Sparrow Knox looking bizarre in the Grand Bazaar. Carpet shops like this one can be found all over Istanbul and much of Turkey. They’re a great place to practice your haggling skills, and maybe walk away with a new prize for your home. WE AWOKE TO a warm afternoon on Jan. 2 with snow still in the streets. Niels and Sparrow pulled out their boards and began explor-ing a city of contrasts. Home to 14 million people, Istanbul’s history dates back to 660 B.C., when it was founded as Byzantium. Then, in 330 B.C., it became Constantinople, an imperial capital through Byzantine and Roman rule, followed by nearly 500 years of the Otto-man empire. A trade-route hub, the city was home to a wide variety of travelers, traders, movers and shakers from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, Europe to Asia. It’s a crossroads of culture and conflict with a colorful past. But Istanbul is now a modern, cosmopolitan city in many ways. In a steep park full of trees and locals playing with their dogs, we met a group of kids having a blast in the rare snow. They watched from a distance, so we approached and asked if they wanted to try our boards. Once the first kid mustered up enough confidence to strap in, they all wanted a turn. After a few attempts, the first volunteer was cruising down cement sidewalks half covered with snow, dodg-ing street cats, torn-up fences and car bumpers, while Niels ran be-hind him screaming, “Bend your knees!” and hoping he wouldn’t kill himself. They continued to ride until the cacophony that inundates Istanbul five times a day began. Muezzin after muezzin, each located in its respective mosque minaret, began belting out their call to prayer over the loudspeakers in what seemed like a competition for who can create the most noise. From where we were perched in the park, we could hear at least 20 different mosques of all sizes—the city is home to more than 3,000 of the Muslim places of worship. That night we were invited to dinner with Pelin and Aykut, a young couple who owns Zula Snowboard Shop. They brought us to a hip restaurant along the waterfront downtown to break bread and get to know each other. Zula is a little shop located in the shadow of an enor-mous Trump skyscraper in the center of the city. It’s the only snow-board shop in town, and so it serves as the hub of snowboard culture for all of Eastern Turkey—many of the kids we would later meet at the resorts were either affiliated with Zula or knew the store well. Pelin and Aykut were our on-the-ground connection in Turkey. At dinner, they shared contacts and insights on Turkey’s snowboard culture, and were glad we were here to help encourage and develop the younger genera-tion of Turkish snowboarders. There’s a lot of interest in snowboarding in Turkey, the couple explained, but the country lacks infrastructure in the form of terrain parks, contests and gatherings, and there is little guidance from local and foreign riders. They hoped we could be a firsthand example of where snowboarding can take you in life. By the time we left to meet up with the final members of our crew—French rider Victor Daviet and photographer Julian “Perly” Petry—we had been enlightened about a snowboard culture on the rise, an example of the modernization of Turkish culture at large, at least in Istanbul. We found Victor and Perly in a kebab shop, indulging in traditional meats served on huge metal platters. It was only then, with the snow in Istanbul melting fast, that we began to map out a course for the next two weeks. But before leaving the city, we decided to milk what was left of the snow and set out to ride near the remarkable “Blue Mosque.” Formally known as the Mosque of Sultan Ahmet I, its blue interior tiles give it its touristic name. Built in the early 1600s on the site of the palace of Byzantium, it’s widely known as one of the greatest examples of Ottoman imperial architecture. With six towering minarets and cas-cading domes settling in front of the sea, it’s also still an active place of worship. And although they had come to nearby Macka Park to ride, Victor, Niels and Alex’s curiosity outside the mosque got them an invitation to learn the repetitive washing techniques that are required before entering for prayer. Removing their large, clunky snowboard boots, a local man patiently walked them through the process of bath-ing their feet. As the rest of us watched from just outside the door, they struggled to keep up with the kneeling and standing motions of prayer under the curious gaze of those gathered inside. 064 THE SNOWBOARDER’S JOURNAL
The Snowboarder's Journal frequency 14.1: Page 64
