Three Kiwis skateboard through the Andes and Atacama Desert

Pushing it to the Limit

Three young Kiwis have become the first people to ever skateboard through the driest desert in the world.

While most of us were enjoying a nice summer barbeque or spending some relaxing time at the beach, Alan Carnaby, Troy Bilbrough and Guy Parsons spent five weeks longboard skateboarding some 1600kms from Arequipa (Peru) to La Serena (Chile). In the process they have become the first people in the world to skateboard over much of the Andes, through the Atacama Desert and then down some of northern Chile’s spectacular coastline.

This carboNZero certified skateboarding adventure was self supported, with the boys carrying everything on their backs and would travel approximately 70-90kms a day and then camp on the side of the road in the desert when they could not find a town to stay in.

Throughout the trip the boys experienced many ups and downs, and not just because of the mountains. However, the beautiful scenery and the amazing people they met and stories they could share definitely made all of this worthwhile.

“We encountered some rather interesting situations when we would arrive in a remote village which does not see many tourists. Often we would arrive in a village after coming down a hill on skateboards with parachutes deployed, helmet cameras going, the works and the shocked and confused expressions on people’s faces were certainly a sight to behold” explains Guy.

“We also had a bit of drama” says Troy. “Halfway through the trip I was attacked and bitten by wild dogs (and needed rabies injections), Alan got sick, Guy pulled a muscle in his leg and we had to survive on just eating biscuits for three days. Needles to say we had a few tough times, and not to mention having to deal with the raw elements: the wind, the altitude, the hills, the potholes, the sun scorching your back, the wild jaguars in the jungle... but overall we had a heck of a lot of fun”.

So why did the boys want to skateboard this route and what did they want to achieve?

“Our primary aim was first and foremost to have fun and make a few people smile along the way” explains Alan. We wanted to do something that had never been done before and we did a bit of research and found that no one had ever skateboarded this area before and in hindsight probably for good reason!”

As well as ‘having fun’ the boys also “wanted to raise a bit of awareness about sustainable travel and how, with a little effort you can make more environmentally sustainable choices”.

In order to walk the talk, the guys got their trip carboNZero certified in which they were required to measure, manage and offset the carbon footprint of their trip. They also are trying to raise some funds for a charitable trust called Project Litefoot. The trust aims to inspire New Zealanders to become environmental champions and is helping sports clubs reduce carbon emissions and reduce costs, helping them put more money back into sport – a great cause.

To donate to their charity please go to https://www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/litefoot

To see more pictures and videos of trip go to www.facebook.com/skateventure or www.skateventure.com/southamerica

ENDS

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