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.
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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.