Paying his dues on the dunes

Pioneering Vietnamese boarder hasn't let absence of frosty peaks cool his competitive drive

MUI NE, Vietnam - Deeply tanned and shaggy-haired, Nguyen Thai Binh swaps his flip flops for bulky boots ahead of snowboarding practice on the sand dunes of southern Vietnam - the unlikely training ground for the country's fledgling winter athletes with mountain-sized ambitions.

Binh is one of Vietnam's top snowboarders, pioneering a push to boost winter sports in Southeast Asia, where snowfall is virtually unheard of.