Porteous out for month at least after skateboard injury

X Games champion Nico Porteous will not be doing any major tricks in the next month.

The Central Otago teenager broke a small bone in his foot late last week while skating during some rest time at a Red

Bull training camp in Aspen.

No stranger to a skateboard, Porteous (19) said it was something he did every day and used it as a ‘‘mental release’’ from skiing.

‘‘Obviously skiing every day in winter, it’s sometimes nice to take a step back and do another activity,’’ Porteous said.

‘‘I wanted to go for a skate and I was skating for about half an hour and I tried a trick which is generally pretty easy for me.

‘‘I heard a bit of cracking and popping so I wasn’t too sure.

‘‘Pretty much the bone that runs down the side of your pinky [toe], I’ve broken the base of it right at the bottom.’’

It was a lucky escape for Porteous, who is out for four to six weeks.

‘‘It’s a part of being young and I’ve definitely learnt my lesson that I shouldn’t be skateboarding in the winter.’’

Porteous, who late last month won the X Games Freeski Superpipe in Aspen for the first time, with a neverbeforedone trick, had spoken last week of being a more mature athlete as he looked towards the Winter Olympics next year.