Eva Walkner

After finishing 2nd in the Hochfügen stage of the Freeride World Tour this year, Whitedot is delighted that Austrian Freeskier, Eva Walkner has chosen to continue the great relationship we have and she seems pretty stoked that Jeremy Nobis will be skiing for the same pro-team! She continues to be great fun to work with and has been a huge asset in the development of our new ski, the Director. Eva is also sponsored by Austrian clothing brand SALEWA. Having skied all over the world, including Gulmarg in the Himalayas and Iran while filming for Nike ACG, Eva doesn’t think there is anywhere better for skiing than her native SalzburgerLand. We caught up with Eva before she flew off on a secret project in Argentina...

How has your first year been skiing for Whitedot Skis?
It has been an ‘up and down’ for me ski wise. First of all I tested all the skis. It always takes a bit of time to figure out which ski and length works best for which conditions. But I soon found my favourites! I competed on The Preacher - which I love for comps. This is my third year competing on the Freeride World Tour, it was the best year yet - even if I crashed a lot! But for my skiing, my fluidity, the cliffs...it was better, faster and higher than previous seasons. I finished 5th in the overall ranking. And although I am not very happy with the placing I know that I still have a lot of potential to climb up the rankings. And the next winter is coming soon!!

How did you get into Professional Freeride skiing?
I was ski racing for the Austrian Alpine A-Team and competed in the World Cup and European Cup. I started skiing when I was 3 years old. Every winter, every year. When I was 23 I finished racing – every other year I had a bad injury and it was always a lot of work to come back. After my last injury I was sick of fighting back to the top. After 3 years not skiing I tried a big mountain ski comp for the first time and I loved it from the off. I said to myself “I wanna do this kind of skiing pro- fessionally, that ́s what I want to do for the next 10 years”. I quit up my great job as an editor at the Football TV in Vienna and went back to the mountains to Salzburg. From this moment on I was training and working very, very hard! And I love it more than anything!

Where do you think ‘Freeride’ is heading?
Skiing means everything to me! And free- riding is the greatest kind of skiing! To be in the mountains and doing what you love - eve- ryday, this is the best way live your life! My whole life is controlled by skiing - in summer I prepare for winter, writing reports for maga- zines and in winter I am skiing almost every day. Freeride skiing is getting bigger and more and more popular. I think the interest in ski racing will wane while freeskiing will grow. A picture of a nice powder turn lets the peo- ple start dreaming of mountains, winter and freedom. They want go out and ride some powder!

What up and coming projects are you planning on this winter?
Next winter I am competing in the Freeride World Tour! That takes a lot of time. I am still planning some smaller projects but I am not focused on one big project at the moment, the World Tour is the project! I hope to go filming in the Dolomites, doing more free-ski mountaineering. And of course a lot of film shooting and travelling. And I would love to go to New Zealand next Sum- mer! It ́s a big dream for me! We will see what the winter will bring.

Words: Whitedot Skis
Pictures: Salewa