Tricky weather conditions make for challenging snowboarding festival
A snow-filled weekend on the Lesotho mountains makes challenging weather for Rosebank snowboarding achiever.
A Rosebank-based snowboarder participated in the 2022 Winter Whip Snowboard and Ski Festival in Lesotho.
Wesley Schallen achieved a second-place finish in the Pro Men Snowboarding. The four-day event from July 28–31 was presented by the online publication Locally Whipped (LW) Mag in association with Andiamo Spritz, GoPro, Red Bull and DC Shoes.
Event organiser of LW Mag, Ryan van der Spuy, said snowboarders and skiers participated at the snow-covered Afriski Mountain Resort in Lesotho.
“Through the event’s seven-year history, this was the first time it snowed throughout the weekend, something not often experienced in Southern Africa, making for an interesting as well as an incredible weekend. The decision was made to run the competition as quick as possible by narrowing it down to a two-run format instead of the usual three-run format,” said Van der Spuy.
Schallen said the Winter Whip was always an amazing experience. “I always look forward to it as it’s a season’s worth of preparation to compete with the best snowboarders in the country. The snowboarders are supportive and have a great time, so it really creates an amazing atmosphere.
“The weather this year definitely made it challenging as the speed and feel of the snow was changing throughout the day making it tricky to judge the approach to [jump] features. We all couldn’t go as big as we wanted on the larger jumps but everyone was dealing with the same conditions and honestly the challenge of it just added to the competition.”
The seasoned snowboarder said it all started for him through the Wits University Snow Ski Club and at 22 years old, he joined a trip to Lesotho with like-minded people which was when his love for snowboarding took hold.
Schallen said in the first Winter Whip which was held in 2014, he finished third in the Open Men’s Division and repeated that in 2015.
“The following year I moved up to the Pro Men’s Division where I really had to progress my riding. So, to now finish on the podium at that level is a great feeling.”
Schallen said he would love to continue competing and commended LW Mag for putting a great event together and creating a fun vibe with music from the Red Bull vehicle and entertaining commentary.
Filler: Share your sports achievement story ideas by email to naidines@caxton.co.za
Related articles:
