Here’s an interesting proposal from Boarders without Borders (NOT to be confused with For Boarders By Boarders). The guys are looking to stick Olympic gold medallist Hannah Teter, Gabi Viteri, two (as of yet unannounced) male pro riders and some filmers on a jet plane and out to Iran, where they’ll document the team’s experiences riding the world class and unchartered Alborz Mountains. The team are looking to reach out to the indigenous population, befriend the Iranian youth, exchange cultures and ultimately get more kids into snowboarding. You can watch the teaser for the proposed documentary below:
As a result of some terribly misguided press over the years, civil unrest, landmines, terrorism and conflict are just a few of the things that sadly spring to people’s minds when they think of the Middle East, and it’s easy to view the idea of snowboarding there as unusual and risky – and to some extent, it is. However, the fact remains that the terrain in these regions is wild, exciting and largely untouched and many crews venturing there have been pleasantly surprised with the acceptance and hospitality that locals have towards Westerners sharing common interests.
Over the years, Whitelines has explored the mountains of Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Krghistan and Iran and know of the potential they offer – both to the riders and the locals. You may also remember this eye-opening teaser from an Australian crew that recently visited Afghanistan with similar motives. When it comes down to it, extending our friendship to the Middle East and getting more people stoked on snowboarding can only be a positive thing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1eLUU0PHGY
Boarders without Borders have already made a ton progress in organising their trip, and have secured all of the necessary visas and documents required to enter the country. All they are missing now is funding. They need to reach a target of $125,000 (!) on Kickstarter by September the 16th for the trip to go ahead. If you’d like to help this go down you can leave a donation there. We at least think it’s a more worthy cause than this appeal for funding. As Tesco put best: every little helps, and you won’t pay anything if the target isn’t reached by the deadline.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgqGChZPMGU
