Our resident Chilean, expert skier, AIARE Avalanche Level 1 and Level 2 instructor, and Equipment Shop Manager is feeling a bit under the weather right now. However while he is at home resting, people are in the mountains of his home country skiing some beautiful lines. I figured that we could try and cheer him up a little bit by giving him a little piece of home, and sharing with you all this great ski video. Additionally, I can tell you the background music in this video is authentic, seeing as I spent 18 days on Denali with Richard this year and was treated to the wonderful Chilean music he brought along.
Black Diamond athlete Zack Giffin skiing in Chile from Black Diamond Equipment on Vimeo.
Back in the day, rock climbing and mountaineering were certainly "fringe sports," however they have entered the mainstream these days. It seems that once a sport is introduced, it is only a matter of time before people start to accept it and we see it regularly in the media. However, when things come along like "para-skiing," it is a lot easier to understand why people would say, "those crazy kids!" Needless to say, with alpinism, it was only a matter a time before people started guiding it. Call me pessimistic, but I don't see anyone guiding in the "para-ski" realm any time soon. Regardless, it is pretty darn impressive.
--Andrew Yasso, Program Coordinator
