Teenage freestyle skier Andri Ragettli was probably most famous for becoming the first person to land a quad cork 1800 on skis, but now it’s a practice routine that’s making him the topic of conversation.
The Swiss 19-year-old hopes to compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics early next year, but with balance like this, his talents clearly don’t just lie on the snow.
The video was widely shared on social media, racking up thousands upon thousands of retweets – and while it’s impressed people around the world, Ragettli says it’s “just a normal training we do sometimes”.
Ragettli continued: “We do that in training because balance is important in our sport, so we train like this sometimes, but not too often.
“The first obstacle was hard, the drop on the ball, as well as the last one (the wallspin).
“The back flip was because I was happy that I had finished the course perfectly. That’s why I did that celebration!”
The teen recently competed in the International Ski Federation’s freestyle skiing world cup, where he came second – but where do his balance skills come from?
“I don’t have a background in parkour,” he said. “We do a lot of trampoline and balance training, and for the rails that’s important.
“It’s just normal training we do sometimes, it’s not like a special thing!”
And of course, the question on everybody’s lips: just how long did it take to complete the course like that?
“It took me like, 20 tries to get the course perfect,” said Ragettli.
Crumbs of comfort for those in awe of the man’s super-human balance.
