When it was suggested to Valentino Guseli his backyard ski jump was as iconic to Kiangians, Dalmenians and Narooma-ites as Australia Rock, and thus could never be taken down, he chuckled.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
His Nonno, Guido Guseli, built the snowboard ramp for Valentino to train. A legendary a tale as Valentino himself.
For the unsuspecting it may seem like a giant slip 'n slide, or a very small theme park.
Dalmeny wouldn't be 'Dal' without 'Val' and his ramp.
Valentino assured ACM it wasn't going anywhere soon.
"I was going to ride it yesterday and today, but it was just too windy," he said
"Last time I rode it was a week and a half, two weeks ago."
The northern hemisphere summer hailed the return of Valentino as he ramped up his snowsports training on this side of the globe.
A pattern he has been accustomed to since a 14-year-old.
It was well known his parents, Ric and Kristen, keen snowboarders themselves, had Valentino on a snowboard at three.
Dalmeny and Kianga locals, the pair moved to Canberra for Ric's pool construction business.
They had two children Valentino and Alessandra. Both showed a natural aptitude for the sport.
Valentino also took up skateboarding in Canberra and surfing when holidaying in Dalmeny.
Why was it snowboarding that stuck?
"I have no idea if I'm honest," he said.
"I think because it's so easy to do with other people - if that makes sense?
"Like I was riding down the hill while my dad and mum were riding down the hill filming me when I was young, and giggling and riding past people I didn't know and just waving at them.
"I guess I just really liked that part."
He said his parents had copped some flak for putting him straight on a snowboard, bypassing skis.
"Lots of people told my dad it was irresponsible and child endangerment.
"Just because that was a rule, I guess, that everybody lived by - get on the skis first before the snowboard.
"But it's all worked out."
A bit of an understatement.
By 11, Valentino was setting records as the youngest person on a snowboard to ever perform a double backflip.
The day before his 16th birthday Valentino broke the record for the highest air in the halfpipe with a whopping 7.3 metres from take off.
In 2023, he became the only snowboarder to have achieved three medals in one season across the three disciplines - halfpipe, big air and slopestyle.
When Valentino reflected on the travel and time spent away from his family, he said he missed his mum and sister like mad, but then adjusted.
"It helped me grow up a bit quicker," he said.
"The things I've learnt and experiences I have had have been really great."
He cites Laax in Switzerland as his home away from home.
"Laax is the closest thing I have to home other than Australia, just because I've spent so much time there and they treat me like a local - which is pretty cool.
"I really love it there - it's got the best halfpipe in the world.
"Great freeriding, great slopestyle courses, great food - just everything there I like."
Valentino's achievements were numerous and like fellow Australian snowboarder Scotty James he had catapulted the Australian flag to the top on the global leaderboards.
Yet he had remained remarkably grounded.
When he returned to Dalmeny for a day or so a week during the Australian winter, he worked in his family's business in Bodalla, a plant nursery and cafe called Nonno's Garden.
The cafe was called 'Valentino's'.
"Life has gotten busier at home over the last year with our new family business - I'm working there as much as I can," he said.
"I've been there every day, spending lots of time there and a little less time in the surf."
Valentino said it had been a conscious decision to remain grounded. though both his early coach, "super good dude" Robin Gaenzhirt, and Ric had a hand in this.
"It was a big lesson I learned when I was younger, the main thing is humility," he said.
"There were lots of kids that my dad and my coach at the time saw, that you know would win some of the kids competitions and then walk around and be disrespectful to adults and just not remain that humble.
"My dad and my coach really made sure that I wasn't like that.
"They drilled it into me from a young age that humility is the most important thing and I try to live by that, and that is one of my values."
