Issue 12 Vol 1 proofed

LEARN PROGRESSIVE PLANCHE PREP 

MOUNTAIN MAYHEM 

2 TRUE STORIES 

OF SURVIVAL 

TRAIN TO BE 

UNSTOPPABLE 

FOR OCR 

SAY GOODBYE TO 

SOCIAL ANXIETY 

INTERVIEW 

WITH RED BULL ATHLETE 

SASHA DIGIULIAN 

MIND-SET PREP 

FOR EXTREME 

MOUNTAIN 

SKIING 

THE ULTIMATE TEST, 

THE 4 DESERTS RACE 

INTERVIEW WITH X GAMES JOSH PENNER

www.unconventionalathletes.com 

CONTENTS 

16 

SAND GRIT AND SWEAT, THE TOUGHEST EVENT ON THE PLANET 

THE 4 DESERTS RACE 

20 

FROM PARKOUR - TO JAMES BOND STUNTMAN! 

GET INSIDE ACCESS TO ONE OF THE BEST STUNTMEN IN THE WORLD, AMIR BADRI 

24 

OVERCOMING SOCIAL ANXIETY AND FINDING MENTAL CLARITY, 

WITH GARY HODGES 

26 

YOU MAY NOT FIND THIS IN THE GYM! 

BUILD THE YOKE - WITH HENK BAKKER 

28 

GAIN FULL BODY STRENGTH TO GET THE HUMAN FLAG 

FROM A FEMALE PERSPECTIVE, 

WITH SPONSORED CALISTHENIC PRO ISA BELL 

30 

LEARN THE TRANSITION OF THE BACKFLIP ON A SNOWMOBILE! 

X GAMES COMPETITOR AND EXTREME ATHLETE JOSH PENNER, 

SHARES HIS STORIES OF LIVING LIFE IN THE FAST LANE 

Issue 12 VOLUME 1 

4


CONTENTS 

32 

LEARN FULL, PROGRESSIVE PLANCHE PREPARATION TECHNIQUES 

WITH FORMER GYMNASTIC PRO, MARK FREEMAN 

36 

FINDING POSITIVITY AND BALANCE IN SKATEBOARDING 

NEAL UNGER 52 - PROVING AGE IS JUST A NUMBER 

39 

LIVING ON THE EDGE LITERALLY! 

INTERVIEW WITH REDBULL/ADIDAS ATHLETE, 

EXTREME CLIMBER SASHA DIGIULIAN 

41 

MOUNTAIN MAYHEM! LEARN HOW EXTREME SKIING IS PREPPED 

AND EXECUTED CORRECTLY 

INTERVIEW WITH THE LEGEND, SETH MORRISON 

43 

TRAIN TO BE UNSTOPPABLE FOR OCR. PROFESSIONAL SPARTAN ATHLETE 

AND TELEVISION COMPETITOR 

STEPHANIE SIRACO, GIVES US IN DEPTH INFO ON TRAINING TO BE THE BEST 

51 

LOST ON THE MOUNTAINS, 3 PROFESSIONAL’S REALITY-BASED 

EXPERIENCES ON BEING LOST IN NATURE'S TREACHEROUS PLAYGROUND 

RODRIGO LOBO VILLARROEL, ROBERT RAUCH AND CHRIS BRYNES 


5


ISSUE 12 VOLUME 1 

CEO: Nigel John 

Chief of Marketing Mr David Gapp 

Head of Editing: Mr Gary Hodges 

Head of Promotions: Henk Bakker 

INTRODUCTION 

COVER ATHLETE Stephanie Sicrano 

FACEBOOK GROUP: 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ 

UnconventionalAthletes 

FACEBOOK BUSINESS PAGE: 

https://www.facebook.com/ 

UnconventionalAthletes/ 

COVER ATHLETE: Stephanie Siraco 

Contributors: 

Amir Badri 

Mark Freeman 

Gary Hodges 

Stephanie Siraco 

4 Deserts Team 

Sasha Digiulian 

Neal Unger 

ENQUIRES: 

Unconventionalfit@outlook.com 

Josh Penner 

Seth Morrison 

Isa Bell 

Henk Bakker 

Rodrigo Lobo Villarroel 

Robert Rauch 

Chris Brynes 

Disclaimer 

UnconventionalAthletes.com ltd is a publication/magazine.UnconventionalAthletes.com 

ltd is an online publication/magazine and 

makes no representation, endorsement, portrayal, 

warranty or guarantee with regards to 

safety or the efficacy of the products or the 

techniques of training methods that are spoken 

about, debated, or are conversed either by writing 

or pictures/videos that represent the articles 

or any advertisements present in this magazine. 

UnconventionalAthletes.com ltd makes no 

warranty, guarantee representation regarding 

the use of the techniques, equipment/products, 

purchase of services that are in the United 

Kingdom or elsewhere in the world. It is 

mandatory that you discuss with a health care 

professional your physical health before or if 

you decide to try the techniques/exercises and 

equipment featured and discussed both literally 

and visually in this magazine. UnconventionalAthletes.com 

ltd takes no liability in your 

participation from the information received in 

the magazine and thus any participation is considered 

voluntary thus cannot hold responsible 

either UnconventionalAthletes.com ltd or its 

partners, contributors or anybody or products 

featured in this online publication from any 

harm or injury that may result from participation. 

IMAGE BY J W ATHERTON 

INTRO TO ISSUE 12 

“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste 

experience to the utmost, to reach out 

eagerly and without fear for newer and 

richer experience.” 

Eleanor Roosevelt 

Each of our lives are different, we all walk 

different paths but sometimes our paths 

cross whether this be in person, or through 

the similar positive experiences we share. 

Building valuable connections that in turn 

help us lead a better life, and expand and 

live life to find maximum fulfilment. After all, 

our experiences are what makes us. 

The remarkable athletes in Issue 12 serve as 

an exclusive band of homo sapiens, some 

pushing back the limits that bind us to the 

ground, others uniting their bodies and 

minds as one, displaying incredible feats of 

strength, balance and total body control. 

Some thrust their mind and bodies into the 

most hostile of conditions and do it to 

become a better version of themselves, 

calming the mind to deal with the everchanging 

modern world. Life is short and 

these remarkable people are living it to it’s 

superlative, what nature intended. 

Gary Hodges, is a master at manipulating 

metal objects using his mind-set techniques 

and phenomenal grip strength accrued from 

years of practice, this would not only help 

him to get strong but would benefit him 

tremendously with the negative effects of 

living with Social Anxiety. Prescription drugs 

did not work for him, it was then that he 

made it his quest to research alternative 

treatment mixed with high -end physical 

training, his decision was not to hide from 

the problem, but face it head on, creating 

new neural pathways for positivity and 

confidence, from doing this Gary got his life 

back and made him a master of himself and 

hope for others. 

Amir Badri, Josh Penner, Sasha Digulian and 

Seth Morrison share a very similar walk of 

life, they are crammed with positivity, defy 

gravity, take calculated risks, control their 

fear and embrace it, freeing themselves 

from the shackles of the contemporary 

world. The rules they follow when 

participating in their Extreme sport are their 

own, through their vast experience they are 

able to venture where many wouldn’t. It 

takes valour, determination and 

extraordinary skills to be even close to their 

level. 

Stephanie Siraco (and the creators of the 4 

Deserts Race) are seekers of using the 

body's maximum physical and mental 

capacity in the most demanding of 

environments. They do this for the love of it 

and to truly test what they are capable of, 

augmenting their strength of mind to power 

the vessel. These people and the people 

racing in the 4 Desserts do not give up, they 

are true Unconventional Athletes. 

Neal Unger reinvented himself at the age of 

52 as a professional skateboarder, aligning 

himself for balance in life, as well as on his 

deck, showing it’s never too late to find a 

new passion. 

Isa bell a sponsored Calisthenics 

professional and competitor, shares her 

magnitude of knowledge from her years of 

devotion, dedication and passion for her 

chosen sport; showing how to perfect 

advanced statics. Fine-tuning her muscles to 

perform exceptionally as a unit, enabling her 

to defy gravity. 

Henk Bakker is a regular contributor and 

valued team member of Unconventional 

Athletes. Not only is Henk as strong as an 

ox, he also utilizes his passion of 

Unconventional Training by inventing 

unique equipment that you won’t find in 

your average ‘gym’. Henk strongly believes 

in helping others become the best version 

of themselves. 

Mark Freeman, a former gymnastic 

professional shares his knowledge from vast 

pragmatism, embracing bodyweight 

movements holistically with balance, skill, 

strength and a positive mind-set to ascertain 

the perfect form. His power moves can be 

practiced at home using his step by step 

instructions from his own system: The 

Freeman technique, a must for any aspiring 

gymnast and calisthenic practitioner of 

any level. 

We look at Rodrigo Lobo Villarroel and 

Robert Rauch - two experienced 

mountaineering professionals, and a Wing 

Suiter Chris Brynes. Even though they were 

in different countries, they all shared similar 

experiences of being lost on a mountain due 

to the unpredictable actions of nature and 

the unforgiving terrain. Using their highly 

trained skillset, intuition and experience, 

they all managed to navigate themselves 

back to safety. 


6


Power of Body Strength Of Mind. 

Nigel John created Unconventional Athletes Magazine as a 

resource to educate, challenge and inspire athletes to think 

about fitness in new ways. He is partnered with Phantom 

Athletics and sponsored by Mass Suit. 

Well-known and respected in the unconventional training 

community, Nigel developed his own system called High 

Octane Training. His program is designed to develop fitness 

to an elite level in a very short period of time with multiple 

applications. A sponsored Athlete and former British 

Commando, Personal Trainer and former professional Muay 

Thai Boxer, his knowledge and emphasis on commitment 

and integrity help shape his values and the spirit of this 

Unconventional Training magazine. 

Nigel was able to walk away with just bruised ribs after a 

prolonged attack by 4+ males, this was featured on the BBC 

News and in the Daily Mail Newspaper. 

The athletes featured in Unconventional Athletes Magazine 

embrace progressive, pragmatic approaches to fitness based 

on real experience. Many have overcome hardships and 

serious obstacles and are driven by a passion to reach 

personal goals. Coming from diverse backgrounds, these 

select, high achieving men and women share their strategies 

and stories to contribute to the community of athletes seeking 

new ways to develop skills. 

In addition to featuring unconventional training methods, 

Unconventional Athletes Magazine invents next generation 

fitness equipment and also provides information on 

specialist training equipment to guide athletes and prevent 

them from falling prey to gimmicks or products making 

unsubstantiated claims. 

Website: http://www.UnconventionalAthletes.Com - Power Of Body Strength Of Mind 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UnconventionalAthletes/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unconventionalathletes/ 

Anyone wishing to contribute ideas, articles or advertisements, please contact our agent at Unconventionalfit@outlook.com 

Website: http://www.UnconventionalAthletes.Com 

- Power of Body Strength Of Mind 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UnconventionalAthletes/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unconventionalAthletes/ 


7


CONTRIBUTORS 

4 DESSERTS BIO 

The 4 Deserts Race Series is widely recognized as the most prestigious outdoor footrace 

series in the world. The series consists of the Sahara Race (Egypt/Namibia), the Gobi 

March (China/Mongolia), the Atacama Crossing (Chile) and The Last Desert (Antarctica). 

Competitors in the races traverse 250 kilometres in seven days over rough country 

terrain with only a place in a tent and water provided. 

Website: https://www.4deserts.com 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/4Deserts/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/4deserts/ 

AMIR BADRI 

NATIONALITY: IRANIAN 

A professional stunt man , SAG Award Winner for Outstanding Action Performance in a 

motion picture for 007 James Bond Skyfall, and an ex Persian tumbler… 

Amir started professional training as a stuntman in March 2008. The stunt organization 

and his crazy skillset allowed Amir to enhance the action of cinema, TV series, music 

videos, theatre and commercial advertisements. 

His skillsets: 

First Aid & Safety / Bike Riding / Work At Height / Moto-Cross / Sky Diving / Professional 

Rigger / Paragliding / Trampoline / High Fall / Work With Fire / Bungee Jumping / Horse 

Riding / Rappelling / Fighting / Snow Boarding / Professional Driving / Skate 

Rollerblading / Parkour / Free Running / High Dive / Free Falling / Gymnastics / Swimming 

Professional Film Industry Includes: 

Bang Bang Stunts 2014 

City of Mice 2 Stunt player 

Hard Makeup Metropole Head Stunt Rigger 2014 

Metropole Assistant stunt coordinator 2014 

Bekhatere Pooneh Stunt double: Farhad Aslan 2013 

Moordan Be Vaghte Shahrivar Stunt double 2013 

KhakoMarjan Stunts 2013 

Howze Naghashi Stunt rigger 2013 

007 Skyfall Stunts 2012 

Charsoo Stunt performer 2012 

Ghalb-e Yakhi Season 3 Stunt driver – assistant stunt 

coordinator 2012 

Sakhteh Iran Stunt driver 2012 

Gasht-e ershad Stunt double 2012 

Kaos örümcek agi Stunts 2012 

At the End of 8th Street Stunts 2012 

Pele Akher Stunt double 2012 

Kalbim 4 Mevsim Bike stunt 2012 

The Maritime Silk Road Stunts 2012 

Jorm Stunt Coordinator – bus driver 2011 

Akhlagheto Khoub Kon Stunt rigger 2010 

Dokhtare Shahe Parion Assistant stunt coordinator – stunt 

performer 2010 

Keyfar Stunt driver – stunt performer 2010 

Zandegi ba cheshmane base Stunts 2010 

The Hunter Assistant stunt coordinator 2010 

Pesare Adam Dokhtare Hava Stunts 2010 

Tabagheh-ye sevvom Stunt rigger 2010 

Theatre: 

Khaharane assistant Rigging coordinator 2014 

Oedipus Assistant Rigging coordinator 2013 

Ghahtie nor assistant rigging coordinator 2013 

Woyzec Assistant Rigging coordinator 2013 

Shamb eshtebah 2shamb [The Saturday mistaken as 

Monday] Stunt Rigger 2012 

Klid 2 Stunt Rigger 2011 

Motevalede 61 [Born in 1982] Stunt Rigger 2010 

Klid Stunt Rigger 2010 

Record Holder: 

Record holder for 40 meter jump, while grabbing the 

bungee cord without any attachment followed by jumping 

and release. 

Record holder for the highest height gainer flips vault from 

60 meter height inside of the airbag. 

Record holder for the back flips vault to the boxes in free 

running from 13 meter height in Iran. 

Record holder for the hardest bungee jump in Iran, including 

3 people from a 40 meter structure. 

Record holder for a tandem bungee jumping from a chopper 

of 200 meters – equivalent to the height of the Tehran 

Azadi’s football Stadium. 

Record holder for the gainer flips from the Bungee Jumping 

Structure from 40 Meters. 

Website : www.amirbadri.com 

IMDb : http://m.imdb.com/name/nm4824141/ 


8


CONTRIBUTORS 

CHRIS BRYNES 

NATIONALITY: AUSTRALIAN 

Chris Byrnes is 29 years old from Toowoomba, Australia. He has been skydiving for 4 

years and has just over 1000 jumps. He has been BASE jumping for a year and a half 

and has made over 350 BASE jumps! He is a current member of the Australian 

Parachute team and has been competing internationally in wingsuit performance for 3 

years. He recently placed 9th in performance at the 2nd FAI Wingsuit World Cup in 

Nevada, USA. He placed 1st at the 2017 World BASE Race held in Norway in July 2017. 

He also currently holds 1st place in the wingsuit BASE speed race in the ‘King’s 

Challenge’ visible on skyderby.ru making him the fastest wingsuit BASE jumper on the 

planet. Chris is passionate about all things wingsuiting and is looking forward to a big 

year of competition and fun in 2018. 

Social Media Handles 

www.facebook.com/greenflyingdude 

www.youtube.com/greenflyingdude 

Instagram: @greenflyingdude 

HENK BAKKER 

NATIONALITY: DUTCH 

Henk is also known as Henkules to his many fans and friends. Known to most, Henk is the 

king of unconventional object lifting and strength training, with over 20 years of 

experience and is very well respected in the unconventional training community. He 

works at the Department of Justice in a Special Response Team to ensure safety against 

dangerous detainees. Throughout his career he has utilized different forms of training 

such as combat, endurance exercises, and strength training. Henk now works as group 

leader/mentor, preparing detainees for their return to society. ‘I have over 20 years 

experience in strength training. I try to motivate and inspire people who want to train in 

an unconventional way.’ 

Facebook Henkules' home2gym: 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/553936311344546/?fref=ts 

STEPHANIE SICARO 

NATIONALITY: AMERICAN 

Stephanie Keenan grew up on a small, rural farm in Missouri, USA. She attended college 

in Florida, competing in triathlons, lifeguard competitions, water polo and other 

endurance sports. After her education, Stephanie served 6 years in the US Navy as a 

nuclear engineer, serving aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. Following 

her military career, she became a defense contractor and for 5 years shifted her athletic 

focus towards physique competitions. She then quit her job to launch her own online 

fitness coaching business. 

In 2014, Stephanie started to compete in obstacle course races known as Spartan Races 

with her team Charleston Warriors, and will be competing in NBC’s Spartan Ultimate 

Team Challenge, airing this year. She began a second coaching business dedicated to 

obstacle course training. Stephanie has been featured on the television series Ninja 

Warrior and most recently The Broken Skull Challenge with Steve Austin. 

Website: www.skfitlife.com 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/stephaniekeenanfitlife?fref=ts 

Instagram: http://instagram.com/stephaniekeenan 

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/stephkeenan 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/skfitlife 


9


CONTRIBUTORS 

ISA BELL 

NATIONALITY: GERMAN 

Education: 

After training in banking, Isa decided to study banking and finance together. She 

ultimately worked over 13 years in finance. Recently, she completely changed direction 

and is now working for BLACKROLL. The most famous German foam roller company. As 

well as being a Sponsored Calisthenics professional and competitor, Isa is also a sales 

rep and a certified PT and BLACKROLL trainer. 

Awards/Achievements (and dates received): 

When Isa was young she won several awards in ping-pong, this developed her hand to 

eye coordination to another level. 

Participant of the first female world championship in Street workout in Amsterdam in 

2014. 

Qualified for the second female world championship in Moscow 2015 

Beast battle from Bar hunters. Winning female in freestyle 2015 

First place in Staten Island Bar crazy/Barjam females freestyle 2015 

First place in females freestyle Miami Barstarzz Pull Up Jam 2015 

Participated in Ninja Warrior Germany 2016 - this was televised. 

Specialized skills/areas of expertise: 

Isa loves freestyle but got far more addicted to statics. Her favorite move is the one 

arm elbow lever. 

Enjoys performing handstands 

Specialized in foam rolling and calisthenics group classes. 

She trains around 6-8 times a week 

Forms of training: 

Up to twice a week: A morning Tabata session with her company. Once a week she 

focuses just on legs, and another day she focuses on yoga. The rest of the time it's 

straight calisthenics. Reps/sets and skill training. 

ISA…. 

‘I was always a sporty person. A couple of years ago I just did fitness and a bit of Crossfit, 

but I got bored. Then Barstarzz came into my life and taught me all the stuff around 

calisthenics. From day 1, I was totally addicted to that kind of sport. Barstarzz totally 

changed my life. I'm traveling a lot, just to see friends all around the world. I've met the 

most amazing people since I got into Barstarzz. It's not only to push yourself to the next 

physical level, it’s also about the community. We lift each other up, great friendships 

are built and it's like one big family. 

I try to push myself as hard as possible in my workouts. I got badly injured in 2016, but 

this was never going to stop me. A lot of rehab and now I'm back on track. I love doing 

group classes with my friends, and also competitions like power competitions and 

freestyle comps. The pull up jam in Miami is super fun to compete. I'm not competing 

to show that I'm better than someone else, I compete to have fun and push myself. If I 

lose the competition, I don't actually lose. I just find out which skills I need to improve 

on. I found out that I love crazy stuff like ninja warrior, so I applied a second time for 

season two in Germany. Hopefully I can take part. ‘ 

Instagram: isa_bell_fit 

Headstrongtraining 

Email address: headstrongtraining@gmx.ch 

Phone number: 

+49 151 29158136 

Facebook: /isa.bell.52056 

https://m.facebook.com/Headstrong-Training-557219684469194/ 


10


CONTRIBUTORS 

JOSH PENNER 

NATIONALITY : CANADIAN 

Born in B.C. in Letellier, Manitoba, Josh Penner is a former pro motocross racer who 

carried the No. 1 plate in Manitoba before turning his attention to the freestyle dirt 

bike and snowmobile scene. Josh’s skillsets are simply amazing and adrenalin fuelled, 

he is one of the most talented Extreme Sports Athletes on the planet. 

Penner has performed on his bike at Hay Days in Minnesota, and he’s been featured in 

several snowmobiling films. Josh has also been on the Winter X Games. 

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/jpenner70 

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/jpenner70?lang=en 

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/penner70/?hl=en 

MARK FREEMAN 

NATIONALITY: BRITISH 

2009-2014 - Cirque du Soleil Performer/Acrobat 

Consistently performed and thrived in the spotlight, executing complex acrobatic 

maneuvers, 

sequences and dances, routinely in multiple cities across the globe. Always maintained 

the artistic 

integrity of the show. Performed 8 -10 shows per week in front of thousands of people. 

Successfully 

traveled and exposed to many multi-cultural settings and people. 

2005–2008 – Golden Bear Club Team Gymnastics Coach 

2004–2008 – University of California, Berkeley, Men’s Gymnastics Team Member 

2001–2004 – Great Britain Senior National Team Member 

1996–2001 – Great Britain Junior National Team Member 

ACHIEVEMENTS 

- Junior European Champion on Still Rings 2002 (Patras, Greece) 

- First ever British competitor to receive a gold medal, making gymnastics history 

- Competitor in Men’s Artistic World Gymnastics Championships 2002 (Debrecen, 

Hungary) and 

2003 (Anaheim, USA) 

- Full athletic scholarship to UC Berkeley 2004-2008 

- Full athletic scholarship offers from Penn State & the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 

- Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Academic Honors 2004-2008 

- Contributed to the creation and production of the multi million dollar sensation, 

TOTEM with 

Cirque du Soleil. 

1114 Berkshire Avenue 

Brookline, PA 15226 

412-694-2713 

Email: mark@freemantechnique.com 

Website: www.freemantechnique.com 


11


CONTRIBUTORS 

NEAL UNGER 

NATIONALITY : AMERICAN 

Neal A. Unger was born in 1957 in Anaheim, California. He remembers enjoying the 

Disneyland fireworks from his bedroom window as he was sent to bed every night at 

9pm. At the age of five his mother bought him a skateboard. A brain tumour claimed 

her life four short years later. Adopted by an older brother, Neal developed his passion 

for surfing and skateboarding while living in San Diego, California. He graduated from 

Bowness Highschool in Calgary, Alberta, Canada before returning to the California 

coast. Having surfed Pavones, Costa Rica and the big island of Hawaii, he practices 

regular meditation and believes the human body should remain strong and youthful 

into old age. At the age of 56 he is still learning skate tricks. He loves to share what life, 

and skateboarding, have taught him so far. 

FACEBOOK : https://www.facebook.com/Neal-unger-623751740988008/ 

YOUTUBE : https://www.youtube.com/user/skatesissypop 

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/neal_a_unger/?hl=en 

ROBERT RAUCH 

NATIONALITY: GERMAN 

Robert Rauch has 20 years of mountaineering & trekking in the Bolivian Andes and 

subtropical amazon under his belt. Robert was born in a small German town and grew 

up in Mittenwald, a mountain village near the former Austrian border. At the age of 12 

he started to climb in the Alps and when he was 20, he became a passionate free 

climber. At the age of 30 he repeated all the difficult rock and ice climbs of the 

Bolivian Andes. He added his own, still unrepeated difficult, solo first ascents. He 

made the first ascent of the most difficult Andean rock climb together with friends. He 

knows more than 150 trekking routes from the Andes to the Amazon and all the 

normal routes to the high Bolivian Andes peaks. During long Bolivian rainy seasons, he 

has written several books. For more information on Robert’s vast credentials that are 

not listed on this bio, please visit his Facebook page by clicking the link below. 

Robert also runs a Mountaineering experience for all types of people with his good 

friend and student Rodrigo. Together, they are able to use their vast experience and 

knowledge of Mountaineering, enabling anyone to go places they wouldn’t think were 

possible. Robert makes this a reality, offering the best and safest treks high across the 

Andes. For more information please click the link below. 

Facebook: @deep.andes.mountaineering 

Email: robert.rauch@protonmail.ch 


12


CONTRIBUTORS 

RODRIGO LOBO VILLARROEL 

NATIONALITY: BOLIVIAN 

Rodrigo is a professional BASE jumper, extreme athlete and professional Mountain 

climber. Rodrigo’s vast experience has enabled him to push past nature’s limits with 

calculated risks; he credits Mountain climbing skills to his good friend and mentor 

Robert Rauch. Rodrigo explores places at altitude that most people wouldn’t dream of 

going, together with his mentor Robert they provide safe treks to people from around 

the globe, giving the ultimate experience that is on another level of the great outdoors. 

For more information on the treks they offer please check the link below 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deep.andes.mountaineering/ 

SASHA DIGIULIAN 


Sasha first began climbing at 6 years old, in 1998. She has won the World 

Championships for Female Overall, and has placed Silver in the Bouldering World 

Championships, as well as Bronze in the Duel. Sasha has been the undefeated Pan- 

American Champion 2004 to the present, and she is a three-time US National Champion. 

Outdoors, Sasha is the first North American woman to climb the grade 9a, 5.14d, 

recognized as one of the hardest sport climbs achieved by a female. Sasha was the third 

woman in the world to accomplish this grade. Additionally, she has on sighted multiple 

8b+’s, 5.14a’s, ascended ground breaking multi-pitch routes of up to 1000 feet of 8c 

climbing, and has accomplished multiple First Ascents and 28 First Female Ascents 

around the world, including a First Female Ascent on the North Face of the Eiger. 

DiGiulian graduated from Columbia University in New York City, having studied 

nonfiction writing and Business. She is on the Board of the Women's Sports Foundation 

and serves as a Global Athlete Ambassador for Right to Play, Up2Us Sports, and the 

American Alpine Club. She also has served as an Athlete Representative on the board of 

the International Federation of Sport Climbing. She has been the recipient of multiple 

prestigious awards, including GLAMOUR Magazine's Top College Women of the Year, 

2016, the Cutting Edge Athlete Award for 2014 performance, presented by the 

American Alpine Club, The Golden Piton Award, and the Arco Rock Legend Award for 

Outstanding Achievements in the outdoors. 

In addition to climbing, DiGiulian has a column with Outside Magazine and has been a 

published writer by other publications, including National Geographic, Rock and Ice, 

SELF, Seventeen, and CRAVE. She travels globally for appearances and events, including 

public speaking and clinics. 

Twitter/Instagram: 

@sashadigiulian 

Facebook: 

facebook.com/sashadigiulian 


13


CONTRIBUTORS 

SETH MORRISON 


Seth Morrison Bio Personal Stats: Years skiing: 37. Residing in: CO 

Current Sponsors: Hestra Gloves, Oakley Pro Model Goggle 

Supporters: Cheetah Factory Racing. 

Background: Ski Club Vail 8 years, 

Racing at FIS level for 4 years 

Ski Events: 

Skiers Cup- 2016 Andorra Team Americas. 

Skiers Cup- 2015 Zermatt Team Americas, Team Captain. 

Skiers Cup- 2014 Zermatt Team Americas, Team Americas win. 

Bike Races: 

Crested Butte Classic 2016- 5th overall, 12hr 6min 02sec, 96miles, 18,000ft of climbing. 

Grand Traverse 2016- 5th overall Aspen to Crested Butte, CO 5hr 12min 55sec, 39 Miles, 

6763ft of climbing. 

Crested Butte Classic 2015- 3rd overall, 12hr 58min 50sec, 102 Miles, 17,000ft of climbing. 

Grand Traverse 2015- 7th overall, Aspen to Crested Butte, CO 5hr 9min 57 sec. 41 Miles, 

6800ft of climbing. 

Films: 

14/15 No Turning Back, Produced by Warren Miller Entertainment (WME). 

13/14 Tracing Sky Lines, Produced by Poor Boyz (PBP) and Red Bull Media. 

13/14 Ticket to Ride, Produced by WME. 

12/13 The Dream Factory, produced by Teton Gravity Research (TGR). 

11/12 The Ordinary Skier, Produced by 1242 Productions. 

10/11 Light The Wick, produced by TGR. 

09/10 RE:Session, TGR. 

08/09 Under The Influence, produced by TGR. 

07/08 Lost And Found, TGR. 

07/08 Believe, produced by Tanner Hall. 

06/07 Ski Porn, produced by PBP. 

06/07 Show and Prove, produced by The Bigger Picture. 

06/07 Anomaly, produced by TGR. 

06/07 Deep Winter, produced by Deep Winter. 

06/07 Steep, produced by High Ground Productions. 

05/06 Stars, Skis, and Hucks, produced by Chainsaw Productions. 

05/06 War, produced by Poor Boyz. 

05/06 Higher Ground, produced by Warren Miller Entertainment (WME). 

04/05 Yearbook, produced by Matchstick Productions (MSP). 

03/04 Focused, produced by MSP. 

02/03 Ski Movie 3, “The Frontline”, produced by MSP. 

02/03 The Seth Morrison Chronicles, produced by MSP. 

02/03 Keep Your Eyes Open, produced by Rough Mix Productions, INC. Distributed by Artisan 

Entertainment 

02/03 Storm, produced by WME. 

01/02 Ski Movie 2, “High Society”, produced by MSP. 

01/02 Keep Your Eyes Open, produced by Rough Mix Productions, INC. 

01/02 Cold Fusion, produced by WME. 

00/01 Ski Movie, produced by MSP. 

00/01 The Game, produced by PBP. 

99/00 Global Storming, produced MSP. 

99/00 13, produced PBP. 

98/99 Sick Sense, produced MSP. 

98/99 Second Nature (best of MSP), produced by MSP. 

97/98 Pura Vida, produced by MSP. 

97/98 The Fix, produced by Eric Voake (Loaded Gun Productions). 

96/97 Fetish, produced by MSP. 

96/97 The Performers, produced by MSP for K2 Skis. 

96/97 The Continuum, produced by TGR. 


14


95/96 The Tribe, produced by MSP. 

94/95 The Hedonist, produced by MSP. 

93/94 Soul Sessions and Epic Impressions, produced by MSP. 

93/94 Black Diamond Rush, Warren Miller Entertainment. 

Award Nominations: 

2014 Powder Video Awards, Readers Poll- 5th. 

2013 Powder Video Awards 2, Readers Poll- 1st. 

2013 Powder Video Awards 1, Readers Poll- 2nd. 

2012 Powder Video Awards, Readers Poll- 2nd. 

2011 Powder Video Awards, Readers Poll- 2nd. 

2010 Powder Video Awards, Readers Poll. Winner! 

2010 Powder Video Awards, Line of the Year- Nomination. 

2009 Powder Video Awards, Readers Poll- Winner! 

2009 Powder Video Awards, Full Throttle- Winner! 

2009 Powder Video Awards, Best Natural Air- Winner! 

2008 Fri Flyt Prisen- Athlete of the Decade- Winner! 


2008 Powder Video Awards, Full Throttle- Nomination. 


2007 Powder Video Awards, Best Natural Air “Anomoly”- Winner! 

2007 Powder Video Awards, Best Natural Air “Show and Prove”- Nomination. 

2006 Powder Video Awards, Best Natural Air “Stars, Skis and Hucks”- Nomination. 

2005 Powder Video Awards, Readers Poll- 2nd. 


2004 Powder Video Awards, Best Cliff Huck- Nomination. 

2003 Powder Video Awards, Readers Poll – Winner! 

2003 Powder Video Awards, Best Male Performance- Nomination. 

2003 Powder Video Awards, Best Cliff Huck- Nomination. 

2003 Powder Video Awards, Full Throttle- Winner! 

2003 Powder Video Awards, Worst Avalanche- Winner! 

2003 Powder Video Awards, Best Straight-line- Winner with J.T. Holmes! 

2003 Powder Video Awards, Worst Slam- Nomination. 

2003 Film X-Dance Action Sports, Music, Video Games Awards, Best Stunt/Feat of the Year- Winner! 

2002 ESPN Action Sports and Music Awards, Male Skier of the Year- Winner! 

2002 ESPN Action Sports and Music Awards, Feat of the Year. 

2002 Powder Video Awards, Male Skier of the Year- Winner! 

2002 Poachers Freeskiing Awards, Male Skier of the Year- Winner! 

2002 Nea Awards 2002, Best Male Freeskier. 

2001 Powder Magazine, Male Skier of the Year- Winner! 

2001 ESPN Action Sports and Music Awards, Male Skier of the Year. 

2001 NEA Awards 2001, Best Male Freeskier. 

Hobbies: 

Mountain Biking since 1987, 6 years competitive. 

Snowmobiling. 

sethmorrison.com 

Instagram- @sethmorrison36 

Twitter- @sethmorrison1 

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/morrisonseth1/ 

GARY HODGES 

NATIONALITY: UNITED KINGDOM 

Gary Hodges is an avid Unconventional Athlete from the UK he is an object lifter, metal 

manipulator, tree climber - these are a few examples of his skillsets. Gary will use 

anything he sees in nature to train with. Gary has many years of experience in 

unconventional training and is always willing to learn from other's knowledge. 

Gary also uses his unconventional training to manage and eventually beat 

his illnesses, which he is having success with! 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/max.power.758737?fref=ts 


15


SWEAT, TEARS AND DETERMINATION 

THE HARDEST RACE ON THE PLANET! 

THE 4 DESERTS 

The 4 Deserts Race Series is widely recognized as the most prestigious outdoor footrace series in the world. The series consists 

of the Sahara Race (Egypt/Namibia), the Gobi March (China/Mongolia), the Atacama Crossing (Chile) and The Last Desert 

(Antarctica). Competitors in the races traverse 250 kilometres in seven days over rough country terrain, with only a place in a 

tent and water provided. They are supported by highly qualified staff, all with experience in hiking, marathons and ultramarathons, 

and medical teams specializing in wilderness medicine. You have to battle 250 kilometres of treacherous terrain, 

while carrying around 2Olbs on your back through extreme heat or cold. The 4 Deserts is a true test of physical and mental 

prowess; a force to be respected and reckoned with. Not only does the 4 Desserts race give a high sense of achievement, it 

also makes you a better person, putting the mind back in touch with the body - read on to find out why. 


16


WELCOME TO REALITY: 

What would make you want to 

run 250 kilometers in a desert? 

This is possibly the most 

common reaction of friends 

and family when someone 

decides to run a 4 Deserts 

race! 

The reasons people take part 

in multi-stage races in deserts 

around the world vary hugely, 

partly because they attract an 

immensely varied crowd. 

Hong Kong based Briton, Ben 

Fox quite rightly points out: 

“there is no simple answer”. 

When asked to expand on 

this, he has a rather more 

profound answer “I think it's 

important to never live in the 

status quo, to never accept a 

life of pure comfort and 

convenience without ever 

discovering what you are really capable of.” These days we live 

lives which are too full of comfort and convenience, we 

become soft and lazy, we drink too much, eat too much and 

complain about our first world problems”. His view is that we 

all need to push the limits and suffer discomfort and some pain 

to shake up our lives. Ben also wants to instill in his children 

that they can strive hard to achieve their goals, and that they 

should never give up just because something is a little difficult. 

However, as with most of us, Ben Fox will tell those friends and 

family who will always label him the crazy one: “why not?” Or 

quote the mountaineer George Mallory when asked why he 

wanted to try to climb Everest, "Because it's there!" 


17


UNITING MIND AND BODY 

Many of us will resonate with David Cox of the UK who 

completed three of the 4 Deserts races since 2010, who says: 

‘I love the physical, the mental and the emotional space. It 

allows me the time to put things into perspective, to marvel at 

this beautiful and amazing planet, and to enjoy the company 

of (extra)ordinary people.’ He is right, the races do tend to 

turn people into better versions of themselves. 

Australia’s James Dean who has been at two of the 4 Deserts 

races – with a withdrawal at the first and then successfully 

completing the second race four years later, says: ‘for me, 

doing a multi-stage ultra was my own Olympics. Growing up, 

I had dreams of becoming an Olympian, but life got in the way. 

Being out in the desert, pushing my body beyond its limits 

after months of training gave me a real sense of achievement.’ 

There’s no denying, 250 kilometers / 155 miles is a long way 

to run. Add to that a desert terrain, with soft sand, the 

occasional dune, extremes of temperature and 9kg / 20lb on 

your back, it can seem the ultimate challenge. Some 

competitors have completed a 10 km marathon, maybe even 

100km, and want to take the next step. It might come from a 

desire to beat a time, or set a record. 


18


SETTING THE RECORD: 

In Canadian brothers Eric and Paul Chan’s 

case, it was for two reasons. They wanted to 

set a record, and doing something 

extraordinary helped their aim to raise 

thousands for the Rainforest Trust charity. 

They completed their year-long quest to 

break a world record for most number of 

desert races run in a year. 

Jax Mariash from the United States trained 

hard to become the first woman to complete 

the 4 Deserts Grand Slam PLUS - all 4 

Deserts Race PLUS, the RacingThePlanet 

Ultra-marathon in one year and was also 

crowned the 4 Deserts female champion of 

2016. 

BECOMING A BETTER YOU 

Alex Chapman from England, who has 

completed three races, says he was inspired 

by others, said: ‘some of my friends did a 4 

Deserts race and they stopped being "those 

fat middle-aged blokes down the pub" to 

being “those guys.” I wanted to be one of “those guys” too.’ 

I agree. After completing my first race I entered a second 4 

Deserts race because I wanted that same feeling back. I lost 

weight, had a positive outlook, life seemed easier somehow. 

Running a 4 Deserts race is a great way to set a milestone in 

your life. Many people, including Jonathan Wilkes, have 

treated themselves and entered a race on a ‘significant’ 

birthday.The plan is often hatched in a moment of madness, or 

perhaps as the result of a bet, normally after a bottle of wine 

or two. But that’s often all the inspiration that’s needed and 

training starts when the hangover has had time to dissipate. 


There is also the question of “can I do it?” There have been 

blind competitors, 70 year olds, 20 year olds, a team carrying 

a full rhino outfit and a man with one leg – of course you can 

do it! Ultimately, anyone can complete a 4 Deserts race; you 

just have to want to. Sometimes you need to look past the 

250km and know that the 4 Deserts races take you to stunning 

places, to achieve something amazing and new, with some of 

the best people you will ever meet. 

No matter what the reason, it’s a great challenge to overcome. 

To paraphrase Sir Edmund Hillary: ‘it’s not the desert we 

conquer, but ourselves.’ 

19


WILL THE REAL 

JAMES BOND 

PLEASE FALL DOWN? 

HOW DID A TEENAGER 

PRACTICING PARKOUR IN 

TEHRAN BECOME A TOP 

STUNTMAN WORKING IN 

HOLLYWOOD MOVIES? 

FUELED BY A LOVE FOR 

EXCITEMENT, AMIR BADRI 

HAS WORKED HARD AT 

CRASHING CARS, FALLING 

FROM BUILDINGS, FIGHTING 

FURIOUS FOES AND 

BREAKING WORLD RECORDS 

– THEN WALKING AWAY 

WITH A SMILE. 


20


How did you get into stunt work, Amir? 

I started sport training when I was 16. I 

watched a movie called District B-13 

with David Bell and I loved it. That movie 

led me to do research online and I 

discovered parkour. Every day after 

school I went to the park with my friends 

to practice. I’d watch David Bell’s video 

clips online – stopping and starting it to 

see what I should do. I tried to do the 

same vaults that I 

witnessed. I also 

would watch like a 1 

minute section of a 

stunt for a week and 

try to learn it myself 

because there 

weren’t any pro 

schools back then 

to learn the trade. 

I REALIZED THAT I LIKED 

TO DO EXTREME THINGS 

LIKE FREE FALL, 

SO MY PASSION CHANGED 

FROM PARKOUR TO STUNTS. 

Later, my parkour friends and I met a 

stunt team at that park and the crew 

asked if we wanted to train with them. 

At first my friends went 3 days a week to 

train, but I didn’t find it exciting in the 

beginning, so I’d only go occasionally. 

But after about 6 months, step-by-step, 

I started to really enjoy the stunts. I 

realized that I liked to do extreme things 

like free fall, so my passion changed from 

parkour to performing stunts. After 2 

years, all of my friends went back to 

parkour. I then started doing very small 

stunts for movies. That was back in 2007. 

What types of stunts do you typically do? 

I’ve done a lot of car tumbling, bike stunts, 

bus stunt driving, fighting, falling and so 

many other dangerous things. I did my 

first tumble in a car at 18 – a 2 ½ tumble 

in a very old car for an Iranian movie, and 

I was happy when I finished it. Then a 

man in Turkey saw me online and invited 

me to film a movie there called KAOS. I 

did some car tumbling in that film too. 

21


BEING ABLE TO OVERCOME 

FEAR AND PERFORM ALL 

OF THE “SCARY STUFF” MAINLY 

COMES DOWN TO TRUSTING 

THE EQUIPMENT. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6Vk6 

Pmp59I_cEhKXzJXekNnWG8/view?usp 

=drive_web 

But I also discovered bungee jumping 

online and did a gainer flip on my first 

jump. It’s my favorite vault and it’s my 

signature move. After that I got more 

and more invitations to be in movies. 

What do you consider to be the most 

dangerous stunt you’ve performed? 

I think the most dangerous stunt was 

when I jumped off of a 40 meter 

structure with a bungee cord in my 


hands with no 

back-up harness. 

When I touched 

the ground I let go 

of the cord and 

landed, standing 

upright. I practiced 

a lot with the backup 

harness, but I 

only did it once 

without the 

harness back-up. 

What are some of the safety measures 

taken when tumbling a car? 

When we want to tumble a car we will 

make a pipe roll bar inside of the car by 

welding it together. We construct an 

entire cage inside of the car to sit in, 

and make sure that the roof is secured 

so it doesn’t come off. We also have a 

special seat that covers the body and 

head of the driver to prevent too much 

shaking and shock and we have a 

special helmet that attaches to the seat 

and also a neck protector. We use full 

body anti-fire suits and some hard 

shoulder, chest and knee pads. There’s 

a 5-part seat belt, and a cutter is kept 

in the car in case of an emergency. This 

is to ensure that the driver can get out 

of the car if the belt locks. Once the 

stunt is over, the driver needs to get out 

of the car as soon as possible. We only 

use a small amount of fuel in case of a 

fire - to prevent feeding it. 

You worked in over 30 Iranian movies as 

well as Hollywood blockbusters, and at 

least 2 international movies annually. 

Which movie was your favorite? 

I loved 007 James Bond “Skyfall” 

because I met so many professional 

stunt people and great stunt 

coordinators like Gary Powell. I got to 

work with the amazing British team who 

rigged, coordinated and executed the 

stunts. I could barely believe that they 

asked me because they have so many 

professional stuntmen, but they sent me 

22


to Turkey to film stunts for that movie. I 

worked 3 months on that and it was the 

best time of my life! The stunt crew were 

such good, friendly guys and the 

community is amazing, as they all help 

each other. I actually cried during the last 

days, knowing our work would end soon. 

What stunts do you enjoy performing the 

most? 

Free fall is my favorite. I did a gainer flip 

from 60 meters in 2014 at a Russian stunt 

festival. I also love the rigging of stunts 

which includes a lot of wire working. I 

enjoyed working on the falling sequence 

in Skyfall when James Bond gets shot, in 

the dramatic opening scene while on a 

train. (insert the link to - YouTube: Skyfall 

– Opening Scene:Train Fight with 

Digger…it’s awesome!) 

Diz Sharpe was the head rigging 

coordinator. Doing the work behind the 

scenes, the planning and thinking behind 

it all. Incorporating all of the safety 

measures takes a lot of the danger out 

of all the dramatic things you see. It 

takes a lot of team work to arrange, and 

to be able to trust the equipment. We 

love our lives and we care about being 

safe and healthy! 

Stunt work must be mentally taxing. How 

do you manage this challenge? 

People ask me, “Why aren’t you 

scared?” I answer: “Who said I’m not 

scared?!” You need to have incredible 

control of your mind, but you also need 

to relax and contribute calmness to the 

crew. The mind’s ability is more important 

than the ability of the body. Being able 

to overcome fear and perform all of the 

“scary stuff” mainly comes down to 

trusting the equipment. Equipment is 

70% of the equation. Of course you need 

to have athletic ability and an intelligent 

coordinator to plan things perfectly too. 

What would be the first step for someone 

looking to become a stuntman? 

First you need to have a passion to want 

to do it! It’s hard work and sometimes we 

work too much, getting only like 3 hours 

of sleep a day. You need to train hard 

and make your body and mind ready. 

You need to believe in yourself, that you 

can do whatever you want. I believe that 

talking about it isn’t enough, you need 

to start doing. I would also recommend 

a new book by Andy Armstrong that 

helps stunt people by showing the 

sequences step-by-step. 

If you love your job, the work is easier. 

Love will make the hardest of things 

seem easier. I really enjoy when I’m 

working. The toughest times for me are 

when I have nothing to do! 


23


S OCIAL␣ANXIETY 

by Unconventional Athlete, Gary Hodges. 

EARLY LIFE 

I have suffered from social anxiety since 

my teenage years, which seems to have 

started around the age of 16 when I left 

school and began college. I remember 

the fear rising in my chest as I left the 

house early each morning. As a child, I 

never even considered the thoughts of 

others, but during this period in my life 

– I was fully aware of every person 

around me. To describe the feeling, it 

felt as if I was an actor in a pantomime 

and everyone else was watching me, 

and I had forgotten my lines. I felt like 

every move and every thought that I 

made was being closely scrutinized and 

mocked. Walking into a new place was 

hell – the paranoia ate at me. Why were 

they all staring at me? These feelings left 

me tired and beat down by the end of 

each day. 

I had started exercising at about the age 

of 12, performing push ups daily along 

with other movements, but during the 

time that social anxiety reared its ugly 

head, I turned to exercise even more. 

This helped with my feelings of 

inferiority and I started to feel better 

about the way I looked. I quit college 

because the subject that I had chosen 

was far too demanding and it was 

unbearable when coupled with the 

social anxiety that I was feeling. A few 

years later, during a retail job, I got very 

ill and lost everything that I had worked 

for physically. I have spoken in detail 

about this period in my life in a previous 

article. The illness plus my social anxiety 

made going to work very difficult and I 

ended up only working weekends for 4 

years. I got made redundant and 

although this meant I could hide away in 

my house, it made my feelings of 

inferiority ten times stronger. 

After being made redundant, I failed for 

a long time to find the courage to get a 

new job and I ended up feeling 

completely useless. Around this time in 

my life, I found my soulmate, and even 

though I felt more confident around her, 

I still struggled with self-doubt and the 

feelings of everybody staring at me. I 

would burn red with embarrassment 

whenever I spoke to somebody and my 

heart would feel like it was bursting out 

of my chest. My partner had two 

children and being around my new 

family made things slightly easier, giving 

me a purpose and taking my mind off 

some of the suffering. I then had a child 

of my own and I remember trying as 

hard as possible to hide this “weakness” 

from him, fearing that it would affect him 

negatively. The social anxiety was so 

intense that I blame those destructive 

thoughts and feelings for having very 

few memories of my past. 

ENTER PHENIBUT 

After many more years of suffering and 

after failing to find relief with 

prescription drugs, I stumbled across a 

website promoting something called 

Nootropics and after reading extremely 

positive reviews, I decided to try an 

anxiolytic called Phenibut. Apparently, it 

was used for Russian astronauts to 

reduce anxiety during space travel. The 

powder arrived and I mixed it into a 

cooled coffee first thing in the morning 

on an empty stomach. I skipped 

breakfast that day because I heard it was 

more effective on an empty stomach 

and I went about my day like normal. No 

change in my anxiety was noted, 

however (yet). 

I continued to use this product for two 

days in a row and then took two days off. 

I cannot remember which day into the 

cycle that I noticed exactly, but 

something had changed in me. Phenibut 

did not give me the confidence to open 

up or make me feel like I could take on 

the world, but when I did find myself in 

a situation which would’ve previously 

made my heart beat fast and make my 

face burn bright red, I felt relaxed and 

the symptoms of embarrassment did not 

arise. Was this a fluke, or was this the 

nootropic working? I tried different 

scenarios which would’ve triggered a 

response… 

…nothing. I felt fine. No feelings of 

doom and I was no longer feeling that 

I wanted to melt through the floor to 

escape common, everyday situations. I 

was volunteering at my local school to 

try to build up my confidence and start 

rebuilding some social skills and things 

were starting to feel a lot more natural 

to me. I stopped drinking large 

amounts of alcohol which I had relied 

on for temporary relief for many years. 

This was partly because alcohol and 

Phenibut does not mix well, but also 

because I no longer needed it for an 

escape. 

BUILDING CONFIDENCE FROM THE 

GROUND UP 

I started to make YouTube videos of 

some of my intense training sessions, 

and the reception that I received from 

people around the world helped to 

bolster my confidence. I am not afraid to 

admit that I was feeding off of the 

comments and attention and I was using 

it like a tool to increase my self-belief. I 

think most people do this without even 

thinking, and some refuse to admit it. 

One of the things that Phenibut has 

allowed me to do, is be brutally honest 

and see things for how they really are. I 

no longer need other people’s opinions 

to feel good about myself (although it is 

nice to get feedback and inspire people) 

and I no longer fear people in positions 

of authority. I can now happily go into 

job interviews or situations that 

would’ve previously destroyed me. I now 

feel that I strength train for a very 

different reason, I do it for fun and for 

the ability to protect the people that I 

love. I am happy with who I am, I no 

longer hate stepping outside and I fear 

nobody. Also, I no longer rely on 

Phenibut, I use it occasionally as a top- 


24


up when situations get very severe. It 

allowed me to change mentally, not just 

merely cover up and mask my condition. 

I partly owe Phenibut my life, who knows 

where I would’ve been right now if it 

wasn’t for this huge overhaul of my 

mental state? 

WHERE TO GET IT 

Phenibut used to be widely available in 

the UK, but for a while it disappeared. 

Lucky enough, I got what I needed from 

it before that happened. Although I am 

able to integrate and feel “normal”, 

there are still obviously times in my life 

which are highly stressful, and that 

feeling of a complete release is 

required. This is why I was over-themoon 

when I noticed that a product 

called Z-12 by Biotest existed in the 

UK. It is mixed with Theanine and 5- 

HTP which are also strong anxiolytic 

compounds. It is mainly marketed as a 

sleep aid and I imagine it is very good 

for this, but I personally take two 

capsules on an empty stomach first 

thing in the morning. 

I am only a few days into my 

supplementation but I can already feel its 

effects. I am going through a very rough 

situation in my life right now so it has 

come at a perfect time – just giving me 

the boost that I need. I am not affiliated 

with Biotest in any way so I have nothing 

to gain other than being able to help 

others like me. The price is extremely 

reasonable for what the product delivers 

– I personally feel that you can’t put a 

price on your own mental health. Also, 

the capsules and packaging is superb. 

There are no nasty, unnecessary 

ingredients added to the mix. 

I know that if you are suffering from 

social anxiety then you feel helpless and 

have lost faith in ever feeling 

comfortable… but there is a way out. 

Phenibut will make the journey to 

confidence a lot more bearable and 

successful. 

You can find this product at: www.biotest.co.uk 


25


THE YOKE 

A carrying pole, also called a shoulder pole or a milkmaid's 

yoke, is a yoke of wood used by people to carry a load. This 

piece of equipment is used in one of two basic ways: 

- A single person balances the yoke over one shoulder, with 

an evenly distributed load being suspended from each end. 

- A single person balancing the yoke upon both shoulders, 

with the load suspended from each end of the yoke. 

The basic western design is a wooden yoke. From each end of 

the yoke, a load of equal mass is suspended. The load may be 

a basket of goods, pail of milk, water or other liquid, 

suspended on rope. 

The Western milkmaids wore the device by balancing the 

yoke upon both shoulders. 

This method of transfer is now being used in various 

disciplines in the fitness industry. 

For example: with strongman competitions, crossfit or by 

unconventional athletes like myself, of course it is adapted to 

carry heavier weights. 

I'm going to show you that you can use the Yoke for different 

exercises in a variety of different ways, and I am going to show 

you how to make a Yoke yourself. 

HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN YOKE! 

First you have to find a tree trunk at 

about 200cm in length, with a diameter 

of about 15cm. Then you will need the 

following materials; 

- Two round iron brackets (diameter 

15cm) especially for swings. You can find 

them in a hardware store or construction 

market. 

- Handsaw, hammer and an adjustable 

wrench 

- Rope 

- Iron staples to nail the rope 

- Carabiner hooks (stainless steel) 

- Two tensioning straps 

- Sandpaper 

The first thing you are going to do is saw 

through both sides of the trunk (Take off 

about 10 cm) so you have two smooth 

ends on the trunk. Then you must sand 

down the trunk to remove the splinters 

and disparities as much as possible. 

Then attach the iron brackets to the two 

ends of the trunk, use the hammer and 

wrench as a tool to attach the iron 

brackets. 

The next step is to wrap the rope tightly 

around the trunk and use iron staples to 

tighten the rope. (See picture) 

Make a 50cm long rope braid and use it 

to make a handle in the middle of the 

Yoke. 

Attach the tensioning straps to the 

carabiner hooks and attach an equal 

weight to each side of the Yoke. Now 

your Yoke is ready to use. 

Now I’m going to show you different 

exercises you can do with the Yoke that 

you have just made! 

THE YOKE-WALK 

Grab the yoke and put it up on your 

shoulders, then you place both hands 

under the Yoke as you would a squat bar. 

Now, tighten your abs and squeeze your 

shoulder blades together to keep your 

upper back tight, and then press up into 

the yoke as if you were trying to press it 

overhead. 

Then stand up straight and start walking 

and take small, fast steps, this will help 

you with staying tight and avoiding 

unwanted movement of the Yoke. 

If you are a beginner with the Yoke Walk 

then try to use a load of twice your body 

weight. 

- Heavy + short distance + low volume 

(10-15m) 

- Mid weight + mid distance + mid 

volume (20-30m) 

- Light + long distance + mid volume 

(40-60m) 

YOKE-WALK TRAINING WILL MAINLY 

TARGET:: 

- Your upper back 

- Your glutes, hamstrings, and lower 

back 

- Your legs 

- Your hips 

- Your abs 


26


lower the weight in four seconds to your 

mid-chest and press up in four seconds 

until you have locked your elbows. 

This way of training forces your muscles 

to work even harder! 

THE YOKE BENCH-PRESS 

Bench-pressing with a Yoke is no Joke! 

Put all your chest muscles to work with 

the Yoke bench-press. 

Because of the wobbling weight hanging 

on the yoke, your muscles need to work 

harder to balance the weight. This 

causes more muscle activity during this 

exercise and that is conducive to muscle 

growth. 

The performance of this exercise is the 

same as the standard bench-press. 

Grab the Yoke with both hands and lay 

down horizontally on a bench or log with 

your feet on the floor. Then put the yoke 

on your mid-chest, with your arms at an 

angle of ninety degrees. Press the yoke 

up until you’ve locked your elbows, 

keeping your butt on the bench or log. 

Make 4 sets of twelve repetitions. Do the 

four count rule, this means that you 

THE ZERCHER SQUAT WITH A YOKE 

The Zercher Squat is an outstanding 

exercise for developing greater core, 

back, and leg strength, and is therefore 

one exercise that should definitely be 

incorporated into your training regimen 

at some point. 

Unlike traditional back squats, there is 

minimal compression on the spine with 

the Zercher squat, due to the position of 

the barbell. When performing the 

movement, it is much easier to maintain 

an upright posture, which allows for a 

greater squat depth. 

The Zercher squat is also a solid exercise 

for glutes and hamstrings, as it activates 

these muscles much more than 

traditional back or front squats. 

- Extend your forearms out in front of 

your body (bent at elbows) and place 

the Yoke on top of your arm near the 

crook of your elbow. 

- Position your legs using a shoulder 

width, medium stance with the toes 

slightly pointed out. 

- Begin to lower the Yoke by bending 

the knees - maintain a straight 

posture with your head up. 

- Continue down until the angle 

between the upper leg and the 

calves becomes slightly less than 90- 

degrees. 

- Return to the starting position. 

THE OVERHEAD YOKE-PRESS 

Proper Overhead Yoke-press form 

starts by standing with the Yoke on 

your shoulders. Press the Yoke over 

your head until your elbows are locked. 

Don’t use your legs, keep them 

straight. Lower the Yoke to your 

shoulders and repeat. Also in this 

exercise it is heavier because of the 

wobbling weight hanging on the yoke, 

your shoulder muscles need to work 

harder to balance the weight. 

MUSCLES WORKED 

The Overhead Press works your whole 

body. Your shoulders and arms are the 

prime movers to press the weight over 

your head. But everything between the 

floor and your shoulders must stay tight 

to balance you and the Yoke. This makes 

the Overhead Press a full body exercise 

that works several muscles at the same 

time with heavy weights. Here are all the 

main muscles the Overhead Press works: 

- Shoulders - Abs 

- Arms - Legs 

- Trap 


27


SOLID 

SHOULDERS 

AND A CULTIVATED CORE 

LEARN THE HUMAN FLAG QUICKLY 

AND CORRECTLY WITH CALISTHENICS PRO, ISA BELL! 

The human flag is a pretty impressive exercise. It doesn´t just 

look cool. If you`re able to flag, you can get some pretty 

impressive vacation pictures! 

But before you go out and try to do a human flag, please make 

sure you read this. There are some points, which you should 

consider to prevent injuries! 

Lots of people think that you just need insane amounts of core 

strength to hold a proper flag, but that´s not the truth. Most 

of the strength needs to come from your shoulders. You 

obviously need good core strength too though, as you don´t 

want to hang on the pole like a banana! So please continue 

working on your core strength. My personal advice for a 

decent, strong core: Static holds like the plank, front lever 

progressions, hanging leg raises, hanging L-sit kick outs and 

hanging L-sit holds. 

outwards and grab the bar. Your palm points upwards to get 

a nice external rotation in your shoulder. If you grab upwards 

with the other hand you´ll rotate your shoulders inwards to 

open your shoulders and get a tight shoulder strap. Your palm 

is facing downwards. With both of your arms you should form 

an angle, which is around 90 degrees. If you grab wider or 

closer it makes it a lot harder or nearly impossible to hold a 

flag. Push with your lower arm and pull with your upper arm. 

The principle with a regular straight pole is the same. First you 

place your lower arm and rotate the shoulders outwards. Your 

biceps point upwards, the thumb is pointing downwards. Your 

upper arm rotates inwards and your biceps point downwards. 

Your upper thumb also points downwards. 

Make sure that both arms are always straight and locked out! 

CORRECT HAND POSITION 

Hand position on wall bars: Stand next to the wall bars. Leave 

your arms hanging loose next to your body. Turn one hand 

PROGRESSIONS 

Nobody`s perfect, especially at first... right? To be able to hold 

a proper flag you can practice with some great beginner 

progressions. 

First, it´s always easier to practice the flag if you rotate your 

upper body outwards, so that your belly button points towards 


28


the sky. Your goal is to hold the flag straight and parallel to the 

floor. A good way to start is to bring your body in a horizontal 

position. So kick up and bring your legs and butt up. If you´re 

not able to kick up, you also can climb up the wall bars. From 

that position you can let your body down slowly. 

PROGRESSION 1: TUCKED FLAG 

You keep your legs and knees tucked in. Start from the top and 

let down your body slowly. Hold it at the lowest point you can 

hold it for a couple of seconds. If you feel comfortable with 

the tucked in flag, you can let your knees out more to make a 

45 degree angle in your hip. Hold this as long as possible, too. 

PROGRESSION 2: ONE LEG FLAG: 

You keep your upper leg tucked in and the lower leg straight. 

Start from the top and let your body down slowly. Hold it at the 

lowest point you can hold it for a couple of seconds. You also 

can switch legs or do a “walking flag“ to the point where you 

can hold the one leg flag for a couple of seconds. 

PROGRESSION 3: STRADDLE FLAG 

Spreads both legs and start from the top and let yourself come 

down a bit. Hold it at the lowest point you can hold it for a 

couple of seconds. 

PROGRESSION 4: THE HOOK 

You start from the bottom. Grab the human flag position with 

your hands. Make sure you pull with your upper arm and press 

with your lower arm. Tuck your legs in and hold that hooked 

position as long as you can. 

PROGRESSION 5: WAVING: 

Start like progression 4 and keep your legs straight. Now try to 

wave your body up and down. Be careful. This might be super 

intense for your serratus anterior. 

TIP: 

Get yourself a foam roller and a ball (special foam roller ball or 

lacrosse ball). Make sure you foam-roll your upper body, lats 

and shoulders approximately 3 times a week. Also treat your 

shoulder and chest muscles with a myofascial self treatment 

(just Google it for some advice or go on blackroll.com) 

Continue your strength and mobility workout and don´t work 

on the flag progressions more than twice a week. Patience is 

key. It took me quite a while to hold a flag, but once you get 

your butt up and get a feeling for pressing up your body, you 

will see that you´ll make good progress. 

Advice: If you feel any pain in your shoulder or elbow - stop the 

exercise. Make sure you give especially your shoulders a good 

rest. We don´t want to get injured! Warm up with arm circles, 

scapular press, chest openers and spine rotations. 

For sure, you have a stronger arm and a favorite side for 

practicing the flag, but make sure you practice it on both sides. 

We don´t want to get any imbalances! 


29


LIVING LIFE 

ON THE EDGE 

INTERVIEW WITH THE X GAMES PRO SNOWMOBILE AND MOTOCROSS 

ADRENALIN DEVOTEE, JOSH PENNER 

Can you give us a brief background on 

yourself and your past and present 

skillsets? 

I grew up on a grain farm in Letellier, MB 

Canada. I started racing motocross 

when I was 11 and won 7 provincial 

championships in my amateur career 

and also won a professional provincial 

championship. I then moved to the pro 

ranks in 2011. Motocross has taught me 

about physical fitness and the 

importance of staying healthy, flexible 

and strong and filling your 

body with proper, 

wholesome foods. I 

moved to freestyle 2 years 

ago and realized that 

motocross had a great 

carry-over to this sport as 

well. 

I am very self-motivated 

and I always strive to 

progress. If I am not 

getting better I am not 

happy! 

Have you had many 

injuries or obstacles during 

your career? 

I have had knee injuries, a 

torn medial collateral 

ligament (MCL) and 

anterior cruciate ligament 

(ACL) and I am currently 

riding with a torn MCL in 

my right knee. CTI Knee 


30


braces help me cope with this, with their 

top of the line braces. I have had many 

concussions and other injuries such as 

compounded fractures in my spine and 

a torn rotator cuff in my shoulder, 

resulting in a shoulder reconstruction, 

but it’s all part of the sport and this 

lifestyle. 

How often do you have to train to keep 

yourself on top of the game? 

When I am home I try and workout 

whenever I’m not riding – I try to keep it 

balanced and not wear myself out 

though. I usually do full body workouts 

focusing on all my muscle groups and 

long endurance cardio as well as 

occasional high intensity training. 

Tell us about Motocross for those who 

don’t know what it is and what it entails, 

how it is scored and how you need to be 

super skilled!! 

Whoever finishes first wins! Haha. It’s 

ranked one of the toughest sports in the 

world along with soccer, give it a try and 

you’ll see! People just think it’s just 

twisting the throttle and sitting down – 

but there is much more to it than that! 

Haha. 

What are the main tricks on the 

Snowmobiles? 

The main tricks that can be performed 

on a snowmobile is the Backflip, Backflip 

Heel Kicker and the Backflip Indy. 

What are the X Games and what is the 

most risky trick you have pulled off? 

The X Games are the Olympics for 

extreme sports and I compete in 

freestyle on the Snowmobile. The 

Backflip is probably not the hardest trick 

but it is risky, especially with the different 

backflip variations. I had my first Backflip 

crash at the X Games, which was a close 

one, haha! 

How do you work out where to take off 

and where to land safely?! 

That’s all muscle memory, practice and 

mental judgement. Frequent practice 

makes all the difference on your 

successful judgement. 

What’s harder to manoeuvre and do 

tricks on, the Snow mobile or the Bike? 

I'd say the bike is harder, they are lighter 

and far easier to move around in the air 

and lose stability. The Snowmobile, 

however, is heavier and much more 

stable in the air. 

What are your plans for the future?? 

My plans are extremely simple! They 

are to just keep pushing myself past 

my limits and to continue getting 

better and better at what I do! 


31


APPROACHING 

BODYWEIGHT TRAINING 

ONE OF THE BIGGEST THINGS THAT WILL WITH MAKE OR BREAK YOU IN BODYWEIGHT TRAINING, 

IS YOUR ATTITUDE. THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE NEGATIVE WILL INEVITABLY 

GET BOGGED DOWN BY IT, BUT THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE, 

WILL ONLY GO FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH! 

I have been involved in bodyweight training for over 20 years. 

From attaining global success representing Great Britain as an 

elite international gymnast, or performing as an acrobat for 

‘Cirque du Soleil’, to using the tools it has given me to 

approach everyday life. 

From day one it has been my passion and it has paved an 

unconventional, yet very fulfilling life for me so far. I attribute 

a lot of my successes in life, whether it be inside or outside 

the gym, to gymnastics. It is a part of who I am and how I 

approach life. 

My father, who is a massive inspiration to me, said to me once 

when I was young: 

“Follow your heart and do what you love to do. 

Then you will never do a day of work in your life.” 

Those words always stuck with me and have served me well thus 

far. But with this choice comes a lot of risk. A lot of highs and a 

lot of lows. And you have to ask yourself this question, ‘Is the 

juice really worth the squeeze?’ For me the answer is 

unequivocally yes! And if the answer is yes for you, wherever your 

interest lie, then it is certainly something well worth pursuing. 

Anyone who reaches a high level in any sport doesn't just 

experience success during their career. Indeed I would say that 

failure is a necessary part of success. Throughout my career I 

have achieved successes and suffered many failures. But none 

of these ever deterred me from pursuing my goals in whatever 

capacity they may have been. 

I remember when I was 16. I was preparing for the British 

Championships, which I was in strong contention for winning 

that year. My training leading up to the competition was great. 

I was feeling confident and strong! It was the the day before 

the competition and I was doing my last minute preparations 

and tweaks in the gym. I was on the high bar winding up for 

my dismount, when all of a sudden I hear a massive bang. The 

next thing I know I am on my head in the foam pit. I got up and 

looked around trying to figure out what happened expecting 

to see the high bar behind me. Instead I saw the high bar had 

collapsed and the metal bar snapped in half. Suddenly I felt a 

sharp stabbing pain in my hand. My coach ran over and asked 

me if I was okay. Saying he had never seen that happen 

before. It turns out that as the bar snapped, it broke my 


thumb, meaning I had to pull out of the competition. Needless 

to say, I was devastated. All that hard work, sweat blood and 

tears for what? I was inconsolable. 

Something we need to acknowledge and accept is that 

sometimes bad stuff just happens. That’s life. What is more 

important is how you respond to it! For me I used that 

experience as fuel to the fire inside me, to push for the next 

goal. The following year, I ended up surpassing everyone's 

expectations, including my own, by becoming Junior 

European Champion on the Rings. 

Failure is an inevitable part of life. This is simply the reality of the 

situation and once you accept that, and are not discouraged by 

it, you are putting yourself on the path to greatness. 

As cheesy as this may sound, I look for inspiration in the world 

around me. Growing up, I was obsessed with the Rocky 

movies. Something about those movies really resonated with 

me. I just thought the story was inspiring and in the films 

themselves, I would watch the training montages over and 

over again! It actually really helped when I was having a tough 

time in my training. They would help me stay motivated and 

keep me on the right track. 

One quote which stuck out in particular was in one of the more 

recent Rocky movies, ‘Rocky Balboa’, 

“Let me tell you something you already know. The world 

ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty 

place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to 

your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. 

You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't 

about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit 

and keep moving forward. How much you can take and 

keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!” 

Sylvester Stallone, Rocky Balboa 

This is essentially the outlook I have developed with regards to 

gymnastics training, and as it happens life. Which brings me 

back to this article and approaching bodyweight training. 

One of the most important factors going in to it, is your 

mindset. It is imperative to understand that this type of 

training will require time, effort and discipline. Never get 

32


discouraged when you cannot do something for the first time, 

or even the tenth. Rome was not built in a day. 

It is difficult to get this message across as we live in an instant 

gratification society, and as such, people are conditioned to 

expect immediate results. This unfortunately is not how 

bodyweight training works. Actually, as it happens, I have 

found that the most gratifying successes are the ones that have 

taken the longest time to achieve. 

The willingness to acknowledge and trust this process is the 

foundation of success! 

Some useful questions to ask yourself before you start training. 

a. Am I prepared to take a step back in order to take 3 

steps forward? 

b. Am I prepared to do seemingly unrelated exercises in 

order to improve in the long run? 

c. Am I prepared to expand my comfort zones? 

d. Am I prepared to turn 

my weaknesses in to strengths? 

e. Am I prepared to eliminate the words, “I cannot do that!” 

from my vocabulary? 

f. Am I prepared to trust the process? 

If the answer is yes to all of these things, then you are mentally 

prepared for the uphill battle that lies ahead of you. Don’t get 

me wrong, this mindset isn't easy to maintain. There are ups 

and downs, highs and lows, and many frustrations. It’s like a 

love/hate relationship. But I assure you, keep persevering, 

because once you achieve your first personal milestone, you 

have just opened the door to a whole plethora of successes 

waiting to be achieved. 

Bodyweight training requires hours of repetition and training, 

day in and day out and needs to be continually maintained. 

The point I am making is that there are no quick fixes. There 

are no magic buttons that once pushed - will instantly enable 

you to perform miraculous feats or maneuvers. 

However if you are prepared to be patient, take the time 

required, follow the steps, put the work in and most 

importantly STAY POSITIVE, you will most certainly be able to 

track your significant progress over an extended amount of 

time. 

You will also find that there will be a lot of positive carry over 

to other areas of your training. 

I know this isn’t exactly what people want to hear. But that is 

the point. You have to be prepared to take these things on 

board and accept these principles in 

order to reach and surpass your 

goals. 

If you are receptive to this point 

of view and willing to take these 

steps, then you will most certainly 

be opening the door to unlimited 

possibilities and scratching 

the surface of your own 

boundless potential. 

Mark Freeman 

Freeman Technique, 

LLC. 


33


PLANCHE WORK 

In my experience I have found that the most efficient way to 

develop specific skills such as Press to Handstands & Planches 

are to train ‘5 essential areas’. 

EXERCISE #2: Planche Progression on the ball 

[3 x 5 (hold each end range for 5 seconds] 

1. Positioning/Movement Patterns 

2. Strength 

3. Mobility 

4. Core Stability 

5. Awareness (body and space) 

The 5 Essential Areas are all equally important and have an 

interdependent relationship with one another. 

Therefore they need continual maintenance and work all the time. 

Every time you train a particular skill it is important to choose a drill 

that will fulfill at least one of these 5 categories. As you progress 

you will find that there is a lot of overlap. For example some 

exercises will cover 2 or 3 of the essential areas or even more. 

Here are 4 examples of important exercises to work when 

developing the Planche: 

EXERCISE #1: Front Support/ Hollow to Arch 

[3 x 5 (hold each position for 5 seconds)] 


34


EXERCISE #3/ Pseudo Planche Push Ups [3 x 5] EXERCISE #4: Tucked Planche [build up to 30 seconds x 3] 

For more information about me or the services I offer, check 

out my website, instructional videos & social media feed. 

email: mark@freemantechnique.com 

web: www.freemantechnique.com 

instructional videos: vod.freemantechnique.com 

instagram: @freemantechnique 


35


Photograph by 

Tanner McFarlin 

NealNollieLR1 

POSITIVITY BALANCE 

AND GRACE 

52 AND REINVENTING HIMSELF WITH SKATEBOARDING 

NEAL UNGER - PROVING AGE IS JUST A NUMBER 

SIDEWALK SURFING 

Well one reason I started Skateboarding 

is because my mother bought me a 

complete skateboard in 1962. After my 

mom died (I was 9 years old), I moved to 

the beach in San Diego with my oldest 

brother and I started surfing. The two 

sports are intimately related, 

skateboarding is known as sidewalk 

surfing. My very first tricks on a 

skateboard were being able to push with 

either foot and learning how to wipe out 

without losing my skin, also carving or 

sidewalk surfing. 

KICKFLIPPING! 


Now I'm a street skater. I landed my first 

kickflip at age 52. My best tricks are 

those I invented, I call them Sissy tricks: 

Sissy bounce finger flip, sissy flip, front 

side sissy pop, front side and backside, 

sissy 50-50 on a rail. I can nose plant 50- 

50 on just about anything. Most recently 

I'm learning to ride switch stance more 

often, although I'm no stranger to that, 

when I tore my knee cartilage I rode 

switch for 6 months and became good 

at fakie nose manual. 

NORMAL TRICKS! 

I'm always working on advancing my 

current tricks, taking them to the next 

level, and also learning new tricks--like a 

shove it revert, I'm trying to learn that 

now. 

One of my best normal tricks that I 

believe was invented by Rodney Mullen 

is a Nollie pop shove it. I aspire to 

incorporate that into a front side 

boardslide on a flat rail. Another thing I 

practice in a pool or on ramps is to drop 

in switch and then get air coming out 

with a 180. 

All my best normal tricks were invented 

by Rodney Mullen: Ollie, Nollie, Switch 

Ollie, Fakie Ollie and Fakie Shove-it, 

Nollie pop shove it and frontslide 

boardslide on a flat rail. I'm always 

36


NealFSboard1 NealFsBoard3 NealSissy1 

working on many new tricks and I'm sure 

I left out several. I do many kinds of 

manuals and many kinds of power slides. 

SURF, SKATE AND ALIGNING MIND 

AND BODY FOR BALANCE 

I became interested in Skateboarding for 

its own purpose in the 80s. The sport is 

intimately connected to surfing, and 

surfers have an amazing vibe about life. 

Originally I thought 

Skateboarding would 

be self-motivating, but 

I did have trouble 

finding a balance in my 

life. This was very 

tough for me because I 

had already developed 

quite a few very bad 

habits which I began to 

weed out of my life, 

and I'm still in the 

process of weeding 

out a few. One of my 

worst bad habits is the 

consumption of too 

much sugar--I still have 

problems with that. 

TOTAL WIPEOUT 

AND MEDITATION! 

Now that I'm a bit 

older it is very difficult 

to keep up, Skateboarding requires 90 

to 95% wiping out onto the concrete and 

this is a very great skill in itself; to wipe 

out onto the concrete without breaking 

bones or gashing my flesh. 

Skateboarding fits into the category of 

extreme sports, it causes your mind to 

be quiet and this is obviously a way to be 

the perfect witness of the miracles of 

human ability. 

I have practiced transcendental 

meditation since I was 19 years of age 

and I believe this gave me awareness of 

my subconscious, which is becoming 

more conscious as I grow in awareness 

and use more parts of my mind. An 

absolute necessity of practicing 

skateboarding is to push out of my mind 

all thoughts of weakness of any kind. I 

believe this opens ones mind up to a 

field of possibility that 

currently is pretty 

uncommon. You have to 

tell your body what you 

want and then expect it 

to happen. 

NealNollieLR2 

PROACTIVE PASSION! 

I have to admit my 

passion 

for 

Skateboarding is a 

necessary ingredient for 

me to continue doing it. 

I am always working on 

many injuries at once and 

I believe learning to heal 

from these builds 

confidence. Pain appears 

to be quite a normal 

condition in this sport. 

Happiness occurs as a 

result of learning how 

life works. Once you 

own this knowledge that 


37


really don't have anything to 

compare my age to, though, 

because I'm healthier now 

than I've ever been. I wouldn't 

know what it feels like to be 

old because I'm feeling 

stronger than I did when I was 

20, I attribute this lack of 

strength when I was young to 

being out of tune with all the 

laws of nature. Nature 

commands advancement 

always. If stagnation occurs, 

Mother Nature will clobber 

you and great pain might be 

the result. 

happiness carries over into anything 

you're doing or not doing, you are it. 

This kind of happiness belongs to 

everyone. I believe what you put your 

attention on grows in importance. My 

attention is on Skateboarding. I want to 

try and give the reader a clear picture of 

what it's like for me to get a break and 

get out on my skateboard. Needless to 

say I love the whole process which 

includes getting all my work done first 

and part of that is getting the 

skateboard ready. This includes checking 

the deck for cracks and just general 

strength, looking at all the parts of the 

trucks and the bearings. Checking the 

bushings and lubricating with dry 

lubricant, and just getting everything 

tuned up. This is a lot of fun. Once that 

is done, I can jump on that thing and roll 

away and then get excited. The first 

thing I do is take note at that point of 

any pain in my body. Also I wear pads to 

protect my shins. In this picture (sent by 

tannermcf@yahoo.com, Neal's 

photographer), I'm trying a Nollie pop 

shove it, going very slowly so that my 

cameraman can get the picture. I 

remember this clearly, I was not warmed 

up, so on my first several times I went 

down pretty hard, landing on my wrists 

and my lower back, and then my hip, 

neck and head. My head had to be held 

up with great force so as not to hit it. I 

am very used to this sort of thing and I 

believe the result is that I have a good 

bone density, good strength in my neck 

and my lower back and wrists. I think my 

body is doing what it has to do to 

NealNollieShuv6 

survive. The shock to it turns out, I think, 

to be good for the body. The bad things 

in life often turn into very good things. 

After about four or five tries with three 

or four wipeouts I landed the trick as 

seen in the photo. Upon making the 

necessary adjustments to land the Nollie 

pop shove it, well the feeling you get 

when you roll away--wow, that is a really 

good feeling! 

Now I am ready to try the front side 

Boardslide on the flat rail. I had to bail 

the first few tries but I didn't go down. 

Then I remember clearly going down 

really hard. I remember thinking, 'Wow, 

I'm really not warmed up yet.' 

WARM UP? WHO CARES! 

I'm sure as any athlete knows, warming 

up is a very good idea but the 

skateboarding vibe is "well who cares", 

so I don't take much notice of that. I just 

go for it again full speed and land it! I go 

for it a few more times and can't get it 

landed very often, which means I bail 

over and over, all the while warming up - 

this is my warm-up. Usually by the time I 

am warmed up, I'm worn out haha! After 

a while the skateboard begins to feel like 

it's glued to your feet, I can't really hardly 

explain how good it feels. All I know is 

it's very difficult to warm up and then it 

gets even more difficult to keep going 

because you're very tired at that point. 

So far, at my age, taking short 30 

seconds or one minute breaks between 

each trick seems to be a necessity. I 

I consider myself a late 

bloomer. The good news is 

that all that pain has given me 

a tremendous resolve to live 

my life with balance and grace, 

that's my aspiration. It leads 

me to think of how I once 

defined my purpose in life: 

when I was 35 and thinking of 

my mother who died when I 

was nine, I made a conscious decision to 

live my childhood for the rest of my life. 

But as I got older I realized I was taking 

responsibility; I was no child. So my 

purpose with my Skateboarding was 

clarified and I get to keep doing it in 

order to broaden other people's 

awareness of what is possible. Wow 

what a great excuse to go skate!! 

BELIEF BREEDS POSITIVE POWER 

I don't know if any readers would agree 

with me - but belief is a very powerful 

thing. To believe in aging is not very 

powerful to me. And yet if enough 

people believe in aging it creates a tidal 

wave of it and this is what I am paddling 

into! And as a rule, with other 

skateboarders my weakness really 

doesn't matter. I get tremendous 

support from other skaters in the form 

of love and respect. 

At the same time my colleagues are 

doing bigger tricks and more technical 

tricks, but I'm doing tricks at my own 

level which are quite enjoyable in and of 

themselves; really it's no problem and 

nothing but a joy, to pursue this course. 

It's the course of humanity in the great 

earth ship. We are all in this boat. We 

must all agree, then we can all go 

together. This is my quest and I feel like 

a kid every time I roll away on my 

skateboard. In other words it doesn't 

feel like a job. It feels like my passion 

and my play. I hurt my ankle a few days 

ago and that was a challenge, but it 

didn't slow me down very long! 


38


HESUMMI 

ISHEONLYPLACE 

ORHREACHING 

INTERVIEW WITH RED BULL AND ADIDAS ATHLETE, 

EXTREME CLIMBER SASHA DIGIULIAN 


39


When did you first start climbing? 

I first started climbing after my 

brother’s birthday party in 1998 at 

a local climbing gym. 

What’s the highest you have 

climbed? 

In sport climbing, the hardest 

climb that I have achieved is 5.14d 

(9a). I have climbed Big Walls up to 

5.14b (8c) and have done several 

first ascents, including a recent 

First Free Ascent in Yosemite, as 

well as in Brazil, and a First Female 

ascent of a route on the North 

Face of the Eiger. 

What is the trickiest rock you’ve 

had to climb? How competitive is 

the female world of climbing? 

The toughest climb I’ve done 

really depends because each climb 

has had its own challenge. Climbs 

that I have been really proud of 

include Pure Imagination, Era 

Vella, Mora Mora, Viaje de los 

Locos, and the north face of the 

Eiger. Every year, more and more 

women start climbing and so the 

competition continues to increase. 

My experience in the Dolomites 

when we needed to free solo the 

last section of the 1000m wall was 

quite tough, and then we had to 

sleep at the top at night. 

You compete indoors as well, how 

much different is this to the real 

thing, do you have to prep 

differently? 

Indoor climbing and outdoor 

climbing are very different. When 

I was competing, I focused on 

training and climbing indoors. To 

be the best outdoor climber I can 

be, I need to focus a lot on longer 

trips outside and climbing on 

actual rock more often. 

Can you climb under a ledge 

upside down, if you can how 

difficult is this? How much 

preparation and training does it 

take to pull this off? 

I can climb on overhanging walls, 

yes. I have been climbing for 

almost 19 years now. There are 

elements of it that come naturally, 

but also the routine of climbing 

often - conditions you for things 

like this. 

How much is stamina and 

endurance involved in climbing 

and do you train specifically for 

these? 

I train stamina by cross training 

with cardio and other forms of 

fitness. I focus on endurance by 

training high amounts of volume 

on the wall. For me, it depends 

which time of the year I am in, for 

what type of training I’m doing 

(strength, endurance, etc). 

How many times a week do you 

train? 

I train 6 days a week typically for 3- 

8 hours. Depending on the day, I 

will typically spend about 3-4 

hours at the climbing gym and 

between 1-3 hours at a fitness 

gym. 

How much do the legs come into 

play when climbing? 

Legs are important, especially for 

big wall climbing and long 

approaches. Strength is also 

important in your legs for 

explosive movements during the 

climbs. 

How important is finger strength 

when climbing? 

Finger strength is extremely 

important in climbing and I do a 

lot of finger strength training to 

prepare me for the strenuous 

climbs that I perform. 

How do you prepare your mind for 

the climb, most people would be 

frightened or overwhelmed! 

I just make sure that I focus on my 

breathing and I approach a climb 

with a smile and try to remain full 

of confidence. 

What do you see for the future? 

I plan on climbing my entire life 

but not professionally climbing for 

all of it. I am interested in writing, 

broadcast journalism and I would 

love to host a climbing/travel 

show. I am also interested in 

marketing. 

Who do you look up to in the 

sport? Who’s your role model? 

I look up to Lynn Hill, Billie Jean 

King, and Angie Eiter, as well as a 

handful of others. 

How long have you been 

sponsored by RED BULL? 

I have been with Red Bull for 5 

years. They support me very well. 

My other sponsors, like Adidas, do 

as well. Without my sponsors, I 

could not live my passion every 

day. 


40


PRAGMATISM AND PUSHING 

THE LIMITS 

A RARE INSIGHT INTO THE WORLD OF EXTREME MOUNTAIN SKIING 

INTERVIEW WITH SETH MORRISON 

Can you give us some background on 

how you got into Extreme Skiing? 

As a young skier I used to do a lot of free 

skiing. I preferred it to racing. It was far 

more fun to climb a mountain or do a 

short hike to find some untracked snow. 

Sure you get the adrenaline buzz from 

skiing, but I love the adventure aspect 

the most. Many times you are at your 

limit and I think people like to do things 

that push what they do, it keeps life 

interesting. 

What’s the highest mountain you have 

climbed then skied down? 

I have been to the top of Mont Blanc, 

but we cheated and used a helicopter to 

get to 4267m and climbed the rest of 

way up. This keeps you out of most of 

the danger from the treacherous 

conditions. 

How the hell do you pick your spot to 


ride from? I guess a major part of the 

skiing is doing a recce and climbing to 

the top. How exhausting is this? How 

much prep do you do to get the right 

spot? How cold is it up there? 

Many times you climb up and ski down 

where you’ve climbed. You pick all runs 

based on conditions and obviously 

check for potential avalanches. Other 

times, but not as often, you climb up 

and find a different route down or drop 

over the other side. Some lines are 

pretty obvious, others you zig zag 

around. Some take more time if you 

have to do rappels, climb down, or deal 

with rock/icy conditions. It’s always 

different, even if you have been there 

many times before. You have to pace 

yourself to keep strength for the actual 

run while you’re climbing. There has 

been many times when you have to bail 

out of the run because of safety 

concerns. The run isn’t going anywhere, 

so letting go of the ego to stay alive is 

priority number one. The time of the 

year really dictates the temperature, but 

I never really notice since climbing gets 

you pretty warm. 

What skis do you use and why is this? 

What equipment do you wear/use what 

safety gear do you take with you? 

I use a free ride type ski, 118mm under 

foot in a 190cm length. Many people use 

narrower and shorter skis for this kind of 

skiing however. You’re climbing up and 

skiing down in technical situations, so 

having light gear makes more sense to 

save energy and I want the best ski 

experience possible. Over the past few 

years I have switched from a more 

traditional touring binding like 

Guardians, to tech type bindings. You 

wear a harness and have some gear such 

as: ice axes, crampons, rope, a shovel, 

beacon and a probe. 

41


Roughly what speeds do you get up to? Are 

you nearly vertical skiing at some points on 

the mountain? Is extreme skiing scary? 

I have no idea how fast you go, some runs 

make you ski slow where you stop and go 

because you’re with a group and managing 

dangers. Others you can fly down, but 

length comes into play and how much 

energy and how much strength you have. It 

takes all you have usually. It can be scary 

when considering the dangers and 

conditions, but you can’t get so caught up in 

thinking about this. 

Are you guys close in the community? Do 

you camp out at the top of the mountain 

and party before you ski? 

It is very close, since sharing information is 

important for safety. Sometimes you stay on 

the mountain to get an early start and get 

ahead of the other people out there. 

How much is stamina and endurance 

involved in extreme skiing, do you train for 

these? 

It’s everything, you can’t just go and do it. I 

ride a bike a lot in the summer to be ready 

for this. As well as staying at altitude a lot 

and training in it. When winter comes, 

skinning and skiing till the snow fills in the 

mountains is all you can do. 

How many times a week do you train? Can 

you give us a brief insight into a typical 

training day for you? 

I don’t look at is was training in the winter, 

but in the summer, it’s 6 days a week. 

Training all depends on what you can do, 

the weather and how you feel. While biking, 

I’ll try and do 3-6hr rides with lots of 

climbing. You can do what you like, but I 

focus on one sport per season to be at the 

peak shape for each. 

What are the dangers with extreme skiing? 

Your experience must serve you well! 

There are many things that can happen: ice 

fall, rock fall, or you fall. I find that wind is 

the biggest problem out there for avalanche 

concerns. It can change things in a matter 

of 20 minutes or so. 

How much do the legs, core and balance 

come into play when climbing? 

It’s all a big part! Legs are the most 

important of course, it’s a full body work out 

- you use your arms for climbing and have a 

heavy pack with gear and skis on. It usually 

takes all of your effort to get up and down. 

What do you see for the future? Anything to 

do add? 

I take it as it comes, and live each day. Make 

sure you know your physical limits and be 

around people at the same level as you! 


42


GRIT, DETERMINATION, 

DISCOMFORT - BECOME 

A MODERN DAY WARRIOR 

HOW TO TRAIN FOR A SPARTAN RACE 

BY STEPHANIE SIRACO 

Do you have what it takes? 

Do you have grit? Do you have 

determination? Do you seek out 

discomfort for fun? Do you love a good 

challenge? Are you looking for a group 

of fellow, modern day warriors who also 

seek out that ‘oh-so-good’ pain and 

satisfaction of feeling like you went into 

battle? 

Spartan Training 

The first question you need to answer 

when designing your Spartan training is: 

Which distance of race are you 

completing? If you aren’t familiar with 

the different distances, they break down 

like this: 

Spartan Sprint: approximately 5-8km (3- 

5 miles) and 20+ obstacles 

Spartan Super: approximately 13-16km 

(8-10 miles) and 25+ obstacles 

Spartan Beast: approximately 20km+ 

(13+ miles) and 30+ obstacles 

There are additional Spartan Race 

options, but those are only for the 

seasoned Spartan racers. As you can see, 

Spartan Race keeps on offering plenty of 

opportunities for you to test your limits. 

Regardless of the race distance, you are 

going to need to train in three main areas; 


strength, cardiovascular, and obstacle 

technique. Let’s break this training down 

and give you some workouts you can do 

to prepare you for what could be the 

toughest race of your life. 

STRENGTH 

Your entire body is going to be tested so 

you better add total-body, functional 

training into your routine. Not sure what 

a total-body, functional training workout 

looks like? Think push-ups, dips, 

burpees, tire flips, and a sandbag, or 

even a bucket of rocks to carry. A simple, 

yet effective total-body routine using the 

previously mentioned exercises can look 

like this: 

Repeat 3-5 times. 

Note: scale the weight/reps for your 

fitness level. 

10 Push-Ups 

43


5 Tire Flips (tire pictured weighs 150 kg) 

10 Dips 

10 Sandbag Rows (sandbag pictured 

weighs 32 kg to simulate actual weight 

for men in race) 


44


2 Sandbag Hill Repeats (choose the 

steepest/longest hill you can find or 

simulate on treadmill) 

30 Burpees* 

While your upper body and grip strength 

will be greatly taxed during your Spartan 

Race, these two will naturally gain 

strength during the functional training 

sessions, as well as the obstacle 

technique training coming up later in this 

article. Something I recommend to all of 

my clients is to focus on training the 

lower body and lower back since they 

both take a beating from the 

combination of carrying obstacles, and 

the typically mountainous terrain. 

Spartan Race has a special knack for 

seeking out some of the most 

challenging landscapes. 

Keep in mind that training for a Spartan 

Race requires you to find a happy 

medium between building strength as 

well as endurance. Resist the urge to 

focus too much on one and not the 

other. A solid lower body workout that 

will prepare you for your Spartan Race 

looks like this: 

Exercise Number of Repetitions 

Squats 15 reps 

*This is a really tough number of burpees 

to complete and serves 3 purposes: 

Improved conditioning overall. 

Prepares you in the event that you fail an 

obstacle and must complete the penalty. 

Strongly impresses upon you the need to 

practice obstacles, so you don’t have to 

do this again. 


45


Reverse Lunges 10 reps each side 

Step-Ups 12 reps each side 

Rest 30 seconds, then complete a 

second, third, and possibly fourth round 

of these exercises for the prescribed 

repetitions. 

Deadlifts 10 reps 


46


Hanging Knee Raises 12 reps 

Curtsy Lunges 10 reps each side 




repetitions. 

Stiff Leg Deadlifts 

18 reps 


47


Lateral Step-Ups 10 reps each side 

Walking Lunges 15 reps each side 




repetitions. 

The goal with this strength training 

routine is to build strength and even 

more muscular endurance. You are 

going to encounter some crazy elevation 

gains and losses (downhill can put a lot 

of pressure), and you will have to 

navigate some of these technical terrains 

with a sandbag on your back or while 

carrying a heavy bucket filled with rocks 

in front of you. 

Mind-muscle connection and proper 

muscle activation is another goal of this 


48


training. Don’t just go through the 

motions! Make sure you are engaging the 

proper muscles while doing each exercise. 

You would be surprised at how many 

people don’t push through their heels 

while doing squats and use momentum 

during movements like step-ups. If you 

the race. I have heard several stories of 

people wearing shoes that have a toe 

box that is too narrow which puts 

tremendous pressure on the foot and 

toes. Next up, I will discuss the 

importance of perfecting your downhill 

running technique. Keep in mind that it 

traveling up into your knees. This also 

lets gravity help you down. 

Slippery or Uneven/Rocky/Sandy Terrain 

- practice going down this type of terrain 

with a little bit of a side shuffle step. If 

you have ever played sports requiring 

lateral movements such as soccer, skiing, 

DON’T JUST CARRY YOUR LOWER BODY 

ACROSS THESE OBSTACLES. 

USE YOUR LOWER BODY TO ASSIST YOU. 

find yourself using momentum while doing 

step-ups, find a lower step. Momentum is 

fine during the race, but proper form and 

focused effort are critical during training. 

Keep the points mentioned above in 

mind when choosing your weights. 

Choose weights that allow you to 

complete each move with perfect form 

while also being challenging enough. 

You will also see from the photos that I 

train with kettlebells. I find them ideal 

since I prefer to train in the wild and an 

Olympic barbell doesn’t exactly fit in the 

Jeep all that well. 

Performing this lower body training 

program 1-2 times per week will get you 

off to a strong start in your Spartan 

training. Always start any training session 

with a dynamic warm-up to minimize 

chance of injury. 

CARDIOVASCULAR 

Cardiovascular training, also known 

simply as “cardio”, is probably the 

simplest piece of training when it comes 

to preparing for a Spartan Race. Hitting 

the trails and logging some miles is the 

foundation for Spartan Race training, but 

then again, I’m sure you already knew 

that, so I’m going to cover some things 

you may not know about the cardio 

portion of your training program. 

First, I want to cover the most important 

part of your run which is proper 

footwear. Without this critical piece of 

gear, your running will most likely suffer. 

Features to look for include “trail shoe” 

in the description. These shoes offer 

superior traction. You will also want to 

look for a zero drop shoe or at least very 

little. This feature will help you to avoid 

rolling an ankle on the uneven terrain. 

The higher the base of the shoe, the 

easier it is to roll one side or the other. 

You will be going through a lot of water 

and mud and don’t want to be weighed 

down, so look for a shoe that drains well. 

My final recommendation is to practice 

running downhill in your shoes before 

doesn’t matter how excellent your 

downhill running technique is if the toe 

box of your shoes is too narrow. This one 

wrong fit can cause your entire race to 

suffer. 

Don’t Forget the Downhills! 

Did you know that running down a hill 

can actually be more stressful on your 

body than running on flat ground or 

uphill? Well, it can if you don’t do it 

properly. Not sure if you are doing it 

right or wrong? Your knees will be the 

first to let you know if you are doing it 

wrong because too much forward lean 

and too much pressure on your toes 

from trying to control the speed of your 

descent will result in knee pain. 

If leaning forward too much and trying to 

stop yourself using your toes and the 

balls of your feet is the wrong way, what 

is the right way you may ask yourself? 

This is where practice and training comes 

in. This will also depend on the grade of 

the hill, how solid the ground beneath 

your feet for each step is (some courses 

have loose rocks or very slippery mud), 

and your own personal level of 

coordination and comfort level with 

speed. In a perfect world, you will want 

to open up your stride (take longer 

steps) and take advantage of gravity. 

Spartan races are 

designed to test your 

skills, so you are 

going to want to have 

several downhill 

running techniques 

available to employ: 

Smooth and Non- 

Technical Terrain - 

lean slightly back and 

let your heels strike 

before your toes. This 

will take the pressure 

off of the balls of your 

feet and toes, and will 

reduce the amount of 

impact and pressure 

snowboarding, etc., this technique will 

feel pretty familiar. If you have never 

worked your body in the lateral plane, 

make sure you are really comfortable 

doing so before attempting this 

technique. We don’t want any knee 

injuries. 

Practicing downhill running will both 

prevent knee pain from overuse and can 

earn you a better placing. You may be 

surprised at how many racers you can 

pass simply by being confident in your 

downhill running coordination. Oh and I 

wouldn’t want to forget to tell you about 

the potential of bruising or losing 

toenails with improper downhill running 

form. Delightful, right? 

OBSTACLES 

While it is challenging to train on 

obstacles you do not have access to, 

there are several exercises you can do in 

order to gain the necessary skills that will 

transfer to the obstacles you will 

encounter during the race. You already 

saw a way to train for the carrying 

obstacles in the example of the totalbody, 

functional training earlier in this 

article. This section is going to focus 

more on the overhead and upper-body 

obstacles such as monkey bars, rope 

climb, and various other swingingintense 

obstacles. 


49


STEPHANIE COMPETING ON THE 

‘STEVE AUSTIN BROKEN SKULL CHALLENGE SHOW’ 

First we will cover proper muscle 

activation when it comes to upper-body. 

I want you to get into position to do a 

pull-up with your arms overhead. Place 

your hands on the bar and begin the 

pull-up motion first by gripping tightly 

with your pointer finger and index finger. 

Do this for only as long as it takes to feel 

which muscles are being used all the way 

up your arms. Now, do this same 

movement again but squeezing 

primarily through your pinky and ring 

fingers. Did you feel a difference in how 

your muscles were engaging? The 

proper way to do a pull-up and any of 

the overhead, swinging type obstacles is 

to contract through those last two 

fingers, the pinky and ring fingers. This 

way engages your lats versus relying on 

the front of your shoulder to do the 

and backward from a dead hang 

position. If you stand on the sidelines of 

the obstacles, you will see the people 

who fail are the people who either don’t 

know how to use momentum in the first 

place, or who lose it mid-obstacle and 

can’t get it back. 

The rope climb is difficult to train for if 

you have not practiced on an actual 

rope, so seek one out and get to 

practicing. There are a couple of 

different techniques for using your feet 

to climb the rope. If you find someone 

else who owns a rope, ask them to show 

you how to climb it. No one owns a rope 

without also knowing how to climb it. If 

you decide to buy one yourself, there 

are plenty of YouTube videos that will 

show you how to climb a rope using your 

feet. My biggest piece of advice is to 

these walls are also going to be slippery 

from the mud and the water dropping 

off of your body. Pull-ups, dips, and 

muscle ups are the best workout moves 

to do while training for walls, and of 

course try to find a set of walls to 

practice on prior to the race. If you are 

racing as a team, you can always ask 

your teammate for a boost. If you aren’t 

racing as a team, there are plenty of 

fellow Spartans who would be willing to 

help you out. If you are racing in the Elite 

or Competitive heats, you are expected 

to be able to do them on your own. 

Spartan Race will test everything in you. 

It will test your mind, body, and yes, 

even your soul. The harder the race is, 

the better the feeling of victory will be 

when you are finished. There is always 

HITTING THE TRAILS AND LOGGING 

SOME MILES IS THE FOUNDATION 

FOR SPARTAN RACE TRAINING. 

work. Not only will using this proper 

form make you stronger on those 

obstacles, but it will also help you to 

avoid shoulder and elbow injuries. 

The second part of technique training 

for these types of obstacles is training 

your core and establishing body control. 

Don’t just carry your lower body across 

these obstacles. Use your lower body to 

assist you with helpful momentum. One 

of my favorite exercises for establishing 

and training body control is simply being 

able to get your body swinging forward 

always use your feet while climbing the 

rope in a race even if you are strong 

enough to do it legless. It is silly to waste 

your grip strength on a rope climb. 

Walls are the final obstacle we will cover 

in this article. Walls are neither just 

carrying nor hanging, but a little bit of 

both. Successfully climbing walls on an 

obstacle course means being able to 

jump high enough to grab the top of the 

wall, hoisting your body up to the top of 

the wall, and then being able to safely 

climb down the other side. Most of 

something to improve upon with these 

races, and about a million different 

measures for success. My first Spartan 

Race was the Wintergreen Spartan 

Super where I earned myself 210 penalty 

burpees because I didn't know how to 

do any of the obstacles. From there, my 

goal was to learn those obstacles so I 

didn't have to do so many burpees! That 

was over three years ago and I still find 

every single race challenging in some 

way. I’m sure you will find the same, 

maybe a little sick, satisfaction in your 

racing endeavors. AROO! 


50


LOST BY NATURE 

NURTURED BY NATURE 

PROFESSIONAL CLIMBERS RODRIGO 

LOBO VILLARROEL AND ROBERT 

RAUCH’S STORY ON BEING LOST 

ON THE MOUNTAIN. 

EARLY START 

It was 4am in the morning when we 

started our journey to the fourth highest 

Mountain in Bolivia, The Illampu. Our 

aim was to climb a new route to the 

peak. For your knowledge The Illampu is 

one of the most difficult Mountains to 

accent and should only be attempted by 

experienced and astute Mountaineer’s, 

this not being due to ego but rather the 

edges that takes you to the summit are 

exposed to the elements. In addition the 

route itself is very physical and technical. 

Not to mention the ice, one wrong move 

would end in disaster. 

ANCOHUMA TO BASE CAMP 

We start our long trek from Ancohuma 

to Base Camp at the North face. The 

scenery was beautiful and breathtaking, 

walking through forests is such a lovely 

refreshing feeling of freedom and the 

quietness is something to be adored. 

Being at one with nature away from the 

hectic modern lifestyle is such a great 

feeling. For me, it takes all the stress 

away. 

It took us 2 days to get to the base 

camp, which was at the very bottom of 

the wall that we were going to climb. 

You can imagine we were pretty tired 

and hungry (laughs). There wasn’t snow 

or ice until the base camp, which was 

very close to a glacier. It was cold to say 

the least, and we hadn’t even started the 

climb yet. Our aim was still the same 

though, climb an almost non-climbed 

face for a new route. For your 

proficiency, the North Face to the North 

peak is 6040 Mtrs. Unfortunately the 

weather closed in quickly so we had to 

pitch our tents to rest our heads down 

for the night. Regrettably the only place 


51


to camp was on a rock slab next to an 

ice glacier. We woke the next day to find 

our climbing wall and area was covered 

in roughly 10cm of snow, which is not 

good for a climb! Climbing was delayed 

another day leaving us very short on 

food. 

Please bear in mind our experience of 

climbing taught us to be very careful 

when we pick our times and conditions 

to climb, every movement on the wall 

has to be extremely accurate, so 

choosing to delay the day was the most 

sensible of options. This mountain was 

beautiful but can be unforgiving. I liken 

it to the Cordillera Real (a very technical 

Mountain in Bolivia). 

THE WALL 

The following day, we packed up and 

started our climb up the wall, this being 

after yet another delay, rain. After 

deliberating for a while, the rain 

lessened to what was deemed safe, so 

we cracked on! Equipment was packed. 

This consisted of crampons, ice axes, a 

couple of screws, and of course our 

basic camping kit. 

The wall was around 900mtrs tall so it 

was quite a trek! The first pitches where 

totally vertical for a dihedral (an angle 


52


formed by two plane faces), however it 

provided great protection against the 

wind and rain. The vertical climb took a 

lot of our energy both physically and 

mentally. One must stay switched on 

with total concentration, which in my 

professional opinion is more demanding 

than the physical aspects of the climb. 

The next pitches were a little bit more 

accessible but by no means was it easy. It 

was very cold and every second counted 

with our concentration. Our hand and feet 

placements had to be on the button, one 

slip would use more energy and possible 

injury. It’s not like running 900 meters on a 

flat. When ascending, every movement 

has to be strategically planned. Towards 

the end of the route, there was just rock 

and the last bit was ice. There was a 

glacier at the bottom as well, and this was 

really hard work, especially with the big 

crevasse between the glacier and the rock 

wall. There were a few close moments that 

got the adrenalin spiking. 

With the climb itself, we were fortunate 

to have good weather. As we got into 

the climbing, it melted a lot, which made 

the climb really nice - in fact it flowed to 

perfection. Due to the conditions, we 

traversed fast and when we got to easier 

terrain, we put the ropes to the 

backpacks and climbed simultaneously. 

I was pretty confident once we had 

reached the peak that we could descend 

back down the same day. Everything felt 

good… too good. Finally we reached 

the peak, it was 5 o clock and we were 

exhausted. The climb took 9 hours, and 

not only had we burnt energy through 

physical exertion, it was the mental 

aspect of keeping our eyes on the ball 

that had weakened us, as a bonus the 

cold was eating away at us both. 

DANGEROUS DESCENT 

The climb took a lot longer than 

anticipated and we also had the start of 

an eerie darkness entering the mountain. 

Naturally a slight panic kicked in, our 

problem being the new route as we didn’t 

really know an easy tried and tested way 

down, especially with the light 

disappearing rapidly and the collection of 

wet rock, snow and ice on our descent. 

This would make this route a real hazard 

to descend. We decided the safest and 

easiest way down would be with a much 

easier German route, however during our 

descent we got lost in the darkness on 

the vertical terrain, not a nice feeling as 

every step could be our last, or worse, we 

could get very injured and die of 

exposure and starvation! On reflection, 

this was a very bad and dangerous 

choice. What I would say in our defence is 

in a situation like this, any option off the 

mountain is considered, and this with our 

rationality was the easiest and safest, 

however nature can be very 

unpredictable. We underestimated the 

difficulty of the climb down in the 

darkness, my thoughts for the future are 

to never take a shortcut. Think everything 

through, every possibility. Having very 

limited visibility and the cold creeping in, 

the decision was made to stay on the 

peak overnight. In all fairness we didn’t 

have much of a choice. That was a very 

cold night without any kind of tent or 

extra warmers. 

AT 5500 METERS 

The air was thin and we were above 

5500meters (tent and sleeping bag were 

not available where we were and 

venturing to find it was far too 

dangerous). I could literally feel the 

moral and energy being taken from me, 

it was a long miserable and 

uncomfortable night, and we didn’t get 

much sleep. The worry and doubt crept 

in. Would we get off the mountain? 

Would we starve or freeze to death? Did 

we tell our friends where we were? When 

dehydrated, hungry and sleep deprived, 

it doesn’t take long for the feelings of 

compelling doom and stress to kick in, 

not a nice feeling. Certainly something I 

would not like to experience again. 

Next morning we were freezing. Our 

feet and hands were starting to go numb 

and my face felt weathered. After some 

walking and discomfort we managed to 

find our way out and get back to the tent 

below the wall, thankfully the glacier 

provided us with plenty of water. There 

was no more food and my stomach was 

grumbling. Please bear in mind we had 

eaten hardly anything on the climb, and 

the thoughts of food drifting in and out 

of my mind was just making it worse, I 

decided then to lock my mind off from 

those thoughts and try to save energy. 

SNOWSTORM 

Unfortunately the next day there was a 

really big snowstorm, the type that had 

the potential to end our lives. Reality 

kicked in, wondering “what if?” and 

“what’s going to happen? Are we going 

to die?”. Within the tent we were quite 

well protected, but we knew that we 

could not stay like this forever. No food 

and the cold would lead to total 

disorientation, confusion and bad 

decision making. These in itself are very 

scary factors. The tent and the 

surroundings were covered in a thick 

blanket of snow. Waiting for the storm to 

pass, we realised this was not going to 


53


get better. I realised then that we must 

survive and that now was the time to 

make a move while we are still cognitive. 

Even though we were tired and hungry 

we knew that if we delayed any longer, it 

would be a massive mistake. Curl up and 

die, or roll the dice. 

Immediately we start packing our 

equipment, both of us go outside to take 

the tent down. Packing the belongings 

and the tent was an admin nightmare, 

our hands were numb to the point of 

trying to do up a zip was a chore. You 

must know the feeling when your hands 

are so numb that they won’t do what you 

need and your wrist feels restricted. It 

only got worse as now our hands were 

starting to get wet and the pain and 

numbness was becoming unbearable. 

This added to the uncertainty of getting 

off the Mountain. The visibility got so 

bad with merely 5 MTRS of clarity; the 

world around us was just a mash of snow 

and wind. It was very uncomfortable 

packing it all up, but it had to be done. 

Either that or perish on the mountain. 

At first we tried to go back the same 

way, but this was hindered by a massive 

rockslide, so luck was not with us. A 

decision was made to look for another 

way down, as you can imagine, doubt 

and worry started to kick in again. My 

thoughts were to calm my brain and get 

the hell out of there quickly - in essence; 

survive. We took it easy, being cautious 

all the time. Walking extremely slowly 

and steady with sleep deprivation and 

hunger pains was not an easy feat, but 

we had to focus, injury or getting even 

more lost was not an option. 

BLACK CREATURES 

The snowstorm definitely drained our 

energy. We were already wet and cold 

so it couldn’t get much worse. I don't 

remember about going to the toilet at 

all that day, just slow, continuous 

walking. Everything was getting heavier 

as it got wetter, using even more of our 

precious energy. There was a small 

certainty that we were getting off of the 

mountain but could not be certain, it 

was like playing Russian roulette with the 

cliffs and terrain. It really was quite 

daunting having travelled like this for at 

least 5 hours. 

The terrain at this point had become 

very difficult and dangerous with rock, 

ice, snow and very limited visibility; it 

was slow going. Suddenly we spot 

movement, and I’m thinking sh*t, am I 

hallucinating?! Then again more 

movement, like dark shadows on 4 legs. 

I see more than one big, hairy, grey and 


54


black creature - it was deer! 

We both thought about this logically. A 

deer generally-speaking does not jump 

off, or go near cliffs unless they are being 

chased by predators. This was their 

terrain for centuries, their home, if 

anything could guide us to safety it would 

be them! In reality we had no choice. 

Our options were very bleak. We 

followed the deer. We were so 

desperate to get off the mountain that 

we didn’t stop for water breaks, we just 

concentrated on the deer. They would 

run ahead and disappear for like a few 

seconds and then spend like 10-15 

minutes at a time in the snow storm, and 

then come back for us. They’d wait, then 

move again, jumping down the 

mountain. It was very surreal. It was 

crazy! We would follow the footprints as 

a back up, it felt like they were meant to 

be there to guide us off the mountain 

safely. We put 100 per cent trust in the 

nice side of nature, confident we would 

get out of this catastrophe. The deer 

saved our a*ses, big time! 

SILVER LININGS 

After 4 hours of following the deer, we 

hit some clouds and to our relief below 

this was the valley. And just like that, the 

deer cleared off back up the mountain. 

We owe our lives to them and I won’t be 

eating venison ever again (laughs). The 

storm was still raging and we were 

soaked. Visibility improved below the 

cloud and the snow and ice started to 

subside, however our packs were 

freaking heavy due to all the rain. We 

had a couple of falls but nothing 

dangerous or serious. Soaked to the 

brim, exhausted and hungry, stumbling 

across a cave; we decided to take refuge 

from the elements, hoping the storm 

would clear after a short time in the 

freezing cave. We started making our 

way down again making regular stops 

due to fatigue and weariness. 

Eventually while stumbling, we reached 

an abandoned road at the bottom of the 

mountain, it was the type that had cracks 

all over it and full of pot holes. We took 

a chance and decided to follow the road. 

It was still raining and the storm was 

howling. We were drenched, and to be 

honest – p*ssed off! When was this 

bloody nightmare going to end? Would 

we be able to make it to civilization with 

our lack of vigour? I felt like I’d lost a lot 

of weight as well, my cheeks felt 

shrunken in. Walking on an empty tank, 

we thought about ditching our kit, but 

that would have screwed us up with no 

tent or equipment, so we kept it. We 

knew if a car didn’t pass us by we had at 

least another day of marching left. After 

2-3 hours of stumbling we saw a car in 

the distance, we waved them down. 

Turns out it was my friend and they had 

come looking for us because of our 3 

day delay. Man we were so happy, we 

climbed in the car and headed back to 

Sorata to rest and reflect on the last few 

day’s events. 

HINDSIGHT 

That was a scary time on the mountain 

and put into perspective how I should 

never take nature for granted. Nature 

can kill you in an instant, without proper 

preparation for the elements and correct 

logistics I had put myself in a very 

vulnerable position. However it taught 

me a huge lesson about survival and my 

own instincts. I sincerely hope this story 

can help others prevent this from 

happening to themselves. Following the 

events, I reorganised myself with 

additional kit. Here’s what I now take 

with me when I climb mountains: 

1) Cooker/metal cooking pan and 

utensils 

2) 3 x waterproof lighters and 

matches 

3) Waterproofed kit 

4) Spare kit warmers kit, i.e. 

thermals to change into at night 

when wet, spare gloves, extra socks, 

pants. 

5) 3 days extra rations 

6) Chlorine tablets 

7) Flare 

8) Compass 

9) Small shovel for digging in. 

10) Basic med kit with iodine spray 

11) Coffee 

12) Poncho and kit 

13) Comm's 

14) Spare torches, batteries 

(insulated). 

15) Glow sticks 

16) Sat Phone and GPS 

The very basic Standard operating 

procedures: 

1) Tell friends where I am going, 

set up a timeline and cut off time. 

2) Take Coms with enough range 

to reach ground control. Check in 

every 5hrs. 

3) Work out the time when it gets 

dark. 

4) Set up ERV (Emergency 

Rendezvous point) which is safe from 

the elements and will protect you. 

Where your friends will know you will 

be, after cut off time. 

5) Know alternative routes of 

escape. 

6) Orientate yourself with the 

shape of the mountain and the 

direction of the sun, corresponding 

to true north. This is so you know 

roughly where to go should there be 

any problems. 

7) Drop glow sticks on your route 

and mark up your camp. 

8) Face entrance of tent near exit 

point on the mountain 

9) Take a bearing on your compass 

that points to a safe exit route on a 

mountain. 

I hope that you enjoyed the read folks, as 

you can see this situation could have 

really gone wrong, but thankfully our 

instincts served us well. Also, thanks to 

the deer, we got off that mountain 

exhausted but alive. Although our 

incident was not as bad as some of the 

survival stories out there, it really put 

things into perspective for me. Respect 

nature, it can be the most brutal of killers. 

Lost by Nature, Nurtured by Nature 

by Roberto Lobo Villarroel 

and Robert Rauch 


55


LES DEUX AIGLES 

THE TWO EAGLES 

BY CHRIS BYRNES 

GETTING LOST ON THE MOUNTAIN AND THE THRILL OF THE FLIGHT 

FRANCE 

It was the summer of 2016 in Europe. I 

had been BASE-jumping for 3 months in 

Italy and Switzerland and had around 

100 jumps so far in Europe mostly wing 

suiting. I had an invite from my first 

skydiving instructor called Wade, who 

asked me to come visit him and his 

girlfriend in France. Wade’s girlfriend 

was French and was staying in her family 

holiday home so I had a place to stay 

close to some amazing cliffs. Wade had 

been paragliding in Australia for some 

time and was keen to do some 

paragliding in France. I was in 

Switzerland and bought a train ticket to 

France, but before I left Switzerland I 

met a friend in the Horner Pub in 

Lauterbrunnen. He gave me a pdf of the 

‘French Topo’, which is a guide to many 

of the BASE jumping exits in France. 

When I got to France I met with Wade 

and his girlfriend at their house near 

Chamonix. I was doing some groundcrew 

on the radio for Wade whilst he 

was paragliding when I noticed a 

mountain I thought I had seen before. 

The paragliding landing area I was in 

was located in the town of Samoëns, 

and after looking up on the map I 

verified that the mountain I was looking 

at was the Aiguille de Criou. I 

researched the French Topo and found 


56


that there are a few exits on this 

mountain including a beautiful wingsuit 

flight, which I had seen in many wingsuit 

videos, which had initially inspired me to 

start skydiving. I decided that I would 

attempt this jump as my first WING SUIT 

BASE jump in France. 

THE MOUNTAIN 

After consulting the topo with some 

translation help from Wade’s girlfriend I 

set off the next day alone (not a good 

idea). It was late August in France and 

we had been treated to some beautiful 

weather with blue skies and warm 

temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius. 

It was 6am when I was at the trail at the 

base of the mountain and I was carrying 

a stash bag (lightweight backpack for 

base jumping) with my BASE parachute 

system, my wingsuit, helmet, camera, 

jacket, radio, 3 Litres of water and 3 

snickers bars. The information provided 

on the topo said it was 3 hours to access 

the exit point. After hiking up through 

the forest for an hour and a half the 

terrain opened to alpine meadows with a 

breathtaking view of Mount Blanc. I 

continued up the mountain taking a direct 

route though the meadows, encountering 

some chest high grass with uneven rocks 

underneath which made for slow going, 

however after 3 hours I made it to a large 

cross near the top. I had been 

maintaining radio contact with Wade 

regularly through the hike, keeping him 


57


updated on my progress. He was in the 

local area scouting additional paragliding 

launch and landing sites. We were using 

a pair of his radios which were compact, 

but high powered, which allowed us to 

keep in contact for most of the hike. 

From the cross I was treated to beautiful 

360-degree views of The Grand Massif, a 

beautiful mountainous area in France with 

Mount Blanc in the distance. The 

information in the topo said the exit point 

was a 600 metre hike further along the 

ridge from the cross, and looking along 

the ridge - the exit point seemed obvious 

so I was in high spirits. 

ROCK DROPS ON THE RIDGE 

Hiking along the ridge was trickier than 

I had anticipated. There was a sheer cliff 

on the left and a steep sloping alpine 

meadow on the right. Also, what had 

looked like an obvious exit point from 

far away, was becoming hard to find, as 

I got closer to where I thought it was. In 

BASE jumping a ‘rock drop’ can be used 

to estimate the vertical height of the 

cliff. The exit I was looking for had a 7 

second rock drop, however all I was 

finding was 4 second rock drops. I was 

approximately 4 hours into the hike at 

this stage, however with spectacular 

weather and high spirits I continued 

along the ridge looking for the exit. 

After a while I was sure that I had passed 

the exit I was looking for, however the 

terrain further along the ridge looked 

promising for a possible exit so I 

continued. The ridge continued to be 

tricky to follow, however, after around 

another hour of hiking I was getting 

towards the far end of the ridge where it 

split off to different peaks. I came across 

a small herd of sheep and found a 

possible exit point with a 5 second rock 

drop above a beautiful alpine lake with 

icebergs in the valley below. 

THE SPICY CRIOU 

It was at this stage that I ate my last 

Snickers bar and finished the last of my 

water and I was confronted with a 

difficult decision on whether I should 

jump this exit point. I was confident that 

I could get my wingsuit flying off the cliff 

and clear the ledges below, however I 

was a long way up the ridge. The valley 

below was higher at this point so I was 

unsure of whether I would be able to 

have enough glide to fly safely down the 

valley to the landing area. After some 

consideration I decided to leave this 

potential exit point, which I nicknamed 

‘Spicy Criou’ for the future when I would 

have more experience and could assess 

the terrain with a laser range finder to 

calculate if the glide down the valley was 

possible. 

SELF PRESERVATION 

I was confident that I could find the exit 

on my way back down the ridge, 

however I had to address the issue of 

running out of water. It was very hot 

especially at the higher altitude on top 

of the ridge and I had been hiking with 

my shirt off. I could feel myself getting 

sunburnt and feeling heat stress, I also 

felt slightly disorientated I knew I 

needed water soon. Fortunately there 

was some snow in a bowl below the 

ridge and decided that was my best bet 

for a drink. It was a steep alpine slope in 

order to make it down to the slope. In 

order to make it down to the snow there 

was some scrambling involved using up 

more vital energy, but luckily I made it. 

There was no water available so I 

improvised, packing my 3 Litre water 

bladder with snow. I put my jacket and 

hood on to protect myself from further 

sunburn and put the water bladder 

under my jacket by my skin. I figured it 

would help the snow melt and keep me 

cool at the same time. I then set off to 

climb back up to the ridge to find the 

exit point. I think at this point the feeling 

of being lost started to creep in. 

FATIGUE 

After more scrambling back to the ridge 

and working my way down to where I 

thought the exit was, I started looking 

again. I could still only find 4 second 

rock drops and I couldn’t find a cairn or 

pile of sticks as was mentioned in the 

topo. By this stage some of the snow 

had melted so I was keeping hydrated. 

The jacket was keeping the sun off me 

and the snow was keeping me cool. 

However it was over 6 hours since I had 

started hiking and I had gained over 

2000 metres of altitude so I was starting 

to feel fatigue set in and headaches. I 

was also starting to feel frustrated at not 

being able to find the exit, combined 

with a lack of food and lethargy - it was 

hard going. I remembered reading in 

the topo that there was some exits 

further down the mountain so I decided 

to start hiking down and see if I could 

find an alternate exit to jump. Looking 

back up the ridge from the cross, it felt 

like the mountain was mocking me as 

the exit looked so obvious from this 

viewpoint. 

After about half an hour hiking down 

from the cross I found a sheer cliff with a 6 

second rock drop. I was unsure whether 

this was one of the alternate exits 

mentioned in the topo as it was in a bowl 

and the terrain looked quite flat after the 

initial cliff which would require a good 

glide to make it down the valley to a 

landing area. I was unsure if I would be 

able to make the glide and I also couldn’t 

find a good rock to launch from. There was 

a lot of grass and loose rocks on the cliff 

edge. This was when I was confronted 

with the hardest decision of the day. If I 

jumped and it was successful, I would be 

on the ground in 2 minutes and meet with 

Wade who was waiting with food and 

water. Or if I didn’t jump I was faced with 

a four hour hike all the way back down the 

mountain. However if I did jump and was 

not successful then I could be faced with 

very serious injury or a likely death. 

7 HOURS 

It was now 7 hours since I had started 

hiking and I was really feeling fatigued. 

On previous jumps on the trip I had 

experienced leg cramps as I had 

launched my wingsuit off a cliff. In this 

situation I felt that it was likely for my 

legs to cramp and also the fatigue would 

greatly increase my chances of making a 

fatal error. Wingsuit BASE is already an 

unforgiving sport so I made the decision 

to hike down. I radioed Wade to 

confirm my decision. He sounded 

slightly concerned due to the length of 

time I had been on the mountain and 


58


the time still to go to hike down, but 

relieved that I was choosing the safer 

option. After a long tiring trudge I made 

it back to the trailhead at 5pm, 11 hours 

after starting in the same spot with high 

spirits. However now I was feeling 

dejected and humbled by the mountain. 

Thankfully Wade was waiting with food 

and water and I went home for a night of 

deep sleep. I think had I stayed on the 

Mountain any longer it would have been 

disastrous; I had made the right decision 

coming down. 

GROUND CREW 

Over the next few days I ground-crewed 

for Wade paragliding, and I had time to 

reflect on my experience. I had learned 

some valuable lessons about being 

better prepared in the mountains. I was 

glad to have a radio as if I had not been 

in contact for 11 hours, I’m sure Wade 

would have thought the worst. Also 

using the radio I was able to listen to a 

French emergency radio channel, which 

broadcast the winds at the valley floor 

and at altitude so I could monitor the 

suitability of the winds as I was hiking. I 

definitely could have brought more food 

and water and also better sun 

protection. The biggest lesson was to 

have more knowledge of the mountain. 

During these few days I also made my 

first BASE jump in France off a jump 

called ‘Belvedere’ with much easier 

access of only an hour hike. After doing 

some more research I was confident that 

I had been very close to finding the exit 

on Criou and decided to return to the 

mountain in search of redemption. 

THE RUSH 

Another 6am start with 4 litres of water, 

6 snickers bars and a couple of bananas 

this time. I made it to the cross and very 

slowly and carefully worked my way 

along the ridge. I found an old pile of 

sticks buried in the grass, which I had 

missed the first time. Many BASE 

jumpers use wooden sticks from the 

forest to aid in the uphill hiking so a pile 

of sticks is always a good sign that you 

are close by an exit. Sure enough I 

found the exit with a nice rock to jump 

from and a 7 second rock drop. I was 

elated and joyfully reported to Wade 

over the radio “I have found the exit, I 

repeat, I have found the exit”. After 

taking some time to relax, stretch, 

hydrate, eat a snack and visualise my 

flight I geared up in my wingsuit, 

parachute and helmet. After some final 

pre flight safety checks and deep breaths 

I counted down “3, 2, 1… Dream!” and 

launched from the mountain. After a 

moment of silence the sound of the air 

rushing past me increased as my 

wingsuit filled with air. Spreading my 

arms and legs I began to fly and was 

rewarded with a beautiful flight down 

the mountain. I flew conservatively and 

surveyed the terrain to be more 

prepared for a more advanced flight 

next time. 

8000 FEET ELEVATION AND A 

CONVERSATION 

The weather continued to be picture 

perfect so a few days later I returned to 

hike Criou again for another jump. This 

time I started hiking about 1pm and 

Wade, after dropping me off drove to 

the other side of the valley to paraglide. 

Through the trip he had been increasing 

his paragliding knowledge and skill. On 

this flight he was expecting a quick 

“sleddy’ which is just a glide straight 

from the launch point to the landing 

area. However soon after launch he 

caught a good thermal and rode it up to 

over 8000 feet of elevation. He was 

rewarded with amazing views of the 

Grand Massif from above, including a 

special view of Mount Blanc. With the 

altitude he had gained he was able to 

glide across the valley and then caught 

some ridge lift and thermals near the 

base of Criou and began working his way 

up the mountain, riding thermals. Over 

the course of 2 hours of flying he made 

his way to above the cross at the same 

time as I got there after 3 hours of hiking. 

I was surprised and recognised his 

paragliding wing. In disbelief I radioed 

Wade and asked if it was him off the side 

of Criou. However instead of a radio 

reply I got a triumphant shout from 

Wade directly of “Yahoooo!”. It was 

special to be able to have a conversation 

with him directly as he circled in his 

paraglider above. 

200KMH AND MORE EXIT POINTS 

I quickly hiked the rest of the way along 

the ridge to the exit point. It was 

starting to get late in the afternoon and 

the sun driven lift and thermals were 

starting to wane. The many paragliders 

in the air slowly decreased until it was 

just me on the exit point ready to jump 

and Wade using everything he had to 

work the last of the dying lift, to remain 

above the ridge. All the other 

paragliders were on the ground. So with 

a final radio call I stepped to the edge, 

looked across to Wade and waited for 

him to circle around so he could watch 


59


me jump. As I flew down the mountain I flew a more 

aggressive line with the smooth air conditions in the valley and 

the knowledge of the line I had gained from the previous 

survey flight. I buzzed the grass slopes and trees in my 

wingsuit flying at speeds over 200 kmh. The sound from the 

wingsuit tearing through the air echoed in the valley and 

resonated off Wade’s paraglider as he listened and watched 

me fly down the mountain. I disconnected from the terrain, 

flared my wingsuit to slow down, reached back and deployed 

my pilot chute, which caught the air and pulled my parachute 

from the container on my back. I gently glided 

down underneath my parachute for a soft 

landing in a clearing beside a river at the base 

of the valley. I gathered my equipment and 

walked through Samëons with a smile from ear 

to ear as Wade glided his paraglider back to the 

landing area. We arrived at the same time and 

shared a joyful embrace. 

experience with my mentor and friend. It was that night over 

a celebratory dinner and drinks that I remembered the name 

of the exit that I jumped was named in French “Les Deux 

Aigles”. I did not know what it meant but translated it to find 

out that in English it is “The Two Eagles”. It brought an extra 

significance to the experience I got to share with Wade as we 

were the only people left on the mountain the evening when 

I jumped. We were the two eagles, flying in different but 

beautiful ways connecting with a mountain that will forever 

hold a special place in our hearts. 

THE TWO EAGLES 

The paragliding flight had been the best of 

Wade’s life at that point, his longest flight time, 

highest altitude gained from a thermal, most 

distance covered across the ground, first time 

crossing a valley and just an all-round special 

flight in the mountains. What made it even 

more special was that he got to share the 

experience with me, who he had taught to 

skydive over 3 years earlier, and had mentored 

me through my progression. That flight in my 

wingsuit is still the most rewarding flight of my 

life. I invested over 20 hours on the mountain 

to be able to fly that line, I learnt some valuable 

lessons along the way and I got to share the 


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