Maria Gemperlein

What you are doing when you have some down time:
When the weather does not allow any outdoor activity I love to get lost in my furniture upcycling projects.

Tell us about your background:
I grew up in a little village in the middle of Germany, surrounded by nothing but forest. Oberhof is a winter sports center and that's how it was meant to be for me to join the winter sports circus as well. Crosscountry skiing was my life, the best and the worst at the same time in my childhood and youth. A big break due to serveral health problems attributable to the physical strain was the end of my professional career.

But that opened another door to experience new sports which I was not allowed to try before.

Snowboarding offered me a new perspective on life and the people it brought with. It is a sport I can ENJOY and share without having to compete with others, and that was something new for me. I recognized that the mountains arround my home town were to small for that. So I decided to move to the alps to study and dicover the big mountains.

I made the alps my home of choice for 13 years now. At first I just hung around in the snow parks and later discovered more and more of what the mountains actually have to offer for hiking, mountaineering, climbing, paragliding and more.

What was your craziest adventure or experience so far:
I think the craziest and most wonderful experience and also adventure was to find myself again after a couple of really bad years. Finding out how beautiful life can be in nature with the right people beside you and how sports and nature can heal. I am so thankful to be healthy to do all things I want to do.