The Swiss snowboarder Elena Koenz is taking a break from competing only to return to her roots. A Chasa is a short film following Miss Koenz around in her home town in Switzerland, giving us a glimpse of what inspired this lady to start snowboarding in first place.

This Swiss lady decided to take a break from competitive snowboarding and focus on finding out why snowboarding became so important to her to begin with. Growing up surrounded by the Swiss alps, or any mountains for that matter, probably gives you a different kind of appreciation for snow and nature in general than it does for us born and raised within a cloud of CO2 emissions. It became clear for Elena that she needed a break from the endless hotel hopping, so swapping that for a simple powder session with her friends without having to fly half way around the world first, became quite tempting. For someone who’s grown up surrounded by glaciers and snow, it’s no wonder Elena felt that her constant travelling wasn’t the best way to appreciate the mountains – constantly flying around the world whilst watching the glaciers melt might sting a bit.

“An inspiration to us all, Miss Koenz only started snowboarding in her teenage years and has already made it as far as the Olympics”

For someone who’s got a beautiful playground in their backyard, the decision to move back home was probably an easy one. Building your own kickers in the garden only to method into an empty field of untouched snow, riding deep pow on the top of the glacier, or simply shredding your way down to your neighbourhood shop to get some fresh milk, might not be the worst scenario to return to after years of living on the road.

An inspiration to us all, Miss Koenz only started snowboarding in her teenage years and has already made it as far as the Olympics. If only we’d chosen a snowboard over the cheap beers, who knows what we could have accomplished…