Die Jägerin der Kristallkugeln

Ramona is standing at the starting block, high up on a snowy slope. In just a few moments, she will be hurtling down the mountain on her snowboard. She runs down the course in her head one last time, her eyes closed, her breathing quickens. Then she gets another handful of snow on the back of her neck, the cold spreads quickly and mercilessly. This initial ignition immediately sharpens her senses, wakes her up for good and brings her into the moment. She eagerly awaits the starting signal and her opponent prepares herself next to Ramona. Then the starting signal sounds. The gates fly past her left and right, fully focused and in the flow, she races down the mountain to the finish, it's a neck-and-neck race. Was it enough to win? She glances over at her opponent and looks at the display...

Beginnings on the snowboard

Ramona was introduced to snowboarding as a small child by her two older sisters.In her home in Berchtesgadener Land, it snows like crazy every winter and the sporty family is drawn outside almost every day.  

“I need nature and enjoy the fresh air!”

When Ramona is on her snowboard, she feels free.“There was and is nothing better for me than doing sport outdoors in nature.I come from a very sports-loving family.My two older sisters were already snowboarding as children - I was always there and really wanted to try it.I started at the age of four and followed in their footsteps (laughs), even though I was still skiing shortly before that,” says the four-time overall World Cup winner in alpine snowboarding.Sister Melanie also once competed in the Snowboard World Cup.

Most successful German snowboarder

When Ramona stands at the top of the starting block, a switch automatically flips in her head. She is a very competitive person and needs the competition in the head-to-head races against her opponents.Her dominance in the World Cups in recent years is impressive. Ramona has already lifted 4 large crystal globes, which stand for overall victory in the World Cup, and 6 small globes, which stand for the discipline rankings. Ramona was also successful at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang (bronze) and 2022 in Beijing (fifth in the parallel giant slalom). 

“2018 was my first time at the Olympics in Korea, my family was there too and I won a medal straight away.I'll never forget those moments, it was very emotional for all of us.These experiences are for eternity.”
 

More than just a trend sport  

Interest in snowboarding has grown rapidly in recent years. The original trend sport has developed into six different disciplines: snowboard cross, parallel giant slalom, parallel slalom, slopestyle, big air and halfpipe. The disciplines could hardly be more different: The halfpipe focuses on difficulty, style and creativity, while the snowboard alpine parallel competition and snowboardcross require speed and strong nerves. The races are held as part of the FIS World Cups, while the freestyle disciplines are also part of the Snowboard World Tour.

“I really like the vibe and lifestyle surrounding our sport and identify with it. In recent years, our sport has received more and more attention and is developing in the right direction.”

The parallel slalom races are extremely exciting, with hundredths of a second often deciding who wins or loses. Everything is optimized in order to develop further, to be even faster.“That's completely normal in our sport and everyone is working on getting even better, it never stops.The set-up of the board and equipment is tried to be tailored even more specifically to the athletes.”No gray clouds or extreme cold stand in the way of this.For Ramona, it is a matter of course to train and work on herself even in bad weather. “That's part of it and I like doing it too, the sun doesn't always shine.”

Ups and downs  

In preparation for the current season, she suffered a setback with a minor injury, which caused her to miss several weeks of training. Valuable time to test new equipment, which was optimized and adapted especially for her.

“The race training sessions were then somewhat lacking. Now the form curve is going up again”.

Ramona has overcome the small dip in performance and there is hardly a race in which the 28-year-old is not the favorite.  

A retreat at home  

Ramona doesn't need to worry that her success could go to her head because she is close to her family. “I have a very good family environment. I can be normal here and don't have to pretend. I've never thought that success could change me”. She appreciates being able to share the most successful moments of her career with her family. Like in 2018, when she and her teammate Selina Jörg stood on the podium together at the Olympic Games. When Ramona thinks back to the intoxicatingly euphoric reception in the German house afterwards, she gets goosebumps.

To compensate for the stresses and strains of traveling and the hectic schedule, she has also found her balance off the slopes in the garden. Ramona likes to lend a hand. “We girls have always helped out at home and I really enjoy working with my hands or in the garden. But I don't really have green fingers, I've had to give one or two houseplants to my mom to nurture (laughs)”.  

Learning to listen to her body

Over the years, she has learned a lot about herself and her body. She has also learned that it is sometimes necessary to shift down a gear and that less race training before a competition can also be helpful.  

Regeneration is a big topic for Ramona: over the years in professional sport, she has learned to listen to the signals her body sends. She also uses BLACKROLL products for this.  

The BLACKROLL LOOP and SUPER BANDS are always on hand for the warm-up before training sessions or races, which is important not only for competitive athletes. The risk of injury is lower after the warm-up.

With the help of the COMPRESSION BOOTS and the FASCIA GUN, Ramona can also activate her muscles before her sessions, but above all they help her legs recover after heavy strength sessions in the gym or after training on the slopes.  

The RECOVERY PILLOW has also become indispensable for Ramona and is always and everywhere with her on her travels in the various hotel beds to get the best restful sleep. Training breaks have become more important over the years to give her body the rest it needs.  

Training in two worlds

“During the summer, I'm actually only in the gym. I do a lot of athletic training twice a day and work on my strength levels.”

In the past, Ramona was often able to train in the mountains near her home to prepare for the snowboarding season. Over the years, however, it has become increasingly difficult to find optimal training conditions with sufficient snow. “With the national team, we always go where the weather conditions are good and travel after the snow. We are often in Italy for this, and at Christmas I can usually train here at the Götschen ski resort, where the World Cups and the season finale took place.  

During the season and the World Cup races, the focus is currently more on speed and agility so that she has fast and recovered legs for the races.  

Hungry for titles  

Ramona has taken home silver and bronze at the World Championships so far, with a gold medal to follow in St. Moritz this year. She is particularly proud of her four overall World Cups. Ramona is currently in second place in the overall World Cup in the current parallel and parallel giant slalom. Ramona has her sights firmly set on the next big crystal globe: “The successes motivate me extremely and I'm always striving for more. Success is always special and these big crystal globes look really nice. I can never have enough of them!”