Twelve-hundred minute islands and vast reefs straddling the equator dot the azure waters off the southwest tip of India.
Here, heads of coral - some as big as the hood of a car and resembling an umbrella - lurk under the crystal blue surf. Here, dolphins and sea turtles poke their heads above the surface to gaze curiously at surfers and vessels floating by. Here, white sand beaches fade into the warm ocean.
The Maldives, which rest in the Indian Ocean, offers the starkest of contrasts with the mountains - no point in the island country (the world's flattest, according to multiple sources) rises more than 7.8 feet above sea level. After another year toiling on the competitive snowboard circuit and traveling clear across the globe, such a place provided the perfect escape for surfing enthusiast Chris Klug.
"It's a nice balance after being in cold temperatures all winter and suffering all that impact from snowboarding," said the 2002 bronze medalist from Aspen. "It's a nice change of scenery. I'm always in dry climates at high elevation, so it's nice to go to sea level to mix it up.
"It's become a kind of tradition."
Klug's love of both the surfboard and snowboard were cultivated during his years growing up in Oregon. And when the 2007 U.S. parallel slalom and parallel giant slalom champion isn't competing, he travels the globe - from Costa Rica to Sumatra and Bali - in search of the perfect wave. [Read More on The Aspen Times]
Source: The Aspen Times
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