at 500mm when I noticed a nice set [of waves] coming in for the surfers,” says the American. “I dropped to 200mm just in time to catch this guy dropping in on a foamy ten-footer before it swallowed him whole.”

Instagram: @kksurfphotography 64

KEVIN KIELTY/RED BULL ILLUME

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KEVIN MOLANO Finalist, top 50, Lifestyle by COOPH “In the world of skateboarding, where tricks are challenging and falls are common,” says the Colombian photographer, “‘Skate or Die’ represents a total commitment to the sport.”

His shot of local skater Nataly Lucano after a hard fall in Bogotá perfectly illustrates this. kevinmolanoph.com ; Instagram: @kevinmolanoph

TOM McNALLY Semi-finalist, top 250, Lifestyle by COOPH Climbers gotta climb. When the crags near his Lake District home are too wet and misty, Will Birkett trains in his shed, as captured here. “I like photographs that take time to absorb, and I think this definitely falls into that category,” says fellow Cumbrian McNally. “For me, there’s two things which really make the picture: the sign on the door, and the back of Will’s head.” tommcnally.co.uk ; Instagram: @tommcnallyphotography 66

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KEVIN MOLANO/RED BULL ILLUME, TOM MCNALLY/RED BULL ILLUME, DENIS KLERO/RED BULL ILLUME

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DENIS KLERO Semi-finalist, top 250, RAW Klero’s career highlight is a BASE-jump project on Everest with the late Valery Rozov in 2013. Here, he returned to ground level. “I’d seen a portrait shot with similar staging, and I liked the aesthetic, so I developed it, adding an athlete [skater Liliya Sukhankova] in a dynamic pose.” klero.ru ; Instagram: @denisklero THE RED BULLETIN

Scan the QR code to buy the Red Bull Illume 2023 Photobook The awards ceremony is on Nov 30; redbullillume. com; @redbullillume 67

Valley girls Infectious punk tracks on subjects such as meal deals and jiu-jitsu have already won anarchic Welsh band PANIC SHACK a varied and growing fanbase. What’s next? We joined them at a remote log cabin to find out Words LOU BOYD

Photography REN FAULKNER

The start of The Red Bulletin’s interview with Welsh punk band Panic Shack backs up their reputation for chaos. On a Friday afternoon in late September, we log into a Zoom call and are greeted by the close-up faces of lead singer Sarah Harvey and bassist Emily Smith, who appear to be in the living room of a log cabin. They playfully gesture and mime that their microphone isn’t working as they laugh and frantically tap on their laptop keyboard. It feels as 68

though we’ve accidentally dialled into a hyperactive slumber party.

Guitarist Megan Fretwell rushes to their aid and takes control of the laptop as, in the background, bandmate Romi Lawrence – Panic Shack’s other guitarist – enters through the front door, managing to look both bemused and unsurprised by the scene she’s just walked in on. Fretwell finally presses the right button, unleashing the foursome’s chatter and easy THE RED BULLETIN

Real deal: Panic Shack (from left: Sarah Harvey, Megan Fretwell, Romi Lawrence, Emily Smith)

Panic Shack

“We’re just having a laugh and playing music” 70

Undeterred by this fairly substantial hurdle, they began digging out dusty acoustic guitars from their parents’ attics and buying cheap secondhand electric ones from shops in town. Then they set about creating their sound.

“I still don’t play an instrument,” admits Harvey. “Me and Meg used to go get drinks and do karaoke every week after our shifts together. I think maybe that’s how I got the gig as the singer.”

“You do play the harmonica!” Smith interrupts, making the band fall about laughing. Then they scream as they – inevitably – knock over the cafetière, spilling black coffee everywhere.

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ast forward to 2023 and the sound the band have created is unique, sharp and anarchic. Now with a touring band member – drummer Nick Doherty – on board, their beats and rhythms evoke the spirit of bands such as ’70s punk pioneers The Slits and riot-grrrl touchstones Bikini Kill, with lyrics and a sense of mayhem more akin to rap mavericks the Beastie Boys and Aussie punks The Chats.

Their debut EP, affectionately titled Baby Shack, released in April last year, contains songs about anger, disgust and even just hunger, all projected through the band’s raucous sense of humour. The very first track written for the EP, Jiu Jits You, details an annoyed conversation with a man in a bar: “Um, excuse me/My friend was sitting there/Yeah, but she’s coming back in a second/Fine, sit there, whatever/No, I’ve got a drink, thanks/ Yeah, and my eyes are up here, mate.”

“We wrote that song all the way back in 2018,” says Fretwell. “Me and Saz [Harvey] went to a Lush conference together in Manchester. They gave us £15 expenses each and we spent it all on cocktail bowls and pizza. We were sat in this cocktail bar, trying to write a song, and these men just kept coming up to us and being like, ‘I want to buy you a drink, I want to buy you a drink.’

They would not leave us alone, and we just could not be arsed with them. That, along with the fact that we’d recently gone to a jiu-jitsu class, inspired the song’s chorus: ‘‘’Cos I do jiu-jitsu/I’m gonna jiu-jits you, bitch.’”

Other songs on Baby Shack tackle slightly more trivial themes with no less passion. Meal Deal is about being skint, hungry and desperate for a

Panic Shack’s guide to today’s DIY punk scene

Getdown Services

“If you’ve never heard of them, listen as soon as you can. These guys [a duo from Bristol] are so mad in the best way. We’re hoping to be able to play some gigs together very soon”

Saloon Dion

“Our mates! We recently made friends with [Bristol five-piece] Saloon Dion and we’re all close now. They’re a lush band.”

Bob Vylan

“We’re gearing up for our tour with [London duo] Bob Vylan.

It’s across the UK and there are only a few tickets left.

We can’t wait, because the Bobbies are so much fun.”

The Family Battenburg

“We played with [Cardiff four-piece] The Family Battenburg for the first time last year and they blew us away.

We were gobsmacked at how good they already are.”

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JOSHUA JARMAN, JAMIE MACMILLAN, ROBIN LAANANEN

laughter through the speakers, and our interview begins…

Panic Shack have become notorious for their infectious brand of highenergy mayhem. Hailing from Cardiff, South Wales, the band burst onto the music scene in 2021, quickly grabbing attention with their brash, witty punk songs, which delve into the nuances of everyday existence. Onstage antics – both stage-diving and synchronised girl-band dance routines – have become a staple of their sets.

“We’re all just having a laugh and playing music,” says Fretwell on the band’s ethos as the four women gather around the laptop to chat, cautiously bringing over an overflowing cafetière of black coffee and four cups, and passing a pink vape between each other. “We all love going to gigs and festivals, then one day we looked around and realised that we could probably do it just as well than the guys on stage. It’s all just bravado.”

Panic Shack came together through school and work – Lawrence and Smith were old friends from school, and Smith met Fretwell and Harvey while working in eco-friendly cosmetics store Lush in Cardiff city centre. “We used to stand around in Lush and talk about the kind of band we’d be, just sort of joking to make the shifts go quicker,” Smith says. “It wasn’t until we all went to the Green Man Festival in 2018 and camped together that we really decided to do it. That’s when the band really started.”

Returning from the festival, the four women got started on creating their band. First in the order of business was learning to play instruments. “We knew exactly what we wanted to be, we knew how we wanted to dress, the gigs we wanted to have, and the kind of stuff we wanted to write songs about,” explains Fretwell, “but apart from Emily [Smith, bassist], none of us played an instrument.”

“Being women and workingclass, we literally have to put our all into this”

Best buds: the band are friends from school and work – three of them met at cosmetics store Lush; touring drummer Nick Doherty (not pictured) joined later

“Teenagers have joined their first mosh pit at our gigs” 72

sandwich, snack and drink combo from the supermarket, while Who’s Got My Lighter? voices the annoyance of losing your best Zippo on a night out. “Baccie comes and goes,” sings Harvey. “Who’s got my lighter? I’m gonna fight ya.”

When they took these songs on the road in February this year on their first headline tour, Panic Shack found their music appealed to a much wider audience than they could ever have expected. “We noticed a lot of the people at the headline tour were older guys, maybe because they have more

money to buy tickets for sold-out gigs,” says Fretwell. “But when we played at festivals this summer, we started seeing loads of people, young and old, turning up and knowing our songs.

That’s when we really felt like people were getting it and liked what we were making. Teenagers were joining their first mosh pit – not really knowing how to do it yet – at our gigs.”

The crowds at Panic Shack’s gigs may have surprised them at the start of 2023, but they only got bigger as the year went on, climaxing with an THE RED BULLETIN

Panic Shack

“We used to stand around in Lush and talk about the kind of band we’d be” “We had to play straight after the soundcheck, though, so it was all a bit much. I probably could have done with a few minutes to collect my thoughts before doing a gig like that!”

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incredible set at Glastonbury Festival in June, when the band were invited to play on the Truth Stage in the famous Shangri-La area. With so many huge acts simultaneously playing the festival, Panic Shack didn’t know whether to expect 10 people or a hundred, but as the band stepped on stage the crowd was in its thousands and, to avoid a potential crush, security had been forced to barrier off the whole area and prevent more people joining.

“That was a surprise,” says Smith.

“It was awesome,” agrees Fretwell.

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nfortunately, not all reactions to Panic Shack have been so positive.

After the BBC filmed them playing their song The Ick at the Reading & Leeds Festival in August last year, the band posted a clip on TikTok, and among the posts of praise was an outpouring of criticism from – almost entirely male – users roasting their punk sound, attacking them for their look and clothing, and making unfounded assumptions about their upbringing.

“It was mad,” recalls Harvey. “They were saying that we’re posh schoolgirls cosplaying as working-class, and they called us a Tory band, which is obviously not true. They were saying all this stuff about how they’d found evidence our dads were investment bankers and things like that. But hey, trolls gonna troll, I guess.”

The comments helped Panic Shack gain support from other bands, including Wet Leg, who reached out to show solidarity. But it hurt them more than they showed at the time. “It was really tough,” says Fretwell, “I actually gave away the dress I wore in that video – I just couldn’t look at it any more.”

Harvey looks over to her bandmate and shows her agreement. “I’ve not worn my top again, either,” she says.

“It’s literally so tainted. But Emily [Smith] stood strong for all of us.”

The bassist, who posted replies to the worst and most misogynistic of these online comments, smirks. “Yeah, I wasn’t going to just let them get away with it,” she says.

Negative comments on Panic Shack’s appearance and music weren’t pleasant, but it was the accusations of a leg-up in their career that annoyed them the most, especially as they’re all working full-time jobs to support themselves.

“We understand that people are wary of bands being fake and hiding privilege, because that’s the way it’s been with some other bands for years,” says Smith, “but don’t tear us down for something we’re not. It’s fine, whatever, but sometimes it’s feels like we are at a disadvantage and we’re having to work twice as hard.”

Fretwell agrees: “Being women and being working-class, we literally have to put our all into this. It’s just a bit insulting.”

T

his week, Panic Shack have managed to book time off from their day jobs to run away to a wooden cabin and write new music.

“We’ve played more than 80 gigs already this year, and it’ll be more than 100 by the time the year is over, so we’ve not had any time at all to write anything new – we’ve been running around with the same six songs for two years now,” laughs Fretwell.

“Yeah, when we’re not gigging we’re in work, so this is our chance to lock ourselves away and do something new,” says Smith. “We did three days last week and we’ll do the same this week.”

With three days of writing already down, can they tell us anything about the new tracks? “We’ve already written some bangers,” says Harvey. “It’s a bit different and we’ve got a bit more of a structure now, but it’s still classic Panic Shack.” They all laugh. “Yeah, don’t worry, we’re not going to start writing about love or anything,” adds Smith.

The music is getting more polished, so does that mean the band are, too?

Can we expect a more decorous, musicindustry-friendly Panic Shack some time soon? Not likely. A few hours after our Zoom call, a post pops up on Instagram. It’s a video of the band standing on the patio, smoking rollups, drinking beers and cracking each other up. For Panic Shack, this party is only just getting started.

Instagram: @panicshack 73

VENTURE

AARON ROLPH, MAURI MARASSI

AARON ROLPH

Enhance, equip, and experience your best life

MAIDEN VOYAGE

Ski-rafting in the Arctic Circle, Norway

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VENTURE Travel

Floating points: Rolph rides rough waters on a moody day in the Lyngen Alps; (opening page) he and Clark paddle home after an epic sunset ski on Vengsøya

“We’re given a stark reminder of our exposed position in the midst of these mighty seas – a humbling experience that tests the limits of our resolve” Aaron Rolph, adventure athlete

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wade into the biting Arctic waters, doing my best to avoid snagging the bottom of my inflatable pack raft on the sharp rocks protruding out of the seabed before jumping in.

The 2m-long boat is made of tough stuff, but on this craggy beach with the powerful swells crashing into the shore I’m all too aware of the risk of being capsized, spilling myself and my skis overboard into the below-zero water.

Between each and every wave, I fight to get out of the frothing whitewater. After a bout of frantic paddling, I’m stable and my skis – which are strapped to the hull of my boat – are just about seaworthy.

It’s late April in northern Norway and the days are getting long; the months of the midnight sun are only around the corner. It’s easy to lose track of time, but my aching muscles haven’t forgotten being on the move for more than 17 hours already. I try to put the pain to the back of my mind and set about catching my expedition partners – fellow Chamonixbased adventurers Jess Clark and Mauri Marassi – who have made good headway into the distance in their double raft.

After a few single-day expeditions in the Alps, Finnmark – Norway’s largest and most northerly county – seemed like the logical location to test out a whole new winter discipline: ski-rafting. We’ve planned a self-supported land and sea mission in this area, which is home to countless fjords and islets. It will see us traverse the length of four islands and explore some of the wildest parts of Scandinavia using skis and pack rafts to access untouched spots, crossing the bodies of water that divide the mountains.

Having set off from the settlement of Årviksand almost 24 hours earlier, we endured sideways snow blizzards and unrelenting gale-force winds well in excess of 50kph. Despite these, we successfully crossed the remote mountainous islands of Arnøya and Laukøya, covering 40km and more than 2,000m of vertical elevation on our skis in between trips across exposed stretches of sea. Although the terrain was similar to the Alps, the brutal weather, humid air and extreme remoteness made it a very different experience.

When I catch up with Clark and Marassi, the three of us battle to prevent our boats THE RED BULLETIN

VENTURE Travel

AARON ROLPH, MAURI MARASSI

AARON ROLPH

Rising to the challenge: Rolph and Clark climb the ever-steepening Godmother – as in ‘the mother of them all’ – couloir

Water feature: Marassi skis all the way to sea level – one of the special experiences that Norway offers THE RED BULLETIN

being turned side-to-side, before reaching the all-important halfway point just as night descends. Looking back at how far we’ve come, and ahead to our destination, Skjervøya, still far in the distance, we’re given a stark reminder of our exposed position in the midst of these mighty seas – a humbling experience that tests the limits of our resolve as the waves continually crash overboard.

After an intense few hours on the water, we near landfall. The natural protection of the bay finally yields more tranquil waters and a sense of calm after the storm. We’re expecting to meet our friend, filmmaker Luke Jarmey, at the shoreside cabin. To my delight, I can make out the unmistakable whiff of a log fire, its soft golden hues reflected in the dull blues of darkness. Bundling inside, we’re buzzing with excitement to get out of our wet kit and into our sleeping bags for some well-deserved rest.

The following morning, we wake to a perfect bluebird day. The mountains of the neighbouring island, Kågen, are glistening with fresh snow. Despite our weary bodies, we’re excited to get going 77

VENTURE Travel Go full circle At 70° North, Finnmark is the most northerly region of mainland Norway, situated well inside the Arctic Circle.

Although remote, it’s only a three-hour drive from the city of Tromsø – a great starting point for any Norwegian adventure and also the location of an international airport. visitnorway.com

eye can see. Reaching our high point of around 1,000m, we discuss our options and whether we’d feel comfortable on a steeper slope than we’d mapped. It looks like it could be an incredible ski, but we’ve heard reports through friends of persistent weak layers in the snow and therefore a high risk of avalanche.

I have a bad feeling about it and, after sharing this with the group, we opt for a lower-risk descent.

Homing in: Jarmey and Clark head from shore to overnight cabin on Arnøya

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Before we’ve even finished the conversation, the sound of an explosive cracking, then a deep rumble, bounces between the peaks. A huge avalanche has set off on the face opposite, roughly the same gradient and aspect as the one we’ve just decided not to ski. From the precipice just above the valley we’ve finished touring up, we’re in a safe position to watch this natural wonder, which is as beautiful as it is menacing.

We carefully descend the mellow slopes, leapfrogging as a trio down the valley to sea level. We’ve had a close call, but crucially we learnt to trust our gut, making it down safely to the end of the fourth and final island of our trip.

Although we’ve endured the full force of nature, with weather and sea conditions that have commanded our full attention to ensure survival, the discipline of ski-rafting has been a success. And I’ve never felt more alive.

Aaron Rolph is a British adventure athlete and photographer based in the Alps. He’s also the founder of the British Adventure Collective, a collaboration of athletes and photographers who aim to showcase the UK’s wildest spots, an approach he has now taken worldwide. britishadventurecollective.com THE RED BULLETIN

AARON ROLPH, MAURI MARASSI

with today’s adventure, which promises some of the most exciting skiing of the whole trip. Our paddle over is worlds apart from the night before, and it takes no time to reach the mountains that appear to tower right out of the sea.

After packing up our boats for the final time, we ski-tour towards Kågen’s interior, following a valley that snakes its way up to the high alpine. Mesmerising sea views fill the horizon as far as the

AARON ROLPH

Glowing above and beyond: the team grab a chance to dry out in front of the fire in this unique hut, which looks out to Laukøya

SCOTT-SPORTS.COM © SCOTT-Sports 1 2023.24 1 Photo: Moritz Ablinger

o�CCITT

VENTURE Equipment DIVE

Marine five Made from bioceramic and recycled fishing nets, this remake of a classic watch dives deep into the past, but with an eye on the future

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SWATCH

The must-have watch of 2022 wasn’t a Rolex or Richard Mille but a Swatch – a £207 ‘plastic’ facsimile of the Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch (famously worn during the Moon landings).

For months, queues snaked out of Swatch stores; Daniel Craig and Ed Sheeran wore the watch, and the brand enjoyed a popularity not felt since its ’80s heyday. How could it top this? By diving deep. The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, launched 70 years ago and worn by ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, is considered the first true diver’s watch. The Blancpain x Swatch Scuba Fifty Fathoms is an audacious replica, water-resistant to 91m (50 fathoms). Available in five colours (one for each ocean), it uses bioceramic not plastic, its strap woven from reclaimed fishing nets.

Good for fish, better for the fashion scene. swatch.com

TOM GUISE

The caseback reveals a self-winding rotor printed with an ocean animal. On the Pacific edition, it’s a sea slug (Chromodoris Kuiteri)

VENTURE Equipment

CAPTURE

Instant gratification

POLAROID

TOM GUISE

The new Polaroid camera produces the greatest instant photos. It’s a vision that’s taken a long time to develop In 1948, the world’s first instant camera – named the Land Camera, or Model 95 – was launched by the Polaroid Corporation.

By 2001, the company was declared bankrupt and its name and assets sold off.

Production of its instant cameras ended in 2007, and its iconic film two years later.

But where one story ends, another begins.

In 2008, a group of enthusiasts started The Impossible Project and acquired the last remaining Polaroid plant, in Enschede, Netherlands. Its unique machinery safe, for the next decade the factory continued to make the only film for existing Polaroid cameras. Then, in 2017, Impossible bought the brand and its intellectual property.

Changing its name to Polaroid Originals, and later just Polaroid, it began producing the cameras again. But the company also imagined what the camera could have evolved into during its hiatus, and over the next four years it went ahead and built it.

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The Polaroid I-2 looks like the classic camera, but it doesn’t shoot like one.

Instant photos usually exude a soft, almost dream-like quality, but thanks to three-lens autofocus and a LiDAR (light detection and range) sensor, the I-2 shoots sharp images with incredible depth of field. Manual adjustment of aperture, brightness and shutter speed capture clarity even in low light. All using the same film produced at that factory in Enschede.

The Polaroid I-2 isn’t just the return of something almost lost for ever; it’s the realisation of a future that may never have been. The best things, even instant photos it seems, come to those who wait.

The Polaroid I-2 features external manual controls, but it can also be calibrated on the fly via a companion app

polaroid.com 81

VENTURE Fitness Watch your step

In low temperatures, your extremities get coldest quickest, and once they show early symptoms of frostnip – tingling and numbness – it becomes hard to use them.

A range of different gloves is available for hands, but feet can often be an afterthought.

“Even at temperatures above freezing, irreversible damage can be done if your feet stay cold or damp for a long time,” says Gruhn, winner of the 2023 Iditarod Trail Invitational, where she cycled 1,600km across Alaska in freezing conditions for 21 days. She recommends pairing cycling shoes with neoprene covers, or 45NRTH Ragnarök boots with thick socks. On longer rides or in freezing conditions, she’ll wear a plastic bag under her socks – this stops them absorbing sweat, preventing feet from sitting in damp, cold clothing.

The health benefits of cold-weather exercise are numerous. Here’s how to do it comfortably when the temperature dips below zero…

When mornings require you to pull on your winter coat and de-ice the car, it’s no wonder staying in a warm bed looks more inviting than going out into the cold to exercise. But, says swimming coach Alice Goodridge, you might want to reconsider hitting snooze.

Goodridge – the founder of SwimWild, a company based in the Scottish Highlands that offers wild-swimming retreats and workshops – takes to the water all year round, regularly breaking loch ice (pictured) to do it. “You experience an amazing feeling afterwards, almost a euphoria,” she says of exercising in the cold.

“Physically, you feel like you could conquer the world.”

Norwegian ultrarunner Abelone Lyng agrees, adding that the mental benefits of cold-weather exercise can make you more resilient: “If you have braved the cold and run outside on the coldest days, it will take a lot more to 82

be knocked off your game if the weather forecast is bad on the day of an important race.”

There’s science behind the benefits of chilly cardiovascular activities as well: in 2021, the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health reported studies indicating that repeated cold exposure results in a lower heart rate and more constricted blood vessels, which leads to positive effects on sporting performance as well as boosting metabolism.

Also, a 2014 study in the research journal PLoS ONE indicated that outdoor winter workouts could even help you avoid seasonal sniffles.

A cold, crisp workout needn’t be uncomfortable, either. In fact, providing you have the correct kit and know-how, it can be more invigorating than a summer session. Goodridge, Lyng and ultra-distance cyclist Leah Gruhn reveal how…

Swerve the shock

Goodridge’s advice for taking the plunge starts from the moment you dip a toe. “When entering cold water, the body produces a gasp reflex and you breathe in,” she says. “Instead, focus on exhaling. Be focused on that moment – exhaling will help you get past any mental barriers. Otherwise you can go into something called coldwater shock, which is where you hyperventilate because of the low temperature.”

“You experience a euphoria after a cold-water swim” Alice Goodridge, SwimWild founder

Hold in the heat

When in icy conditions for extended periods, you’ll feel the cold even when togged up.

Lyng, winner of the 2019 Beyond the Ultimate Ice Ultra – a 230km self-sufficient foot race across the Arctic Circle – has a trick: “I put a heat pack in one of my mittens and switch it when that hand becomes warm.

I only use one at a time as you don’t want to start sweating and get the mittens wet inside.

Wear it on the inside of your wrist for the best effect.”

Rethink rehydration

At -20°C, water in a bottle “just turns into a lump of ice”, says Lyng. But hydrating with hot drinks can help warm you from the inside out. “At the Ice Ultra, we received hot water every 10km. I had packets of berry drink and cocoa with me, which I drank while standing in the aid stations.” If you don’t have the benefit of regular refill points during a training session, an insulated or thermal water bottle will do the job.

Instagram: @swimwild_uk; @abelonely; @leahgruhn THE RED BULLETIN

HOWARD CALVERT

Cool runnings

JANE BARLOW/PA/PICTUREDESK.COM

CHILL

PROMOTION

NIDECKER

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he story of snowboarding’s rise from an outlawed pursuit to its current status as a huge Winter Olympic sport is well known. And, along the way, the equipment has evolved just as rapidly. Snowboards themselves have become lighter and more refined, while today’s boots benefit from better lacing systems, high-tech cushioning and space-age materials.

But while bindings have also been improved – most notably with the addition of the highback in the 1980s – their basic design has remained almost unchanged… until now. Following four years of development, and drawing on four decades of experience in snowboard R&D, the Supermatic from Nidecker has ripped up the rule book.

With the Supermatic, you only need to adjust the straps once, straight out of the box. Then simply step into the binding through the reclining highback and the clever automatic closure system does the rest, strapping you in hands-free.

THE GAME CHANGER Say goodbye to sitting down with the Supermatic, Nidecker’s revolutionary new snowboard binding

Exiting the binding is just as easy: simply pull the release lever and the whole thing opens up. Oh, and if you’re dropping in on steep, offcamber slopes or waist-deep pow, you can use the Supermatic just like a regular binding by cranking the ratchets instead.

The Nidecker Supermatic even feels like a classic two-strap binding to ride. And because it’s compatible with every make and model of snowboard boot on the market, there’s no need to compromise on fit – or to fork out on a whole new boot/binding ‘step-in system’ from the same brand.

Automatic. Universal. Dual-entry.

The Supermatic is the game changer you’ve been waiting for.

Scan the QR code below to see the Nidecker Supermatic in action

VENTURE Equipment UPGRADE

The white stuff Looking for new kit, but feeling snowed under?

From boards to backpacks, these are the essentials for hitting the slopes this season Whether you’re a full-blown seasonaire or limited to a long weekend on the slopes every winter, investing in your own snow-sports set-up liberates you from the limitations of the resort’s rental shop and saves you valuable time adapting to unfamiliar kit.

Splashing out on gear can seem daunting, though – especially if all you have to go on is marketing jargon and not personal recommendations from someone who has put a product through its paces.

Fortunately we’ve done the hard work for you, speaking to athletes and experienced experts, and highlighting the snow-sports tech they’ll be using this winter…

1. Bataleon Goliath

“The Goliath is a quiver killer – the one board to do it all.

It’s reliable for any kind of riding: half-pipe; rails; events like the Kings and Queens of Corbet’s in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and the Pyramid Gap – a legendary 110ft [33m] jump in Utah. It looks really cool under your feet, and the performance absolutely lives up to that.” Grant Giller, @ggillz

2. Dragon R1 OTG

“Along with boots, goggles are probably one of the most important things to ensure you have a good day on the mountain. Everyone’s face is different, so it’s important to make sure the fit is right – you don’t want gaps around the nose or the sides of the face. Also, a lot of the time you’re in conditions where maybe the light isn’t amazing, so having the right lens can be a game changer.” James Stentiford, @stentifordsnow

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3. Nidecker Supermatic

“Anyone of any level can use them and really benefit – they’re so easy and fast to click in and go. They’re particularly helpful bindings for beginners, because a tough thing when starting out is sitting down, strapping in and then having to get up.”

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VENTURE Equipment

4. Shred Sleds Resort Raider

“A snowskate is a fun product, and you can still get around the mountain without necessarily fully kitting up. The first thing I look at is the ski underneath, to make sure it’s wide enough to initiate a good turn. The width of the ski on the bottom of the Resort Raider makes it perfect for carving.” Neil Campbell, @neilparkshaper

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5. POC Fornix MIPS

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BRANDON HUTTENLOCHER

CHARLIE ALLENBY

“The POC Fornix is the perfect all-round helmet. It has good ventilation, fits perfectly on the head, and you don’t feel it, so it doesn‘t distract you from anything. Plus, it’s a no-brainer to wear one. I had a situation early last season where there was some fresh snow and I couldn’t see some little rocks. I hit one, fell and hit my head on another, and the helmet basically saved me.” Jan Dieteren, @jandieteren

6. Burton Felix Step On

“If your feet hurt, you just can’t catch right. Also, even if you’re not riding a lot, it’s important to have good durability. I trust the Felix Step On because it has a strap above the foot and offers better support. Also, I can tighten it up the way I feel, depending on the quality of the snow and how hard I want to ride.” Victoria Edel, @vicdohria 85

VENTURE How To DECIDE

you can impose a ‘stop-loss order’ (a pre-commitment device) so that if it drops to 40 it’s automatically sold (the kill criteria). If the stock hits 40 without this device in place, you’re less likely to sell because you’ll want to hold out and make up your losses, which risks a further drop.

Clean break Never know when to call something quits?

Former poker pro turned decisionmaking expert Annie Duke has some tips

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Work out how long you’re OK with the situation you’re in and set a deadline. If it’s a job you hate, that might be three months; a marriage could be a year. “Implied in the kill criteria is how you would like the world to look.

Think about what you need to do in order to make it that way. You set the deadline because you’re not 100-percent sure it’s the right choice. If you are that sure, you’ve left it too late.”

Know your limitations

The first rule of quitting?

“Accept that you won’t pay attention to the signals [telling you to quit],” says Duke. In fact, when we get signals that our situation isn’t good, we’ll often “escalate our commitment”.

This is because the more you’ve committed to something, the harder it is

“People think that quitting means failure” Annie Duke, decision maker

to let go. Instead, you need to “align how you’d act if it were a fresh decision versus how you are when you’ve already committed”. Duke gives the example of taking a job with a wonderful boss who is then replaced by someone toxic. If it had been the toxic boss who did the original interview, you would never have accepted the position. So even though you’re already in it, your decision should be the same.

Plan ahead

We might not respond to a situation rationally when in it, but if we identify the warning signs in advance and commit to quitting, we’re more likely to do it.

“It’s a combination of something called ‘kill criteria’ – the things that would tell you to stop – and a ‘pre-commitment device’, which is committing in advance to some kind of action,” says Duke. This can be applied to everything from investing in stocks to quitting a job. For example, if you invest in a stock at 50,

Call for back-up

“People on the outside looking in can see your situation more clearly,” Duke explains. “This is what I call a quitting coach. In general, we’re better at giving advice to others than thinking through our own situations.”

Whether they’re a therapist, a mentor, a friend or a relative, a quitting coach can also hold you to your pre-commitment device and kill criteria.

Think positive

“We focus on what we’re going to lose, but we need to reframe that,” says Duke.

Instead, we need to assess the ‘opportunity cost’ – what we’re missing out on by being stuck in a situation.

What else could we do with that time? “If you already know the thing you’re doing isn’t working out, shouldn’t you do something else with a higher chance?”

Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away by Annie Duke is out now, published by Ebury; annieduke.com THE RED BULLETIN

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This means that when we do finally pull the trigger, we wish we’d done it earlier.

Ready to take the plunge?

Duke tells us how to say sayonara once and for all…

SHUTTERSTOCK

Whether it’s leaving your job, giving up smoking or kicking that Deliveroo habit, the new year is a common time to make important life decisions. But perhaps quitting shouldn’t be reserved for January alone.

In 1992, having completed her PhD in cognitive psychology, Annie Duke was starting to look for positions as a professor when she became ill and had to take time off. To make money, she began playing poker. She was good at it, too; in time, she moved to Las Vegas and turned pro.

“I would have never explored that opportunity if I hadn’t been forced to quit,” says Duke, who eventually retired from poker, too, in 2012 but still ranks fifth in the women’s all-time money list, with a prize pot of more than $4 million. Now a professional author and expert in decision-making, she says that quitting taught her to be more “willing to try new stuff” because she knew she could abandon it if it didn’t work out. “The option to quit is super-valuable,” says Duke. “We should cherish it.

We don’t do it enough.”

The thought we can quit something that’s not working should feel liberating, so why don’t we do it sooner?

“People think quitting means failure,” Duke says. “So we don’t want to quit until there’s no other choice.”

Set a deadline

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VENTURE Gaming “Roll two dice and you’ll most likely get a seven,” he explains, because there are six different combinations that all add up to seven. So if you see an opponent seven spaces away from one of your properties, it’s time to get building.

Be open to visitors

Monopoly world champion Nicolò Falcone shares his tips on how to beat bankruptcy and own it all

How do you become Monopoly world champion? For Nicolò Falcone, it was – fittingly – a matter of chance. As a child growing up in Venice, Italy, he would play the board game with his dad and brother every Sunday to pass the time during the city’s cold winters, then, while on a family trip to New York at the age of 13, he bought the video game, which quickly became a favourite.

But it would take an internet pop-up, 17 years later, to set the now-qualified lawyer on the path to gaming glory.

“I was wasting my time on Facebook when a banner popped up, saying, ‘Are you good at Monopoly? Do you want to win a trip to China?’” recalls Falcone. That click of the mouse led to him entering his first regional competition, in the northeast Italian town of Spilimbergo.

He finished third, qualifying for the national championship the following year, which he 88

won, securing a place in the 2015 World Championship.

Making the experience even more surreal, it was hosted

by The Venetian in Macao, China – a hotel with replicas of Falcone’s home city, right down to the canals and the bell tower in St Mark’s Square.

“I can see the real bell tower from my parent’s home,” he says. “It was strange to see such a familiar building there, against the incredible skyline.”

Falcone was victorious, winning the cash prize of $20,580 – the accumulated value of all the bank notes in the game. He used his newfound profile to launch a career in stand-up comedy, writing a show about his experience.

So how did he win? There’s an element of luck, he says, because the game is played with dice. “If we played, there’s a chance you would win,” he admits, “even if it’s only your second time playing and you’re up against the

world champion.” Falcone does, however, have some insider tips and tricks, too…

Rule the roost

The first rule of Monopoly is: know the rules of Monopoly.

An often-forgotten rule, says Falcone, is that you can build houses and hotels any time before a player rolls the dice, even outside your turn. The best time to buy property is when it looks like an opponent might land on that square – you can reap instant benefits.

“At the end of the game, it’s better to be in jail” Nicolò Falcone, Monopoly champ

Build, build, build

If you have all the cards of a particular colour, you can start building houses on them.

“You should buy three houses on every property,” Falcone says. “That will put you in a good position.” Why? Because, he explains, not only does maxing out on hotels increase your chances of running out of cash, but the biggest jump in rent occurs when you go from two to three properties, with only an incremental rise from a fourth house or hotel.

(Don’t) get out of jail

Going to jail might sound like a bad thing, but it can work in your favour. At the start of the game, you want to avoid it so you can build up your property empire. “But at the end,” says Falcone, “it’s better to be in jail and let the other players land on your properties. You’ll still collect money, but with no risk of landing on their properties.

So, if the game is wrapping up and you go to jail, sit back, relax and let the cash roll in.”

Monopoly is available to download from the App Store and Google Play THE RED BULLETIN

ISABELLE ARON

Advance to Go

GETTY IMAGES

ROLL

Monopoly’s most landed-on square is the game’s first corner: ‘In Jail’/‘Just Visiting’.

“You can land on that square for many reasons,” explains Falcone. “Either you rolled doubles three times, you landed on ‘Go to Jail’, or you were sent by a Chance card.”

Armed with this intel and your knowledge of dice probability, you can identify the board’s best investment opportunities.

“If you count 6, 7, 8 [from jail], you’ll find two of the three properties before ‘Free Parking’ – the strongest set.”

PROMOTION

The H&M Move Snow Collection provides style, affordability and tech credentials

H&M MOVE

T

here are three main issues with traditional snow-sports clothing: it’s expensive, especially if you’re only using it one week per season; it features either pro-level tech that wouldn’t look out of place on an Everest expedition, or a cheaper performance material that fails on the first run; and its styling usually falls into two camps – functional at all costs or ’80s music-video extra.

H&M understands this and has come up with a solution that isn’t either/or. After its H&M Move brand brought together fashion, function and affordability with the summer launch of its outdoor collection, it’s now turning its attention to snow sports.

The H&M Move Snow Collection is built around three main principles: style, affordability, and tech credentials that drive serious winter performance. While already renowned for the first two, it’s the latter where H&M Move proves it is a real alternative to kit made by established snow-sports companies. It has created three new innovative materials – StormMove™, ThermoMove™ and DryMove™ – which, working together, keep wearers warm, dry, comfortable and protected on the mountain.

“By introducing performance wear that balances function with highly fashionable snow gear, we want to inspire everyone to hit the mountains,” says Mfon Boman, H&M Move’s outdoor product manager. “Given the level of detailing and high-quality materials, this collection is taking our snow-sports segment to the next level.”

Split across men’s and women’s lines, the collection is a complete layering system featuring oversized jackets, baggy snow pants and modern one-pieces, with accessories including mittens and goggles.

H&M Move hopes the collection will help democratise how people enjoy the outdoors, with its affordability and accessibility

WINTER KIT HAS A MAJOR NEW PLAYER Say hello to your new winter wardrobe as H&M Move launches its latest Snow Collection inspiring more people to hit the mountains in a safe and stylish way.

Its fashion-focused designs and contemporary colourways also mean it won’t look out of place away from the mountain – making it something you can wear through the whole season and not just during your week of winter sports and après-ski.

H&M Move’s new Snow Collection will be available at hm.com/move from November 9 and December 28

VENTURE Bars 1. Prince of Wales

4. cHIP sHOP

“The [two-tiered] terrace is arguably the best of any club in London,” declared city listings website Time Out in March this year. DJ sets aren’t all this Brixton institution has to offer, though – add live music, comedy, pub quizzes, a finger-food menu and drag bingo to the list. Or you could just relax with a cocktail as you watch the sun go down.

Come for: the views; the rooftop parties; ‘happy hour’ (5-8pm).

467-469 Brixton Road, SW9 8HH; pow-london.com

Rap is king at this restaurant/bar – cHIP sHOP, get it? Expect live sets

by OG hip-hop legends and DJs. The food: a chippy tea, plus other staples.

Follow it with a Redman cocktail.

Come for: the Wu Tang Clan chicken wings; hard bars in the bar.

378 Coldharbour Lane, SW9 8LF; chipshopbxtn.com

2. Canova Hall A sign standing outside this classy venue highlights some of its many attractions: tap room, bitters bar, brick oven, hot desk. On tap are a wide selection of craft beers as well as wines; Canova Hall also distils its own gin and hosts tastings and mixing masterclasses. The bitters bar is available for private hire, and food includes modern Italian classics and wood-oven pizza. Can’t drag yourself away? Grab a hot-desk work space.

Come for: the Art Deco stylings; the Canova gin cocktail with blueberries.

250 Ferndale Rd, SW9 8BQ; canovahall.com

5. Electric A Brixton institution for the past 13 years, this 1,700-capacity venue has hosted live acts including Liam Gallagher and the Vaccines, as well as DJ sets from the likes of Fred Again and Boiler Room.

Come for: the big-name DJs and music acts; the sound system.

Town Hall Parade, Brixton Hill, SW2 1RJ; electricbrixton.uk.com

SIX OF THE BEST

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From the team behind Brixton Jamm and Percolate comes this intimate bar/nightclub. One of the few London venues with a 24-hour licence, The Ton of Brix is a magnet for party people thanks to its wallto-wall DJ sets and craft beers.

Come for: the vibe; the music.

414 Coldharbour Lane, SW9 8LF; thetonofbrix.co.uk

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This community initiative is home to 55 local businesses, from barbers to artists. Food options include burgers, Greek, Asian and more, but for a night out with friends, head to the cocktails-and-rum den ABV Brixton.

Come for: the house cocktails; the rum-tasting masterclasses.

49 Brixton Station Road, SW9 8PQ; popbrixton.org

THE RED BULLETIN

@WEARE_MUTUALFRIENDS, ROBERT STAINFORTH, SOPHIE HARBINSON

Nowhere rocks quite like Brixton. This south London community has been a nightlife hub for decades, with newer venues still joining the party. Here are some of our top haunts...

DAVYDD CHONG

Brixton

VENTURE Calendar

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November onwards STRANGER THINGS: THE FIRST SHADOW

15 November onwards LAYERS “It’s amazing that a piece of wood can become the key for people to come together.”

So says Brian Paupaw, co-founder of the Hoods to Woods Foundation, which helps inner-city kids discover the outdoors through snowboarding. He’s one of many voices in this film – subtitled The Unintentional Culture of Snowboarding – which examines the diverse global community drawn together through a love of carving powder. As amateur snowboarder Brantley Mullins puts it, “It doesn’t matter your gender, race, or who you are. It’s for everyone. It’s kind of the whole point.” Watch it on Red Bull TV. redbull.com

Dungeons & Dragons, Kate Bush, The NeverEnding Story, 1980s fashion… hell, the ’80s full stop – just a few of the things the Duffer Brothers’ hit Netflix show Stranger Things has revived since debuting in 2016. And now you can add theatre and the ’50s to that list. This play, written by Jack Thorne (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) and directed by Stephen Daldry (The Crown) , with visual effects by the guys behind the Back to the Future stage show, reveals spooky goings-on in the US town of Hawkins almost 30 years before the events we saw on our screens. Like the Duffer Brothers say, “See you in London, nerds!” Phoenix Theatre, London; strangerthingsonstage.com

14

November to 14 January RE/SISTERS Mother Nature: a seemingly harmless term for our environment, but is there a deeper meaning? One that reinforces the idea of the feminine as a productive resource, and interlinks the degradation of our planet with the oppression of women? This exhibition brings together 50 international female and gender non-conforming artists to examine the relationship between gender and ecology.

It dives into unequal power structures, patriarchal organisations exploiting natural resources, and the parallels between care and activism, but also looks towards a brighter future where people and planet are treated fairly. Barbican, London; barbican.org.uk 92

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VENTURE Calendar

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November to 2 June SKATEBOARD

MARKUS ROHRBACHER, PAMELA SINGH, JIM GOODRICH, HYROX, MARK SENIOR

With skateboarding returning to the Olympics for a second time next year, it’s worth remembering how far the sport has come since the 1950s, when its pioneers fixed roller skates to planks and went ‘sidewalk surfing’.

This exhibition celebrates that illustrious journey with a display of around 90 rare boards, many of them shipped from the Skateboarding Hall of Fame and Museum in California, the world’s most extensive collection of decks; this is the largest-ever loan of its exhibits to the UK. Maybe skateboards can now be considered not only sports equipment but high art. The Design Museum, London; designmuseum.org

25 to 26 November HYROX LONDON Hyrox is a relatively new athletic competition, invented in 2017 by German endurancesports entrepreneur Christian Toetzke. His premise was simple: many of the exercises done in gyms can’t be applied to any competitive sport. His solution: a fitness race comprising a series of 1km runs alternated with eight different workouts, from farmer’s carries and rowing to sandbag lunges and sled pushes. It took off faster than a burpee broad jump (another of Hyrox’s workouts). This year’s competition has been expanded to two days in order to accommodate the 11,000-plus athletes taking part in its 11 events. One of the competitors, Jake Dearden, is planning to do the lot back to back. Greedy. ExCel, London; hyrox.com THE RED BULLETIN

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November to 6 January NUTCRACKER When Tchaikovsky wrote his ballet The Nutcracker Suite in 1892, the composer will have imagined it being performed on stage (it premièred that December). But he would never have foreseen his score being given a new arrangement by Mercury Prize nominee Cassie Kinoshi and danced to the sounds of a jazz band at the Southbank Centre’s Winter Festival.

Tuff Nutt Jazz Club, Royal Festival Hall, London; underbelly.co.uk 93

A skier speeds down a glimmering glacier run, stopping only to stare out at the sea of snow-blanketed mountains layering and lapping into the distance beyond. A snowboarder on the chairlift takes a deep breath and smiles as they gaze around at the wide, perfectly groomed slopes around them, illuminated by the morning sunlight. A maze of freeriding powder sits still, waiting for the first visitors of the day while, in the tranquil forests below, a family snowshoes through the trees, immersed in the scent of spruce as they follow a river to a frozen waterfall. Back in town, a horse and carriage guides a couple through traditional Tirolean architecture to a cosy hut to indulge in fluffy Kaiserschmarrn pancakes and embrace gemütlichkeit – the cosiness, friendliness and joy that lives in these mountains. This is winter… the Austrian Way.

Sustainability is top of the agenda at the SkiWelt ski area.

The resort, which comprises nine idyllic alpine villages, installed the world’s first solar lift in 2008, and now all 82 ski lifts are run on renewable energy. The 270km of pistes boast views of more than 70 3,000m mountains, including the serrated Wilder Kaiser range, plus long, winding, wide-open downhills and perfectly groomed ski slopes for powder days. And the authentic hut culture and focus on regional specials means the käsespätzle and schnitzel taste extra good.

Lifts: 82 Pistes: 270km Nearest airports: Innsbruck (77km to Söll), Salzburg (84km), Munich (133km) Elevation: 620m–1,957m Highest lift: Fleiding, 1,892m

Zillertal The Zillertal Superskipass grants skiers access to a frankly gargantuan ski area. Families will enjoy the wide slopes in Spieljoch, while freeriding hotspots await in HochzillertalHochfügen, allowing you to truly escape into a mountainous, snow-blanketed wilderness.

Mayrhofen is home to the 78-per-cent steeps of the Harakiri run, and you’ll find 365 days of snow fun on the Hintertux Glacier. The Zillertal Arena alone has 147km of pistes. And afterwards? Explore glacial ice caves, ice skate in Zillertal, or wander the silent backcountry, one snowshoe step at a time.

Riding high: skiing in Zillertal is a magnet for freeskiers

Lifts: 180 Pistes: 544km Nearest airports: Innsbruck (50km), Salzburg (150km), Munich (170km) Elevation: 630m–3,250m Highest mountain: Hochfeiler, 3,510m

ZILLERTAL TOURISMUS/MAX DRAEGER, SKI JUWEL ALPBACHTAL WILDSCHOENAU/SHOOT & STYLE, SKIWELT WILDERKAISER-BRIXENTAL/DIETMAR DENGER

WINTER, THE AUSTRIAN WAY

SkiWelt Wilder KaiserBrixental

PROMOTION

Perfectly groomed slopes and panoramic skiing in every direction – this is what the SkiWelt area stands for

Ski Juwel Alpbachtal Wildschönau From the tree-lined slopes to the charming villages of the Alpbachtal and Wildschönau valleys, Ski Juwel is one of the most picturesque resorts in Austria. Tucked between the Zillertal and Kitzbühel Alps, this is a family-friendly resort, with 113km of wide, sunny slopes catering for a variety of skill levels – from beginner slopes (including kid fun zones and learning slopes at Juppi Do and Schatzberg Zwergenland) to powder-puff off-piste. Alpbach is a quintessentially Austrian ski town, famed for its beauty, while Niederau

in the Wildschönau Valley bustles with skiers of all levels and is backdropped by the 1,500m Markbachjoch. The skiing is spread across four mountains in the two eponymous valleys. Forest hikes and traditional architecture await, as do rustic huts serving local delights.

Lifts: 45 Pistes: 113km Nearest airports: Innsbruck (65km to Alpbach), Salzburg (144km), Munich (161km) Elevation: 830m–2,025m Highest mountains: Schatzberg, 1,903m, and Wiedersberger Horn, 2,128m For more information, go to: austria.info/en/winter

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PROMOTION

A paddle through the past: Jordan Curet and Clay Abney toured the picturesque Mosel river in Germany

JORDAN CURET

T

he origins of paddleboarding stretch back thousands of years, while the modern iteration was invented in Hawaii in the 1940s.

But if you want to pinpoint the spark that set off the sport’s current explosion in popularity, it was the launch of the first inflatable models in the late 2000s, which added an easier way of transporting and storing the water-based way of travelling.

One company at the forefront of this wave was Red Paddle Co. Founded on the South Devon coast in 2008 to get more people onto the water, its innovative approach to design and the environment has helped secure its spot as the world’s most pioneering paddleboard producer.

Red Paddle Co’s focus on making paddleboarding accessible hasn’t been limited to the shores and riverbanks of England’s southwest, either, as Colorado-based photographer Jordan Curet’s latest urban adventure proves.

“The concept was a castle-to-castle paddle, following the Mosel river in Germany,” she explains. “We used the train to get to the top of the river section in Trier, inflated our boards, packed all our luggage into dry bags and set off downstream.”

Curet and her expedition partner Clay Abney spent five days paddling down the river, drinking in the amazing

RETHINKING URBAN ADVENTURE

Looking to explore in an environmentally friendly way?

A Red Paddle Co inflatable paddleboard is the answer to travelling and touring while making memories that last a lifetime views throughout a region where hundred-year-old vineyards growing Riesling grapes stretch as far as the eye can see. “It was an incredibly unique way to experience the area, paddling by slowly enough to watch work being done on the vineyards, and to soak in the surroundings,” she says.

It wasn’t a race to the end, either, with the packable nature of their paddleboards allowing them to also spend time ashore, exploring the historic villages and towns that dot the Mosel’s banks. “Each afternoon, we paddled into a village or town,” says Curet, “and most of them have a castle perched on the hillside above. The towns are like a step back in time, with cobblestone streets, traditional timber houses, Gothic

churches, and even ruins from the ancient Romans who first started growing wine in the region.”

Reaching Cochem, the pair were able to deflate and stow the paddleboards in their bags and take the ferry along the remainder of the river. “Using nothing but human power and public transportation,” Curet says, “we were able to experience this urban adventure.”

Find out how you can upgrade your adventure at red.equipment

Semi-Rad Adventure philosophy from BRENDAN LEONARD

“I was asked to model a pair of trousers in a fashion show at my university, so I learnt the basics of how to walk down a runway – a skill that has served me exactly zero times since that day approximately 150 years ago. But as I remember it: look straight ahead with a fixed gaze, don’t make eye contact with anyone, keep your back straight, and confidently walk forward, feet tracing one after the other on an invisible balance beam on the floor. If you’ve ever seen professional models do it, they manage to make anything they’re wearing look sexy and functional as they stride forward, strike a couple poses at the end of the runway, then turn back. You know what would be great at Fashion Week? Some runway models walking in ski boots. Old-school ones, before they had walk mode.”

The next issue of THE RED BULLETIN is out on December 12 98

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