He swapped sea for snow to go where no person has gone before.
Levi Siver, a professional windsurfer used to jumping waves and carving turns in the ocean, performed a world first last year when he took his sport to a snow-capped mountain in Japan.
The 37-year-old, known as “The King of Style,” traveled to Rishiri Island in Hokkaido for a project that had been five years in the making and took 20 days to shoot.
Braving temperatures as low as -13 degrees celsius, Siver was captured making smooth turns in the snow, the first man to give windsurfing an alpine twist.
“I got this exhilarating feeling that I can’t even really describe,” said Siver.
“The idea for this project stemmed from the vision that we could transfer the elements of windsurfing onto a mountain and create the same exhilarating experience the surfer gets on the water.
“I wanted to be the first person to try alpine windsurfing on a finned board. Using a snowboard would actually be optimum for performance, but I really wanted to recreate that unique sensation of windsurfing and to do that I need[ed] a board somewhere in between a snowboard and windsurfing board.”
His specially designed board, like that used for windsurfing, was complete with a fin and without fixed bindings for his feet. Using the large sail, he could harness the wind to guide himself down the mountain.
Still can’t believe it happened? See for yourself in the video at the top of the page.
