Words Liam Stretch. Photos Logan Dodds and Tommy Pyatt.

Free-skier, Nico Porteous is kind of a national hero; he is as cool as a cucumber and has represented New Zealand at both the Winter Olympics and X Games – gaining podium finishes at each. I took the chance, during the lockdown, to have an email chinwag with him; to find out what makes him tick and how he got so amazingly talented at such a young age.

Nico was born in Hamilton in the Waikato – but thankfully for him, and us all, he never actually lived there. He did a stint in Christchurch until he was nine where he lived with his mum, dad, and older brother Miguel. From there, the family packed up and moved across the ditch to Perth. Nico now calls Wanaka home between seasons abroad.

"Perth's probably the furthest you can get from snow, but we used to come back to NZ in the winter. It was a pretty 'normal childhood' playing lots of sport and spending a lot of time in the outdoors with the family," says Nico. When Nico was a toddler, he first put on a pair of skis on a family mountain trip to France.

"I actually learnt to ski on a holiday when I was about four, Miguel was then six and already a little shredder, so I had that incentive of always wanting to keep up with him rather than being left at home with Mum," says Nico. His parents thought it would be a good idea for both Miguel and Nico to learn to ski well, so the pair did a few years of race training to get the fundamentals down pat. But, the two already had a passion for free-skiing, and they would always leave the mountain and slip into the park after race training. "When I was about 11, I gave up racing and started to focus a little more on park and pipe."

From then Nico kept getting better, and at 14 he was the youngest ever to complete a triple corkscrew. I asked him whether he thought this came down to natural ability or hard work – he was ever so humble in his response.

“Our sport is evolving so quickly; a triple 1440 4 years ago was a big trick, but now kids as young as 12 are doing them – training facilities and landing airbags have improved making it a little safer to learn the bigger tricks at a younger age. I think I have a little bit of natural talent, but it's like everything, natural ability gets you so far and then its work and perseverance," says Nico.

In 2018, at a spritely, 16, Nico was selected as a member of the New Zealand Winter Olympic team and jetted over to PyeongChang in South Korea – there, he won a bronze medal in the halfpipe and proceeded to compete in the X Games in Aspen, Colorado the following year; also taking away a bronze medal. Now 18, he has gained a bronze medal at Dew Tour in Colorado. Obviously, a lot of effort goes into these events – especially when coming away with podium finishes. So, I was intrigued as to what Nico did to prepare.

"They are both very special events, but the build-up is just the same as if it is any other competition. You try not to change too much stuff. I don't follow any really strict diets, I just try and eat "healthy" most of the time, but if I feel like a bit of chocolate or some hot chips I have them, it's about having everything in moderation," says Nico. I commend a man for not letting anything get in the way of hot chips and chocolate – it's the way life should be lived.

This does change a little bit on the immediate lead up to an event, however.

"On the day of competition, I always try and eat a few hours before the start time as I know the closer to the start the harder it gets for me to keep food down just because of all the adrenaline. Before big comps, I always try and have a few chill days beforehand just to give the body a bit of time to recover from any bumps or bruises I've got and just to make sure I get to the start gate with a body that isn't too sore," Nico says.

With all of this success very early on in his career, Nico says there have still been a few challenges to overcome, and he has missed out on a few 'typical' things. "I suppose that would have been missing out on some of the "rites of passage" like school camps and school balls or when all my mates are going out, and I have to train the next day, I get FOMO," says Nico.

But that sacrifice is worth it when you're broadcasted to the world on an Olympic podium.

"It was really quite overwhelming and even when I remember that day it makes me think, 'wow, I did that'. It certainly was a very special day to see everyone else so happy because it's just not just for me; it's my coach, gym trainer, wax tech – it’s a medal for the team. Back home, New Zealand is his playground, and he loves to ski here. When I posed the question of where his favourite place to ski was he said he was a big fan of our Southern Alps. "It's always good to ski at Cardrona – it’s home!! But if I have to choose somewhere overseas, it would probably be Laax, Switzerland or Mammoth, California."

"New Zealand has a great mountain scene we have world-class park facilities, and we all know each other, which makes it heaps of fun to ski around together in a group." When Nico is not skiing, he is like any other teenage guy, really." I like most outside stuff and always keen for action, I skateboard, surf, rock climb, and hang out with my mates."

For Nico at the moment, it's all about his biggest champions, his family. "COVID-19 and these four weeks of lockdown is certainly something I've never experienced before – one of the positives out of all this is the time we are getting to spend together as a family; there are a few hands of Monopoly going on."

"Obviously, I have specific competitive goals like doing well in particular competitions, but my big goal for the future, no matter what area of life, is to be happy and healthy and surrounded by good people."

I was curious if he, like many of us, was getting in a good binge on Netflix, but he appears to have a bit more self-control than I. "I'm not a big Netflix watcher but have watched a couple of episodes of Tiger King (haha Carol Baskin that b****)," Nico says.

Agreed, Nico. That bloody Carol Baskin.

Follow Nico's journey here

I got to chat to an Olympic medallist