With the mountains closed until further notice due to the global pandemic, the internet has been bursting with ski and snowboard-themed lockdown videos to keep us all entertained at home. Here are just a few of our favourites…
Freeriding in the Comfort of your Living Room
Before coronavirus hit, German-Spanish skier Philip Klein Herrero was making grand plans to go freeriding with his family. But those plans were dashed when the global pandemic came to town. With his big adventure on hold, Herrero couldn’t get skiing out of his mind and wondered how he could bring the sport into his living room. In his incredible stop motion video, Herrero uses a GoPro which appears suspended from the ceiling to capture how his adventure might have looked. He starts his day sleeping next to a huge mountain (of sheets) before touring up its flanks and ice climbing to the top. He celebrates reaching the summit the only way a skier would in 2020 (by taking a selfie) and rappels down to safety, styling it out with some freestyle tricks on the way. After a crash landing he poignantly reminds viewers to stay safe, stay home. The emergency services have their hands full, they don’t need more injuries to deal with right now!
Indoor Parkour
Always one to step (or jump) up to the plate, Swiss freeskier Andri Raggetli schools us on how to make the most of our living space, by turning his own home into a full-blown obstacle course. The pro from Switzerland is known for showing off his incredible balance on intricate obstacle courses… but we usually see them in a gym. In ‘The Floor is Lava – Stay at Home Parkour,’ he hops, skips and flips across his kitchen and living room, even bouncing outside using a series of controlled jumps and pauses to maintain balance. He changes direction and uses multiple props in a completely mind-bending performance. And the show would not be complete without a compulsory serving of hand sanitiser to remind us we are amid a global pandemic. If that wasn’t enough, Raggetli is donating one cent for every ‘like’ to the World Health Organization (WHO) to support the fight against Covid-19. Not all heroes wear capes, some juggle on hoverboards!
Balcony Shredding
Normally we would not condone snowblades of any type, but when freestyle ski icon Jasper Tjäder served up some fast-footed railwork on his balcony, we gave it our full attention. Tjäder may have popped onto your radar in freestyle films Unrailistic and Supervention II where he became the first person to loop the loop on skis! But now, banished indoors, he isn’t about to put his skis away. They may only be half the size, but in his GoPro video called #HomePro, he shows us that a balcony is more than just a space to keep beers cool. Training waits for no pro and he showcases his rail skills by sliding, spinning and flipping off the balcony in the grand finale, proceeding to ride switch across the grass. Living the quaran-dream!
#HomePro GoPro
Posted by Jesper Tjäder on Monday, 30 March 2020
Drop Down and Give us Ten, Billy
On home turf in sunny Southhampton, Olympic bronze medallist snowboarder Billy Morgan has been making his sponsors proud by thinking outside the box with product placement and showing us how many pushups he can do using Red Bull cans. He keeps his home gym equipment simple using some planks of wood and balancing both hands and legs on the cans, challenging himself to build up the height, with entertaining results. It’s impressive, but the outtakes are the best bits. Like all freestyle tricks, if at first you don’t succeed, get straight back up and try again. In a second video he puts his years of freestyle airtime to use by backflipping over can castles. The boy’s got some bounce! It’s great to see athletes keeping fit and sharing inspiring content but we’ll leave core strength challenges to the pros. Don’t try these at home, kids.
Katie O is Back, Baby!
Team GB snowboarder Katie Ormerod has had an incredible comeback season so far, becoming overall World Cup Champion in Slopestyle after a severe ankle injury rendered her out of action last season. She finished this season with an amazing five World Cup podiums and first ever Overall World Cup Slopestyle title plus a Crystal Globe.
She said: “My comeback season has turned out to be the best season of my career so far and it’s been so much fun!”
During quarantine, her fitness routine has not dipped and she treated her followers to an incredible display of strength with knees to headstand holds (again, don’t try at home unless you have been training) which she manages to hold for what seems forever! Katie, welcome back. You are a CHAMPION both in and out of quarantine.
Planks Branch Out
When times are tough, businesses discover the need to diversify and dip their toes into uncharted waters. Always keeping it fresh, we were thrilled to see UK brand Planks launch a new product, magic beanies. Planks told the world that the products had been in development for the past five years and partnered with industry-leading biochemists to bring you the world’s first grow-your-own beanie kit. Snowsports lovers everywhere rejoiced at the news of this potential lockdown activity. Planks told us to ‘Stay at Home, Grow your Own!’ The product claims to be 100% organic, comfy and vegan and it was Planks’ increased focus on climate change concerns which inspired them to launch the concept. Available for only 99p, the seeds were a steal but were only on sale on the first of April. Funny that ?
The Freeride House Tour
In another stop-motion sensation, ski dreams come true in the home of Spanish snowboarder and Freeride World Tour Qualifier athlete Thomas Rich who goes snowboarding around his house. He nose-grinds the sofa, throws some flips across the hall and sails through the kitchen, not forgetting to grab a brew of course. Thomas takes a different type of chairlift up to the peak of the house where he sends it down the stairs (possibly a red run, although could be black) and then wakes up. It was all a dream…
Garden Bunny Run for Easter
No Easter ski trip? No problem. The best dad award goes to an English snowsports enthusiast who built a homemade ski lift pulley system in his garden, including dry mat to ski on! When the mountains are off limits, the garden is the next best thing and his two young daughters can do laps of the mat in their shorts and t-shirt, travelling in style as they are whisked from the base to the mountain peak in a matter of seconds. The hand-operated pulley system means that dad gets EVEN MORE exercise. Personal protective equipment is in use at all times with skiers kitted out in helmets, goggles and gloves. At least the family will avoid any queues this Easter break…
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