Meet Nazrin Garibova, the ski mountaineer who pushes boundaries in Azerbaijan's Mountains

euronews (in English)

In this episode of Meet the Locals, we explore Azerbaijan's rugged Shahdag Mountains with Nazrin Garibova, a ski mountaineer whose journey from urban life to alpine trails highlights resilience, passion and cultural pride.

Transcript

00:00What struck me the most when I first started exploring the areas outside of the urban center

00:17was the diversity in nature and the landscapes that Azerbaijan provides.

00:24Anywhere you go, you don't feel like you're walking in the same place.

00:28It's a small country, and it's incredibly diverse.

00:35I was born in Azerbaijan, but I moved to the States when I was just a kid.

00:42In 2021, I decided to move back to work on the Transcaucasian Trail Project, and the

00:50trails made me wind up staying in the mountains.

00:55I find myself here now in Shakhtar on the National Ski Mountaineering Team.

01:01Ski mountaineering is skiing, but you have to work for it.

01:05You have to earn your downhill by going uphill first.

01:13You have light skis on the bottoms of which you stick on skins, which are little fuzzy

01:21carpet-like things that prevent you from sliding backwards downhill.

01:27You climb uphill in your skis.

01:29You take off the skins, put your boots back into the bindings, and ski downhill.

01:43Ski mountaineering brings a range of emotions.

01:46It's difficult, I can say that for sure.

01:48It's exhilarating.

01:49It's exciting.

01:50The most beautiful thing about it is that it allows you to enjoy the mountains even

01:55when they're covered in snow.

01:57With ski mountaineering, whether we're doing a long day in the mountains and just enjoying

02:02at a low intensity or sprinting uphill, it's amazing the limits that you can push yourself

02:07to and the joy that the mountains can bring to you.

02:13Year-round training is crucial for development and progress.

02:17One of the things that makes a sport so difficult is the uphill battle.

02:24Actually mountain biking is quite similar.

02:26It works the same muscles.

02:28Trail running better prepares us to be flexible and focused in the mountains.

02:34Roller skiing mimics pretty much the same movement that we do in skis.

02:39We go at the top of this mountain.

02:43We go slowly, but it's necessary to do one good movement, and the movement is very important

02:48when you ride.

02:49You push here and here.

02:51You push, yes.

02:53Again.

02:54Naturally.

03:00We got to participate in the Schachtaug Trail Running Fest put on by Race Oz.

03:06We ran a vertical kilometer, which is just a sufferfest from start to finish, as well

03:11as some longer distance races, which include a variety of terrain and rolling hills and

03:16climbing mountains.

03:17Obviously, it's always a great honor and a very proud moment to not only win, but to

03:23see our entire team able to represent our sport and our efforts on the podium.

03:31I really hope that as mountain sports continue to develop in our country, it'll draw in more

03:37girls to test their strength, to test their endurance in this difficult terrain, and find

03:44the limits of their own power.

03:53It's actually an incredible dynamic on the team.

03:56Every party is coming from different backgrounds, cultures, languages, and we're all learning

04:01so much from each other.

04:05Our coaches are from France.

04:07Our other coach and our athletes are lesbians from the local village.

04:11I myself am an American-raised Azerbaijani.

04:15And we're all picking up on each other's languages.

04:17We're mixing up accents.

04:25The sport, our trainings, our travel, our competitions, is all made possible thanks

04:31to the Azerbaijan Winter Sports Federation, which has a distinct goal of fostering and

04:38developing athletes from local communities rather than drawing in athletes from foreign

04:43countries.

04:49I may be biased, but I think our team is unlike any other ski mountaineering team in the world.

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