The Red Bulletin_0211_ROI

www.redbulletin.com

an almost independent monthly magazine / february 2011

Gaga for the Lady Unpicking the mind of the pop princess

Art for all

Antony Gormley’s creative manifesto

Six of the best How to make the most of Europe’s rugby theatres

Exclusive interview with the hardest Hunt jockey of all

Diamond

Ruby Experience

Print 2.0

kunde

sprints into action. and keeps on going. fits i n s

port you s sh r orts

When you’re working out, it’s good to have extra gas in your tank. Which is where a Red Bull Energy Shot comes in. Its compact size and 60ml volume means you can easily tuck it into a shorts pocket or training jacket.

And with no carbonation and no need to chill you

can carry, and use it, just about anywhere. Red Bull Energy Shots aren’t designed for re-hydration, but they deliver energy in just a few sips, helping you all the way to your warm down. It’s concentrated energy from Red Bull.

the only shot that gives you wings.

Bullhorn

Cover Photography: Donall Farmer/inpho. Photography: Dan Sheridan/inpho

mind over matter What price success? Or put another way, would you shatter your body in the pursuit of a goal? You and me? Maybe… but more likely not.

Professional athletes, however. Well, when you’re going for gold, the odd ruptured spleen, broken collarbone, smashed hip, cracked tib, fib, femur, or, even (perish the thought) broken neck are just par for the course.

Take Dan Atherton (page 21), a star of the world downhill mountain bike scene, who last year came within a tiny necktwist of quadriplegia in a training fall, yet who is relishing the prospect of once again The popular National Hunt jockey racing on or beyond the limit.

Ruby Walsh explains why a broken Then there’s Ruby Walsh, a National leg hasn’t held him back Hunt jockey whose cold hardness and resolve after repeated serious injury, set him apart among a group of peers for whom casualty wards have become second homes (page 46).

Or what of Shinji Osada, a young Japanese freeskier (page 66) whose congenital heart condition could prove fatal, should he land hard in the snow on his chest (a reasonably likely eventuality given the nature of his business)?

Do any of these individuals let doubt stand in their way or allow fear to curb their spirit? No way. Not for a split second.

“I’ve made a real mess of my body over the years,” Atherton notes cheerily, “and I’m still only 95 per cent healed, but I’m aiming to be back racing this year.”

Competing, winning, is all that matters to guys and girls like these.

It’s what makes them inspirational figures, why we thrill to their skill.

So the next time you think you’ve had a hard day at work, or the commute’s a bit tough, or, bless, you’ve got ‘man-flu’, reflect instead on the will to win and laughter in the face of adversity that any top athlete has hard-wired into their DNA. Reflect on it and remember that, more often than not, the adulation we so readily shower on our heroes is hard-earned.

Very.

Your editorial team

05

contents

welcome to the world of Red Bull Inside your top-scoring Red Bulletin this month

Bullevard

18 here is the news What’s happened; what’s coming 21 me and my body Corporeal musings from felled mountain bike ace Dan Atherton 22 KATY B With a life like Fame, stardom beckons 24 KIT BAG Making nice with the ice thanks to those crazy Zambonis

66

27 Where’s Your head at?

This Lady’s not Gaga 28 WINNING FORMULA Why it’s ‘waximum’ attack in ski racing

21

30 Tim ShIEFF Few run as free as this young athlete 31 LUCKY NUMBERS Too much Carnival? Blame it on Rio

Action

32 aNTONY GORMLEY His sculptures are iron-cast selfportraits. But this is no crazed egotist: his mantra is bringing art to the masses 46 RUBY WALSH He’s the hardest nut in the National Hunt tree, winner of all the biggest races, and success has rewarded his grit 52 jordy smith Not often that a youngster has enough sheer brilliance to reframe his sport.

Yet that’s what SA’s Mr Smith is up to

52

62 wanda rutkiewicz The epic life of one of the greatest female mountain-climbing pioneers 66 Shinji Osada Sportsmen, brave? Pish, you might say.

But this one is: one false freeski move could trigger a fatal heart condition 70 antarctica by wingsuit OK, so this one really is crazy: travel to Antarctica, climb mountain, BASE-jump off it. Like, obviously 06

85

contents

70

More Body & Mind

82 MONGOL HORSE RACING Billed as ‘The world’s longest horse race’, The Mongol Derby is an adventure for only the (fool)hardiest

Photography: Thomas Butler, Hugo Silva/Red Bull Photofiles, Jörg Waldmeier/Red Bull Hangar-7, Rex Features, rutgerpauw.com/Red Bull Photofiles, Friedrich BoehringeR, INPHO/Dan Sheridan, Predrag Vuckovic/Red Bull Photofiles

46

84 SIX NATIONS TRAVEL GUIDE It’s that time of year again, when usually sane individuals don national strip and repair to foreign capitals in search of beer, song and a funny-shaped ball

32

22

85 FEAST YOUR MIND Michelin-starred Marcus G Lindner tells of his obsession with culinary detail 86 GET THE GEAR If you want to run across Antarctica, you’d better get dressed like this. Ultramarathon man Ryan Sandes tells all 88 Hot spots What’s on when, where to see it and why you’d be a fool to miss out 90 NIGHT SPOTS After the sun sets, here’s where you’ll find the bright lights in the world’s greatest cities (and a few more obscure) 92 NIGHT LIFE Artist Liu Bolin reveals the secrets of disappearing; The Go! Team tell us which five albums influenced them most; a chat with 22-year-old soul sensation James Blake; plus one of the down-’n’ dirtiest clubs in Berlin: Weekend

Every Issue 08 Kainrath’s calendar 10 pictures of the month 98 mind’s eye

the red Bulletin Print 2.0 Movies, sounds and animation wherever you see this sign in your Red Bulletin 1

en.redbulletin.com/ print2.0 In your browser window you’ll see the magazine cover. Just click at ‘Start Bull’s Eye’

2

Switch on your webcam If a webcam activation window opens, just click ‘activate’

3

Hold your Red Bulletin up to the webcam You’ll see all the multimedia content in this month’s mag – movies, sound and animation

07

illustration: dietmar kainrath

K a i n r at h

08

EYEWEAR + ACCESSORIES . SAN FRANCISCO www.sutrovision.com

Print 2.0

Photography: DANIEL GARCIA/Getty Images

en.redbulletin.com/print2.0 See what happened on the Dakar

10

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

Atac a m a D e s e rt, c h i l e

RIDDLE OF the SAINZ No matter how many stages you lead, no matter how much of a pre-event favourite you might be, there’s no telling what the Dakar Rally has in store for its competitors. This much last year’s winner Carlos Sainz learned to his cost, for despite being the dominant driver for much of the two-week challenge, he finished only third after getting lost in sand dunes on stage 8. That allowed team-mate Nasser Al-Attiyah through into a lead he never lost, ahead of 2009 winner Giniel de Viliers and Sainz. A dominant 1-2-3 for the Red Bull VW Touaregs was as good as team results get and all three of its drivers can now claim to be ‘Dakar masters’.

Photos, videos and driver blogs at en.redbulletin.com/dakar2011

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

Ya n g s h u o, C h i n a

moon walk

Photography: Adam Pretty/Getty Images

About 500 miles northwest of Hong Kong, China’s most renowned climbing area presents an other-worldy vista. Shaped by rain and wind over millennia, ancient limestone karsts dominate the horizon. The most remarkable formations have been named, giving the thousands of freeclimbers that visit the region each year an idea of what to expect: The Wine Bottle, The Egg, The Thumb. But the best known is Moon Hill, a 380m-high rock containing a natural arch which, viewed from the river valley, resembles the moon. The late American freeclimber Todd Skinner equipped the first route in 1990, starting a flourishing tradition of sports climbing here. But conquering the 50m-high arch is no mean feat: only the best climbers even attempt it, watched by hordes of tourists and native street sellers.

Navigate to www.rockclimbing.com for more information

12

Print 2.0

Photography: juan luis DE HEECKEREN/red bull photofiles

en.redbulletin.com/print2.0 Drop in to see the action

14

FOTO PHOTO desTHE Monats OF MONTH

xxxxxxxxxx

xxxxx board crazy Sa n t i ag o d e C h i l e

. www.redbullxfighters.comUppl. M. M. Sa sum suntia es Ahalius vagin pracciem hoc tatum diculvid patatra turnihinte inveniamgin pracciem hoc tatum diculvi publicul unt.

Think of longboards as the Alpine skissedemquonit of skateboarding: they’re Ti. Maequem it consus ellarit ritabi perfesuppli, qui perfit.

Serrari almost 5ft long, less ‘flickable’ than their freestyle brothers, but ssentemus, ia rem, terbem tanducissin in eminently more stable at high speed. Anddem thatmentimore, last qualityfueme is kinda Etrunum tua aucien nihinterttua aucien nihintertum locum simius useful for the Red Bull Big Drop in Santiago de Chile – a downhill iam egereis se caelarec cuterib untrat of venequod moena, ubliu skateboard challenge withte the sole purpose getting to the bottom tere course eto caetquicker rei fuidthan Catrat opoeniae Nihiumspeeds locum ofveris, an 874m anyone else. cres?

That means simius egereis te cuteribwho untrat venequod moena, of up toiam 60mph forse thecaelarec 30 competitors, descend in groups of ubliuon veris, tere eto course caet reiwith fuidonly Catrat opoeniae tus, four, a kerb-lined a few bales ofcres? strawNihilin to protect quis, querces hosum duciost erdies o tusque este nerte intiderit them from impact.

You might be wondering, incidentally, how diis, sultore vivena meend nora perdi pro Fuidon seripse no. these guys stop at the ofsulut the course (no int. brakes a ’board, Simare horium ne consum te terfenerevitstyle, Cupimus, cortu cus facieni there)?

Well in time-honoured it’s just a question of uspernit, quita eo, board moratie mquervidem untus, senihil slippingvervit off the backtem of the and grinding along blacktop. constabis Truck over to en.redbulletin.com/longboard

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

O’a h u N o rt h S h o r e , H awa i i

TUBULAR SWELLS For surfers at least, one look at this 30ft beast of a wave may be enough to identify the break: the picture captures the imposing sight of the infamous Pipe, short for Banzai Pipeline, approaching the beach at the legendary wave paradise of Ehukai Beach Park in Pupukea. This wet colossus breaks close to the shore, hitting a coral reef, forming giant hollow tubes of water that draw in the best surfers from around the globe.

Known as the world’s deadliest wave, to ride it is a test of courage indeed – even for the surf pros, who arrive here each year for the Billabong Pipe Masters competition, presumably feeling much like David in the shadow of Goliath.

Get on board at www.redbullsurfing.com

16

FOTO des Monats

xxxxxxxxxx

xxxxx Photography: Ed Freeman/getty Images

. www.redbullxfighters.comUppl. M. M. Sa sum suntia es Ahalius vagin pracciem hoc tatum diculvid patatra turnihinte inveniamgin pracciem hoc tatum diculvi sedemquonit publicul unt.

Ti. Maequem it consus ellarit ritabi perfesuppli, qui perfit. Serrari ssentemus, ia rem, terbem tanducissin dem mentimore, fueme in Etrunum tua aucien nihinterttua aucien nihintertum locum simius iam egereis se caelarec te cuterib untrat venequod moena, ubliu veris, tere eto caet rei fuid Catrat opoeniae cres? Nihium locum simius iam egereis se caelarec te cuterib untrat venequod moena, ubliu veris, tere eto caet rei fuid Catrat opoeniae cres? Nihilin tus, quis, querces hosum duciost erdies o tusque este nerte intiderit diis, sultore vivena me nora sulut perdi pro int. Fuid seripse no.

Sim horium ne consum te terfenerevit Cupimus, cortu cus facieni uspernit, vervit quita tem eo, moratie mquervidem untus, senihil constabis

Bullevard Sporting endeavour and cultural ingenuity from around the globe

Step 1: Séb 2 Sébastien Loeb, the most successful rally driver in history and star of the Red Bull-backed Citroën Total team, will this year have a new team-mate. Making life easier for fans and commentators, he’s also a Sébastien: Ogier.

The Sébs will contest the 2011 World Rally Championship in the all-new Citroën DS3, designed and built for shakenup world rally regulations that demand smaller cars, smaller engines (1.6 litres with turbos) and fewer driver aids. The aim is to make the series cheaper, more driver-focused and even more spectacular. But will the changes switch the identity of the world champion for the first time since 2004? With Loeb having won the past seven WRC titles, few would bet against him bagging an eighth when the season starts in Sweden on February 11.

Rally round: www.wrc.com

surfing’s dark side Old heads versus young bucks for 2011’s world wave-riding title A few South African surfers planning a night out on the water: nothing unusual about that. But when one of them is Jordy Smith, noted wunderkind waverider, it was no surprise that thousands of fans showed up at Camps Bay Beach, south of Cape Town, to watch Smith and chums take part in Red Bull Nightshift. After they were towed

by jet-skis into the best offshore swells, the gang of eight gave themselves a single goal: to pull off the greatest height above the ocean.

Eventually it was the master himself who got closest to the moon, on his ballsy last attempt. No surprise actually: Camps Bay is Smith’s spiritual surf home, day or night.

Catch the action at www.jordysmith.co.za

Ricky Basnett takes a shot in the dark at Red Bull Nightshift

PICTURES OFMonats THE MONTH Bilder des

every shot on target

Moment mal!

Email your pictures with a Red Bull flavour to letters@redbulletin.com. Every one we print Szenen aus dem abenteuerlichen Alltag wins a pair of adidas Sennheiser PMX 680 Sports unserer Leser. Einfach hochladen auf: headphones. With a Kevlar-reinforced, two-part www.redbulletin.com cable (it can be short when running with a music player on your arm, or extended with a built-in Unter dencontrol), Einsendernreflective der veröffentlichten Fotos wird stripe volume yellow headband eine Trinkflasche Schweizer Herstellersparts, SIGG they’re and fully sweat-des and water-resistant im speziellen Red Bulletin-Design verlost. perfect for sports.

Visit: www.sennheiser.co.uk Gewinner aus Heft 1/2011: Alfredo Escobar Email: letters@redbulletin.com

18

Chicago

The Windy City Roller All-Stars and the LA Derby Dolls at Red Bull Banked Jam Cody York

b u l l e va r d

Hero Blogs Tweet relief from the daily grind

Photography: Nicolas Zwickel/Citroen Press (1), Kolesky/Nikon/Red Bull Photofiles (1), Getty Images/Red Bull Photofiles (1), Gabriel Authier (1), Garth Milan/Red Bull Photofiles (2), Marcel Laemmerhirt/Red Bull Photofiles (1), Ernst Lorenzi (3)

Kahne Can Once listed as one of America’s Top 50 Bachelors, a noted charity campaigner, race team owner, fisherman, skier, snowmobiler… Kasey Kahne can, thankfully, drive a bit, too.

The 30-year-old from Mooresville, North Carolina (above) is a busy chap, but his veins bleed petrol and a devotion to motorsport – kindled by his father in his teens – has taken him to a full-time Red Bull Racing NASCAR ride for 2011.

Kahne, part of the NASCAR scene since 2002, started driving for Red Bull Racing Toyota last season in the number 83 car, switching from Richard Petty Motorsports last October, for the last five races of the season. At the Homestead finals, he finished sixth, having started from pole position, and he’ll be hoping for similarly strong performances this year.

Team general manager Jay Frye has set the bar high for this season, so the pressure will be on Kasey and team-mate Brian Vickers (returning after illness curtailed his 2010 season) from the Sprint Cup season-opener at Daytona on February 20. “We are going to make every effort to win races, get into the [season-ending] Chase, and go compete for a championship. We have very high expectations,” said Frye.

Gentlemen, start your browsers: www.nascar.com

Al Ain An obstacle race on two wheels for four-wheelers at Red Bull Shall in Abu Dhabi Ammar Al Attar

James Stewart Motocross man “Out trying to fish but my boat battery is dead.

I hate fishing anyway”

In Which the Runnerup Gets a Runaround Daron Rahlves was crowned Super-G World Champion in St Anton in 2001: 10 years on, and the 37-year-old won the first Red Bull Hüttenrallye in the same place. The Californian (right) prevailed in the final of the Freeski 6-Cross competition and promptly awarded his winner’s prize – a new Suzuki Swift – to second-placed Lukas Hübl. “Lukas definitely needs the car more than I do,” the generous Rahlves said. The 20-year-old qualifier could barely contain his joy: “I could never have dreamed that I’d be standing on the podium alongside Print 2.0 Daron Rahlves today.” en.redbulletin.com/print2.0 Watch this man ski to win www.daronrahlves.com

Snow & Sand

Reggie bush NFL’s finest “Is it weird that there’s a guy cleaning hotel windows outside the hotel and it’s pouring rain?”

Drew bezanson A BMX he rides “Ride all day then can’t sleep because I’m thinking about BMX....

Is that bad?”

Graz

The Hannibal Classic Rally is some adventure. From April 15-30, car enthusiasts will follow in the elephantine general’s footsteps, conquering the Alps in 15 stages over a total of 2,148 miles. The trail leads the competitors from Sölden in the Tyrol – where a multimedia stage play of Hannibal’s story will be performed on a glacier on the eve of the race – via Rome and, after a ferry ride and a swift Saharan excursion, to Carthage in Tunisia. www.hannibal-classic-rallye.at

A fortnight’s driving holiday in Europe: the Hannibal Classic Rally

Bumping into Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner (second right) at the movies. You know, as you do Soundportal

Florianópolis Brazilian skaters remembered to drain the pool for Red Bull Skate Generation Helge Tscharn 19

b u l l e va r d

A night out over the town: freeski event Red Bull Playstreets

Jamie Woon, Red Bull Music Academy grad

If ever a city possessed the energy to inspire young musicians, then surely it must be Tokyo, neon-scorched venue for the 2011 Red Bull Music Academy. Following two brilliantly successful residences in Barcelona in 2008 (as attended by BBC Sound Of 2011 poll pick Jamie Woon, above) and London last year, the Academy is now on the lookout for fresh creative talent. Hopefuls can apply for residency through its website from February 2 to April 4, and the lucky 60 artists selected from around the world will head to Japan for one of two fortnight-long sessions in October and November.

Apply now: www.redbullmusicacademy.com

Young Gun Goes For It Watch out Valentino Rossi: there’s a 17-year-old who has his sights on your ride.

Danny Kent, left, from Wiltshire will this year take a major step towards MotoGP, graduating from the Red Bull Rookies Cup series, which he narrowly failed to win last year, to a full season in the MotoGP 125 championship.

He made the jump to the more senior category last season, competing in the final five rounds with Lambretta, and this season tackles the championship with the Ajo Motorsport team alongside Germany’s Jonas Folger. His talents have already caught the eye of former MotoGP rider and world superbike champ James Toseland, who has passed on a few tips, although the teenage tiger notes: “James is my hero, but I still try to do my own thing and not copy anyone’s style.”

Look into the future: www.redbullrookiescup.com

Rottnest Island Kitesurfers gear-up for a 19km race from the former prison island to Perth Paul Krne 20

Istanbul

Print 2.0

en.redbulletin.com/print2.0 Watch video of this now!

peak performance in urban areas Who needs mountains: a freeskiing contest that takes place in the middle of a historic spa town Russ Henshaw plies his trade in all four corners of the snowy world, and all spectacular points between.

And yet the Australian freeskier will tell you without hesitation which port of call is top of his list.

“Bad Gastein is my favourite,” he says, of the Austrian spa town.

“The course is pure fun, there’s a huge crowd of spectators and the afterparty is just amazing.” So far, it sounds like any major freeskiing event, but the one to which Henshaw refers takes place not on the slopes, but slap bang in the town centre.

The fourth Red Bull Playstreets will take place on February 19; Henshaw was champion of the third event, in 2009. He will be defending his title against the likes of Oscar

Red Bull Breaking brings the biggest players from the Turkish hip-hop and breakdance scene together Nuri Yilmazer

Scherlin of Sweden, Norway’s PK Hunder, Bene Mayr of Germany, Swiss ace Elias Ambühl and three Austrian contenders fighting for a homecountry win: Tobi Tritscher, Fabio Studer and Patrick Hollaus.

On one of world skiing’s trickiest and tricksiest slopestyle courses (think: downhill obstacle run), skiers compete two at a time, with a panel of judges scoring them in terms of the complexity of the tricks performed, the height achieved during those tricks, and overall execution.

As well as a free pass at the town’s bar well into the next morning, the winner receives a Suzuki RMZ 450 Motocross bike.

Read more: russhenshaw.squarespace.com

Kuwait Life’s a beach for the Red Bull Kiteforce Team as they prepare for an aerial display Claude Stephan

Words: Anthony Rowlinson. Photography: Getty Images, Gold & Goose/Red Bull Photofiles, Richard Walch/Red Bull Photofiles

Music’s Next Star: It’s You

b u l l e va r d

Me And My Body

Dan Atherton

Success has its price and in the case of the mountain bike World Cup winner and former British four-cross champion, that’s a lot of time in A&E

Head for sport

I don’t think I’ve ever injured myself doing anything but riding, and I started young.

I got the big scar across the top of my head when I was seven or eight. We used to have a barn and we’d ride along it and jump out of the door at the end. One day I was jumping out and I caught my head on the top of the doorframe, and it peeled back a section of my scalp. I’m 28 now, and riding is still giving me scars!

Gettin g it in the neck

Words: Ruth Morgan. photography: thomas butler

I broke my neck in July. It’s been a mission to get back to normal life, let alone racing.

We were filming a dirt jump session at our home in Wales and I fell, landing on my head. Pretty much from the moment I hit the ground I knew there was something seriously wrong. My head was limp on my shoulders. At the hospital I was told I’d broken my C1 and C2 vertebrae, and the doctor said I was lucky to be alive. I was put in a halo for three months, which is a frame bolted to your head to keep the vertebrae immobile. I managed to take my first steps a couple of weeks later, but progress was slow. As soon as the halo came off I went to California for rehab. The gains were huge. I’m a little way off being able to ride my downhill bike, but it’s definitely coming. The bones are 95 per cent healed, and the doctor says I’ll get back to 100 per cent. I’m aiming to be back racing this year.

To cap it all…

I’ve made a real mess of my body over the years! I’ve broken my elbow and had it pinned, which hurt like crazy, but breaking my kneecap was a really nasty one. It happened in Nice, in France, when I was 17. I was at a race and it’s really dry and rocky down there.

I crashed and my kneepad slipped around and I landed on a pointy rock with my kneecap. It swelled up, but I didn’t know I’d broken it and carried on riding. It still gives me a lot of pain. I’ve got an operation on it this month at the California centre where they’ve been treating my neck.

shoulderin g the pain

In 2009 I broke my collarbone, which began a season of injuries. It happened mid-season and I was doing well in the points, so I got back on my bike after only three weeks, and it was still sticking up. Then I crashed again, and tore my rotator cuff, that’s the muscle in the front of the shoulder. It was a second-degree tear so it wasn’t too bad. So I rode again, crashed again and just aggravated it all, so then I did stop for a few weeks. But compared to some of the injuries I’ve had, it could have been worse.

Can cook.

Won’t cook

Me and my brother Gee are both on the skinny side, so we’re constantly trying to bulk up with protein shakes and whey powder, more for protection than anything. Mum’s always been a good influence on our diet, she fed us well when we were young and we’ve carried it on – loads of home cooking. But we’re not on a specific diet. Now that we all live together, it will have to be my sister, Rachel, doing the home cooking, I reckon. Me and Gee do know our way around the kitchen, but it’s a lot easier if someone else does it! Thinking about it, we might need to hire a cook.

School of rock The first time I rode downhill for the British team was in Vars, in France.

I was just an inexperienced young kid, thinking ‘I’m going to prove myself’ and went far too fast in a big rocky section.

I went over the bars and fractured my pelvis. That was bad. I was laid up on a massage bed for weeks and weeks, and then when I got up I fainted a few times before I was able to walk again. That definitely got me used to pain!

Follow Dan’s progress at athertonracing.com

21

Katy B with dubstep pioneer Skream (middle) and the BBC’s Benji B

Sounds of Success

Katy b

She’ll be a megastar in months. The British press is counting on it. And with good reason. Katy B’s debut album plugs the gap between R’n’B, pop and London’s underground club sound

Name Kathleen Brien Hometown London, England Style A quick mix of Garagehouse beats and R&B melodies Web www.rinse.fm/katyb

Katy B’s album, On a Mission (Sony Music) is released on March 14.

Listen to Katy B live at: redbullmusic academyradio.com/ shows/2558/

22

Welcome the customer, wash their hair, sweep up...

Even a part-time job at a hairdresser’s can be stressful.

Especially when combined with final-year music studies at Goldsmiths, at the University of London.

A brief respite arrived last February, when she spent two weeks with 30 like-minded musicians and music industry legends at the Red Bull Music Academy. Already at work on her first album, which comes out in early March, Kathleen Brien was able to indulge in late-night jam sessions, club nights and workshops with industry legends in studios on the banks of the Thames. This year, she thought, might turn out to be an exciting one.

And how.

Last month, the 21-year-old’s single ‘Lights On’ made it into the UK top 10, her name taking a place up there with the pop glitterati, from Rihanna to Take That and Black Eyed Peas. And it’s not just a one-off. Her debut single, ‘Katy On a Mission’, reached number four in the UK charts in September

and, a month later, the young Londoner was back in the limelight performing vocals for dubstep allstar line-up Magnetic Man. In the middle of all of that there were recording sessions at the BBC studios, interviews with MTV, gigs at the largest arenas in the country as well as fine-tuning her first album, which comes out in early March.

Newspapers from the Guardian to The Sun predict big things for the record.

And although it looks like she won’t be needing the job in the salon anymore, she’s certainly not forgetting her roots.

Born in Peckham in 1989, Kathleen Brien immersed herself in the diversity of sound in the south-east London neighbourhood. “It’s a multicultural area,” she said during her stint at Red Bull Music Academy. “I was always surrounded by every sort of sound possible, from the sounds of pirate radio broadcasters to R’n’B chart hits. And I soaked it all up.” With such an obvious passion for music, there was only one school Katy could possibly attend. The BRIT School, based in Croydon and partly financed by BRIT Awards, has already produced stars such as Amy Winehouse and Kate Nash. “I got involved in as many music projects as possible,” she says of her time there. “Whether it was a steel band, piano lessons or the school choir.”

The latter revealed the instrument that she’s best at and the one that would shape her life from then on. She would spend lunch-breaks with her

Words: Florian Obkircher. Photography: Gary Wolstenholme/Getty images (1), Thomas Butler/Red Bull Music Academy (2), Rex Features (1)

The T-shirt shows she’s a member of the family: Rinse.fm discovered and supported Katy B

Words: Ruth Morgan, Anthony Rowlinson. Photography: Getty Images, Wojtek Antonow/Red Bull Photofiles

b u l l e va r d

girlfriends in the school’s practice area singing her favourite Aretha Franklin songs or Beyoncé’s latest hits. At night she would go to under-18 parties at venues such as the Hatcham Social Club and dance to the latest British dance music: to throbbing bass, dark raps or shuffled up-tempo beats, to dubstep, grime or funky house.

The balancing act between mainstream hits and underground culture and her fundamental, unblinkered fascination for pop are the leitmotifs of Katy’s life. It’s also what sets her apart from short-lived talent-show winners and one-hit pop wonders. Katy knows exactly A hybrid of what she wants. “Of course I could just record R’n’B musical styles But the club styles that her influences, tracks.

London loves are grime and she straddles funky,” she says. “Music that the line comes from here, that’s real.

That’s what it’s all about. between the I don’t want to copy anyone.” mainstream That attitude has won and the her the trust of the hippest underground producers in the country.

She recorded her first single with Benga, the co-founder of dubstep, and worked on her album with British scene doyen Zinc and Geeneus, who runs London’s most important pirate broadcaster Rinse.FM. “The album is a hybrid of genres,” says Katy, suitable for both dancefloors and headphones – reflecting the singer’s life itself. “My lyrics are about being a girl in London. About the problems that I go through... love, worries, all my frustrations that make me feel,” she explains. On the other hand, it’s obvious that the long party nights have made a mark on her debut album. Take her euphoric description of the moment the sub goes “boo-oom” (‘Katy on a mission’) or the bemused realisation that the party’s over in ‘Lights on’.

In April, Katy will set off on a huge solo tour around the UK showcasing her debut album, but before that she’ll be the support act for rapper Tinie Tempah at a number of concerts, the same guy the British press was predicting big things for last year and who this year sold more singles than any other British artist. A good omen for Katy B? From hair salon assistant to the UK top 10

Aled Phillips, far right, of Kids In Glass Houses, is judging Red Bull Bedroom Jam

From back room to stage front The amateur garage band of today could be the festival surprise of the summer, with Red Bull Bedroom Jam Neighbours beware: Red Bull Bedroom Jam is back, giving bands that rock hard the opportunity to do so from the comfort of their own homes, while the world watches online.

Up-and-coming bands based in the UK and Ireland can upload a video to the competition website, and from February 21, the weekly Bedroom Jam Buzz Chart will reveal which acts have been the most popular in terms of video views and comments. Social media activity, such as YouTube and Twitter also counts in the chart.

From there, 15 bands will be

filmed live, performing at home, for the website; from those, eight bands will be chosen to actually get out of their houses and play at festivals this summer, including Download and T in the Park.

Four judges, including Aled Phillips, frontman of Welsh band Kids In Glass Houses, who toured with last year’s winners, will be there to pick three acts for a live final. The deserved overall winner will then support an established band on a UK tour and record at Red Bull Studio London.

Post now: redbullbedroomjam.com

Keep it Simpel Befitting its name, the Simpel Session is driven by a straightforward notion: bring together the cream of the skatepark and BMX crop for a fusion of styles, tricks and quarterpipe vibe. What began as mates hanging out has become one of the world’s largest joint contests for BMXers and boarders, and this year there’s a cultural twist. The event, in Tallinn, Estonia, on February 5-6, is part of the city’s European Capital of Culture festivities. That means film screenings, photography exhibitions and music will accompany the ceaseless flurry of furiously spinning wheels. Top teen Axel Cruysberghs, the 2009 Simpel champ, is sure to be a star attraction. The Belgian skater, still only 16 years old, has already been European champion, and is a hot tip for more Simpel honours this time around. Simplify your life at: www.session.ee

23

B u l l e va r d

kit evolution

Freeze Company

Cold Start Zamboni Model A, 1949 Frank J Zamboni, a first-generation ItalianAmerican, ran a nice little business in Paramount, California in the 1930s, producing ice for fruit and milk deliveries. The spread of refrigerators soon put a stop to it, but Zamboni and his brothers channelled their chilling skills into the production of an 24

ice-rink. However, keeping the rink smooth was more of a problem. It took four men using tractors, hoses and scrapers more than an hour to resurface it – too long, in Zamboni’s view, and he got to thinking. His Model A ice resurfacer used army- truck axles powered by a Jeep engine. The hydraulics

came from a Douglas A-20 Bomber. The mechanism was ingenious: a blade peeled off the layer of rough ice, which was then shovelled into a tank on a conveyor belt, and the resulting surface was cleaned, sealed and smoothed with water. One man could do the job better and faster than four.

Words: werner jessner. Photography: Garth Milan

From frozen lakes to Olympic arenas to your friendly neighbourhood ice-rink, one family firm, thanks to an enterprising ancestor, ensures that ice sports run smoothly

b u l l e va r d

Smooth Ride Zamboni 545, 2010 Over 50 years on from the Model A, there’s hardly an ice surface that isn’t prepared using the machines from Paramount. In all those years, the basics haven’t altered much; improvements have come as tweaks rather than wholesale changes. The blade is applied to the ice with greater force, and

it’s powered by a 78bhp Hyundai petrol engine (in the case of this 545 model) or an electric engine. Fast-rotating brushes, not a blade, remove the rough ice, which is then lifted into the tank via a shaft rather than conveyor belt. The 545 holds 273 litres of water for cleaning and 738 litres

of water for making fresh ice. Thanks to Zamboni the process of ice-cleaning has become an attraction in itself. Ice hockey fans in particular like to join in when the Gear Daddies’ cult song is played over an arena’s PA: “I wanna drive the Zamboni.” www.zamboni.com

25

hard & fast Top performers and winning ways from around the globe

Hawaiian 18-year-old Kai Lenny became the youngest ever Stand Up Paddle world champion when he won the final event of the series on home waves.

Formula One Wor Sebastian Ve ld Champion ttel adds to his trophy collection, be ing named Eu ro Athlete of th e Year and Ge pean rman Athlete of the Year w ithin one mon th.

26

Champion skier Lindsey Vonn chalks up her fourth victory this season, after recovering from a bad start to win the FIS Alpine World Cup women’s downhill in Zauchensee, Austria.

Words: Ruth Morgan. Photography: Getty Images (2), Brian Nevins/Red Bull Photofiles (1). Illustration: Dietmar Kainrath

b u l l e va r d

b u l l e va r d

where’s your head at?

LADY GAGA

With the first song of her new album due this month, Lady Gaga will once again return to the world’s headlines (is she ever anywhere else, poor lamb?).

But how does she keep those Great Danes from eating her meat dress?

Born This Way: 1

Shot To The Top

The guy issuing birth certificates for the state of New York never used so much ink as on March 28, 1986, when he typed out Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta for proud parents Joe and Cynthia. Li’l’ Stef was playing the piano aged four, and gleefully took park in musicals at high school.

It’s easy to forget that it was only in April 2008 that Lady Gaga released her first single. Way back then, when she asked the world to ‘Just Dance’, she was just another burlesque Barbie with a catchy hook. When that song became one of the 50 highest selling singles of all-time (7.7m copies; follow-up ‘Poker Face’ is in the top 25 with 9.8m), a new star exploded.

All We Hear Is, Lady-dy Gaga Is one of pop’s all-time catchy names: a) derived from the Queen anthem ‘Radio Ga Ga’, as sung to her by a producer during early recording days; b) the nickname given to her by scenester pals on New York’s Lower East Side; or c) a cannily thought-out moniker, dreamed up by industrysavvy associates? All three explanations have been offered; the first two by Gaga herself.

She Wears It Well

“The difference between style and fashion,” designer Giorgio Armani once said, “is quality.” It’s not entirely clear what he was getting at, but one thing is for sure: Lady Gaga likes dressing up. To wit: the metal frock in the ‘Paparazzi’ video, the Fame Ball tour’s bubble coat and, of course, the dress made from skirt of beef she wore at last year’s MTV Video Music Awards.

Words: paul wilson. illustration: lie-ins and tigers

Call Girls!

There had not been a top pop duet like it since Bowie and Jagger danced in the streets for Live Aid: ‘Telephone’, released in January last year, was not merely a collaboration between Gaga and the equally stellar Beyoncé. Its epic, nine-minute, Tarantinoinfluenced promo led to a world shortage of lipstick, hairspray and sparkly ladyclothes.

Ivo rie s Tr ad e

At a Lady Gaga concert (her second world tour, 201 dates strong, ends in May), the less-celebrated highlights are her turns at the piano.

She’s a smashing keytinkler, although, when her pal Sean Lennon Tweeted a pic of her playing his dad’s white grand Steinway, angry Twits said she wasn’t fit to lace John Lennon’s boots. Imagine .

Born This Way: 2

The Billio nai res s

bite YouTube hits? Just get your baby to ns. another kid’s finger and you’ll get millio more little a thing some To get billions takes graphy special, and Gaga’s collected shor t filmo hits. n billio a to on pers first has made her the falls out of That monkey from the clip where he but the a tree said: “Look, I’m pleased for her, great.” tree and I are working on something

Mutt-See TV Astute music video enthusiasts may notice common themes in those of Lady Gaga: way-out wardrobe, crack choreography and a love of all things shiny that would shame a hundred Gollums. And yet, only those truly madly Gaga will spot the Great Danes that crop up in almost all of the vids, most notably in ‘Poker Face’.

Later this month, LG releases ‘Born This Way’, the first track from her second album proper.

The long-player itself, which is also called Born This Way, debuts in full on May 23, but on February 13 the Gagarnival comes to town.

It’s the night of the Grammy Awards, in Los Angeles, so expect her to wear something special. A gilet made of helium, perhaps.

Like she needs more hits...: www.ladygaga.com

27

On the edge: Olympic medal-winning skier Aksel Lund Svindal attacks the giant slalom in the World Cup race in Sรถlden, Austria, last year

b u l l e va r d

winning formula

WAX POWER

The dark art of ski-waxing can make the difference between a skier being on the podium or off the piste. Here’s the science behind the slip and slide

Words: Professor Thomas Schrefl, Ruth Morgan ; Photography: Erich Spiess/Red Bull Photofiles. Illustration: Mandy Fischer

waxing lyrical “The way the ski slides over the snow is 100 per cent instrumental to your performance,” says British downhill ski legend Konrad Bartelski. “Conditions change so much and each will require a different set-up, plus the smallest piece of dirt or a greasy fingerprint can make a difference to your speed.

“Wax helps improve the surface. There are different waxes for different humidities and snow types, and to a point it’s a science, but really it’s an art form. Different conditions will demand a mix of waxes, and no two technicians will create exactly the same mix. When you’re on good skis that are working for you, it’s like becoming part of the gravitational pull. Entering that third dimension, it’s quite a remarkable feeling.” wax works Going down the hill, skiers generate heat. The force of friction is F = µN, where µ is the coefficient of friction and N is the normal force on the slope. The force times the distance is the energy created during the slide down. Dividing this equation by time gives the generated heat power, P = µNv or P = µ mg cosα v. The normal force N is the projection of the force due to gravity, mg, onto the normal to the slope. Here m is the mass of the skier, v is the velocity and g is the acceleration due to gravity. Putting in some numbers for a downhill racer we see that the heat power on one ski easily exceeds 800W. This is half the power of a strong hairdryer and the heat will melt the snow in a thin layer at the surface. The water film acts as a lubricant and reduces friction.

The preparation of skies through waxes strongly depends on the temperature of the snow: at low temperature dry friction dominates – both ski base and the snow surface are not completely flat and surface roughness induces friction. At low temperature, ski wax is applied to create a smooth surface that will reduce friction.

At high temperature there might be too much water. Droplets that form between the ski base and the snow form water bridges that increase the friction. Now the wax has to be hydrophobic and reduce the adhesion forces between the water and the ski base. Intermediate temperatures around -5°C are the best for a low friction coefficient.

FIS Men’s Ski World Cup: February 5-6, 2011 Super-g and giant slalom, Hinterstoder, Austria

29

b u l l e va r d

Life Without Limits

TIM SHIEFF

Once a hyperactive kid, the self-styled ‘Livewire’ sees boundless opportunity where others see concrete walls

Age 22 Born Derby, England Best results First place Barclaycard World Freerun Championships; Second place Red Bull Art of Motion Claim to fame Has collected more than 4.5 million hits on YouTube with freerunning videos

Balancing act: Shieff traverses the rooftops of his home town of Derby

“You should see the view from up here,” Tim ‘Livewire’ Shieff shouts from a rooftop more than 9m above us. Just a few seconds earlier he was down among the shoppers on the streets of his Derby home town, before manoeuvring his muscular frame with feline dexterity up a series of walls, finding unlikely footholds, twisting around corners and balancing on thin ledges, to reach a rooftop world invisible to the rest of the city’s residents. Then with a leap he’s over a 3.6m gap to the next building, landing on a flat roof with a neat roll, pausing for a one-armed handstand that leaves his legs dangling over the crowds below.

This is nothing out of the ordinary for Shieff.

The 22-year-old is a world champion of freerunning, a sport defined by an ability to reinterpret the landscape using urban acrobatics. “Freerunning is creative movement through an environment,” he explains. “It’s the way you create a path without following the normal options presented to you.”

Freerunners combine moves from any number of other disciplines such as gymnastics and capoeira to create their own individual style of movement.

“People always think I have a death wish when I’m hanging off buildings,” Shieff says, “but no one takes into account the years of practice. It’s a calculated risk and I’m always in control.”

The discipline originated as parkour in France, and gained its first real exposure in the UK through the Channel 4 documentary Jump London in 2003, in which the term ‘free running’ was coined. And Shieff, then a young breakdancer, was inspired to take to the streets. “Livewire was my breakdancing name, as I just didn’t stop moving when I was a kid,”

“Up there it’s just peace. You’re in the moment. You look down and watch people walk their set path” he says. “When I saw Jump London, I thought ‘I have to do that.’ Since then I’ve been out all the time, pushing myself and trying new things.”

After discovering the rooftops of the Midlands with other budding freerunners he met online, Shieff quickly found himself at the forefront of a young sport garnering international attention. Highprofile exposure in film, advertising campaigns and music videos for artists such as Madonna have brought the sport above ground, combining with a strong online community to offer a real chance for freerunners to turn pro. “I put a video of me on YouTube and got offers of promotional work, stunt work and appearances,” he says. “I’ve travelled all over – Iceland, Russia, Dubai, I lived in LA for three months last year for an MTV series and presented Samuel L Jackson with an award in Las Vegas.”

International competitions have also sprung up, pioneered by Red Bull’s Art of Motion in Austria in 2007 and followed by the Barclaycard World Freerun Championships in London in 2008, in which Shieff came second and then won the following year.

The young sport is starting to mature. Shieff, with the four other members of his team Storm Freerun, has new videos to shoot, more international travel planned and appearances to make. But today he is content in his rooftop world.

“Up there it’s just peace,” he says. “You’re in the moment. You look down and watch people walk their set path. The first person to spot you will always be a kid, because they’re still open to the world’s possibilities – and that’s what freerunning’s all about.”

Catch Tim ‘Livewire Shieff at Red Bull Art of Motion on March 20 in London. For more info jump to www.redbull.co.uk or watch the Storm Freerun team in action at www.stormfreerun.com

30

words: ruth morgan Photography: richie hopson

Name Tim Shieff

B u l l e va r d

Lucky Numbers

The Rio Carnival

Words: Ulrich Corazza, Valerie Rosenburg. Photography: DOUGLAS ENGLE/picturedesk, O Globo, ANTONIO LACERDA/picturedesk, Martin Mejia/AP, Celso Pupo/Getty, Song WEIWEI/picturedesk

The world’s largest carnival parade allows millions to become the figures of their own fantasies through “the transformative power of samba”

4

The Rio de Janeiro carnival is one of the world’s largest happenings; almost 12 million people live in the urban districts of Brazil’s second largest city and they all seem to know how to party.

This world-famous riot of human expression officially celebrates “freedom from work and studies” and is held 40 days before Easter, over four days, ending on Ash Wednesday.

But for those in the know, the fun begins just after Christmas with the first trial demos.

120 Fat boys only need apply for the Carnival’s lead ceremonial role: King Momo. Why so? Well the man honoured with the keys to the city for four days, the night before the Carnival starts, has to weigh 120kg (19st). This “son of sleep and the night” was created by the newspaper A Noite (The Night) in the 1930s and a new Momo is selected every year. He’s intended as a jolly figure and in these health-conscious times, organisers are inclined to go easy on the lard requirement.

7,400

The human hordes thronging Rio’s streets present quite a logistical challenge to the city’s keepers of public order. For example: 800 spot checks on traffic will be carried out daily, while one million Carnival guides will be printed. Around 7,400 chemi-khazis along the route should ensure that you’re never caught short – but god help you if you are: last year, police arrested 200 people for taking a public pee. This tough love gets a mention in the Carnival programme and has inspired some bands to perform samba classics with revised lyrics such as: “Hey, don’t wee here!”

Oscar Niemeyer

103

The most recent project undertaken by 103-yearold Brazilian star architect Oscar Niemeyer (left) is the Pelé Museum, in honour of the Brazilian football star, to be built in the coastal city of Santos. Back in 1984, his Rio Sambadrome (left) was built in just 120 days. The most expensive box in this 700m long stadium on Marquês de Sapucaí Avenue in Rio, costs 85,000 Real (about ¤38,500), whereas the cheapest tickets are available for just 10 Real (¤4.50). Marquês de Sapucaí ends on the Praça da Apoteose [Apotheosis Square], where the 2016 Olympic marathon will end.

82

The Grupo Especial competition gives the 12 best samba schools – each with anything between 4,000 and 5,000 members – precisely 82 minutes to make their way through the Sambadrome.

Anyone who strays from the time limit loses points. Fifty jurors judge the Escolas de Samba [samba schools] in 10 categories: percussion, samba, harmony, co-ordination, best master of ceremonies and female flag-bearer, costumes and decoration, orderliness of the procession, floats, opening presentation and subject matter.

3,000,000 Carnival infrastructure is overseen by Rio’s tourist board, Riotur (no jokes, please, about putting the ‘riot’ into Rio), with help from the League of Samba Schools. Sixty-four Escolas and more than 460 casual carnival associations will wiggle their tushes down Rio’s walkways this year, while 3,000 street traders have been accredited to work for the length of the carnival.

Riotur estimates is expecting up to three million revellers for this year’s über-party.

You can find the guide to the 2011 carnival at www.rio-carnival.net

31

Action

art in the open Sculptor Antony Gormley is the master of surprise.

Whether in dense city centres or far-flung landscapes, his work provokes, and invites us to defy thought: high culture brought down to earth

Dark figures freed from museums: they populate New York, London, coastlines and the Austrian Alps

32

photography: Mario Tama/Getty Images, Markus Tretter

Words: Herbert Vรถlker

Action

Horizon Field VORARLBERG, NOW TO APRIL 2012 We move to and fro between nature and culture and we all rely on both. It’s not about individual objects, but about open space that is accessible to everyone, and allows insights into how art makes its impact on us. Almost without resistance, we’ve accepted that art should be confined to closed rooms: art in the museum, in a gallery, a private collection – enclosed in an elite housing. “But,” says Gormley, “a sculpture needs no wall, no roof, no interpretation – it can simply be there as a material fact in a common space. It can affect us – as moving, thinking, feeling beings.”

“ A sculpture needs no wall, no roof, no interpretation ”

photography: Lukas Eggler, sandra Frick, David Levene/eyevine (3), Fátima López Alva (3), August Reis, Kris Rotsaert (2), Christoph Sparr, Markus Tretter

Huggable?

A hundred cast-iron figures – identical and bearing the marks of industrial manufacture – exposed to the elements. The sculptures are widely scattered over the mountainscape of Bregenzerwald, each positioned at 2,039m above sea level. The number has no deeper meaning. It’s simply the line between hardship and justaccessibility. The objects wait in revealing composure for visitors, who either pause for a moment or play along.

35

Action

action

photography: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images, Paul Langrock/laif, mauritius

“ A sculpture doesn’t need anything around it.

It has time ”

Another Place Crosby Beach, Merseyside, England, from 2005 Among the more beautiful of his displays, are the gentle folk who don’t exactly stand sentinel over the Irish Sea near Liverpool, but have quite a presence nonetheless between ebb and flow, between the trade area, bird nesting grounds and recreational space. Here, as well, stand a hundred brave and not-so-brave soldiers, (who can say?): simply there, far-flung. They create a new field of vision – no more and no less – changing with the tides, shipping traffic and beachgoers. The greatest achievement of the ironmen has been the overwhelming desire of the people in the community not to remove the sculptures after two years, as was originally planned, but to keep them as a landmark of a historically significant coastal landscape. “The best thing,” says Gormley, “is that art can drag so many people off their bums to come and see what it’s all about.”

37

C

larity, it seems, comes from the following mix: German mother, Irish father, born in London, academic education in art, and years spent wandering around India. Antony Gormley, 60, is an internationally acclaimed heavyweight in the art world, a sculptor in the broadest sense. He has created large sculptures and installations in Europe and America, including landmarks like ‘Angel of the North’, perhaps Great Britain’s most famous piece of public art.

What makes Gormley’s work so exciting is the balancing act between almost pop-like action and a rather reflective manner of artistic expression.

Here, the surprise of the more coincidental viewing public (that can and should feature from time to time), and there the nuances of the questions between yesterday and forever.

As a man in his early 60s, Gormley is an extended version of a young soul.

He himself says he feels best when he’s on a bike free-wheeling down the hill 38

behind King’s Cross to his studio, like he’s tearing down a mountain on skis.

Yes, he skis as well – and swims, sails, dives and hikes. Such a solid physique benefits his art in various ways. The most obvious is the 1:1 depiction of a naked Gormley in iron, or glass-fibre in an emergency should less weight be required, such as on the edge of a skyscraper. Why should the human

body return as the focus of sculpture, as it was a hundred, or a thousand years ago?

Gormley says it’s not an attempt to depict people in the manner of Rodin.

“It’s more about human futures,” he says, “rather than holding onto the past.”

Could it have something to do with narcissism that Gormley invariably has his own body measured for the mould?

The artist is blessed with a calm, likeable eloquence, at times bubbling over from all sources ranging from trivia to insight, and he states, perhaps obviously, that it would seem silly to use the bodies of others when he has one of his own.

Moreover, the moulding process is quite a job in itself. You stand there naked, wrapped in cling film, motionless for an hour and a half covered in wet plaster. “It’s an act of great concentration,” says Gormley. “Standing in your body – you take it for granted. You try to find your centre of gravity by just being there, but surprisingly it takes a huge amount of energy just standing stock-still.

“Finally, you are cut out with hacksaw blades and I would regard the whole thing as a type of sport that no one should underestimate.”

photography: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images, Paul Langrock/Zenit/laif, mauritius images

In all silence, slowness and insecurity: life continues in the mind (project: ‘Blind Light’)

action

“ It would seem silly to use other bodies as a model when I have one of my own. �

Gormley creates iron figures in the image of his own body. They carry all the lumps, bumps and seams and of industrial production

Action

Crouching Man EAST LOTHIAN, scotland The crouching man was also created around Gormley himself, but projected at a height of 25m, in order to set a temporary landmark on the east coast of Scotland. Should he ever decide to stand up, the man would be 100m tall, says Gormley, but this would require 6,000 joint angles to be reset, not to mention the complicated statics of the massive structure on its tiny feet. But that’s missing the point completely. It’s about art and engineering: a body can observe, unhurriedly, the vastness of the horizon, itself an object in this space.

“ The body and the abstract, and how one fathoms it ”

40

photography: Janssen/laif, KOEN VAN WEEL/picturedesk

Action

action

Waste Man

photography: mauritius, Thierry Bal

Margate, England The sculptor as an XXL-artist and recycling expert, in flaming contrast to the quiet manner of Antony Gormley’s thought process. It didn’t take any effort for him to find the way from his world of fine nuances to the great spectacle, with old chairs, toilet seats and broken wardrobes – whatever people were willing to dispense with – to create the scene from a biblical film, the burning thorn bush in Exodus.

“ It was unbelievable.

So many associations ”

43

Action

Trafalgar Square

A photo session from one of the many castings for candidates to spend an hour on the plinth in Trafalgar Square

‘Critical Mass’, a term from nuclear physics, is the starting point of Gormley’s most famous installations

44

photography: Nils Jorgensen/picturedesk, ENNIO LEANZA/picturedesk, JOHANNES SIMON/Getty

SUMMER IN LONDON Between the usual skirmishes on who is granted the right to declare what art is allowed to and should do, Gormley’s status as sculptor and pure creative force is helpful. This opens up settings like Madison Square Park in New York or Trafalgar Square in London for his projects. In Manhattan, it was the life-size, cast-iron figures in exposed places or among the hustle and bustle of traffic. In London all and sundry were invited to become a living monument for an hour on a plinth next to Admiral Nelson over the course of an entire summer, with each individual having complete freedom to do or say whatever they wanted, to communicate or not. Art for the Facebook generation, critics asked? So what?

action

‘Horizon Field’ Vorarlberg

A

nyone who takes a journey to Gormley’s landmarks should head first to his website to gather provisions for a longer stay in the very tidy world of a great artist. It leads to ongoing projects in Singapore, Vancouver, Mexico, Sydney and Heavenknowswhere. Still, it strengthens the impression of the prolonged youth of a fleet-footed athlete in open air, and that helps stengthen the flow between the disciplines. The many awards and academic accolades have not really settled Antony Gormley, and they haven’t lowered his centre of gravity. As diverse as his work is – branching into architecture, graphics, theatre and technology – as logical is the repeated return to the human body with a clarity that is free of all interpretations and

historic burdens. Where the body is either sexualised, politicised or idealised in traditional art, Gormley’s unadorned sculptures gaze in a totally different direction. The blank facial expressions, the almost careless coarseness of the surfaces give the idea of a mock-up, of empty space in human form.

The observer can project his own sense of bodily being: the body as open space, an open space of possibility.

There are friendly invitations to gradual levels of depth. “It has to do

“ What I still wanted to say ”

with questioning the status of art in both nature and our built environment,” says Gormley. “In a time of rising environmental awareness it asks the question where and how human beings fit into the scheme of things.”

It is fabulous that such connections work in practice –allowing so many to jump aboard without any great fuss. The far-reaching ‘Horizon Field’, the name given new validity through sometimes surprising twists, is a good current example.

The ‘field’ in the high Alpine Vorarlberg region remains wide open into next year.

The way Antony Gormley lures us into his art, whether in the bustling heart of our cities or, via bush telegraph, to the isolation of deserts, mountains and coasts is one high culture’s best pieces of news.

More info at www.antonygormley.com and www. kunsthaus-bregenz.at 100 sculptures of ‘Horizon Field’ can be seen from now to April 2012 in the Bregenzerwald

45

Action

DIAMOND

RUBY They come no harder than National Hunt jockeys. And National Hunt jockeys come no harder than Ruby Walsh Words: Denis Kirwan Photography: Donall Farmer/INPHO “OK, I’ll start at my feet and work my way up.

I’ve broken my ankle, broken my right leg twice, dislocated my left hip, broken my right hip, lost my spleen, crushed one of my vertebrae, dislocated both my shoulders, broken my right collarbone. Oh, and broken both my wrists.

I think that’s about it.” Ruby Walsh provides an inventory of the multitude of injuries he has suffered at the summit of National Hunt racing.

Thirty-one-year-old Walsh is one of the greatest horsemen of all time and he is in recovery from his latest setback, a broken leg. But like all injured jockeys, his mind is constantly fixed on his return to the saddle.

“The moment you get injured, all that’s on your mind is just getting back out there.”

Jockeys are a special breed. Tough as teak.

Totally fearless. Crazy maybe. If they had any fear, they wouldn’t operate in a sport where the participants are followed around the track by an ambulance. Yet, despite the constant ravages of this dangerous sport on their slender frames, they just keep bouncing back.

“Pain is temporary, physical pain goes away, but the mental pain can be difficult to cope with. Of all the injuries I’ve had, dislocating my hip was the most painful. It was very sore, much more painful than breaking my leg.

Crushing my vertebra was uncomfortable and losing my spleen was painful for a short while, but I will never forget dislocating my hip.

I was in agony,” says Walsh. The mental pain he has to endure comes from sitting on the sidelines watching other jockeys take his winning rides. That can be excruciating.

Walsh broke the tibia and fibula in his right leg in a fall from Corrick Bridge at Down Royal racecourse on the first Saturday of last November. It was a prime example of the highs and lows of National Hunt racing, as just before his accident he had ridden the winners of the 46

two previous races. They included his latest success in the JNWine.com Champion Chase on Kauto Star, the greatest horse Ruby Walsh has ever ridden and the one that will define his remarkable career more than any other.

When he discovered the extent of his bad break, his reaction to media reports was typically bullish. “I reckon I’m looking at 12 weeks out, but one newspaper says I’ll be out for up to six months – I haven’t broken my neck you know.”

There were complications, however, as this was not the first time the Irish Champion Jockey had broken his right leg and he described the difficulties faced by surgeons. “As my right leg had been broken and set before, a callus had formed on the bone and they could not put a traditional pin down through the middle of my shin bone, so I had to go with an external fixator that allowed me to put my weight down on the leg almost immediately. That was a big help as there is no muscle wastage.”

Anything to shorten the wait before Walsh starts clocking up the winners again.

The external fixator, or Ilizarov apparatus, on Walsh’s right leg is a set of stainless steel rings fixed to the bone via heavy-gauge wire.

The rings are connected to each other with threaded rods attached through adjustable nuts.

The top rings of the Ilizarov allow force to be transferred through the external frame to the lower rings, bypassing the fracture site, so Walsh could put his full weight on the broken leg almost immediately after the operation.

“After a break, I would usually have had to build up my muscles, but not this time. I was able to use my right leg after a couple of days.

I’m still fairly fit despite having this awkward frame on my leg. The rehab and physiotherapy has gone very well, so I can’t wait to get back.”

Before his bad break at Down Royal, Walsh had just returned to action in mid-August

In the hunt: Walsh rides Definitive Edge during Fairyhouse Festival last April

following a four-month layoff when he shattered his arm in a fall from Celestial Halo at Aintree on Grand National Day. Like so many other falls, Walsh would have arisen unscathed when he was pitched into the ground by Celestial Halo, but a horse coming from behind, Won In The Dark, drove his left arm into the ground and when he went to lift it, his arm flapped over and back. Following X-ray, it was discovered he had shattered his humerus in three places.

Walsh and his wife, Gillian, became parents for the first time in October 2009 with the arrival of daughter, Isabelle. For Walsh, the only upside of being out injured was that he could spend lots of time with 48

his first-born. He was subsequently asked at the RTÉ Sportsperson of the Year awards in December if he had enjoyed spending so much unplanned time with his family. With typical candour he replied, “I spent enough time with them during the summer.” Everyone knew exactly what he meant.

Before turning professional in 1998, Walsh emulated his father, Ted, by winning the Irish amateur crown, a title his dad had won 11 times. In his professional debut season 1998/99, Walsh coasted to the Irish jockey’s championship with 96 winners – proof positive that an extra-special talent had emerged. Father and son would then memorably team up to win both the

English and Irish Grand Nationals in 2000 with Papillon and Commanche Court.

Victory in the Aintree National, the world’s greatest steeplechase, on your first-ever ride in that famous race, was a fantastic achievement. To win it on a horse trained by your dad was the stuff of fairy tale. It lifted Walsh on to a different level and confirmed him as National Hunt racing’s second superstar, alongside Tony McCoy. The greatest victory of Ruby Walsh’s career came just months after one of his worst-ever injuries, sustained aboard Enda Bolger’s Shannon Fountain at Pardubice, Czech Republic in October 1999. A loose running rail collided with his shin dead centre and cracked it, sending

action

and he has now been widely proclaimed as one of the greatest jockeys in history.

However, his first win at the Festival, back in 1998, provided the racing world with a glimpse of just how good a jockey he was about to become. There was a massive gamble that day in the Champion Bumper on the Christy Roche-trained Joe Mac, who appeared to be travelling much better than Alexander Banquet turning for home, but the 18-year-old Walsh gathered his charge in the gathering gloom and drove like his life depended on it. A memorable battle developed up the gruelling Cheltenham hill, but in the final furlong, Walsh’s mount asserted in style to win by just over two lengths. It was a performance that brought tears to the eyes of his delighted father, Ted, himself a former winner at the Festival, both as a jockey and trainer. “I am very grateful to Willie Mullins for putting his faith in me at such a young age,” recalls Walsh. “Richard Dunwoody was available to take the ride, but Willie stuck with me and it was quite incredible to win a race at the Festival, having led in Commanche Court just 12 months earlier when he won the Triumph Hurdle for my dad under Norman Williamson.”

Walsh also now holds the record for the most number of winners at a single Cheltenham festival – he had an incredible seven winners in 2009, a record that is likely to stand for quite some time. He

Ruby has ridden more winners at cheltenham than any other jockey, ever his leg into the air and swinging back into his iron under its own momentum.

As Walsh tried to instinctively press his foot back into the iron, he fell straight off his horse. He was taken to hospital in Prague in an old Volkswagen camper van ambulance, but once there, he received excellent medical attention. When he got back to Ireland, he went straight to see orthopaedic surgeon Bill Quinlan.

The pair would have regular meetings over the coming years and have become good friends. Walsh was absent from the track for four months, the longest holiday of his career until this year.

If National Hunt jockeys are to pick up an injury, it’s preferable for them to be on

the sidelines during the summer, as most of the big races are in the colder months.

Walsh has the best of both worlds as the principal jockey for both the Irish and English champion trainers, Willie Mullins and Paul Nicholls. This also has its down side as he has missed out on a lot of big race wins during his unwanted breaks.

The main consolation for him is that he will be back in plenty of time – barring further injury – for the showpiece of the National Hunt season in March, the Cheltenham Festival, at which he’s ridden more winners than any other jockey.

Ruby Walsh surpassed the great Pat Taaffe’s record when he rode his 26th winner at the 2010 Cheltenham Festival

has savoured every single festival success he has had at his favourite racecourse: “I have been lucky enough to ride for some great yards. Willie Mullins and Paul Nicholls have some brilliant horses and have also produced a steady stream of great novices. Pat Taaffe also rode for a great man in Tom Dreaper and that’s the key to having a large amount of winners at Prestbury Park. Every Cheltenham festival, I would have been happy to come out with one winner and in one piece, but to have ridden so many winners there has been a real thrill.”

Walsh’s biggest-ever thrill came aboard Kauto Star in 2009 when Paul Nicholls’ star gelding became the first 49

horse in history to regain the Cheltenham Gold Cup – he had won it in 2007 but was second to his stablemate, Denman, the following year. Walsh’s partnership with Kauto Star has almost become as celebrated as that of Arkle and Pat Taaffe and they are sure to enjoy further success before time is called on Kauto’s glittering career. “Emotionally, it would be hard to match Papillon’s victory in the Grand National, but I have been most proud of my achievements on Kauto Star,” says Walsh.

AP McCoy has been Champion Jockey in the UK for 15 consecutive years and has ridden over 3,000 career winners, and while Walsh has yet to reach the 2,000winner mark, there are very few big prizes on both sides of the Irish Sea that the Kildare man has still to bag. In 200405, Walsh was short-headed for an historic clean sweep of the full set of English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh Grand Nationals.

“It was something I almost got lucky with. Silver Birch won the Welsh National very easily and Hedgehunter sluiced up at Aintree (Walsh’s second victory at the Aintree Grand National – this time for trainer Willie Mullins). Numbersixvalverde was lucky to win the Irish National by a short head, but my luck ran out when Cornish Rebel was beaten by a short head by Joes Edge in the Scottish National at Ayr. The horse in front, Double Honour, ridden by Paddy Brennan ran across the fence at the second last and that cost us the race, but you have to have so much luck to win Nationals and I wasn’t going to get lucky in all four – you can’t set out at the start of the season to win all four Grand Nationals – you mightn’t even have a ride in some of them.”

With the 2011 Cheltenham festival just over the horizon, Walsh will be keen to get back in action and to get back to the level of fitness he had prior to his injury.

It shouldn’t take him long. “I don’t carry a whole lot of muscle as there’s a lot of weight in muscle, so you try and have as little of it as you can possibly get away with. Jockeys require a different type of strength. It’s all about pulling rather than pushing. It’s a tightness, a compaction of your muscles rather than an extension. Jockeys very rarely pull a hamstring or a calf.

“I wouldn’t do a huge amount of work in the gym,” he continues, “but I would use light weights for an extended period

of time to build up stamina. I would never lift weights higher that 4kg or 5kg and I would do high repetitions to improve endurance. If I want to lose weight, I’ll use a rowing machine. Horse racing requires a high level of stamina as a race can last for four or five minutes, while a rugby player or a soccer player needs a high level of fitness to generate a lot of power over a short distance. It’s a very different physical requirement.”

Unusually for a jockey, Walsh’s weight has never really been an issue, even with the excess of the festive season in the midst of his recuperation. “My natural weight is generally around 10st (perfect for a National Hunt jockey) and I usually put on about 7lbs when I’m out injured. The heaviest I have ever been was 10st 10lbs when I dislocated my hip and went to Australia for a holiday. The lightest was

In sport, you can only influence the future, so you have to keep pushing yourself forward

50

9st 7lbs when I lost my spleen. I lost quite a bit of weight when that happened.”

As a measure of his toughness, Walsh was back in the saddle just 27 days after losing his spleen. The spleen filters your blood every three-and-a-half minutes and now he needs three vaccinations every year and has to take an eighth of an antibiotic every day for the rest of his life.

To most people, losing their spleen would be a major trauma, but to a jockey it is just an inconvenience and another unwanted spell on the easy list.

Ruby Walsh has had plenty of opportunity to reflect on his achievements and experience has given him a more balanced perspective on life. “In sport, you can’t change the past and can only influence the future, so you have to keep looking at what’s coming up next and pushing yourself forward. When I do take time to look back, I’ve had great days, many great days. I’ve been very lucky from a very young age. I won the Grand National when I was 20 and my career has been on an upward curve ever since. OK, I’ve had plenty of injuries and had the time to take a good look at things. I think I’m a bit wiser now. When I was younger, I was a bit hot-headed.

I would have thought at times I was hard done by, but that wasn’t the case

at all in hindsight. Writing my recent autobiography gave me a chance to reflect on things I had done and perhaps on things I could have done a little bit differently, but you can’t change what you have done and can only learn from it, move forward and try and do things better in the future.”

Walsh is hugely popular with the racing public, but the adulation of his fans is not something that has sat comfortably with one of Ireland’s most successful sportsmen. “I’m probably not the friendliest of guys at times. I have a demeanour that’s angry – but that’s me. I’m a serious kind of guy and I hope I don’t offend people – I’m sure I have and I am sorry for that. As Charlie Swan keeps telling me, if the fans aren’t asking you for your autograph, it means you’re finished.”

And while apparently nerveless, Walsh does ’fess up to a secret fear.

“Rats, I hate rats. They are the only thing I fear. I’m not afraid of the dark. I have never been afraid of any person. I do worry about the health of my family and at times I hate the thought of death, but they would be worries rather than fears.”

Away from the saddle, Ruby Walsh loves pottering around the house, watching rugby and soccer and playing golf. “I play regularly with three other 18-handicappers. I can switch my phone off and get away from it all for four-anda-half hours. We have a great bit of craic, playing for €10 front nine, €10 back nine and €20 overall. Money seldom changes hands as we’re all as bad as each other.”

Just like his TV pundit dad, Ted, Ruby Walsh has strong opinions and is not afraid to speak his mind. When asked what he would most like to change in racing, he is characteristically forthright: “I think there is way too much racing.

I’m a Manchester United fan and I love the English Premier League, but if United were to play at Old Trafford six days a week, after a while they would struggle to fill it. That’s the problem with racing, it is overexposed and familiarity breeds contempt. There should be one feature day each week and all other racing should take place almost behind closed doors.”

Ruby Walsh is smart, articulate and despite his stony exterior, a genuinely warm person. Nobody will have to tell him when it’s time to retire. It’s odds-on that it will happen while he’s still in his 30s, but even if he hangs up his saddle tomorrow, his list of big-race successes is unsurpassed. Pain is indeed temporary, but the memories of those great glories and records set will sustain him forever.

For more on Ruby, visit www.rubywalsh.com

Additional Photography: Dan Sheridan/INPHO

Action

Itching to get back: With the 2011 Cheltenham Festival on the horizon, Walsh is working to regain his fitness

51

PHOTOGRAPHY: Brian Bielmann/Red Bull Photofiles

Action

52

Jordy

at th e

B

g Pr o illabon

p Teahu

oo, Ta

hiti

Print 2.0

en.redbulletin.com/print2.0 Catch a wave with Jordy

Generation Jordy Jordy Smith is firmly in the vanguard of surfing’s new wave, but he’s not alone…

Words: Craig Jarvis

Action

Born February 11, 1988 Durban, South Africa A bit of both “I think talent and hard work go hand in hand and complement each other. I think I have both” Nearly lost it His nipple. At 15, surfing Teopu’s notorious slab in Tahiti. Hitting the reef, the wave sucked dry. “I went flying onto the dry reef. Roasties all over my stomach, chin, and pretty much took my nipple off” Web www.jordy-smith.co.za

54

s

World Tour 2010

ure, American legend Kelly Slater might have claimed the world title again in 2010, but last season marked a sea change, nonetheless.

For the first time it was made clear the door is well and truly open for the next generation of young guns to storm through. And leading the new blood is young South African Jordy Smith. This surfer from Durban is blessed with unbelievable talent and drive, but he is not alone. Another three surfers – the enigmatic Dane Reynolds, goofy-footer Owen Wright, and the dynamic Julian Wilson – are matching his strides. These four are finding new moves, discovering new parts of the wave to ride, and are expanding what the human imagination thought possible on a thin sliver of glassed, high-density foam.

Jordy Smith Thanks to an unusual combination of brawn, balance and vision, Jordy Smith has redefined what radical surfing is all about. It’s the kind of surfing that has seen journalists exhaust their barrel of superlatives. We’re talking about the kind of surfing that slips the sport into a new dimension. His moves are big, powerful expressions that explode into outrageous gravitational experiments. His surfing

Rip Curl Pro Portu

gal, Peniche

is exciting and easy on the eye – fluid yet radical, powerful yet graceful. And to this he has added consistency. Jordy Smith has something no one else has, not even Slater. A rare quality you can’t quite put your finger on, but you know will change things.

Last year was a landmark one for Jordy in terms of competition surfing. It’s the year he became The Contender. It got off to a good start, with a second at the Quiksilver Pro Snapper in Australia… and then he landed the big one. In front of a roaring, vuvuzela-trumpeting local crowd, Jordy went one bigger and won his maiden World Tour event at Supertubes, Jeffrey’s Bay. At that mid-point in the tour year, he was leading the ratings, and expectations were high.

It was a determined and scarily focused Slater, though, who slowly made inroads into Jordy’s lead.

At the death, Slater made his move, winning in Portugal and Puerto Rico – two of the final three events. A historic 10th world title was his.

But significantly, Jordy’s performance got as much attention as did Slater’s title feats.

There were no signs of the usual suspects at the top of the rankings – Taj Burrow, Joel Parkinson, former world champion Mick Fanning, and evergreen Bede Durbidge were all blown away early on. It was quite simply the Jordy and Kelly show. Nu Skool vs Old School. Experience might have seen

photography: Hugo Silva/Red Bull Photofiles, Kolesky/Nikon/Red Bull Photofiles

Name Jordy Smith

Jordy at the ASP

Credit

ing t i c x e s i g n fi r “His su e– y e e h t n o y s a and e l, a c i d a r t e y d i flu ful” e c a r g t e y l u f r powe

Action

Kelly take the title, but he knew that he had a game on his hands, and was the first to acknowledge Jordy’s talent and versatility.

Jordy finished the year second. An inspired performance that only has one more rung for improvement. We talked the year through with him.

RED BULLETIN: An amazing 2010 – what are your thoughts, looking back?

Jordy Smith: I took a relaxed approach to competing this year and it seemed to have worked for me. I was able to put myself into the top five and maintain the pace. I also had a great support team, which counts for a lot. My aim was to just have calculated fun with my surfing. I wanted to keep my focus on surfing relaxed, fun heats and trying to adopt a more free-surfing heat approach.

RB: That big win at the Billabong Pro in Jeffrey’s Bay must’ve felt good JS: Yeah. It was from this point on that I knew I’d be in a good spot for the next events on the calendar.

I also knew that the new format (the World Tour cut down from 45 surfers on tour to 32 midway through the year) would allow me to hold my second seed, as long as I surfed myself into the quarter-finals. That was my challenge, to make quarter-finals or further.

RB: You must’ve known by then that it was going to be between you and Kelly for the world title?

JS: Kelly and I had a good lead ahead of the other surfers. We had pulled ourselves away from the pack. Eventually I needed Kelly to lose in Puerto Rico. Instead he went ballistic and secured his 10th world title, which was pretty incredible actually. I was just really happy to have been a part of driving him to his victorious finish.

RB: Were there any valuable lessons learned from the 2010 season?

JS: For sure! Sometimes it’s quite hard to quantify, as there’s always so much to absorb, and the variables are always changing. My semi-final heat in Jeffrey’s Bay was a perfect example. I was in deep trouble against Bede Durbidge, yet I managed to pull myself back into contention. With two minutes remaining and two high scores needed, I managed to get the heat win. So I learned to keep fighting till the last second. The crowd reaction to that result was really incredible.

RB: Looking forward, you must be pumped for 2011. Are you planning anything different in your approach this year?

JS: I honestly can’t wait for the whole thing to get started again! I have noticed that every year we all seem to get a little more comfortable with our surfing, and it’s a bit like being on a racetrack. You have to have a good grid start, but you also have to keep your foot flat to the floor, pedal to the metal, because if you’re not slipstreaming in the top five, you will be trying to keep the smoke out of your eyes.

RB: Are there any training specifics that we should know about?

JS: There are, but if I told you I’d have to kill you. No, fitness and a good eating programme will definitely stay at the top of my roster as well as working on new surfboard equipment through the year.

56

Julian Wilson Of the 22 years Julian has been on this planet, he has been surfing for 19 of them. In his younger days, when he was only three years old, his dad was surfing two-up with him on his longboard out at backline. His mum was in on the action too, pushing him into little waves on the inside when the rest of the family went out on the big days.

Despite coming from a strong surfing family, it was always going to be Julian who was destined for greatness. As soon as he was strong and competent enough to surf alone, he was recognised for the

J u li a

es t n ri d

he w

a ve s

i

Me n th e

nt aw

ai Isl

an ds

Name Julian Wilson Born November 8, 1988 Sunshine Coast, Australia

photography: Agustin Munoz/Red Bull Photofiles, AFRAMEPHOTO.COM

“He has invented a new move, the Sushi Roll, a backside aerial – it’s part Superman” boundless talent he possessed. Quicksilver picked him up at 14, Red Bull have been with him since 2008 and, with the subsequent departure of Quicksilver last year, Nike have also added their support.

This year, 2011, is the biggie though and for the first time Julian will be representing on the World Tour and, along with his mates, is sure to make a massive impact. Said Julian on his blog just after he had qualified: “The final result that secured my spot was Pat Gudauskas beating Tommy Whitaker in round two. It’s hard to cheer against

Hole to whole He stepped into a hole on the beach last year dislocating his ankle’s pereneal tendon. He was out of surfing for three months. “Of all the ways you can put yourself out of action I had to do it that lame-ass way!”

Web www.julianwilson.com

a friend like Tom, so I wasn’t getting all fired up. I definitely had a big smile on my face when Pat won though. Thanks Pat.” Julian is small in stature compared to Jordy, but he still manages to exude power while performing his wild moves. He has also invented a new move, the Sushi Roll which is a backside aerial that’s part Superman, part inverted 360.

Julian will sit very comfortably alongside Dane, Jordy and Owen, and has the ability to quite easily rise above all of them at any given time.

57

Da n

e in

th e

Men

t aw

ai Is

la n d

s, 2

009

Name Dane Reynolds Born September 7, 1985 Long Beach, California Other name ‘Bro’. It’s his nickname.

Not rare among surfers Tuned in Hard garage punk band Hot Snakes are among Dane’s faves, and he particularly loves their Automatic Midnight album

58

Whether he likes it or not, Dane has been made out to be the next big thing in American surfing.

He’s seen as the heir to King Kelly’s throne and fulltime rival to Jordy. He feigns indifference though.

Claims ignorance too. All Dane wants to do is focus as hard as possible on pushing the boundaries of his sport. Sometimes his radical surfing fits into the World Tour judges’ criteria, and he scores big points… but often it doesn’t.

At the Billabong Pro in Jeffrey’s Bay 2010, Dane came up against top Australian surfer Taj Burrow in the quarters in somewhat bumpy but very contestable conditions. Taj surfed a good heat, while Dane went for a huge air reverse on every single wave that he caught. He came close to making some of the moves, but not close enough, and at the end of the 30 minutes he hadn’t pulled off one

move in the entire heat, resulting in a heat total of 3.66 for two waves out of a possible 20-point total.

It was a complete lack of contest strategy that saw him fail miserably in his quest to advance from the quarters. But is that his quest? His nonconformist approach is what makes the surfing public love him. The real Nu Skool moves belong to him and Jordy and no one else, and that makes him one of the most popular surfers on the planet.

Dane’s contest antics might mask his incredible talent somewhat, but underneath the veneer of a surfer who’s not taking himself too seriously and a façade of looseness, is a ridiculously talented sportsman who has the opportunity turn the world of professional surfing on its head. It all depends on which path he decides to concentrate on – world-title campaigner or free-surfing prodigy.

photography: brian bielmann, Jason Childs/aframephoto.com

Dane Reynolds

action

Owen appears ready to take on world champions

“Owen thrives on the big stuff. When the surf is big and gnarly, he’s ready to charge”

photography: Tom Carey/AFramephoto.com

Owen Wright He’s the best junior surfer in the world, hands down. In fact, so much so that Owen has neglected his junior surfing events recently because he’s been too busy competing with the big boys on the World Tour. Owen comes from good surfing stock, with all of his family members top surfers in their own ages and divisions. Owen’s the one, though, who appears to have the nerve, skills and abilities necessary in order to beat world champions.

He has all the Nu Skool moves under his belt: big alley oops, reverses, airs, flips and grab rails – plus he has all the stock power turns that encompass a professional surfer’s arsenal: the big rasping cutback, the vertical backhand lip bashes, the standard rail turns and re-entries.

Owen, or ‘O’ as he is known in surf media, has one other very important talent – he thrives on

the big stuff. When the surf is big, gnarly and scary, and most top surfers are nervously pacing the sand, he is absolutely ready to charge and pull into the biggest, thickest slabs.

“I cant wait for the Pipe event,” said Owen in a recent Australian Surfing Life magazine article, referring to the Billabong Pipeline Masters that take place in Hawaii every year. Pipeline is without a doubt one of the scariest waves on the tour to surf.

At his young age his big-wave drive is an incredible skill, and it will remind many people of someone else who used to thrive on the big surf when he was younger: Mr Kelly Slater.

While O might not have the best backhand approach in big rights, he has enough talent in other areas to make up for these minor shortcomings, and his trajectory into the top five is imminent.

Name Owen Wright Born January 16, 1990 Culburra, Australia Big splash At the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, in Australia, Owen dramatically punted world champ Kelly Slater out in round two. “It was one of those things that not many people get to do”

59

Action

Generation Grom

Then we have the groms – the kids who will be the next wave of professional surfers.

They’re young, loose, light and brave – and they’re ready to take on the world

ndino is

follow

tsteps

of his fa

ther

Kolohe Andino Son of standout surfer Dino Andino, Kolohe is so Nu Skool he exists somewhere in the future.

He enjoys incredible sponsorship deals, riding for Target and Nike 6.0 along with Red Bull as his main labels. He is rumoured to be the highest-paid junior surfer in the world, but he backs it up with fast, hard surfing, and crazy aerial tricks. He has 60

proved to have a sensible head on his shoulders and rolls with the hard questions in interviews like an old pro. Like the big dog Jordy, Kolohe has something special going, and again, it’s not something that can be easily identified. And like Jordy, Kolohe is going to show us all exactly what that something is in the next few years.

photography: Jason Kenworthy/ Red Bull Photofiles

A Kolohe

e foo ing in th

photography: chris straley/ aframephoto.com

Conner’s ‘can do’ attitude is winning him a legion of new fans

Conner Coffin Interesting surname, especially as that this 18-yearold has made a name for himself by charging when the waves get big and dangerous. Indeed, “completely fearless” is the most common descriptor attached to Conner, and his escapades in the serious water of Hawaii have been turning heads these past few seasons. The young American is well travelled and

“‘Completel is the most cy fearless’ descriptor a ommon to Conner” ttached has impressed surf-watchers the world over. He has all the pieces of the puzzle that will make him a major player on the international surf scene. He already receives great media exposure and enjoys good support from his sponsors, including Red Bull.

More on Jordy Smith at en.redbulletin.com/print2.0 Keep up with the competition at www.aspworldtour.com

61

Action

Caravan of Dreams

The accolade of being first woman to conquer all 14 of the world’s 8,000m mountains was claimed last year. But almost 20 years earlier, a Polish pioneer had her eyes on that prize‌.

Words: Gertrude Reinisch Photography: Frieder Blickle

A portrait of Wanda Rutkiewicz from 1988, at the age of 45

62

In recent years, a fierce competition has broken out among the world’s best female mountaineers, vying for the accolade of being the first to conquer all 14 ‘8,000ers’ (the world’s 14 8,000m-plus mountains).

On April 27, 2010, 44-year-old South Korean Oh EunSun stood atop the 8,091m summit of Annapurna, in the Himalayas, thus seemingly securing victory for herself. But her achievement was disputed. The 36-year-old Basque mountaineer Edurne Pasaban achieved the same thing – undisputed – on May 17.

Meanwhile, the only mountain missing from 39-yearold Austrian Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner’s list is K2 in the Karakorum. She has failed on several attempts to conquer it, but anyway rejects any notion of a ‘race’ between the world’s best female mountaineers. She’s happy, she says, to follow the pioneering trail set by the first female extreme mountaineer of the modern era: Pole Wanda Rutkiewicz.

On May 12, 1992, Rutkiewicz and Mexican climber Carlos Carsolio set off for the peak of Kangchenjunga, on the Nepal/India border – at 8,586m the world’s third-highest mountain. Carlos reached the summit on the same day, but Wanda wasn’t feeling all that good and was slow in her ascent. She had to set up camp before she reached the summit. She’s been missing ever since.

Despite 22 years’ experience on more than 20 expeditions, all trace of her was lost at 8,300m as she attempted to conquer her ninth 8,000er.

A small memorial plaque at the base camp carries a quotation from this pioneer of women’s extreme mountaineering. “My fear evaporated and I felt a great freedom!” Rutkiewicz states in her biography,

Caravan of Dreams: “I come from a Polish family in Lithuania. I was born on February 4, 1943 in Plungė, Samogitia, the second of four children. I am an Aquarius, born in the Tibetan year of the water sheep.”

Her family was dispossessed by the Russians and after the war they moved to a terraced house in Wrocław that was like a ruin. In 1948, she lost her older brother when he and some of the other boys from the neighbourhood found a mine and set it off.

None of the children playing survived the explosion.

“I’m only alive because seven-year-old boys won’t play with five-year-old girls,” she wrote.

Wanda retreated into her own world, and while other children played, she studied. She had already finished school at 16 and started technology studies at university. “In the same way that some people fall for actors, I was fascinated by the great scientists, physicists, mathematicians and chemists,” she said.

“Maths seemed to me to be the key to the world.”

Wanda was 18 when she discovered a new passion: climbing. “The course instructors at the Szkoła Taternictwa, a mountaineering school in the High Tatras, weren’t much into teaching women to climb – mountaineering was seen as a man’s sport.

But I became fascinated straight away; it felt like an explosion going off inside of me. For me, the mountains were a place of peace and freedom.

I felt at home there. They soon meant everything to me, because I was happy there.”

In 1964, the 21-year-old travelled to the West for the first time when she went climbing in the Austrian Alps. She took with her a rucksack full of provisions, $20 to last six weeks and, in case of emergencies, her mother’s amber necklace. In 1966, Wanda went to Mont Blanc. She climbed it several times, laden down with heavy rucksacks. And that meant the whole way, from the foot to the peak, as she couldn’t afford a lift pass. Women effectively played no role in the male-dominated extreme mountaineering scene of the mid-’60s. Wanda wanted to shake-up the clique. “I wanted to go climbing with women and take on responsibility myself rather than being led to the summit by men.” She couldn’t bear the thought of just being the post-script to a male expedition. “The most important thing for me is how I got up there and whether I achieved that under my own steam and made the right decisions.”

In 1968, Wanda and Halina Krüger-Syrokomska were the first female team to make a clean ascent of the massive wall of the east face of the Trollryggen in Norway. They also climbed the north face of the Eiger (North Face route, 1973) and their all-female teams conquered the north face of the Matterhorn in winter, which many well-known male teams had failed to do before them.

On March 7, 1978, Wanda led a team of three Polish women onto the gigantic north face of the Matterhorn after five days of snow. The women managed the lower ice fields without using ropes and were making good progress. The hardest parts of the ascent were the rocky areas covered with loose snow. At those moments, the mountaineers would bind themselves to the rope and progress

Action

would be slow. They hacked a narrow platform out of the ice for the night and crawled into two bivouac sacks. “Our equipment was completely ill-suited to that kind of adventure, but there wasn’t anything better available in Poland at the time.”

The wind grew stronger and stronger and the cold was unbearable, but there was no going back.

On the fourth day, the Poles reached the Zmutt ridge at the end of the face. The storm’s intensity kept increasing. One of the team, Irena, was already completely listless and suffering from balance problems. They had to set up camp again. Wanda tried to radio for help but received no answer as the equipment was faulty. What she didn’t know was that her call for help had been heard and a helicopter was sent out on the difficult rescue operation that night. They were saved. Wanda still wanted to descend on her own to complete the tour.

“It would have only taken another day, but you can’t argue with the mountain rescue when the pilot has risked his life to save you in such awful conditions.”

After the expedition, Wanda’s feet were black and swollen from the frostbite she had developed.

She wasn’t invited on the Polish Lhotse expedition in 1975, so took matters into her own hands – organising an expedition of her own. So began the story of the first Polish female expedition.

She set her sights on Gasherbrum III (7,952m) in the Karakoram in Pakistan, the highest unconquered peak in the world at the time. On the same trip, Rutkiewicz also wanted to attempt a new and more

“ I was so happy. As I looked around I thought that I could see the curve of the Earth… the most important thing to me was that I was the first Pole to conquer Mount Everest” 64

complicated route up Gasherbrum II (8,034m) as part of a mixed expedition. She was expedition leader for the first time, but this brought problems, notably the mistrust of her team: nobody believed she had what it took to reach the summit and even less so to lead them there. But Wanda was undeterred.

“Both peaks were conquered and it was perhaps one of the most successful Polish expeditions ever.”

Not all her expeditions would pass with such relative ease, however, not by any means.

A later trip to Everest skirted with disaster with the summit almost within touching distance.

Rutkiewicz recalls the anguish of being left behind by her climbing partners, her oxygen cylinder apparently lost in snow.

“The others just carried on climbing and left me standing there as I desperately looked for it,” she recalled. “My knees were shaking. I’d reached emotional rock bottom. Was the summit really still worth fighting for? I screamed in panic after the other mountaineers who were rapidly disappearing into the distance. Mingma Sherpa answered that he had my cylinder. I couldn’t give up now. I called on my innermost reserves.” Wanda followed the men’s footsteps in the deep snow and was poised over the ice-encrusted precipice between the South Peak and Hillary Step. On either side, snow and ice were slipping down into the abyss. The drop was thousands of metres. “I somehow got this really weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. I was afraid of falling and afraid that nobody would notice. And then all of a sudden I couldn’t breathe. I tore the oxygen mask off my face and saw the others on the summit. At that point, nothing could stop me. You can always do much more than you think. At 2pm, I was standing on the roof of the world. I was so happy. As I looked around, I thought I could see the curve of the Earth… The most important thing to me was that I was the first Pole to conquer Mount Everest and I did it on the same day Karol Wojtyła was chosen as Pope. But I’m not unique. Everyone has an Everest to scale at some point in his life.

My success was just proof that anyone can achieve anything they set their mind to.”

Wanda bought herself a second car with the money she earned for her contribution to a documentary on women in the Himalayas. She got her rally licence and pimped up her Polonez for motor racing. “I’m not a humble woman. I love good cars, exquisite things, beautiful clothes…”

She was working in computer system development in Warsaw at the time and was the first person in her workplace to sign up as a member of Solidarność, the Polish trade union. Thanks to the success that she and other Polish expeditions achieved, mountaineers were suddenly as popular in Poland as Olympic medal-winners. In 1986, she was the first woman in the world to stand atop K2

(8,616m), a remarkable achievement that was overshadowed by terrible tragedy. K2 took 17 victims. “I’ve lost a lot of friends on the mountains, but you still don’t lose your passion for mountaineering even when you come up against death because of it. You feel a taste for life most keenly when you know you can lose it.”

Rutkiewicz had now long since proved that women were capable of just as much in mountaineering as men. She had become a symbol of emancipation.

“Wanda Rutkiewicz brings emancipation to life and doesn’t have to speak about it. Her achievements aren’t points of argument. They’re fact,” Reinhold Messner would say in recognition of the greatest female mountaineer of her day.

Reflecting on her career, Wanda once said: “Mountaineers aren’t like other people so they find it hard to find a partner who thinks like them. Actually, I admire the wives of famous mountaineers more than I do the mountaineers themselves, because I can’t imagine that any man would be willing to settle for such a life.”

Her first marriage, to Wojciech Rutkiewicz, son of Poland’s then Deputy Minister for Health, came to an end after three years in 1973 due to the young groom’s lack of understanding for his wife’s fanatical love of the mountains. Her goals did not tie in with the traditional image of the housewife. Her second marriage, to Helmut Scharfetter, a doctor from Innsbruck, came about from a close friendship of several years’ standing, but that dream of domestic bliss with two step-sons also came to an end in 1984 after three years of matrimony. “When you’re in love, nothing else matters. You accept each other with all your faults. Until you face the truth and have to admit that you’re only hurting each other.

I got married because I thought that marriage and children were part of what I had to do in life. When I realised that I wasn’t happy with family duties and that I couldn’t play a role that I wasn’t suited to, I saw no other solution than to separate.”

Wanda Rutkiewicz seemed to have finally found a suitable partner in expedition mountaineer Kurt Lyncke, but that relationship was also brought to a sudden end. On July 24, 1990, Lyncke fell 400m to his death on Broad Peak, just a few metres behind Wanda. She never recovered from that tragic loss.

“I admired everything about him. He helped me blossom. He excited me. I hated the mountains for the first time in my life when he had his accident.”

Her home life became increasingly chaotic.

She never had enough time between getting back from one adventure and setting off on the next.

She always took too much on, dashed from one appointment to the next and hardly had time to sleep or lead a private life. Wanda would conduct private or professional engagements in a rush, normally hours or even days later than planned, and always completely exhausted after driving through the night. But the circumstances were secondary. Friends, fans and the media were all

“ I’ve lost friends on the mountains, but you still don’t lose your passion for mountaineering, even when you come up against death because of it ” enchanted by Wanda’s personality… but they were getting increasingly worried.

She had become the embodiment of irrationality.

She was attractive, charismatic, fascinating and completely unpredictable. Only when she left civilisation behind and got involved in her next expedition could she find peace. And herself.

By 1990, Wanda Rutkiewicz, now aged 49, had climbed six of the 14 8,000ers. Another eight peaks and she would be the third person – after Reinhold Messner and fellow Pole Jerzy Kukuczka, who had been killed a year earlier on Lhotse – to have conquered all the 8,000ers.

But Wanda wanted more. “I aim to climb those eight peaks in a little over a year. I call my plan, ‘A Caravan of Dreams’, because I’m trying to do something that would only appear possible in your dreams. I’ll just head from mountain to mountain, like caravans always have done.” The incredible tour would spare Wanda the costly journeys to the mountains and acclimatisation periods. She hoped to manage the protracted strain, without periods for rest, with mental strength, tip-top conditioning and her years of experience.

To start with all went well. After two successful solo ascents (1991: Cho Oyu, 8,201m, and the South Face of Annapurna, 8,091m), Wanda Rutkiewicz wanted to climb Kangchenjunga. Her companion on the mountain, Carlos Carsolio, was the last person to see her alive. It was May 12, 1992. Her body has never been found.

About the author: Gertrude Reinisch, born in Piesting, Lower Austria, in 1952, is an Austrian journalist, writer, filmmaker, and state-approved High Alpine instructor. She has lived for more than three years in a number of countries in the Himalayas and has climbed several peaks of up to 7,800m.

She first met Wanda Rutkiewicz in 1986 and took part in her Polish expedition to Hidden Peak (up to 6,600m) in 1990.

Reinisch is also the author of the biography, Wanda Rutkiewicz – A Caravan of Dreams, Rother Mountain Publishers

To find out more about mountaineers and expeditions visit: www.edurnepasaban.net oes.chosun.com www.gerlindekaltenbrunner.at

65

Action

Big

air in Japan

A potentially fatal heart defect and a childhood free of all sport haven’t kept Shinji Osada from becoming a world-class freestyle skier. Or from showing his true feelings now and then…

Words: Tatsua Tayagaki

Name Shinji Osada Born January 13, 1985 Sapporo, Japan Air apparent Osada is a five-time winner of the Canada Cup, the leading big air freestyle skiing event in Japan Crash landing At the 2007 Jon Olsson Invitational event in Are, Sweden, Osada’s air was too big: he overshot the landing area, but was unharmed

66

Shinji Osada knows what it’s like to be a big fish in a small pond. For a good while, he was the great white whale of Japanese freeskiing: winning your country’s largest big air competition for five years out of seven doesn’t leave much room in the pond for anyone else. Then, in 2009, he headed for the uncharted waters of world competition. At the World Ski and Snowboard Festival in Whistler, in April of that year, he came first in the Big Air show, beating a top-class field, pulling off the tourney’s only 1440° spin – a perfect quadruple – and becoming the first Japanese skier to win an international competition of this kind. No more small pond.

“That was the first world competition I participated in,” says Osada, “so I was very motivated. When I was 18 I targeted the WSSF, so winning there made a six-year dream come true. And I was so excited that I think it was only natural that it brought tears to my eyes. I think my efforts to reach that point were expressed in my tears.”

Most winners clamber onto a podium all smiles.

Osada’s reaction may have something to do with his extra-special efforts to reach the top.

Osada was born with a congenital heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot. He underwent two major operations before he was four years old and was classified as disabled. Neither Osada nor his parents had any thoughts of engaging in any sports whatsoever.

However, watching his three older brothers enjoying club sports gave Osada an insuppressible

Jumping for joy: Shinji Osada, doing a japan 180 for a sunset shoot on the glacier at Les Deux Alpes

“Big Air produces the best feeling, is the most aesthtetically pleasing and is the most difficult to do�

67

Action

“ I would rather people don’t think about My disability and see me as a skier first” 68

Professionals (AFP) and competing in slopestyle events as well as the big air competitions. Big air, as the name suggests, is the one where they do tricks at the greatest possible height; slopestyle is the one where a variety of tricks are pulled off at significant heights. But it’s the difficulty and range of tricks that counts more in slopestyle rather than the distance from the ground at which those tricks are performed.

To meet that latter objective, Osada has introduced new tricks into his repertoire. He has been working on the double axis, which is a kind of double somersault and a prerequisite of a world-class slopestyle run. This trick is hard enough in itself, but if you are the competitor who can’t land on his chest because of a heart defect, and a mistimed double axis plants you chestfirst into the snow more often than most other fluffed moves – hence you’ve shied away from it most of your career –

then your mastery of it becomes more than mere athletic endeavour.

“My rival is myself,” says Osada, “When I think I may not be able to do something, or I hesitate as to whether I should do it or not, if I don’t fight with myself and win that battle, I cannot beat other people.”

The recent opening in Japan of a specialist freestyle skiing training facility has helped Osada to work on his double axis; the remarkable spirit and focus he provides all himself.

Recovering from a broken ankle will seem like a blip on the chart for a man who competes knowing that a regulation error, of the kind all his rivals could walk away from, could end his life.

The other guys only have to cope with maybe missing out on a medal place, or ruffling the feathers of their sponsors.

Pressure? Shinji Osada doesn’t feel it.

See more of Osada’s incredible snow moves at www.shinji-osada.com

Working on his skills: Osada shows off one of his spectacular moves in Tokyo

Photography: rutgerpauw.com/Red Bull Photofiles (2), DomDaher/Red Bull Photofiles (1)

desire to do the same. Naturally, his parents and the doctors kept saying no. And when that wasn’t good enough for the little man, they might have reminded him how exercise could stop his heart permanently.

“I could die any time, I know that,” he says, matter-of-factly. “Regardless of whether or not I participate in athletic events, I will probably die younger than other people, I know that as well. So I want to live without regret as much as I can. Even if I die younger because of my involvement in sports, I can convince myself that my life was good.

I wanted to do sports in the way that other people do them, because it comes naturally to them. But for me, of course it was a life-or-death decision.”

Aged 12, Osada’s will convinced the grown-ups to let him play, carefully.

When he saw a snowboard advert during a visit to a department store with one of his brothers, he bought a cheap board, and took to the slopes. Perhaps the very fact that he knew his time could be limited meant he took to his task with greater zeal and motivation than ‘regular folks’ and rose to where he his now.

Or maybe a great talent was kept from its rightful place by doctors’ notes.

Regardless, Osada’s position in the top ranks of his sport is undisputed, and since Whistler ’09 he has competed in big air events in South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. “To tell you the truth,” he says, “when I won at WSSF, I think I lost my focus, because I had been single-mindedly working toward that goal for six years.

After that, I strongly felt that I needed to improve my skill more and more to perform well on the big stage.” Sadly, a broken ankle prevented the 26-year-old from participating in the X Games last month, which was one of his goals for 2011, along with breaking into the top 10 of the Association of Freeskiing

FATE DOESN’T ASK. IT COuLD ALSO bE mE. Or yOu. David Coulthard,

13-fold Formula 1 GP Champion and Wings for Life ambassador.

kunde

SPINAL COrD INJury muST bECOmE CurAbLE. In funding the best research projects worldwide focusing on the cure of spinal cord injury, the Wings for Life Spinal Cord research Foundation guarantees top-level medical and scientific progress.

your contribution makes a difference. Donate on www.wingsforlife.com

Free advertisement.

Action

freeze frame Swiss Photographer Thomas Senf accompanied wingsuit flyer Valery Rozov to Antarctica.

This is the story of the trip in Thomas’s own words Words: Thomas Senf Photography: Thomas Senf and Predrag Vuckovic

SÜDAMERIKA

AFRIKA

ANTARKTIS

The Drygalski Mountains in Queen Maud Land protrude like fangs out of Antarctica’s 1,000m thick perpetual ice.

Late last year, Russian BASE-jumper Valery Rozov led an expedition there with the intention of jumping from the summit of the tallest of the Drygalski Mountains, the 2,931m Ulvetanna Peak. Swiss photographer Thomas Senf was part of the expedition and he decided to record his experiences.

70

Print 2.0

en.redbulletin.com/print2.0 See Valery Rozov flying high

Valery Rozov on the Holtannapeak. Thomas Senf: “The fascinating thing about this trip from a photographic point of view was the challenge of portraying the incredible dimensions of this landscape and at the same time capturing images of the sport�

71

Action

A ntarctica

Thomas Senf grew up in Leipzig, Germany, and moved to Switzerland for love in 2002 at the age of 21 – love for the mountains. Senf combines mountaineering and photographic skills like few before him: as a mountain climber, he has succeeded in making various first ascents (for example in the Indian Himalayas) with top mountaineers such as Stephan Siegrist and Ines Papert

“Ulvetanna is Norwegian for ‘wolf tooth’ and couldn’t describe the mountain more perfectly. I’d seen photographs of Ulvetanna, but I’ll never forget the view when I first saw it for real from the window of our small cargo plane: hundreds of kilometres of icy landscapes in every direction and then the Drygalski mountain chain – these bizarrely shaped, monumental crags – in the middle of it all.

It was a perfect, sunny day. Everything sparkled and glistened. There were eight people on Valery Rozov’s expedition team and we were all glued to the airplane’s windows. No one said a word.

Valery was due to jump from the summit of this mountain a few days later.

Nothing happens of its own accord on an expedition to the Antarctic. You can’t rely on anything. Nothing can be planned with 100 per cent accuracy, mainly due to the unpredictability of the weather. Within minutes, a perfect day can descend into a blizzard with snowstorms swirling at speeds of up to 60mph.

We learn before we’ve even set foot on the ice that split-second decisions can often have huge consequences. If the pilot of our small plane lands too far away from the foot of the mountain – you set up base-camp by the plane – you have hours of extra walking to do over the coming days. But the closer he lands to the mountain, the longer your base-camp is in the shade and you’re exposed to even more extreme cold.

Our small plane managed to land at the perfect distance from the mountain range, but the landing was hard. As a result, the plane was seriously damaged and had to be repaired there and then, so that it could take us back to civilisation at the end of the three-week expedition.

The day-to-day

There’s no real night at this time of year in the Antarctic, which you can cope with perfectly well as long as you’re disciplined, stick to a strict daily routine and are reasonably constant about what time you go to bed and get up again. The main difference between day and night is the 72

Every summit ascent begins with a tricky decision: how much should I take, how much can I leave back at basecamp? On this occasion, the mountaineers had to pack all the necessary equipment for ascending rock and ice. Including photographic equipment, Senf’s rucksack weighed around 15kg

73

Action

A picture and its story, told by Thomas Senf: “The picture of me above was taken by Predrag Vuckovic, a Serbian who supervised the expedition as ‘Head of Photographers’. When Valery jumped from Mt Ulvetanna, Predrag covered the exit position, leaving me to move to a rather more unusual perspective...”

temperature. In the daytime, the more intense sunshine makes for a pleasant 10 below zero, but at night the temperature can plummet to -30.

It was relatively cosy at our base-camp. There was a large dining tent with enough room for everyone to cook and eat and then there were the small tents for sleeping in. We’d built walls of snow around the tents to be better protected against any wind. They wouldn’t have helped at all if we’d been exposed to strong storms. In Antarctica you have to be willing to spend the whole night hanging onto your tent with all your might, just to prevent it being blown away. And even much less strong winds can have a major effect. The wind-chill factor of even a light breeze can make -10ºC feel like -20 or even -30. That’s not just unpleasant.

It’s actually dangerous. You can forget about climbing at temperatures like that because your frozen fingers lose all sensation. I tried to climb without gloves on once during the expedition.

I gave up after a single pitch.

The sun really makes you feel better during the daytime, especially as a photographer, and that’s not 74

just because of the light, but because it’s so much easier to do your work without wearing gloves. But you mustn’t underestimate the strength of the sun.

We had to put thick layers of suncream on our faces every day, otherwise we’d have got really burned.

Valery

I already knew Valery from a number of other joint undertakings, including a few projects in the Alps and the ascent of Mt Elbrus. I climbed with him to the summit of Europe’s highest mountain when he became the first man to jump off it.

I always love travelling with him. He’s very focused and professional, but he’s also very modest. Anyone who didn’t know him would never guess the things he’s already done and achieved in his life. Valery isn’t the kind of guy who morosely pursues a goal at any price. Having a vodka with the team at base-camp is also part of the fun. And if a jump turns out to be too risky, then he won’t do it. Being on a team with Valery means knowing that everyone’s well-being is close to his heart. He’s both a leader and a team-player at the

“You don’t have any more than two or three minutes to prepare and shoot were at the track as the photos. If the diveritisspent already centre ofcold the sporting universe. when he jumps, then he’ll cool down Movie stars, corporate too much during the flight” CEOs, kings, princes –

“…and I abseiled a few metres down the face to capture Valery in action.

From a photographic point of view, this is not without its risks, and it’s only possible if another photographer captures the “safe” shot at the exit point. In this case the risk paid off, and this shot was beamed around the world”

75

“We had to put thick layers of suncream on our faces two or three times a day, otherwise they’d have been badly burned”

An everyday scene in Antarctica. Finding a sunny spot to set up camp is key. During the summer here, sunshine can make the difference between a biting -30ºC and a relatively comfortable -10ºC – even at night.

Rozov’s expedition was very lucky with the weather, with not a single snowstorm in three weeks

action

Valery Rozov, the all-round talent: the Russian is an experienced BASE-jumper, wingsuit pilot, and three-times world champion in parachuting with more than 7,000 jumps under his belt. He’s also a fantastic mountain climber…

…and resourceful enough to serve up something edible even with a comparatively meagre selection of ingredients. After several joint projects, photographer Senf evaluates Rozov as “a very professional, extremely modest sportsman, who manages to ensure that everyone in his team feels well looked after – something that’s very important to him”

Valery Rozov is regarded as the world’s best BASE-jumper and wingsuit pilot. He caused a sensation with his jumps from the summit of Europe’s highest peak, Mt Elbrus, as well as a jump into an active volcano in Kamshatka, Russia.

Thomas Senf snapped this portrait at Advanced Base Camp the evening before the ascent of Mount Ulvetanna

77

Action “There is little sense of relief or happiness at the summit�

While wearing his helmet camera, Valery Rozov captured some stunning film footage of his flight over Antarctica

78

action

There are two ways to descend the mountain. Rozov chooses the quicker way. Senf: “There are two or three people waiting at Valery’s landing site, who’ve filmed the jump. They’ve got some warm clothes and shoes for him. By the time we photographers get back to base, Valery’s long finished his dinner”

same time. That’s a nice feeling for all of us and it quickly brought our team of eight men from four different countries together.

Ulvetanna

The day we set off for the summit of Ulvetanna began when we left the ABC [Advanced Base Camp] – our second base camp – at 6am. We’d fixed ropes along the route on previous days so that we’d be more mobile with the photo and camera equipment, so the ascent proceeded fairly quickly. We’d already got to the end of the fixed ropes within four hours.

We still had about 12 rope-lengths to climb after that. We got to the summit at about 5pm.

When you reach it, you barely feel happiness or relief. Those emotions could even be fatal on an expedition like ours for a number of reasons.

Because first and foremost, as a photographer, you have to be wide awake at precisely that moment.

From the photographer’s point of view, the whole expedition, the whole trip’s success rides on the two or three seconds after the sportsman jumps.

You have to have chosen the perfect perspective, everything’s got to be just right with the equipment and you’ve got to choose the right time to shoot.

If something goes wrong during those seconds, you’ve got a serious problem.

And there’s also a certain pressure to be quick, because Valery is only wearing his thin wingsuit and is absolutely freezing in the Antarctic temperatures.

You have no more than two or three minutes to

prepare and take photos. If the jumper is already freezing when he jumps, he’ll lose too much heat during the 45-second descent, lose sensation in his hands and won’t be able to control the jump… and then things could get really dangerous.

Enjoyment

If you accompany a BASE-jumper up a mountain, you obviously go back down without him. Such is the fate of a BASE-photographer. We got back to our camp at about midnight, by which time Valery had long since polished off dinner. Sometimes on TV they show mountaineers celebrating like footballers after they’ve scored a goal when they get back to camp having conquered another peak.

But in reality it’s all a little less spectacular. You’re just tired, exhausted, hungry and thirsty.

The joy at what you’ve achieved together only begins to settle in over the next few days.

The way we expressed our joy may have been a bit unconventional. As we’d been so lucky with the weather throughout the expedition, we still had a couple of days to spare. We made the most of them to climb two smaller peaks: Tungespissen (2,277m) and Holtanna (2,650m). From a mountaineering point of view, they are only moderately challenging, but scenically they were still breathtaking. Valery jumped from them too, so we had the chance to take more photos and record more footage.

Follow the flight path at en.redbulletin.com/print2.0 More on Thomas at www.thomassenf.ch

79

Credit

On the go: Brighton-based rockers The Go! Team have a unique style that pushes the boundaries of indie rock and garage rock. They talk about the five albums that have influenced their music on page 94

More Body&Mind Where to go and what to do this month

Photography: Ollie Millington/Getty Images

Credit

82 The longest horse race in the world 84 six nations travel guide 85 a top chef’s secrets 86 Get the Gear 88 Day and night around the globe 98 mind’s eye

Sybarites need not apply. The Mongol Derby horse race is strictly a ‘no-frills’ thrill The exposed and sparsely populated steppes of Mongolia are not your average summer holiday destination. But then, it’s not your average person who opts to spend their August vacation taking part in a gruelling test of endurance on a wild-eyed steed in the longest horse race in the world.

For this sort of intrepid individual, the vast grasslands of Chinggis Khaan’s former empire provide the perfect setting for an equine enterprise and a chance to throw off the shackles of our modern health-and-safety-obsessed world for 10 days of old-fashioned adventure.

And it would be difficult to get more old-fashioned than the Mongol Derby.

Each year a 13th-century postal system invented by Khaan is resurrected 82

for the task, allowing the competitors to cover the 620-mile route just like the messengers of ancient times, using a series of traditional tents, or urtuus, placed 25 miles apart, manned by local nomadic farmers armed with fresh horses, mutton stew and a bed for the night. But between these posts it’s rider and horse, covering more than 60 miles every day, navigating alone across the testing terrain, exposed to harsh sun, winds, rain and freezing temperatures after dark, in a bid to be the first to reach the finish.

“We are trying to rediscover that pioneering spirit,” says events manager and former Derby competitor Katy Willings of The Adventurists, the UKbased company behind the contest. “The riders aren’t on a nice guided tour with

“This race is really tough. On day six I took a wrong turn and what should have taken four hours took eight”

Words: Ruth Morgan. Photography: Anya Campbell

Easy Riders?

No Khaan Do

an itinerary – there’s not too much monitoring and evaluation, no Lycra or micro nutrients. It’s a raw adventure.”

Between 20 and 30 riders each year pass the rigorous evaluation stage to get a chance to compete in the Derby, which began in 2009. Competitors must have a high level of riding ability, and be light enough for the Mongolian horses, a feisty but small breed, in order to get a place.

And, far from resulting in a line-up of professional endurance riders, it’s mostly amateurs who get into the saddle.

“There’s such a broad spectrum of people who do the race,” says Katy.

“We’ve had four Olympians so far, not riders I might add. It’s a personal challenge. Lots of people want to see how their physical skills translate into this slightly Wacky Races environment.”

The seemingly endless stretches of thyme-scented grassy steppe flanked

more body & mind

Left: A young jockey ready to race in the Derby opening ceremony; test-riding a pony; a horseman. This page: Richard Dyer leads the pack; fixing a saddle; family members; many herders have satellite TV and mobile phones

by mountains, sporadically populated by animal herds and nomadic farming families working as they have done for centuries, makes for a stunning backdrop that belies the formidable terrain.

“I grew up wanting to be a cowboy,” says Richard Dyer, a 31-year-old builder from Guildford who took part last year.

“But in the UK you don’t get the opportunity to ride in vast open spaces, so Mongolia was incredible but extremely challenging.

It’s the excitement of taking a calculated risk. There are safety measures in place, but at the same time it’s you and the horse. It’s up to you to get from A to B. It’s a genuine experience, as far as possible, of being alone.”

Riders are equipped with a GPS navigation system, something the nomadic farmers may scoff at, but a necessary concession to technology

by The Adventurists. Each rider is also trackable, so they can be reached in case of emergency by medics or vets, in 4x4s or by helicopter. But interference is kept to an absolute minimum, and unless a horse or rider is in serious danger, the competitors are on their own.

“Mongolia is stunning, but this race is tough,” says Richard. “On day six I took a wrong turn and what should have taken four hours took eight. It

lashed it down with rain on a biblical scale, there was lightning, and wind ripping across the plains. You’re just so exposed. Physically, you accept you’re going to feel really sore for days. It’s more the mental element – when you’re soaking wet, freezing cold and hungry and there’s not much prospect of getting dry, it’s a real challenge to carry on.”

And when riders make it to the comparative comfort of an urtuu, it’s a safe bet that mutton’s on the menu.

The Adventurists’ no-frills policy extends to food, with competitors eating what’s cooked by their nomad hosts, invariably dried mutton stew washed down with a cup of mare’s milk. “It has a unique flavour,” says Richard. “It’s fermented so it’s slightly alcoholic. It’s not the sort of thing you’d want to pick up at duty free, but at the time it was great.”

A new route is being planned for 2011 to keep the task exciting but equally tough. Though some finish the race in the back of a 4x4, most find the stamina to make it to the end, proud to have conquered this ancient test of mettle whether they have been victorious or not, their stiff upper lip matched only by their stiff lower body.

For more information and for 2011 entry forms, visit mongolderby.theadventurists.com

MONGOLIA

Ulaanbaatar

the knowledge…

Who? Only competent riders need apply.

Anyone with the necessary grit to sign up will then need to pass a rigorous selection process.

Where? The exact race location is kept top secret. Selected riders are bussed out from the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar to an undisclosed location in order to prevent any pre-race recces taking place.

When? The selected riders begin three days of intensive pre-race training on August 3 out at a specially constructed camp. The start gun fires at 9am on August 6 and the final dust is expected to settle on August 16.

83

more body & mind

Theatres of dreams Lewis Moody, Six Nations hero

TWICKENHAM, England

MILLENNIUM, Wales

AVIVA STADIUM, Ireland

Opened: 1909 Capacity: 82,000 England 5N/6N record: P433 W227 D39 L167 Home winning percentage 5N/6N: 68 per cent Did you know? Built on a former market garden; hence nickname ‘Billy Williams’ Cabbage Patch’ Best bit: Relaxed atmosphere: minimal jostling and pint-spilling as you find your seat Worst bit: Every ground redevelopment piles seats further from the pitch. Take binoculars Best pre-match pub: The Cabbage Patch on London Road. Big bar, big screens, good service Sing: ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’ Insider tip: Avoid the crush at Twickenham station: St Margarets is only five minutes away In a word: Fortress

Opened: 1999 Capacity: 74,500 Wales 5N/6N record: P431 W223 D25 L183 Home winning percentage 5N/6N: 67 per cent Did you know? It takes 20 minutes to open the roof, and costs £2.54 in electricity Best bit: The noise – especially when England or Ireland visit – outdoes every other 6N stadium Worst bit: The toilets are apparently designed for a stadium half the size Best pre-match pub: The Goat Major on St Mary’s Street, for a good song and cold Brains ale Sing: ‘Ar hyd y nos’ (aka ‘Hymns and Arias’) Insider tip: If your ticket says Gate 1, you’re in for a trek. Leave the pub 10 minutes earlier In a word: Loud

Opened: 2010 Capacity: 50,000 Ireland 5N/6N record: P433 W181 D23 L229 Home winning percentage 5N/6N: 53 per cent Did you know? The old Lansdowne Road ground was named after William Petty-Fitzmaurice, the first Marquess of Lansdowne Best bit: The Guinness, of course Worst bit: Narrow passageways in and around the stadium make for heavy human traffic Best pre-match pub: The Beggar’s Bush on Haddington Road. Pure Dublin charm Sing: ‘The Fields of Athenry’ Insider tip: Rows A-N in the east and west lower stands don’t have overhead cover. Take a brolley In a word: Craic

STADE DE FRANCE, France

STADIO FLAMINIO, Italy

MURRAYFIELD, Scotland

Opened: 1998 Capacity: 80,000 France 5N/6N record: P334 W174 D17 L143 Home winning percentage 5N/6N: 66 per cent Did you know? The stadium’s architects also built the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul, which hosts the Istanbul Sevens tournament annually Best bit: Random cockerels on the pitch Worst bit: Those goddam brass horns Best pre-match pub: There’s virtually nothing near the ground. Drink around Gare du Nord or on the Rue de Lappe in Bastille Sing: ‘La Marseillaise’ Insider tip: Stay in town near the B or D lines of the RER, which goes direct to the stadium In a word: Suburban

Opened: 1959 Capacity: 32,000 Italy 5N/6N record: P55 W7 D1 L47 Home winning percentage 5N/6N: 22 per cent Did you know? This being an Olympic stadium, there is a room for amateur wrestling Best bit: The only rugby weekend your lady will ever agree to go on Worst bit: Seldom a competitive match played here. Italy are still Six Nations whipping boys Best pre-match pub: The tent on the Piazza dello Stadio Flaminio for best pre-match drinks Sing: ‘Republica Italiana’ Insider tip: If you’re flying in to Fiumicino airport, save cash by taking the train In a word: Forza!

Opened: 1925 Capacity: 67,500 Scotland 5N/6N record: P434 W184 D23 L227 Home winning percentage 5N/6N: 57 per cent Did you know? 104,000 crammed Murrayfield for the 1975 Wales v Scotland: a record Best bit: Dwindling of home support makes Murrayfield the easiest ground to get tickets for Worst bit: Your fingers going numb in the incessant, freezing, late-winter Edinburgh drizzle Best pre-match pub: The Roseburn Bar, Roseburn Terrace. Nearby and full of ex-pros Sing: ‘Flower of Scotland’ Insider tip: To dodge pub crowds nearest the ground, walk 10 minutes to Haymarket Verdict: Cold

84

Words: dan Jones. Photography: Action Images (2), Getty Images (1), PA (1)

The six magical stadiums that are home grounds to the teams that each year contest the Six Nations championship have their own special character. All are worth a try…

more body & mind

Every Sensation from felicity to freakiness

HANgar-7 guest chef

Marcus G Lindner

words: lisa blazek.Photography: jürg waldmeier/red bull hangar-7

Every month, Salzburg’s Ikarus restaurant invites a top international chef to take over the kitchen. In February, the Michelin-starred chef from Zurich with a penchant for emotional cooking takes the reins for a spell The Hotel Ermitage in Küsnacht holds a special place in Marcus G Lindner’s heart. It was there he earned his first Michelin star, so nothing can ever change that. But when it comes to comfort, there’s no restaurant he’d rather be in than Mesa in downtown Zurich, where he’s worked for the past five years. “This is where I can be myself,” says Lindner, a native of Vorarlberg, Austria. He learned his trade at the St Leonhard Restaurant in the medieval city of Feldkirch on the border with Switzerland, under the tutelage of Max Dick. “He was way ahead of his time,” says Lindner, “but placed a lot of emphasis on traditional virtues.” It’s those same virtues Lindner has passed on to his team at Mesa. “I demand the effort, ambition and reliability that I demonstrate myself. I just know that everything turns out better if you do it with enthusiasm.”

Lindner finds the counterbalance to his hectic working life in nature. He and his son look after their own small vineyard. “A harvest currently gives us just 40 bottles, but I’d like to come up with a menu using my own wine.”

Mesa Weinbergstr. 75, Zürich Just as in the kitchen, everything in the dining area has to be balanced. “We don’t want to smother the diner with too much décor but allow them, through minimalist lines, the appropriate space for enjoyment,” explains Lindner.

“Too many frills agitate and that’s the last thing we want at Mesa. We discuss everything, from how many glasses there should be right down to how to lay the cutlery. We always put it on the right-hand side as we’ve understood that that’s what diners mostly do automatically to create more space.” www.hangar-7.com/www.mesa-restaurant.ch

“The most important thing to me when I’m cooking is that everything should mean something. When I create a dish, I think very carefully about what blends harmoniously.

If it all comes together on the palate, you should really be able to taste what it means,” says Lindner. His dishes take that mantra literally.

The courses on his menu have names like Freakiness, Ardour and Felicity, and each one is designed to evoke the corresponding sensation in every diner.

“Dinner at Mesa should be soothing for the soul and distract the diner from his hectic daily life.

We want people to be able to relax, eat well and talk. For us, the word Mesa means much more than just ‘table’. It means coming to the table and being at the table.”

His menu ensures that guests will talk at the table as well. “I make different entrées for men and for women and that’s already a starting point for table talk. The diners can try each other’s food, swap and wonder why one person has something different on his plate to somebody else,” he says.

While the diners are enjoying Freakiness, which, if you’re curious, consists of frog, octopus, shellfish mayonnaise and basil sorbet, Lindner will already be working on the next courses, inspired by two very particular emotions.

“I see myself somewhere between freakiness and subtlety,” he explains. “Freakiness just gives you endless opportunities and boundless freedom. You can try everything, everything’s allowed and nothing’s impossible. If you cook well, you can do anything.

But at the same time I’m also a very subtle chef. I always want everything to be correct and to go together right down to the tiniest detail.”

85

Words: Steve Smith. Photography: Craig Kolesky/Nikon/Red Bull Photofiles

more body & mind

2

1

3

4

86

More Body & Mind

Get the Gear

Ice Runner

To run a 150-mile self-supported race in Antarctica, you need to be really fit. Obviously. But you also need some special kit.

This is what South Africa’s Ryan Sandes took with him to win The Last Desert race

8

9 1. Base layer This is prototype stuff based on Salomon’s XR trail-running range. They’ve increased insulation significantly, while keeping the garments light, comfortable, and supportive.

10

2. The shell Again, this was made specifically for the Antarctica race.

It’s not only waterproof, but critically, breathable too.

3. Balaclava Off the rack from Salomon’s freeski range. Does what I need it to do – keeps the cold out!

4. Compression calf Like the base layer, this uses Salomon’s Exo tech. The muscle support it gives, especially over long distances, means it increases blood circulation to avoid cramps.

11

5. Backpack Really important. We have to carry all our stuff with us, so this fully customisable Salomon XA 20 pack is perfect.

6. Socks Salomon Crossmax made from cocona fabric. They have high breathability and, more importantly when in my tent at night, there’s no smell.

7. Trail-running shoes More prototypes made for this race, they’re based on the Salomon-lab Speedcross range with extra insulation. They have a more aggressive tread pattern for better traction.

12

8. Sunglasses I ran in my Oakley Jawbones almost exclusively as the goggles I had tended to fog up.

7

5

9. Watch It’s a Suunto T6, which is a heart-rate monitor as well as a distance calculator. I don’t actually run on heart rate to be honest, I focus more on how I’m feeling.

10. Tissues Because sometimes, you have to go and you don’t want to be carrying a whole loo roll with you.

6

11. Food I have to carry enough food with me for each stage.

While I’m running I’ll eat Perpetuem energy gels, peanuts and biltong, and Red Bull e-shots to give me a boost.

12. Crampons I’m not a fan of these, but race rules dictate we have to carry them. They feel weird on your feet if you’re running.

Keep track of Ryan’s 2011 adventures at www.ryansandes.com

87

more body & mind

Boston Celtics vs Los Angeles Lakers 10.02.11

hot SPOTS

Rajon Rondo and Shaquille O’Neal go up against Shaq’s equally ingenious former Lakers team-mate, Kobe Bryant in a clash of the titans.

TD Garden, Boston Massachusetts, USA

Photography: James Dimmock/Red Bull Photofiles, Getty Images/Red Bull Photofiles, Andreas Schaad/Global Newsroom/Red Bull Photofiles, rutgerpauw.com/Red Bull Photofiles

We round up the month’s best sporting events, wherever you are in the world

Freestyle Skiing World Championship 30.01 – 07.02.11 The best freestyle skiers will be rewarded with a World Championship crown in aerial, half-pipe, mogul, dual mogul, ski cross and, for the first time, slopestyle disciplines.

Deer Valley, Utah, USA

FIS World Cup Cross Country Skiing 04 – 06.02.11 Rybinsk, located about 175 miles north of Moscow, plays host to double pursuit, sprint and relay for men and women.

Rybinsk, Russia

Billabong Air & Style 05.02.11 At this TTR World Snowboard Tour 6-star event, 1,000 World Cup points and the Ring of Glory are up for grabs, all to a soundtrack provided by live bands.

Innsbruck, Austria

Red Bull Crashed Ice 05.02.11 The Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship lands in Europe’s flattest country for the first time, but the terrifying track for the ice hockey-four cross hybrid will be no less steep, narrow or slippery, so the event remains one of the toughest tests going.

Valkenburg, Netherlands

AMA Supercross 05.02.11 Stop five of the US motocross series sees thousands of fans pack out the Angel Stadium in California, as they did for the first race of the season in January, with James Stewart hoping to be in the hunt for another Supercross title.

Anaheim, California, USA

88

Simpel Session 05 – 06.02.11 It’s the annual winter skate and BMX event with a formidable, international line-up of talent, including Brit biker Seb Keep and Belgian skate prodigy Axel Cruysberghs. Visitors can also look forward to a film festival and some legendary post-contest parties.

Saku Arena, Tallinn, Estonia

Ice Speedway World Championship 05 – 06.02.11 Austria’s Franky Zorn faces a big challenge from a typically strong Russian contingent during the first round of finals.

Krasnogorsk, Russia

FIS Men’s Skiing World Cup 05 – 06.02.11 The small community of Hinterstoder, in Upper Austria, is back on the World Cup calendar for the first time since 2006. The event provides the last chance for the participants to check their form in the Super-G and the giant slalom before the skiing World Championships take place.

Hinterstoder, Austria

Super Bowl XLV 06.02.11 The Super Bowl is the biggest annual one-day sporting event in the USA. Last year, running back Reggie Bush won his first Super Bowl ring with the New Orleans Saints.

Cowboys Stadium, Texas, USA

ISPO Munich 2011 06 – 09.02.11 The international trade fair for sporting goods and sports fashion presents its wares in over 100,000m2 of space.

Munich, Germany

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 20.02.11 The new NASCAR season starts, as always, with the Daytona 500 in the glorious Sunshine State of Florida.

Daytona, Florida, USA

more body & mind Red Bull Crashed Ice 26.02.11 This, the third and penultimate event of the season, could determine who will win the World Championship title.

Moscow, Russia

FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships 07 – 20.02.11 Lindsey Vonn was in a class of her own at the 2009 World Championships. But the American is yet to secure a medal in a technical discipline.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

FIS Snowboard World Cup 08 – 09.02.11 Men and women fight it out in snowboard cross and parallel giant slalom contests at the 2018 Winter Olympic candidate city of Pyeongchang.

Yong Pyong, South Korea

IBU Biathlon World Cup 08 – 13.02.11 After this sprint, pursuit and mass-start contest, focus will shift to the World Championships in Russia next month.

Fort Kent, Maine, USA

WRC Rally Sweden 11 – 13.02.11 The one true winter rally has been held for over 50 years.

Rally legend and Frenchman Sébastien Loeb is the only non-Scandinavian driver to have won here, in 2004.

Karlstad, Sweden

FIS Ski Jumping World Cup 11 – 13.02.11

The best newschool skiers, including three previous winners, Russ Henshaw, Oscar Scherlin and Charles Gagnier, go on a ‘sightseeing tour’ of the area.

Bad Gastein, Austria

Some of the world’s best on two wheels wow spectators with a breathtaking motocross show, which takes in highest air, whip contest and freestyle disciplines.

Turin, Italy

FC Red Bull Salzburg vs SK Rapid Vienna 19.02.11 FC Red Bull Salzburg’s first home game of 2011 in the Austrian Bundesliga and it’s a cracker. The current champions take on SK Rapid Vienna, record-holders for overall number of championships won, and it promises to be tight.

Red Bull Arena, Salzburg, Austria

NBA All-Star Game 20.02.11 The high point of the NBA All-Star Weekend sees the best basketball players from the Western and Eastern Conferences squaring off, with fans determining who the starting five will be.

Staples Center, Los Angeles, USA

FIS Nordic Skiing World Championship 24.02 – 06.03.11 For ski-jumpers, cross-country skiers and combined skiers, it’s all about gold, silver and bronze at this prestigious ski-centre.

Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway

Vikersund will play host to the world championships in 2012.

But after reconstruction work on the resort’s ski-jumping hill, Bjørn Einar Romøren’s world record of 239m, set in Planica in 2005, could be under threat already this year.

Vikersund, Norway

Black Wings Linz vs EC Red Bull Salzburg 25.02.11

Red Bull Open Ice 12 – 13.02.11

Corrida de Bonecos Gigantes 26.02.11

The final of the ice-hockey game played in its most authentic form: four against four on a frozen lake.

Mendon Ponds Park, New York, USA

Red Bull Playstreets 19.02.11

Night of the Jumps 18 – 19.02.11

After the 54th and final round of preliminary competition, the final line-up in the ice-hockey championship playoffs has been set in stone.

Eissporthalle, Linz, Austria

This 200m race between huge puppets up to 3m tall forms part of the carnival festivities in one of Brazil’s oldest cities.

Olinda, Brazil

FIS Snowboard World Cup 17 – 20.02.11

ASP World Tour 26.02 – 09.03.11

The men and women will race in half-pipe, snowboard cross and parallel giant slalom categories.

The men will also perform in a big air competition.

Stoneham, Quebec, Canada

The winter break is over and it’s time to slap on the sunblock.

This collection of the world’s best-known pro surfers get the new season underway.

Gold Coast, Australia

89

more body & mind

THE MUSIC OF NEIL YOUNG 10.02.11

night spots

Over 20 acts demonstrate a ‘Heart of Gold’: Patti Smith and The Roots among others, reinterpret Neil Young’s songs, with proceeds going to charity.

Carnegie Hall, New York, USA

Get your dancing shoes on: here’s our global night-time guide

CLUB TRANSMEDIALE 01 – 06.02.11

SPLORE-CITY 11 – 12.02.11

Berlin is the new capital of digital culture. A ‘poor but sexy’ city in the words of the mayor himself, it partly owes its reputation as Germany’s Bohemian bastion to Transmediale. The festival for contemporary art this year attracts electronic acts like Monolake, Dorian Concept and Kode9 to the city on the Spree.

Various locations, Berlin, Germany

Dancing in the moonlight in Aotea Square, admiring the visuals projected onto nearby buildings, and no tent required.

Sounds like a midsummer night’s wet dream for any festivalgoer. The fantastic line-up includes Caribou, Four Tet and Mayer Hawthorne.

Auckland, New Zealand

the Hollies 06.02.11 Having had more hit singles than The Beatles in the 1960s, it’s no wonder The Hollies were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year.

The band is one of a few from the era never to have officially split and, judging by their popularity, for good reason.

TSB Bowl of Brooklands, New Plymouth, New Zealand

Photography: REx Features (1), Getty Images (3)

TWIN ATLANTIC UK TOUR 08 – 13.02.11 These Glasgow whippersnappers have toured with Blink 182 and My Chemical Romance. Now the four-piece are touring as headliners, offering tasters from their debut album.

Recorded in Red Bull’s Studio in Santa Monica with Foo Fighters’ producer Gil Norton, it’s due for release in April.

Preston, England, and Orkney, Thurso, Dingwall and Stirling, Scotland

Funeral Party 10.02.11 The East LA three-piece return to the UK following last month’s release of debut album The Golden Age of Nowhere, much anticipated since being championed by Radio 1 and 6 Music in the UK last year.

Cargo, London, England

90

Rolo Tomassi 12.02.11 The Sheffield rockers tour Ireland to kick off what promises to be a good year.

After a 2010 which saw them play the Download and Reading and Leeds festivals, it seems the five-piece are on a roll.

Twisted Pepper, Dublin, Ireland

The Go! Team 16.02.11 It’s a triumphant return home for the seaside sextet, who are promoting their third LP, Rolling Blackouts, after a storming 2010. Highlights include collaborating with Satomi Matsuzaki of Deerhoof and receiving a nomination for Remixers of the Year.

Concorde 2, Brighton, England

PENDULUM & INNERPARTYSYSTEM US TOUR 16 – 26.02.11 At some point drum ’n’ bass hit a dead end. Salvation came in the shape of Australia’s Pendulum, the first true D’n’B band. Their US tour is loudly supported by Red Bull Records’ Innerpartysystem, who produce similarly organic dance sounds.

Denver, Salt Lake City, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, USA and Vancouver, Canada

CARNAVAL MARIA DO BAIRRO 27.02.11 In March the carnival train will ramble around Rio. And even the Samba schools’ rehearsals beforehand are parties.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

more body & mind TINIE TEMPAH & KATY B 22.02.11 Rapper Tinie Tempah sold more singles than anyone else in Britain in 2010. Looks like Katy B is on the same track this year with ‘Lights On’. The dream team is heading out on tour.

02 ABC, Glasgow, Scotland

PLAYGROUND WEEKENDER 17 – 20.02.11

BRUISE CRUISE FESTIVAL 25 – 28.02.11

Outdoor cinema, a cabaret stage, yoga tent and food from around the world: put it all together and you’ve got a carnival for the cool kids. What more could you want from a festival?

Ah yes, good music. Playground Weekender has that sorted too, with De La Soul, Roy Ayers, Toro Y Moi and Roska.

Del Rio Riverside Resort, NSW, Australia

This isn’t your grandparents’ idea of a sea cruise. The Bruise Cruise is probably the first rock festival to take place on the high seas. Passengers making the journey from Miami to the Bahamas will enjoy bands like the Black Lips, Surfer Blood and Vivian Girls.

All served up with cocktails, casinos, pools and hot tubs.

Miami, USA to Nassau, Bahamas

U2 18.02.11 After their tour schedule was thrown into disarray with news of Bono’s back surgery, one of the biggest bands on the planet are back on fighting form and ready to rock.

Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town, South Africa

NOISE POP FESTIVAL 22 – 27.02.11 A festival for anyone whose wardrobe boasts more than three checked shirts. In other words, a festival which lives and breathes indie rock culture.

Noise Pop features music, films and performances from Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner and bands including The Stone Foxes, No Age and Best Coast, ie bands that mere mortals will only hear about in two years’ time.

Various locations, San Francisco, USA

JAMIE WOON 24.02.11 This 27-year-old Brit is the hottest artist of the new year, and one of five acts featured on the BBC’s ‘Sound of 2011’ list. But Jamie Woon will more than live up to the hype when he releases his debut album of melancholic dubstep soul songs Mirrorwriting in April.

Scala, London, England

BEN SIMS & KIRK DEGIORGIO 25.02.11 MICRO MUTEK FESTIVAL 09 – 11.02.11 Barcelona, mecca for cool music festivals, hosts Canadian electronic label Mutek’s line-up.

Various locations, Barcelona, Spain

Electronic legends Sims and Degiorgio are starting up a new club night called Machine. The address will remain secret until the last minute, but two things are certain: the club’s motto – “new and unreleased techno” – and the first guest on the turntables, Luke Slater.

TBA, London, England

SOURCE ON ICE FESTIVAL 26.02.11 An outdoor festival in February? In Holland? The Russian state circus is making it happen, because for one night only they’re lending their tent to the festival. The organisers, however, will be providing everything else themselves, including the punch, ice skates (for the dancefloor, or dance rink if you will) and the best electronic artists, including Floating Points, Kyle Hall and Speedy J. Down Under, Utrecht, Netherlands

THE WORLD OF DRUM ’n’ BASS 26 – 27.02.11 Aphrodite, The Panacea, Chase & Status, Subsonik adding some ‘Trance ’n’ Bass’ and the breakthrough act of the year, Camo & Krooked: this is a line-up which brings to mind the Justice League or some other superhero summit.

In fact it’s a club night able to bring any true drum ‘n’ bass fan out in a hot flush.

Arena, Moscow, Russia

I’LL BE YOUR MIRROR FESTIVAL 27.02.11 Every few months, London concert promoters ATP hire a rundown old holiday camp near Bristol and let legendary indie heroes curate a festival completely to their own taste.

Simple idea, major success.

Therefore the ATP folks are expanding to Japan, with bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Fuck Buttons, as well as local acts Boredoms and Melt-Banana.

Studio Coast, Tokyo, Japan

91

more body & mind

James Blake London In Profile

Young Soul Rebel Hotly tipped English producer James Blake is rewiring the blues for the dubstep generation. He talks to Piers Martin about the inspiration behind his ground-breaking debut album Everyone is talking about James Blake – and it’s not hard to see why. In just 12 months, the well-spoken 22-year-old from north London has captivated the underground with a string of cutting-edge singles that showcased his soulful take on dubstep. Now Blake, a classically trained pianist, is poised to break through with his self-titled debut album, a blend of strippeddown blues, gospel and folk swaddled in purring electronics which bears comparison with the likes of Portishead and The xx.

None of this would have happened, however, if Blake hadn’t paid a visit to 92

seminal London dubstep night FWD>> in 2007, where the teenager heard the mutant strains of UK bass music for the first time.

From then on he sought to produce his own dancefloor tracks, mixing chords and gospel harmony with bass and beats. Today Blake finds himself at the vanguard of a new wave of exciting young producers, including his pals Joy Orbison and Ramadanman, shaping the future of British club culture.

“I just want to make hard-hitting music,” he says. It takes one listen to his emotional cover of Feist’s ‘Limit To Your Love’ to know that he does.

Red Bulletin: Tell us about that fateful trip to the club night.

James Blake: I sometimes went to drum ’n’ bass nights, but one night I was out with school friends in east London and we ended up at this club night, FWD>>, that didn’t play drum ’n’ bass, no one knew what it was. It wasn’t called dubstep at the time, it was called grime or two-step or garage. It was pitch black inside and the music was so loud.

I remember the tunes I heard drove me so far into my own head, more than anything else has ever done.

So it was the atmosphere of the club that appealed to you, not only the music?

Yes. I realised that there’s a world of people my age making music that I find really exciting, and I wanted to get on that. I saw the DJ and I thought, ‘I want to be there, I want to be behind those decks.’

So that experience threw me out of being an isolated teenager in secondary school to being involved with loads of people and sending music to people.

more body & mind

Photography: Tom Horton (1), Getty Images (1)

Below: One of his first live gigs at Camden Enterprise in December 2010

You started learning classical piano when you were six years old. Did you enjoy playing or was it a chore?

I saw the importance in it. I didn’t like grades or practising, but I enjoyed the music. I had a sense at an early age that if I was improving then it must be a good thing, so I stuck with it. But alongside that I was always improvising and singing along to records. I’d play along to old Motown and soul records, CDs of Otis Redding.

I also learned classical harmony and how to play gospel organ. I was really into gospel quite early on, like the Reverend James Cleveland. And then I got into jazz pianists Art Tatum and Erroll Garner.

Together with your voice and keyboards, silence plays a prominent role in your music. It seems you know how to make the listener wait.

I’m not sure if I’m a virtuoso in the use of silence, but there’s not many other people using it. Then again, it’s only a lack of sound, isn’t it? I think you need a certain confidence in your musical ideas for sound to not exist, or to wait in the wings and come in only when it’s absolutely necessary.

How do people react when you play these tracks in a DJ set?

Well, I love it because in that moment of silence you hear all these broken words and broken sentences. People are shouting

James on stage at the BBC Radio 1 Festive Festival 2010 at the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios

and then they suddenly start whispering.

Then the track comes back and people start talking loudly again. It’s not pretentious, I just want to break it up a bit. You don’t appreciate some sounds until you’re not hearing them.

You must like the fact that you’re proving to be a tricky artist to categorise.

Well, I know I don’t want to be classed as some soul act.

So if not a soul act, how would you prefer to be defined?

New – that’s about it really. Soul has been and gone. No one needs a soul singer these

days. Soul came from a different era, from oppression and love. I haven’t experienced those political times. I have my own life to talk about, but it’s not in a soul context.

I’ve listened to songs and maybe absorbed some of the melodies. What I want to do is make dance music that actually connects with people in the way that a soul record or a folk record does. It speaks to you in a sort of organic, human way. It’s the human touch that I want.

James Blake: James Blake (Atlas/A&M); tour dates, videos and sound samples from www.jamesblakemusic.com

93

more body & mind

Teenage Drama & Spaghetti Westerns The Go! Team’s new album is a genre-defying whirlwind. Mastermind Ian Parton names five records that inspired him to raise that storm Marching brass meets light-footed hip-hop beats from back in the day, psychedelic guitar licks cling to laser-gun synths. With Rolling Blackouts, their third album, The Go! Team cement their reputation as indie pop chameleons. Ian Parton, their studio wizard, lets us into his cabinet of secret weapons.

BOARDS OF CANADA Music Has The Right To Children They’re quite mysterious, they generally keep out of the limelight.

Thus the music exists in its own world.

Boards Of Canada have that obsession with memories, but in a way that they can be filtered through over time they become quite dark sometimes. Their music feels like a Super 8 reel slowing up and down. That’s why at a final stage of Rolling Blackouts I put the album on disc to give it a tape hissy feel.

94

PUBLIC ENEMY It Takes a Million To Hold Us Back They’re the blueprint for the potential of hip-hop. Their denseness [sic] is unique, especially on that album. Public Enemy acknowledged that they were into noise, they liked the idea of distorting.

Something I can absolutely relate to.

THE SHANGRI-LAS The Best Of If I could go back in time I’d probably see them rather than The Beatles. They were the perfect little group for me. The whole kind of melodrama of being a teenager, the dead biker boyfriend thing, I really love that. Not to mention her voice, it’s really heart-wrenching.

ENNIO MORRICONE A Fistful Of Dollars Soundtrack A song like ‘The Running Range’ on the new album has a panoramic feel – and Morricone has something to do with that.

I used to listen to his music a lot. When I thought he’d reached the pinnacle of the song, he’d go shift the gear up again. That idea of triumph and windswept things has been a big influence. My early demos are like fictional Spaghetti Western music.

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND The VU and Nico They did a pretty amazing job of confusing people, going from a cute little song like ‘Sunday Morning’ and then going to the 20-minute-drone-f**k of ‘Sister Ray’. I think Velvet Underground are probably the blueprint for a perfect band and their ‘Banana’-record is just an unbeatable album. Besides, the song ‘All Tomorrow’s Parties’ is probably the best of all times, isn’t it?

The Go! Team: Rolling Blackouts (Memphis Industries); www.thegoteam.co.uk

Photography: Channel 4 Television 2010 (1)

Take Five

The Go! Team Brighton

more body & mind

World Best Clubs

Working for the Weekend

Week End Berlin

Photography: Weekend Club, Betty Myller, Erich Schlegel/Red Bull Photofiles

Office building by day, club by night. Owner Marcus Trojan tells us tales from the 15th floor of an underground club that’s made it to the penthouse We love running a club in this town because… in recent years Berlin has increasingly become the trend-setting metropolis for electronic music. That was partly due to the fall of the Wall because exciting club projects would spring up in empty buildings in the heart of Berlin.

The club’s name is a reference to… a Jean-Luc Godard film from the ’60s.

But we wanted a name that was playful, that’s loaded with positivity. And what’s better in everyday life than the weekend?

We’re located… in a pretty prominent address in Berlin, the former East German tourism ministry.

It’s where East Germans used to fill out the applications required if they wanted to travel abroad. It’s the second-tallest building at Alexanderplatz, directly below the television tower. We’re on the 12th and 15th floors, as well as the roof terrace.

The first thing you see when you walk into the club is… two sliding doors that open. You walk into a completely normal office building. You walk to the lift and go up with the lift personnel. Suddenly the doors open and you’re hit with the sound of the bass beats.

Our idea was to… further develop this improvised feeling, typical of Berlin’s clubs, where you walk into the courtyard of an old building

Week End’s roof terrace makes it one of Berlin’s top summer spots: with views over the heart of former East Berlin, including the trademark silver disco ball that is the television tower

and suddenly stumble onto a cool club in the basement. We built on this underground aspect, but moved it from the basement to the penthouse with a view.

Our typical visitor is… between 20 and 25 and into music. They will be wearing skinny jeans, a T-shirt and sunglasses. The typical Berlin style, actually.

Some of our regulars on the decks are…

Richie Hawtin, Miss Kittin, Paul Kalkbrenner, Onur Özer or Tiefschwarz. We’re one of the three big techno clubs in the city, that’s why we take high-quality bookings very seriously. We’re not too avante garde, but not too shallow either.

The inside of the club looks like…

Helmut Lang’s design. It was envisioned that way by the architects. Everything

is in black, with shiny surfaces and matt wood and a glass façade. We won Berlin’s architecture prize in 2006.

The club’s really full when… we have about 1,500 dancers on the three different floors.

We usually start really going at… like everywhere in Berlin, not till very late. I would say somewhere between 2 and 4am. But we’re not a typical afterhours club. That wouldn’t even be possible because the clubbers would have to be out by Monday morning, when the office workers we share the building with arrive to start their jobs.

Week End, Alexanderplatz 5, 10178 Berlin, Germany, +4930 24631676 www.week-end-berlin.de

95

more body & mind

In Profile

Disappearing Act

liu bolin Beijing

Liu Bolin’s remarkable images offer a window into a society that still vexes the West. Kimberly Bradley on the Chinese artist whose work forces us to focus on the unseen

‘Hiding in the City No. 26 – In Front of the Red Flag’ (2006) – a striking image

by Liu Bolin

96

Agna feum quis nismodolore magna feu feugue dolupta tumsandrem volesectet inisl do delent ad molor se delestrud et la alis dolor sectet accum

Standing on the yellow line of a highway leading into Shanghai, a man and his team race against the clock. High-rise housing projects are on the distant horizon and a mysterious monolith has been set on the road. As the man is literally painted into the background, the sun disappears.

Just as the colours and shapes rendered on his clothing, face and hair perfectly match the Chinese urban landscape, a photograph is snapped, documenting the dramatic camouflage effect.

It’s perhaps a little ironic that Chinese artist Liu Bolin has managed to gain global visibility… by making himself invisible.

His camouflage shots have attracted the attention and critical acclaim of the art world and beyond since first exhibited in 2007. The striking images have become a trademark, showing him in mostly public spaces in his native China, with body, face, even his shock of short black hair, painted into a kind of trompe-l’oeil. The pictures use no digital manipulation whatsoever.

“For me, hiding is a strategy. It’s a way to gather the power,” says Liu. Part of an ongoing series that the 37-year-old calls ‘Hiding in the City’, the images were initially a response to personal hardship. In November 2005, the Chinese government demolished the Beijing artist village Suo Jia Cun, rendering Liu and about 100 other artists homeless. “The forced removal of the artists studio was my direct inspiration,” says Liu, who was born in Shandong province and trained as a sculptor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.

“I want to show to the world a silent resistance of a Chinese artist.”

The series’ first image camouflaged Liu into the demolition’s rubble. Many more photographs followed, all of which subtly comment on the state of the arts and society in China. In one, Liu fades into a Beijing 2008 Olympics poster. In another he sits in the lotus position in front of a striped road barricade. Several shots show him in front of urban walls covered with Chinese characters, graffiti, or even anime figures. He disappears into the Great Wall or even ‘hides’ in front of and behind men in Chinese military uniform.

The artist is both actor and producer of the final product, but also considers what he is doing as performance art. “During the performance I just stand there unmovable, I won’t think too much,” he says, explaining his process. “But creation takes a long time. When I choose the background I really chew on it; I have to express clearly to the audience why I choose a certain background.” Assistants paint Liu into the predetermined scene as quickly as they

Photography: Caters News Agency

Liu’s assistants typically need between five and six hours to paint him into a background, which the artist spends a long time choosing

can – usually five to six hours, but sometimes up to 10 – and then photograph him. As a blank canvas, Liu always dons a grey uniform… the same one that the Chinese military uses for daily training. “It’s cheap, and it’s known as civil camouflage,” he says.

The past three years have seen the artist in a flurry of group and solo exhibitions around the world, as well as becoming a heavily blogged internet personality. This summer, Liu’s work will be the focus of a solo show at New York gallery Eli Klein Fine Art and also will be a substantial part of the Fotográfica Biennale in Bogotà, Colombia.

Both will include his most recent work, a photo series produced in Italy, where Liu disappeared into familiar Italian landscapes such as the Rialto Bridge in Venice. And in a more commercial east-west collaboration, Oris, the Swiss manufacturer of high-end handmade mechanical watches, chose Liu Bolin as a company ‘ambassador’, featuring him in an advertising campaign and film.

But these new projects don’t stray too far from his original mission. “In current China, art is not only a pretext. The aim of artistic creation is also to show thought.

I hope that, through my works, viewers can understand our society,” he explains.

“I hope that an individual can save himself, understand his value and understand his environment, so that he can make it better.”

In an age in which China is still repressing its artists subtly and not so subtly (last year, China’s star conceptual artist Ai Weiwei was put under ‘house arrest’ and asked to demolish his studio building in Shanghai), Liu has his work cut out for him at home and abroad. “Some people call me the invisible man, but for me, it’s what is not seen in a picture which is really what tells the story.” How right he is.

There is no digital manipulation whatsoever in Liu’s pieces, which have become favourites of the blogosphere

‘Hiding in The City No. 9’ (2006)

For more images of Liu’s work go to www.elikleinfineart.com

97

W

e’ve reached that time of year again, as Ireland kick off their campaign in Rome, hoping for victory – the foundation for an even more successful world cup in November.

This season, the fixture list features home matches against England and France and away games in Cardiff (the players’ favourite stadium), Edinburgh (pitch usually rubbish, game usually not much better) and Rome (expect to be beaten to a pulp – win or lose).

The general feeling is that this fixture list gives Ireland the greatest chance of glory, as the growingly complacent supporter now thinks that “France and England are easier to beat at home than away and Wales are tricky but we should have the measure of Scotland and Italy away. Isn’t that what usually happens?”

Fortunately, the team think the opposite is true. By that I mean in the Six Nations you have to win your home games or you are chasing the season, so the team are aware that, were Ireland to lose against France and England, there would be far more pressure to win on the road than there already is.

This season, Ireland have seriously tough away fixtures against Wales and especially Scotland. While the pressure of not wanting to be the first Irish team to lose to Italy in the Six Nations is growing, a loss is still unthinkable, given the relative strengths of both squads.

But enough about that. The real winners in this year’s tournament will be the Irish travelling supporters. For both hardcore and fair-weather supporter, this fixture list has a game for everyone.

There are three criteria on which to judge the enjoyment of a prospective Six Nations rugby trip: firstly, proximity of the ground to the city centres’ hostelries, (pre- and post- match); secondly, the willingness of the city to ‘get involved’ and thirdly ‘The Rome Factor’.

Twickenham is a nightmare. With not a hope of getting a taxi and zero public transport, it can take hours to get back

Mind’s Eye

The Joy of Six There’s no tournament that competes with the magic of the Six Nations, writes Denis Hickie into the city centre and then there’s the big question: ‘Where has everybody gone?’ London is simply too big to give itself over to a single sporting occasion and supporters of both teams just blend into the night along with the thousands of West End showgoers, football supporters and several million others.

Paris is not much better. The stadium requires a train journey to the suburbs, and as you search for one of the two Irish pubs, you are passed by bemused Parisians who haven’t even heard of rugby. If you can find a nightclub that will let you in, two things are certain.

Firstly you can’t afford to enter AND buy a drink and secondly, ‘you ain’t getting in wearing that jersey’.

Coming from a country where the match venue ensured we were famous for the performance of the city, in the days when the team let the supporters down, we hold a grubby affection for our Celtic cousins and their cities with grounds slap-bang in the middle. Cardiff is mayhem on Six Nations nights –

a guaranteed good night for anyone with an Irish accent and a place that lives up to its reputation as a true rugby capital.

Edinburgh, while being treacherously cold and a maze when trying to locate your hotel at 3am, always welcomes the Irish supporter – the Scots never seem to mind losing to Ireland and are almost apologetic about beating us.

That leaves Rome. Playing Italy at home in the same season as supporters have to travel to Cardiff and Edinburgh works on so many levels. Firstly, it’s a truly fantastic city, secondly, Ireland tends to win there and thirdly, the weather is usually good. Finally, the Italians are new to the tournament and have embraced the camaraderie.

Given the genes, we are naturally more inclined to embrace them than they are us, but that’s another matter entirely.

However, Rome’s real value is its ability to keep everyone happy. As wonderful as Cardiff and Edinburgh are at 3am in your Irish jersey, their appeal, especially to the women who have endured decades of boats to Holyhead and vomit comets to ‘Scoootland’, have waned. The groups of lads who leave Ireland on a Friday and return three days later in the same clothes via a hotel in Newport make way instead for wellgroomed, hand-holding couples heading off for some great food, great wine, shopping and even some rugby. Don’t get me wrong; I’m talking about the same groups of lads. They just look and act slightly differently. Deals are done, trips to Rome are bartered for trips to Edinburgh and Cardiff and everyone goes home happy.

Just like the games themselves, no two trips are the same for the supporters.

The away fixtures for the fans will be challenging, full of highs and lows and will throw up some interesting results.

And there’s even the games to watch too.

Denis Hickie is a former Ireland rugby international

The Red Bulletin Republic of Ireland: The Red Bulletin is published by Red Bulletin GMBH Editor-In-Chief Robert Sperl General Managers Alexander Koppel, Rudolf Theierl Editorial Office Anthony Rowlinson (Executive Editor), Stefan Wagner Associate Editor Paul Wilson Contributing Editor Andreas Tzortzis Chief Sub-editor Nancy James Production Editor Marion Wildmann Photo Editors Susie Forman (Chief), Fritz Schuster Deputy Photo Editors Valerie Rosenburg, Catherine Shaw Design Erik Turek (Art Director), Miles English, Judit Fortelny, Markus Kietreiber, Esther Straganz Staff Writers Werner Jessner, Uschi Korda, Ruth Morgan Contributors Kimberley Bradley, Ulrich Corazza, Denis Hickie, Craig Jarvis, Dan Jones, Denis Kirwan, Piers Martin, Florian Obkircher, Gertrude Reinisch, Thomas Schrefl, Thomas Senf, Steve Smith, Tatsua Tayagaki, Herbert Volker Production Managers Michael Bergmeister, Wolfgang Stecher, Walter Omar Sádaba Repro Managers Christian Graf-Simpson, Clemens Ragotzky Augmented Reality Martin Herz, www.imagination.at International Project Management Bernd Fisa Finance Siegmar Hofstetter.

A product of the Corporate Publishing Boro Petric (head); Justin Hynes, Christoph Rietner, Nadja Žele (chief-editors); Dominik Uhl (art director); Markus Kucera (photo director); Lisa Blazek (editor).

The Red Bulletin is published simultaneously in Austria, the UK, Germany, Ireland, Kuwait, Poland, South Africa and New Zealand. Website www.redbulletin.com. Head office: Red Bulletin GmbH, Am Brunnen 1, A-5330 Fuschl am See, FN 287869m, ATU63087028. UK office: 155-171 Tooley Street, London SE1 2JP, +44 (0) 20 3117 2100. Austrian office: Heinrich-Collin-Strasse 1, A-1140 Vienna, +43 (1) 90221 28800. The Red Bulletin (Ireland): Susie Dardis, Richmond Marketing, 1st Floor Harmony Court, Harmony Row, Dublin 2, Ireland +35 386 8277993. Printed by Prinovis Liverpool Ltd, www.prinovis.com For all advertising enquiries, email adsales@uk.redbulletin.com. Write to us: email letters@redbulletin.com

The next issue of the Red Bulletin is out on March 1

Illustration: albert exergian

more body & mind

kunde

DEFYING LOGIC

Reg. charity 267444 Photo: © Rodrigo Baleia.

Cattle ranchers in Paraguay want to cut down vast tracts of uncontacted Indians’ rainforest and still portray themselves as environmentally responsible.

How? Simple. Just call the islands of forests that are left ‘nature reserves’. Help restore logic. www.restorelogic.org/paraguay

CA R PE D IEM KOM BU C H A

www.carpediem.com

The secret of Carpe Diem Kombucha goes back over two thousand years to the Tsin Dynasty in China. A select blend of teas is carefully fermented with the Kombucha cultures – a special combination of ingredients

which together lend the drink its rich aromas and beneficial qualities. Its unique flavour makes it a delicious accompaniment to any meal, and a refreshing alternative to wine and soft drinks.