For weeks now Narooma social media pages have been asking the question of what the construction was on the hill at Kianga. There was wide spread speculation however eventually it was revealed to be a snowboard jump. The jump has been specifically built for Narooma's extraordinary winter athlete Valentino Guseli to train on. The jump was designed and built by well known local identity Guido Guseli to assist young Valentino's snowboard training and it is at full scale to enable Valentino to practice what might well be gold medal tricks on the world stage. Valentino started his incredible ascension onto the world stage at the age of three when he first jumped on a snowboard in Perisher. Since then he has bagged some illustrious results that include: AUSTRALIAN JNR SERIES 2014, 2015 - Overall Age Champion NZ NATIONALS 2014, 2015 - Overall Age Champion AUSTRALIAN NATIONALS 2014, 2015 - Overall Age Champion USA NATIONALS 2015 - 6 gold medals in all discipline USA NATIONALS 2015 - Overall Age Champion USA NATIONALS 2016 - 4 gold medals, one silver USA NATIONALS 2016 - Overall Age Champion In March this year he made it to the Burton US Open Junior Jam and with a run that gave him second place he qualified for the Burton US Open halfpipe which was an incredible experience for him on the world stage. In April Valentino was the US Nationals overall champion and 5 out of 5 podiums and best trick in slopestyle This years saw Valention awarded the #SSAAwards I RISING STAR award Presently 12 years old Valentino has to wait until he turns fourteen before he can begin the gruelling qualification processes for the Olympics. At the moment, when not surfing at Dalmeny, his focus is competing in the world snowboard circuit and attaining a lucrative professional status.
VIDEO: Valentino Guseli is 12 years old and comes from Narooma, Australia. He spent a couple of weeks in Laax training and I caught up with him for a few days to shoot photos for Volcom. Video Credit Learning By Doing
