Back in Saas.

So I’m back and so is the ski season. The summer ski season that is. This summer, I’m going to be making regular trips up to Saas Fee to prepare myself for my BASI Level 3 exams in Zermatt in November.

Atomic SL's - Surprisingly good in the pow :))

The technical level of skiing for this is a lot higher than the Level 2, so I need to be ready and a one week pre-course warm up in Zermatt just won’t cut it as far as preparation is concerned.

It’s been really cool being back in Saas Fee. This time last year, I spent 9-weeks one a gap course with the Warren Smith Ski Academy in Saas Fee which lead me to my current life of teaching skiing in the winter and teaching football in the summer. Being back in the toytown village of Saas with the electric cars and familiar faces from last summer has been great.

The journey up to the summer skiing on the glacier takes about 45-minutes, 2 cable cars and a funicular train before you emerge at 3800m gasping for breath. There are about 40kms of piste to rip and a great park with masses of kickers, rails and a pipe to keep the park rats happy. The Glacier opens at 7am (!) and finishes at 1pm when it gets super slushy so it means plenty of early starts.

I’m here working on the technical elements of skiing, things like refining short turns and making them more dynamic, as well as hammering long turns and bumps. One of my coaches from last year, Scouse, had a look at my skiing and kindly mentioned that it had improved massively after a winter of skiing which is reassuring and has given me extra confidence that I’m heading in the right direction.

A happy benefit of having been here before is that I’ve been able to stay at a friend’s place here in Saas. The friend in question is Maria Ramberger, Austria’s top ranked SnowboardCross racer who is also here training for the whole summer. It’s been great catching lifts and catching up with her and generally blasting around Saas glacier at high speed. She also cooks a decent pasta.

It’s been a refreshing few days here, almost like a mini holiday and it’s been great to be on skis again. That said, I’m a complete convert to summers in Chatel, which I never expected. I was expecting summer in the Alps to be one long wait for winter but in many ways, the scenery, the sunsets and barbeques are even better than the skiing and drinking of winter. With summer skiing less than 2-hours away it seems I’ve got the best of both worlds.


Online here at Mad Dog Ski.

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Interview with Maria Ramberger

This interview was just published on Mad Dog Ski, you can read it here

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Maria Ramberger is Austria’s top female Snowboard Cross (SBX) rider. She was at the Olympics in Vancouver 2010 competing with the Austrian National team and came 4th in the 2010 Aspen Winter X Games.

The 24-year old recently placed 5th at the World Cup event in Lech and is a fast rising star in the world of Snowboard Cross with a string of top ten results. Maria just finished 10th at the SBX World Championships in Spain.

So where are you today?

I'm at home in Klosterneuberg, Austria today. That's a question you put a lot of thought into? (laughs).

I’m starting slowly. How is your season going so far?

So so. I got 5th at my first race in Lech, Austria but I messed up Telluride, USA when I made a stupid mistake during my first qualification run and crashed. At the World Champs, I was still a bit beat because I got sick before and spend a week in bed. Finally I got 10th which might not be unbelievably awesome but certainly okay. Hopefully awesome at the next race which would be at the Winter X-Games

Highs and lows I guess. I know that you put in a lot of extra pre-season training at Saas Fee this summer. What difference has this made over last season?

It actually made a big difference. This is the first season that I can remember that I'm not scared. I just see something like a big jump or a scary turn and I WANT to try it out. I can do the big jumps in the parks and I love it. It feels like the first time I actually know what I'm doing - which is funny since I've been doing this for quite a while now but it just doesn't really show in my results yet... which makes me a tiny bit grumpy (laughs).

Your 5th place at Lech was your best result on the SBX World Cup Tour. You must be pretty pleased?

Yes and no. I was not riding particularly well that day except for the small finals (places 8 to 5 which I won) so no, I'm not pleased. With the result yes, absolutely but honestly I didn't feel like I quite earned it and at the same time I think I can actually do better than 5th. Do I sound silly? I think I do sound silly but that's how I feel about it.

No comment. What’s going through your mind in the start gate?

Too much or nothing at all. It's different every time but I try to focus on just starting. Of course I think about the course or about where I could possibly overtake or which start gate to choose but I try to mostly think about that stuff the evening before. Once you're actually in the start gate it's too late to think about tactics.

And the ‘cross courses, although they appear straightforward on TV, I assume they are just one big ice chute? I went on the one in Saas and it was pretty full on - no time to rest or think.

And you were rubbish at it! (laughs)  Yes. If it's a good course you'll be able to go full speed all the way. If you speed check then you'll lose. As for one big ice chute, during the season there is everything from fresh snow, to slush and ice. You’ve got to be able to keep up no matter what conditions.

So the glamorous life of a SBX pro. Does it get lonely travelling from place to place, hotel room to hotel room?

Mean question! I mean you're never actually alone. There are always people around you. And as I said I really like the team and I love travelling, I never get homesick and I'm not amongst those complaining about airplanes, foreign food and the absence of my own oh so awesome bed.

Of course you get lonely, of course there are moments where you wish you'd be with the people you left behind but then again, the time of the year where you're really on the road is only three months. The rest of the year you get to hang out with pretty much whoever you like.

So what do you do in the off season and what do you do to wind down when you aren’t training or racing?

Catch up with my friends, hang out and then err, go travel again on my own! But not to see countries more to do stuff whereever. It's not like 'let's go see Paris or the North Pole' it's more like ' oh let's learn surfing, go biking, hang out'

Compared to the alpine team, I guess boarder cross doesn’t have the same profile in Austria. Is it difficult attracting sponsors and finding the budget for your season?

Oh yes! Difficult doesn't quite describe it. I somehow always get the money together but I also always get to the point somewhere mid-season where I'm like, 'this is interesting, how am I going to pay the next bill'. But up till now it always worked out somehow.

Where are your favourite resorts to board in for fun, assuming you get to?

My favourite resorts (thinks). I'd say Saas Fee but I also love Colorado. Telluride is really nice. Kind of like Aspen but smaller, more comfy. Mountain Village is this really pretty little place high up and yes I get to snowboard for fun although it never really seems like work anyway.

And finally, where is your home hill and would you recommend it to boarders and skier from the UK?

I don't really have a home resort but I spent lots of years in Schladming. It's definitely very nice there and I'd recommend everyone to come and visit but today I'm more of a nomad, spending time here and there. Wherever I think the conditions are best

Actually, I have four other little questionettes for you;

Cats or dogs?

Cats or dogs? What do I want to have as a pet, or what do I identify more, or what do I like better?

Cats or Dogs?

Cats

Red or blue?

Red

Dance or rock?

Rock

Die Hard or Back to the Future?

I haven’t seen Die Hard.



Maria currently competes on the Snowboard Cross World Cup Tour and would like to thank her sponsors PAY LIFE, Apex Snowboards, Deeluxe Boots and Toko. You can visit her website at http://www.mariaramberger.at/

Photos copyright of Markus Schiller - http://spike83.deviantart.com/