More insights into the glorious life, this time with Nikita’s Alise Balode from the UK!
Words by Alise Balode
I was stoked to spend three weeks in Mayrhofen, Austria. The weather was nice most of my stay, enjoying a lovely mix of sunny and snowy days. I spent a lot of time in Vans Penken Park, I love it there, the setup was so much fun! It was cool to catch up with friends, Mayrhofen seasonaires, who I ride with back in UK and also to meet new friends. The riding level in the park was really high, it was great to see guys and girls throwing down sick tricks on rails and kickers, and this made me push myself more and try new tricks too.
One day my friend told me that there was a Volcom Peanut Butter & Rail Jam happening in Italy, so I decided to give it a go. We travelled 6 hours in a car to Borno resort, where the comp was taking place. The weather forecast said that there would be sunshine all day, but it turned out to be totally the opposite and snowing like crazy! Despite dumping all day it was super fun; I had an awesome time at the comp and in the end I was stoked to find out that I won 1st place in the girls category, yay!
I also had few epic days riding powder in Mayrhofen. Me and boyfriend spent hours hiking and searching for powder spots and found incredible tree runs. I have never ridden that much powder in my life, this was such a new and exciting experience for me.
Now I’m back in London and back at my home indoor slope in Hemel Hempstead. The freestyle nights there are not to be missed, I am always having loads of fun.
My next plan is to go to Spring Break in May, the annual snowboard test in Kaunertal and this will be my first year being there so I’m very much looking forward to it!
Big shout out to Aivars Zarins from motionstoppers.com who captured some rad shots of me in Mayrhofen and Roberto Benis for the nice shot of me at Volcom PBRJ in Italy.
