Audi 2014 Annual Report Download - page 26

Nadine Wallner >> “The mountains are my play-
ground” – and have been since Nadine was three
years old. Now, the Austrian skier is 25 years
old and one of the world’s best female freeriders.
Her
current successes : FREERIDE WORLD TOUR
Champion 2013 and 2014. Snow and ice ; this is the
terrain in which she is fully in her element. What
extreme sport is for others is pure joy to her. That is
precisely what her motto refl ects : “To get adrena-
line kicks and have fun in the mountains.”
Freeskiing is all about technique and feeling, body and mind
in an ideal symbiosis. The mountain is always bigger than you
are. Nadine reads Henry David Thoreau, an American author
and philosopher who retreated into the wilderness in the mid-
th century. “To a ect the quality of the day, that is the
highest of arts” – she particularly likes this sentence by him.
Nadine : “To me, freeriding is about giving free reign to my
fantasy and my ideas, and above all about expressing myself.”
As a winter sport, freeskiing is still
relatively new. Nadine, what do you
fi nd so special about this extreme sport ?
“We look for our own lines, and we
assess the mountain and snow condi-
tions every day – each time anew.
Creativity is important, and so are
feeling and intuition. Mistakes could
potentially lead to serious conse-
quences. Freeskiing is all about being
responsible for yourself. We always
expect the unexpected.” Bene adds :
“The ability to adjust to all aspects of
a situation at lightning speed. That is
a trait of really good skiers.”
Welcome to the world of freeskiing –
a world of individualists. The people
behind the spectacular videos who
execute wild jumps and descents are
dedicated professionals who on some
days spend as much as twelve hours
in their specially designed, ultra-sti
yet comfortable ski boots. It’s no
coincidence that the boots are the one
piece of equipment that freeskiers seem
to fi ddle with the most. “Also crucial
to us are the width of the skis, their con-
struction and the point at which they
bend under load,” says Bene.
You can watch Nadine Wallner
in pure action off the marked
ski slopes here.
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