Good news: I’ve got a new skisponsor which supports me with awesome skis, skiboots and skipoles 🙂
The new Watea's from next winter... 🙂
Happy to belong to the Fischer-Family!!! …and of course I couldn’t resist and went up to the mountain to test the Watea’s today. Actually I should rest and take care of my swollen, blue big toe BUT I had to go skiing 🙂
Lots of fun on the mountain and really happy that the skis fit sooooo well!!!!
Thanks a lot to Klaus, Sandy, Oliver, Stefan and the Basti’s 🙂
…fun day on the mountain today 🙂 Went skiing with Toni… Well, it’s already spring – sooooooo warm, that’s NOT NORMAL!!!! We want powder and NO warm temperatures!!!! It’s February and the temperatures rose up to 10 degrees… Unbelievable!!!!
Cruised around and had a good time 🙂 Snow? All gone;-) No, just joking but the snow conditions are like in April… Take a look…
Innsbruck - Inntal, just can't believe how less snow there is 😦🙂 love my Ziener gloves... 🙂Toni jumping over the barrier;-)...hopping over;-)...I'm still standing 😉
Yesterday we headed to Hochfügen – Pia’s Homespot. The weather didn’t promise to be good but we still decided to go there and try to film…
I started my journey from Matrei at 6 a.m. and got to Hochfügen around 8 a.m. Nice, relaxing drive there. Driving through Gerlos reminded me that the guests from the Nederlands are having their holidays… Seemed to be “Gouda-Village” 😉 Sooooo many yellow licence plates…
Had to wait for Pia, Kenny, Sandy and Mathias until they finally arrived around 8.20 a.m…. Weather: Overcast… Not the best filming conditions… The best ones are: powder and blue sky;-)
Went up to the ski-resort and instead of filming, Pia showed us around and pointed out good faces to ski and film…
Pia and Mathias checking out some nice lines......needs more snow but then it should be good to ski it...
So Location-check and scouting the area was the main focus today…
Mathias with his favourite toy... 🙂
The weather turned out to be better but our cameraman decided not to film and wait until the conditions get better… Anyway, the snow was very windpacked, so it needs more snow… Well, we’ve got the end of Feb now, still not been dumped that often but there is still the whole March and April, so let us pray for snow!!!!!
Me and Pia were motivated to keep on skiing, so we took a few laps in the forrest and had fun playing around there… Good day on the mountain 🙂
What a day! Happy to be back safely… It has been quite a sketchy day today on the mountain, lots of automatic-released avalanches… and not only…
But from the start…
The weather forecast predicted awesome weather for St. Jakob/Defereggen were we were supposed to film for the day… and yesterday we had 30 cm fresh pow – so perfect conditions for today… 🙂
Kenny, one of our cool cameramen 🙂
On the road with the crew from Girls Ski Movie – Sandy, Mel and Pia (half the team of female riders), Kenny and Mathias our two cool cameramen 🙂 On the way to Defraggn this morning you could already see lots of avalanches that came down, so we knew we had to be aware and try to keep it as safe as possible… But as Mike Wigele used to say: “An avalanche doesn’t know that you’re an expert…” How true…
We were allowed to take the first cable car in the morning, to be the first on the mountain and try to get in good footage for our Girls Ski Movie…
...awesome view... lots of slides in the back...
The day was good – great powder, sunshine, blue sky – what do you want more?!!!?
Pia shreddin' the pow...
We skied some nice lines and had a good day on the mountain… For one line I was supposed to ski quite far to the left, skiing not into the bowl. But from my perspective I couldn’t see anything… It was a surprise-run until I realised I was to far right and going directly into the bowl… Not good and a few seconds later the snow above and down below me was breaking and sliding down… My intention was just to ski out the avalanche as fast as possible… I was faster and luckily nothing happend!
...not happy about it...
Another film-team was on the mountain – Elyse Saugstad and Cody Townsend from the States shreddin’ pow in Defraggn… In the afternoon we watched Elyse releasing a huge avalanche. It was obvious and we didn’t understand that she skied into the face… She was able to ski out, nothing happend – good for her!!!
the whole face went... hard to see though as my camera isn't the best...
Have fun on the mountain – BUT be safe and take care!!!!
Finally – it’s here: POWDER 🙂 Oh man, it’s been a while and everybody was already sitting on needles…;-)
Had a great day today with friends in fresh pow in Defraggn. For tomorrow it’s scheduled that Sandy, Pia, Mathias and Kenny will arrive in St. Jakob and we’re gonna film. Don’t have that much footage at the moment, so hopefully tomorrow is gonna be a good day! And that it puts a smile on their faces again…
I’m back, happy to ski painfree – that pow-day today was perfect to get back my motivation…
Checking weather, where the perfect conditions are – not that easy sometimes AND you just have to accept and respect nature!!!! Put toooo much pressure on me….
…back in Innsbruck – back to “normal” – back to school… I’m really lucky that my time-table until April says Tue till Thursday school, starting at 2 pm… So a looooot of time for skiing and enjoying it being out in the mountains :-)…
The weather on Monday was just awesome and the weather forecast said good weather for Tuesday and Wednesday… So the girls-team decided to go to my homespot – Osttirol… Lori and me drove to Matrei already Monday evening, Pia, Sandy, Matthias were expected to be in St. Jakob at 8.45 am… The last snowfall was already on Thursday but I talked to some locals – with some hiking there would still be some options…
Well, everybody was here in the morning, except for Matthias, our cameraman. He was stuck in a traffic jam… So we went up and I showed the others some options what we could ski and film…
quite some possibilities in that face...beautiful view...
The conditions were quite good, not that fluffy powder but alright… By the time Matthias arrived we skied down in the backcountry, took the taxi back to the skiresort with a cool taxi driver, (approx 75 years old;-)) and went up again… Well, quite unlucky as the weather turned out to be cloudy and the sun hid behind the clouds. Hmmm, no more filming possible 😦 What a weird weather at the moment…
Instead of filming ski-action we had to find another option that we could be at least a little productive… Simon, my sister’s boyfriend accompanied us and we skied to Jürgen’s hut, got some “Brettljause”, skied down to the “Brugger-Almen” and had a “Jaus’n session” in front of one of the huts…
Brugger-Almen...Lori, Mel:-), Sandy, Sebastian (Pia's brother - camera assistant for the day), Pia...Simon, Basti...
After the little break at the huts, the sun came out again – but toooo late… We went up the mountain once again but didn’t have a chance to get some good shots – the light was gone… Damn!…
Well, not a productive day but we hoped that the could ski the lines we picked the next day…
Skied down and stopped by at the “Gift-Hütte”, a very, very traditional, small hut… You could hear the music from far away… Today – pancake day (Faschingsdienstag), they had a music band playing and the hut was over-full… You weren’t able to step inside – it was tooooo full… We would have been very motivated to stay there but no space, so we skied down the mountain and had a get-together there…
The whole crew stayed at our appartement in Matrei, we were lucky that we could stay there… Always being so flexible and dependent on the weather means having good organization skills and finding available accom… The resort was full, so happy to stay at our homeplace! Thanks mum and dad!!!! Mum had prepared an awesome 3-course menu with soup, lasagne and tiramisu… AWESOME and thanks again!!!! We had a nice evening, checked the weather for the next day and well, not the best prediction but still hope for good weather on the next day…
Wednesday, 17th Feb – got up in the morning and… ahhhh, the weather didn’t look good… Oh man, that really sucks… Being soooo dependent on the weather, trying to film as much as possible on a day and then… Well, happens…
So I called the office of the ski-lift and got the info that the clouds were even worse in St. Jakob… We checked the weather-panorama, had a look on the weather forecast and decided to not go to Defraggn and film… It wasn’t worth…
A bit disappointed, we all drove back to our homes… Me and Lori went back to Innsbruck and I could attend the english lessons in the afternoon – have to save the hours of absence;-) when I really need it…
Now back in Innsbruck – the weather forecast says snow for the south for the weekend… Surprise, surprise… Curious how much Mrs Holle will send down from heaven ;-)… Going home tomorrow with Maddie, my sister and will check the conditions back home… It takes a lot of energy always checking where the best conditions are, if we are able to film or not, where to go, etc… Lost a bit motivation at the moment but hopefully the next powder-day with my friends will give me back the needed energy…
The week started with driving to Ispo on Monday, having some good talks with interesting people and some of my sponsors. Was quite successful and saw what’s new for next winter – already looking forward to the new Ortovox avalanche transceiver!!! It’s gonna be the easiest transceiver ever to use!!! Ispo means crowded exhebition halls, new comming outs for the next winter season and of course it’s the best meeting point to get in contact with your sponsors!
...aloha 😉......
As I wasn’t able to ski for the whole week because of my pain on my shins (Lindsey Vonn has the same problem at the moment;-), a so called “Schuhrandprellung, so I’m not alone;-)), I had some good climbing sessions with Toni in the Tivoli climbing hall. Climbing is for me a very good change and excellent for the mind, awesome mental training to stay focused! And Toni always pushes me further – thxxx 🙂 for your support and kicking my ass;-)!!!
For the weekend I went to Fieberbrunn. Lori, Sandy and Pia – some of my teammates in the Girls Ski Movie, got a wildcard to compete in the Women’s Freeride Worldtour!! Lori came in 3rd, Pia 7th and Sandy crashed, so she didn’t score that good and was really unhappy… But most important – they all came healthy down the finish line :-)!!!
rippin' girls... Janette, Ane, Lori... 🙂
It was awesome to watch, good atmosphere on the mountain, some crazy lines and crashes… Jess McMillan, a rippin’ US-Freeskigirl skied a line which I would never ever ski, or at least it wouldn’t come up to my mind… Very exposed and a 15m cliff. She didn’t stick the landing but as she sayed later, she was happy that she pushed herself further… Crazy girl ;-)!!! But the judges want to see more fluent lines and I think it’s still Freeskiing and not Skijumping…;-)
Some pics from the atmosphere on the mountain…
...the Fieberbrunn Connection...the snowboardgirls... Liz and Natalie...
The men had a FWT-Qualifier on the same face – the Wildseeloder.
Wildseeloder - the impressive Contest Mountain...
Hauni, the local pro had such a great run, he said it was his run of his life!!! He was really going big!!! 1st place he had to share with a cool mountaineering guide from Zermatt, Samuel Anthamatten. You would have never thought by seeing him that he would have something to do with riding Freeride Comps… 3rd place also went to Austria, Stefan Moser! Awesome guys!!!
Hauni, Samuel, Stefan...
For a full report, further information and pics see:
In the evening we had pizza at a very tiny restaurant… Lori and me, Jess and Crystal joined in a bit later… Met also Cody Townsend and his fiancé Elyse Saugstad, two awesome US-Freeskiers at the pizza place… He told us that they were going to Defreggen for the next 10 days for filming!!! Awesome!!! So watch out for them if you are in the region!!!
Powder alert on Sunday – after checking various regions where the snow should be best, we decided to go to beautiful Zillertal 🙂 The weather seemed to get awesome, so we (Toni, Dani and me) were looking forward to have a great powder day!!!!
Well, instead of sunshine, we were confrontaded with fog on the mountain – perfect powder conditions BUT no visibility… We tried to get to another lift but instead we landed at the same one again;-)
Toni & Dani... where r we ??? 😉
So no visibility on top of the mountain – we skied further down and where lucky… Awesome pow-conditions and it started to clear up :-)…
Daniiiiiii...
Enjoyed skiing in the powder, had a lot of fun… I was a bit over-motivated, jumped off a baby cliff, had a hard landing, fell, made a summer-salt and hit my shins soooo bad that it was soooo painful to continue skiing… I tried but couldn’t 😦 Pain is NOT my friend…
The girls were awesome and suggested to go to the restaurant, have a break and have a Kit-Kat;-)… As the visibility wasn’t still that great, it was a good decision… After the break, we walked out the restaurant and had nearly blue-bird conditions… Beautiful!!!!
Kaltenbach region...
Oh before I forget… Before we skied down to the resti we stopped at the slope and a nice, german lady skied by… Toni looked at her, we were all starring at her and she stopped… Toni told her that she had the same overall when she was a kid:-) Pink coloured one… Looked really cool on her;-) She was sooooo funny… Her helmet and her red cheeks, her Heckeinsteiger and the overall – AWESOME 🙂 She made us smile and was happy to talk to us… (Should have taken a pic from her…)
I skied slowly down the mountain, had to because skiing was to painful, giving pressure on the shins – not possible… So I waited for the girls down the valley… A good day but soooo stupid that I jumped down there… Well, “oft geht’s bled;-)…”
Monday was such a beautiful day, skiing today would have been awesome but knowing that I’m not able to, made it easier to drive to Munich and go to Ispo….
The avalanche danger at the moment is very high and skiing in the back-country needs a lot of experience… Even then nobody can guarantee that nothing will happen. Mike Wigele once said: “An avalanche doesn’t know that your an expert…”
Be careful out there and watch for you and your buddies!!!!
The latest case at the Innsbrucker Nordkette where a 24year old French skier died has shown how fast it can happen and how massive an avalanche can be! That’s horrific!
Think snow but take care!
Also the last couple of days I had time to think about what awesome life I’m living and yes sometimes I just have to think about it and appreciate it much, much more!!!! Skiing is such a big part of my life, for some days the spirit was gone but it’s back again and I’m soooo looking forward for the next ski sessions 🙂
Hopefully my shins will heal soon and I will be able to ski ASAP!!!!!
…for the online magazine www.downdays.eu , Europe’s biggest online freeski community and platform, our cameraman Matthias spent some time to cut and edit a short video to show first impressions from our pow days in Verbier… He did a great job, watch the trailer here…
…right now I’m here in Lech filming with the Girls Ski Movie Team 🙂 We had a great day 2day – fresh snow, 30 cm, perfect conditions… The avalanche situation is very sketchy at the moment that’s why we were filming in the trees today… Got some good footage and will be out with the crew and a photographer 2morrow, filming more lines… The weather forecast says sunshine for the morning, so hopefully it’s gonna be good….:-)
Oh, I’m sooooo tired, will write a bit more detailed when we are done with filming on the Arlberg, leaving probably 2morrow afternoon back to Ibk or I will stay another day here… Will see…
…back from the Arlberg 🙂 Had a wonderful time there – I just love it there!!! The Arlberg, cradle of skiing gives you soooo many possibilities to go off-piste and enjoy nature 🙂 And there is just a special vibe there, most people with pow skis, not usual yet for Austria but we are getting there…
Back a few days… We had a short stop for 2 days in Bad Gastein, filming some lifestyle segments for our Girls Ski Movie. Awesome how the Gastein valley supports us girls :-)!!!! Thanks a lot!!!!
…a story that tells that sometimes sh… happens… Well, we had to be in Bad Gastein by Sunday evening, Sandy was already at the Kurhotel Villa Excelsior, http://www.villa-excelsior.at/ … Wow, what a hotel, felt like being in a different world;-) Check the website and see some impressions from the hotel…
home sweet home;-)...Pia 🙂la bandita 🙂
…back to the story I wanted to tell… We arrived at the hotel, had dinner together when we got a call from Laura… Her car broke down 160 km’s before Munich, so she hitchhiked to Munich to stay there with some friends for the night… She had to take the train the next morning to make it in time for filming in the spa… She is just awesome, such a calm and joyful girl!!! …what she did, so I picked her up at the train station the next morning… Filming in the Alpentherme, http://www.alpentherme.com/, for the morning was on the programm… Had a lot of fun there!!!!
Giu, Pia, Laura...😉
Well, after the filming day, Laura decided to drive back to her car with one of our cars. We decided that she should take Pia’s car, as I wasn’t sure about mine, had to check oil at the gas station… Laura left with Pia’s car – two hours later we got a call from her, crying on the phone… Pia’s car broke down at the highway, there was a snow storm, the police already got called, no warn vest in the car… Picking her up at 10 p.m., driving 2 hours one way would have been to far for us… Plan B… Sandy’s boyfriend picked her up and so she could stay at Sandy’s home for the night… All good but sometimes just stupid things happen… Two broke down cars within 2 days – not bad…
After having had good times in Bad Gastein we went to our next stop. Lech/Arlberg. Started early in the morning to get there but it’s quite a looooong way… Checked-in to the beautiful appartement house “Schneekristall”, a four-star appartement house and went for the next filming session. Lech known for it’s posh and wealthy guests offers everything. We went where every tourist stops by during his/her stay – at STROLZ, http://www.strolz.at/; Had a dressing on and off session there with the most expensive clothes and blocked the wardrobe for hours… Of course we caught attention and some people just stared at us;-)… I would never ever buy such fancy clothes, or would you wear or buy a dress that costs 1400 €???? No way!!!! Therefor I could have a nice holiday somewhere abroad;-)… Nevertheless it was a cool time there, some of the girls are awesome actors and enjoyed posing in front of the huge mirror… not for me, I prefer the ski-action;-)
After the shopping marathon at Strolz we were invited to one of the most expensive restaurants on the Arlberg. http://www.fux-mi.net/fuxmi.net/ueber.html, watch it out!!! What a evening!!!! Had a awesome dinner with the girls there!!!! Thanks to Peter, the owner of the restaurant and to the tourism office in Lech!!! Awesome!!!! As a starter we had sushi, for the main course fish/pork with various creations, great wine and also some dessert… Don’t ask how high the bill was – I DON’T KNOW;-) but I’m sure it was one of the most expensive dinners I’ve ever had so far…
Wednesday and Thursday we had some good filming days… 30 cm fresh powder, awesome:-) Face shots included… The first day we played around in the woods of St. Anton, had some great pillow lines – just great skiing… The day after we went filming in Zürs. First we thought the weather wouldn’t stay good that long but we were lucky again:-) Did some good film lines and enjoyed being out there…
Madloch, our playground for the morning...Lori...Pia, Sandy, photographer Alex Kaiser...sunset atmosphere on the mountain...
Lori and Sandy...beautiful!!!! 🙂
That was a very long, long day! Started out at 9 a.m. and got back to the car at 17.30 p.m. Filming can be quite challenging and it’s definetely hard work but it’s fun and a awesome experience for me… The last run we filmed was down a very, very steep chute. Alex Kaiser, our photographer for the day told me that it would be quite rocky at some part of the chute and very steep but I went for it… Good pow turns at the beginning until I came to the 1m cliff in the chute, I skied over it but at the next turn I got stuck and fell. Lucky me nothing happened but I was stuck in the pow and had no chance to get to my ski which I lost about 7 m above me… I tried to crawl up the chute but no chance, I was stuck with my body and always sank 1m in the snow… Alex skied slowly down to me to bring me my ski, when he did that he stopped right above me and released quite some sluff but no worries… All good 🙂
(That’s just a third what we experienced these days;-) – adventure, fun, snow, mountains – great to live!!!!
MELs' Blog 