There’s a pipe being built in Perisher, six hours south of Sydney. What’s that you say, but the season is over and I’m heading to the beach. Not if you’re Shaun White and looking for gold in Sochi it isn’t, or so ‘they’ say.
After all he built a halfpipe in the backcountry of Colorado in December 2009 before the Vancouver Olympics. Well, correction, Red Bull built the private practice pipe for their number one snow sports athlete but you get the idea.
There’s been talk of Shaun White training in Australia all season and Perisher neither confirmed nor denied the rumour when we asked them earlier this year which usually means only one thing.
Some say the White camp have paid Perisher $250 000, others say a 22 foot pipe cutter has been flown in and will be left behind as payment, others say the pipe is actually for the GoPro International Camp and to expect some big riders here, not just Shaun. But most agree it is a pipe built by Snow Park Technologies for use as a private training pipe.
Plus word is two bag jumps are also on their way so watch this space.
Have you seen Mr White? Know anymore about the not-so-private-but-oh-so-private pipe?
He was apparently here for the big air comp in August (according to a store tech who saw him there), so it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s been sharing his time between Aus and NZ to train as much as he can.
One thing for sure is that, Boardworld has the feelers in the snow Down Under!!!!!
Saw him riding Perisher yesterday, filming new GoPro movie