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Part II of III: It's all about the ride 
Last year Emilio boarded down Pik Lennin, 7134m. He stood atop the summit at 3 in the afternoon with a Russian, “He was good, had climbed Everest without oxygen.” Emilio boarded down on, “one of the best lines of my life,” and was in Camp I before 4 o’clock – just in time for dinner. The Russian arrived the next morning at 5 AM. The snowboard allows him to descend quickly, “and in Italy, quickly is safely.” Just take a drive on the autostrade and see how safe everyone is. How would you rather go down, on foot or on a board? Being quick means that the less time spent exposed to the hazards of weather, avalanche, crevasses, and rock falls, the less likely you are to get hurt. Routes that were too dangerous because of prolonged and risky exposure can now possibly be done with a snowboard descent combined with an alpine style descent.Small, light, and fast Herein lies the problem with Emilio’s first attempt at Cho Oyu. He was part of a 17-member expedition and found himself humping loads of fuel and food up high on the mountain. When it finally came time to snowboard, there was no longer any time left. This time it will just be him and his partner Marco, an endurance athlete. Marco has participated in the, “Raid Gauloises,” the adventure race that started it all. Teams start from some remote location and have to arrive together in another distant place. In between they encounter jungles, rock, rivers, and just about every adventure you can think of. Not only is this a grueling and physically challenging event, but also it is imperative to work well as a team. Emilio and Marco have trained together and work well as a team. They will use one tent and ascend Cho Oyu alpine style, quick, clean, and safely. Once they get to the top they will then focus on the snowboarding. "Like taking a motorcycle to the Giro d'Italia" It is not so much the summit, but the ride down that Emilio is looking forward to. “It is not enough to bring a snowboard and take pictures with it on your back.” It’s all about the ride. Emilio is taking snowboard mountaineering one step further; instead of the Aiguille du Midi of Chamonix, it will be a face of Cho Oyu. If he does this, he has thoughts about snowboarding down Everest. If there is one thing you learn from speaking with him, it’s that he like to challenge himself. For Everest and other mountains, he has two rules: without oxygen and he must ride down. His view on oxygen is pretty firm, “It’s like going to the Tour de France or Giro d’Italia and competing with a motorcycle…I would rather climb a smaller mountain without than a bigger with.” He has a respect for the mountain and will climb it on its terms. Tomorrow, Emilio’s roots and his new magazine - Free.ride Freeridespirit's Italian Homepage... |