Hélio Mesquita de Freitas was born in Porto Alegre, south of Brazil, in 10/23/1969. He has a full time job in Porto Alegre as a civil servant since 1991. Ever since childhood until much later in life, Hélio has always been regarded as an introvert, a geek, a nerd. Things have changed dramatically. When he travels abroad today, he is deemed as the “exotic” skier from a tropical country. When training in Brazil, Hélio is considered even more exotic: he is viewed as the “weirdo” who skis on pavement or grass.