Africas bucket list ski resort dreams of Olympic racers

MALUTI MOUNTAINS: Nestled high in the mountains of Lesotho, skiers and snowboarders from around the world rub shoulders at Africas leading ski resort, which is cultivating a loyal clientele despite its diminutive size and remote location.

Since 2002, Afriski in northeastern Lesotho has also become a hub for the countrys young winter sports enthusiasts to hone their skills and maybe one day compete for gold at the Winter Olympics.

“Afriski was always a unique option as a destination,” said resort snowmaker Martin Schultz, 35, who comes from South African surfing hub Jeffreys Bay but swapped his surfboard for a snowboard to take to the slopes. “Its been a nice progress — nice amounts of terrain weve been able to open up,” he added, wearing stylish wrap-around blue mirrored sunglasses and a lemon yellow crash helmet.

Schultz is responsible for maintaining the quality and consistency of the artificial snow on the slopes, used by the 12,000 visitors who travel to the resort in the Maluti Mountains every season.

“We use high-pressure air, high-pressure water and a certain temperature and humidity,” he said, of the resorts state-of-the-art snowmaking equipment, used when snow is not falling naturally. Afriskis main kilometre-long piste is a strip of brilliant white snow between brown grassy ridges and dotted with artificial snowmakers, although, on average, its three slopes are covered with natural snow for several weeks a year. Both expert and novice skiers go down the pristine slope from a height of 3,222 metres (10,570 feet) to the compact alpine-style resort below. There, visitors drink Gluehwein and listen to chart music in sub-zero temperatures.

“Ready? Go!” shouts one ski instructor, from the United States, as she loads her young charge onto the lift, while more experienced snowboarders spin and flip on ramps nearby.

Schultz, who worked as a ski instructor at resorts across Europe before spending nine seasons at Afriski, hopes the resort will help the tiny kingdom one day win medals at the Winter Olympics. “One of Afriskis biggest priorities is to try and expand the skiing community in Lesotho and we have kids programmes that generate a lot of interest from the local communities,” he said, of the resort which employs 240 staff, three-quarters of whom are locals. “Some of our kids like Thabang Mabari, the son of one of the guys who works here, has been skiing for about five years and hes brilliant. Theres a good future for kids like that,” he said. “Hopefully in the future we can aim to get those kids to an Olympian standard so they can actually fly the Lesotho flag at the Olympics.”

Ten-year-old Thabangs mother, Mathabang Mabari, who also works at the resort, told AFP that he had started skiing at the age of three.

“Its something he liked a lot. Of course its in his blood to compete, of all the other kids of people who work here, he was the first to ski and teach the others,” said Mabari, 36, who is from the nearby village of Moteng. Outside, slender-framed Thabang glides down the slope with ease dressed in yellow boots, a black puffer jacket and red snow trousers.

Despite some promising youngsters, southern Africa has yet to make a mark at the Winter Olympics.

South African alpine skier Sive Speelman qualified for the Sochi games in 2014 — but was blocked from attending by his own Games Committee who said he was too slow. His dream to be his countrys first black contender in his discipline was also thwarted at this years tournament in South Korea and he was instead a technical assistant to South Africas solitary winter games participant, Connor Wilson. Lesotho has never put a Winter Olympian forward.Afriski is Lesothos sole ski resort — the only other one in sub-Saharan Africa is Tiffindell in South Africa which has two runs and relies on artificial snow. “Afriski has been a great help in my training. I dont think I would have got to the Winter Olympics without them,” said Wilson, 21, who was training at Afriski for a fortnight.