ALMATY: Johannes McAlpin, an Australian slope snowboarder, who experiences the Winter Universiade for the first time, often is asked the question how it is possible to practice a winter sport in one of the hottest countries.
“People get the impression that we don’t have snow,” the young athlete jokes. “But we have snow, winter is about 4 months long, from June to September. We have really good facilities there and people really enjoy skiing and snowboarding.”
When the hot temperatures take over in Australia, Joss travels overseas – to North America or Europe. “We see a lot of athletes from other countries now, who come to Australia in their off-season to continue their training.”
The student of the University of New England in Armidale admits he didn’t expect as much snow as it is in Almaty. He might even consider going to Kazakhstan in his offseason one day. “It’s a cool place, better than I expected,” says McAlpin as he gets ready for his practice before his first Universiade competition on the 5th of February.
Lucie Hrdličková, U-Media Reporter
Watch the video interview here.
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