Last night I arrived home, exhausted but inspired and teeming with ideas, from a retreat nestled at the base of an ancient glacier in Saas Fee, Switzerland.
The drive from Geneva to Saas Fee was easily one of the most beautiful I have undertaken. From fields of hay, corn and apple trees, to the expansive Lake Geneva…
(Chateau Chillon and Lake Geneva.)
…and up the Swiss Alps. I felt as though my senses were immersed in a feast of saturated color and rich, earthy scents.
(There were old cottages like this everywhere.)
The air was thin, crisp and as the car climbed ever higher into the Alps, all pollution dissipated.
In Saas Fee, where they do not allow any gas fueled cars to enter at all, I inhaled possibly the cleanest air I have ever breathed. On those cobblestone streets, only tiny electric cars, bicycles and muscles take you from place to place. Walking the streets of Saas Fee is like stepping into the dream-world of some Disney studio animator… like one of those who illustrated Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. I literally kept expecting the dwarves to make an appearance singing “Hi HO!” with pitch-forks on their backs having just come from some deep mine within the Swiss Alps.
We were one valley over from the Matterhorn (Zermatt) and surrounded by a breathtaking panorama of mountains littered with granite and pine trees.
We met the first group of ladies in the Popcorn! Deluxe after settling into our room.
(The view from our room.)
First introductions were made and the tentative beginnings of friendships formed. We were such a diverse group of women… from those on the business end of boardsports to pro riders to artists and journalists. The sports themselves ranged through skateboarding, to downhill longboarding, surfing and snowboarding. But we were women first, boardsports lovers second and our roles in the world of boardsports third. We were there for a common reason: to see our respective sports grow for ourselves and for women in the future. We were unified by our passion and purpose. I couldn’t wait to hear from the other ladies.
The first day we heard from Deb Friedman, the Action Sports Global Brand Manager from Nike 6.0, the passionate and effective Anne Flore Marxer, 2011 Snowboard Freeride World Champion and the amazing Mimi Knoop, who, it turns out, lives 10 minutes from me but who I had to travel all the way to Switzerland to meet! We heard from Elske Hazenberg of Skatepark Amsterdam, Bettina Bolliger who spoke about the import of good nutrition and finished up with an inspirational and rejuvenating workshop by Kate Apanui. It was an informative and full day. We finished up with dinner and watched Lorene Carpentier’s Oceanides.
More ladies arrived as the day wore on. We were sharing our stories with each other, curious about where we had traveled from and from what portion of boardsports we hailed. Friendships were developing as we found similarities and listened to the stories and lives of our sisters. I was keenly drawn to Mimi Knoop’s story, experience in pro skateboarding and the forming of the non-profit organization of female skateboarders, Actions Sports Alliance (“The Alliance”), which has been instrumental in positively affecting prize purses and exposure for pro skate contests and events for women and girls around the world.
I was relatively reserved the first official day of the retreat, preoccupied by the presentation I was to give the next day. After Oceanides, I stayed up until nearly 2am putting the finishing touches on my presentation.
All photos © Maria Cerda
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