What is the team's purpose?
The team was established in October 2017 by a couple of well known Bulgarian skiers and snowboarders. Our main goal is, to give the chance to the most promising Bulgarian athletes to compete on the international freeride scene and create a ladder of opportunities for the young generation. The most ambitious part of the plan and our dream is that one of us succeeds in qualifying for the Freeride World Tour. A feat like that would be a first not only for our country but also for entire Eastern Europe.
Teams achievements
The success came with the first season. Even for us was difficult to imagine that we were able to achieve 9 podiums, 3 of which first places in different categories and a couple of more good rankings in top 5. We proofed to ourselves, that we are part of the world freeride scene and competitive against athletes from countries with a much longer history in the winter sports.
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Why are we raising money?
To keep this project and a big dream of our running, we need your help! We want to improve every year, to involve more people, to continue making an impact, to motivate the youngsters and much more. The idea "wants" to grow, sadly the budget as well. By raising this funds we will be able to take part in this season stops of the Freeride World Qualifiers around Europe. Simeon, Elena and Bojana now have the chance of competing on highest rank events and even better shot at the Freeride World Tour. Because we know that the future is in the younger generation, we want to be able to support couple of Juniors and take them to Freeride Junior Tour events in Austria. We also want to have a "Rookie" member, whom will be given the chance to show his potential and earn his place in the main team.
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The goal of the campaign is to raise 65% of the funds needed to make this winter season a reality:
14 Freeride World Qualifier events - 6 riders
3 Freeride Junior Tour events - 2 riders
- taxes FWT
- competition fees
- transport to and from competitions
- accommodation at FWQ events
- insurances
- ski passes
- food on competition days
- expenses administration
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Who is in the team?
This season 3 new riders will join us and overall team members are gonna become 8. After the success last season, part of this years team will be some of the already established Bulgarian freeride athletes: ski men - Simeon Pavlov, ski woman - Elena Mitrengova, snowboard women - Bojana Chalakova, ski men - Valeri Peltekov and snowboard men - Boris Parvanov. We will also give chance to 2 young riders to compete in the Junior category, as well as to a “Rookie” for the season of 2019 - Simona Kamberova (ski women).
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Impact
The best part of getting the chance to realize our project last winter was to see the big impact and response not only from people in our surrounding but also from outside. We want to show the younger generation, that there is a way even in not so commercial sports and to inspire them to follow their passion. We believe that the background is less important if you do the hard work and have the inner drive.
In Bulgaria you can’t take governmental support for such a sport, that’s why we rely only on private sponsors, or now – crowdfunding.
The goal of the team is to last in the future and become a foundation for the development of the young freeride skiers and snowboarders who will be given a chance to progress in the international scene. One of the main outcomes of a national team, representing our country in international competitions will be the rising interest and knowledge in the general public about the sport of freeriding culture.
During the last 15 years, freeriding in Bulgaria is becoming more popular for skiers and snowboarders alike. Before we established the team we were part in the organization of freeride competitions and events where both athletes and amateurs were competing against each other. This was our first step towards the progression of the sport in our home country. Nowadays parallel with the team, some of us are still the organizers of such events.
You can check some of your projects here :
https://doncho.org freeride, freestyle event in Bulgaria
https://www.facebook.com/HuntingLines freeride film series
https://vimeo.com/39907107 " Promise Land " movie
https://vimeo.com/57320725 " Lost Winter" movie
Risks & Challenges
Freeriding is a complex combination of abilities and the right mindset. Some of the most important ingredients needed are knowledge for the mountain and the snow, calculated risk, experienced partners, imagination and of course good riding skills.
The challenging part when competing in this sport is the fact that you have only one shot to show what you can by riding on a face you have never ridden before. Only one fall is costing you the podium.
What if we don't reach the goal?
If we do not manage to collect all the money needed, one way will be to compete on fewer events and to do our best to continue promoting this sport in Bulgaria. The down part would be way smaller chance to collect points. Our top priority is the team members with the biggest potential and the juniors.
Other Ways You Can support us
Except by contributing to our campaign you can also help us (which will be greatly appreciated) by spreading the word. This way, more people can hear about it, which will exceed our chances for success.
Support us by sharing it with your friends on social media! Together we can do more!
P.S. Don’t forget to use the Indiegogo share tools. If the campaign has high traffic volume and a large number of social shares, the IndieGoGo platform will promote it as well.
Thank you for your time. See you in the mountains...
