First Snow of the Year!

Since I was little and grew up in a village in Germany's Black Forrest, the first snow of the year has always been special to me. 

As I'm getting older, the perspective has changed a little. I'm no longer in a padded snowsuit, sledding down any hill on my backside or building larger-than-life snowmen in my garden but I still get excited by the first sight of snow-tipped mountains in the autumn. It not only means that I'm getting closer to standing on two planks that have started to mean the world to me but also gives me that feeling of cosiness, warmth and darkness that comes with winter, a feeling that makes me feel at home. 

my love for snow is like this

The autumn is the beautiful time of year that I get to enjoy the last rays of sun and start smelling snow at the same time. Yesterday was one of those days that I'll treasure for a long time. I hired a car (hefty price tag) and headed for the mountains, the Allgäu, a region that I've come to know and love as my second home. A great German tradition is the 'einkehren', which is the best part of hiking - to break and enjoy the best food that the alpine regions have to offer, which made me feel like a spoilt child, sharing that moment with my parents.  

the first snow S14/15

The best days of the season are the ones you wake up to in the morning and everything has been covered in white over night. I love the first day that I can wear my winter boots and go for a stroll in the white countryside. The crisp air makes my soul feel alive. Then there's the click that my ski boots make when I tighten them. It's a sound that gets me excited on a whole other level! Standing at the top of a perfectly prepared piste with the sun shining in my face makes me feel like I'm the luckiest person in the world. Especially when I have my ten-year old brother standing next to me, getting ready to race down the slopes like a little pro! It's my dream to ski on the glaciers of Austria, maybe even in the summer.  

sometimes the weather reports are right, everything got covered in white overnight

Winter 2013/14 definitely changed my life! I spent more time in the snow than I have in more than ten years, had a ski season gold card, taught a bunch of teenagers skiing from the very beginning, trained primary school kids in all kinds of winter sports (though not being able to ski jump or cross country ski myself), became obsessed with the Ski World Cup, got cross-country skiing lessons, worked at one of the biggest Ski Jumping event - the Vierschanzentournee, got to help out at many FIS races and got motivated by the best group of professional athletes at the boarding school I interned at. My love for snow grew to be a lot bigger than I ever imagined. 

It's funny how times change, because the truth is that a few years ago, ten horses wouldn't have been able to drag me up a mountain. 

racing suits can be sexy ;)