All good things happen in threes! For this Winter Mission, professional snowboarder Ryan Tiene took the wheel and embarked on a day in and out of the park at Perisher Resort with two female Olympian snowboarders, both making their mark daily on the snowboarding scene Down Under and internationally, Emily Arthur and Tess Coady. This was filmed during the peak of COVID and we were dealt with more than a few challenges to pull this off. However, we made it happen.
Ryan Tiene…One of the most successful snowboarders from the Southern Hemisphere, primarily making a name for himself in the backcountry on DC’s pro team. He’s taken a slight path change the past few years and is now the Head Coach and Director at Turn and Burn snowboard camps, which is spitting out Australia’s up and coming riders left, right and centre. Focusing on all aspects of snowboarding, not just terrain parks.
Emily Arthur and Tess Coady were Ryan’s guests for the day. Olympian snowboarders and forces to be reckoned with, both chasing a different discipline on the board but sharing the same passion – it’s all about the good times. Emily is a half pipe rider, representing Australia in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, qualifying all the way to finals. She’s out of a half pipe this year to train in due to COVID, but that ain’t putting a dent in her riding at all, she’s challenging herself in different areas such as slopestyle and freeriding so when she drops back into the pipe, she’ll have more skills to kill.
Tess is one of the strongest up and coming female riders in the world currently. Blowing minds daily up at Perisher, she is breaking the boundaries of what’s possible on a board and creating a new mold of snowboarder for all females to aspire to. Badass. Tess also competed in the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics but had a gnarly crash whilst training, which really only led to her being more hungry and determined to push the envelope on her snowboard.
Ryan, Emily and Tess together is a misson in itself – three successful snowboarders from three different paths, reveling in a sunny day up at the snowboarders holiest of grails – Front Valley.
Due to COVID and athletes, we had to enforce a few rules to nail this mission. Both Tess and Emily are a part of the Olympic Winter Institute who understandably want to keep all their athletes COVID free. First up was the drive. Ryan had to drop the car off for the girls to drive up, can’t break that bubble! Ryan, in true Ryan fashion decided to drop the car off down by the lake, well actually kinda in the lake. A little stitch up to get the day going.
Once the girls figured out how to get the car out of the lake, onto dry land and kick Ryan off the bluetooth. It was good times engaged. They hit up karaoke on the drive up to Perisher, while Ryan tailed behind them…feeling a little defeated that the girls put his stunt to shame.
Conditions couldn’t have been any better – blues skies, top to bottom park, new jump and hero snow. Game on. The crew didn’t hold back getting straight into hot laps on Front Valley. However it was only one person per T-bar due to COVID – making the ride a little lonely. Lapping the park is Tess’s bread and butter – go figure. She ripped the park to bits alongside Emily who’s been stepping up and taking to the steel and booters this winter.
After some serious hours of hot lapping it was time for a little break. Tiene opting for a kebab, the athletes opting for their more wholesome and healthy packed lunch.
The afternoon opened up the chance to go explore the mountain, beyond the golden gates of Front Valley. Emily’s a pipe rider at heart and competed in the pipe during the PyeongChang Olympics. She knows a thing about edge control and ripping around the mountain. Naturally, she led the charge, showing Tiene and Tess all her local spots to turn and burn!
After a solid day, crew beat, it was time to head back to Jindabyne. The girls had been conjuring up a plan all day behind Tiene’s back to get him for the stunt he pulled in the morning. They decided to roll the dice and take the Ford Ranger about twice as deep into the lake that Tiene did. Alas, they nailed it!
Car in the lake – the crew decided to celebrate the day with an ice recovery session and a beer. Tess and Emily were no strangers to an ice session, Tiene on the other hand was a little uncomfortable 😉
Huge shout-out to our partners for making these winter missions possible! It’s a pretty crazy time right now to be supporting a travel series and it’s rad to see brands we love, support what we love. Thanks to Ford Australia for the wheels, Go Pro for all the cameras, YETI for all the gear, Tourism Australia for the get around knowledge and Pirate Life for the frothies to end the day in style.
