“15 years ago, we founded the crew when we were still very young and seized every opportunity to shred off-piste! Then we’ve lost track of each other for some time. Couple of years later I met Altin and we relaunched the whole thing”, Lukas Valentini recalls. Together with his friend Altin Alla, he has determined the Pirate-crew’s fate and has also crucially coined the local freestyle-scene until today.
By now, the crew and their logo are omnipresent at Snowpark Alta Badia. As is right and proper for Pirates, the skull is flaunted on the red entrance portal as well as on the container walls at the park’s chill area. About 15 official crew-members are bemedaled with the logo on their jackets when they shred the park almost daily in winter. Altin and Lux spend the whole winter up on the mountain. In between, they change their Pirates jackets for a different uniform and switch into different roles. “Both of us are also working as snowboard-teachers and we use the park for the lessons as well. The demand for freestyle-lessons has also grown steadily since we’ve put our logo on the wall of the ski school!”, Altin proudly explains.
In the following video, Altin and Lux, which is Lukas’ nick name, recall how they became the Pirates and how they see the crew’s development in the last years.
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Looking at the young crew-members of the Pirates, it’s easy to see how big of an influence they’ve already had on the next generation. Mattia Mersa is 12 years old and the youngest of the crew. Together with his brother Elia Mersa and their buddy Felix Schrott, they roam Snowpark Alta Badia daily to work on their shred skills and on their ultimate goal – turn pro. “The boys are super ambitious and practice a lot. And as far as we’re concerned they’re doing fine in school as well! So, everything’s cool”, Altin jokes.
Check out how the three shred buddies send it on the lines of Snowpark Alta Badia in the video below – it definitely pays off to click on the play button!
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Hence the freestyle future of South Tyrol is secured and Altin and Lux are overflowing with ideas and energy! “The plans for the future are grand!”, Lux laughs impishly not wanting to give away any details. “As long as we can, we will still send it over those kickers! And if we ever get too old for that, we still remain the Captains of the Pirates!”, Altin adds.
When the two captains order their crew to board the park, “gunfire” is included of course. Check out the edit below and watch the whole crew go big on the medium line of the park.
Here we would like to show you a Vimeo video.