From: Zürich, Switzerland

How did you get into your sport?

Through a good friend of mine – her parents invited me for a ski holiday and they paid for a few days of snow lessons. I loved it from the very first second.

When did everything turn serious and you decided to commit yourself to the sport full time?

I would have committed myself a lot earlier if I had financial support, but I had to cover all my own costs which makes it much more difficult to progress and achieve things, especially in the snowboard business. My passion for the sport made me persevere and I kept on riding as much as possible (whenever i was not injured!) and somehow I managed to become a professional rider a few years ago.

Can you give us a run down of your average day?

I generally get up really early, so on a snowboarding day, I’ll get up at six and do an hour of yoga and a few exercises for the arms, abdominals and legs, then hurry up and get ready for riding. If I have a really good day on the slopes, I might go for some beers straight after and then forget pretty much about everything else for the rest of the day. If my day of riding was nothing special, I’ll go home, do some stretches, eat and then try to get things done on the computer like internet stuff, organizing things, learning new tricks from videos or learning new yoga moves. Sometimes I’ll go for a beer too. Usually time passes so quickly that I never get to bed in time, so I don’t tend to get a lot of sleep.

And if you could have the perfect day, what would it include?

Hmmm… the perfect day would be spending a dope powder day with friends in the backcountry, learning all possible tricks that exist in snowboarding and not getting hurt! Then I’d be happy about that and go out for lots of beers to celebrate!

What have you been up to this summer?

I spent my summer snowboarding in SaasFfee (it’s the best summer park!), because I injured my knee last season so I needed to get ready for the winter again.

What’s your favourite riding spot and why?

In winter, Champéry-les Crosets in Switzerland because its got one of the best snowparks in Europe and the ski resort Les Portes du Soleil, because it’s massively big and you’ll find everything a snowboarder could want. In summer I love riding in Saas Fee, Switzerland, because it has one of the best summer parks that exist and it’s never crowded, plus the atmosphere is great, whether riding, chilling or going out. I love it. In autumn, I love riding in Les Diablerets, where the guys from the Demonium camps make sure that there’s an amazing park from the middle of October until mid-December. That is awesome too.

You must travel a lot in your line of work: what are your suitcase essentials?

First my toothbrush and toothpaste, then all my snowboard stuff of course. Plus my computer, ipod, camera and froggy, my little 3-dollar cuddle-animal. Then I try to take NOT TOO MANY 🙂 clothes with me, because theres nothing worse than that. I get better and better at it every time.

What have been your biggest career setbacks?

My injuries… broken shoulder, broken wrist, right leg broken, left leg broken, broken knee, lots of bruisings! 🙂 But the one that took the most time was my shoulder (almost 3 years, cause the doctors did a bad job on it ). But that’s all part of the game.

But on the flip side, what have your greatest achievements been?

My greatest achievement was that I always kept on riding no matter what happened and that I still enjoy snowboarding now as much as I did on the very first day. What I’ve achieved has been through hard work, so I’m happy about it, even if there were a lot of times when I wasn’t sure if I was gonna make it back up to where I am now again.

What affect does your career have on your personal life?

It’s difficult to say because I think my personal life would be a completely different one if I was not a professional snowboarder. For example, a lot of my friends are people I only met through snowboarding.

How do you relax when you get the chance?

I do yoga everyday – that’s the perfect way to relax for me. And I like to have a hot bath every day if possible.

What’s up next?

I’m also busy organizing my season these days… I’m still snowboarding in Saas Fee for the moment, but heading off soon to Les Diablerets. I can’t wait!

Pics courtesy of: snowmelody