Have you ever heard of demo-skiing? Me neither – until a few years ago, that is. Nowadays my youngest daughter Emily belongs to one of the best Youth Demo-Teams in the whole of Europe. Let us tell you how that came about and what demo-skiing’s all about:

Emily, what is demo-skiing exactly?

Demo-skiing is a team sport, whereby mostly 6 persons ski a formation in sync to music down a ski slope.

How did you get into this sport?

I’ve been a keen skier for as long as I can remember. In January 2013, whilst training for a children’s district ski race, I broke my thigh bone and as a surprise to cheer me up – as the ski season was over for me – my training and school colleagues performed a ski formation specially for me at the “Snow Festival” in Filzmoos – and thus the “Bögei’s Girlie Demo-Ski-Team“ was born. Joe Salchegger, the Dad of my team colleagues and demo-team trainer helped me get my ski legs back in 2014 and since then I’ve been a member of the “Bögei’s Girlie Demo-Ski-Team“ too.

Who else is in the team?

Joe’s two daughters, Selina and Viola, his niece Eva-Maria, my primary school friends – Maria, Lotte and Iris – they’ve all been in the team right from the beginning and are real Filzmoos Girlies. Other team members include Anja and Julia from Salzburg and Linda from Lower Austria.

How often do you train?

Despite the pandemic last season 2020/21 we trained up to 4x a week , this season it’s not as easy as some of us are at boarding school. But we try to train at least 2-3 times a week.

What do your formations look like?

At the moment we ski 3-4 different formations. My favourite formation is called “Triangolo“ (triangle in Italian). During this formation we create two triangles which look really cool.

How does each Girlie know where she has to ski?

We train a great deal and nowadays we know exactly how to ski each position in each formation. However, at the beginning our trainer carefully explained how each position should be skied. That is, how many short turns or carving turns should be made and at what speed. Before each performance we get a plan where we can see who should ski which position.

What equipment do you require?

Normal ski equipment – however, we always perform in “partner look“, meaning we all have the same equipment from head to toe. Fortunately, our team is sponsored by various companies, e.g. Sport Stefan in Filzmoos (ski equipment) and 2117 of Sweden (clothing).

What else do you need?

Well, you have to be sporty and be able to ski to a high standard. In addition you require quick reaction skills, a good memory plus the enjoyment of outdoor exercise with your friends is a must.

Die letzte Saison war für euch wirklich aufregend oder?

Ja, also wir haben viel trainiert – insgesamt waren es über 70 Trainingseinheiten und das hat sich wirklich ausgezahlt. Servus-TV hat uns einen Tag lang begleitet und einen Kurzbericht über uns ausgestrahlt. Anfang April durften wir unser Können bei den Österreichischen Demo-Meisterschaften in Dienten vorzeigen. Unser Highlight war jedoch Ende April – es ging in die Schweiz. Wir nahmen an den Europa Demo-Meisterschaften in Samnaun teil, und freuten uns über den 2. Platz bei den Jugend-Teams.

Was steht bei euch diese Saison am Plan?

Natürlich wieder viel trainieren und an den Europa Demo-Meisterschaften in Samnaun teilnehmen, diesmal mit dem Ziel, die Goldmedaille mit nach Haus zu nehmen. 😊

Vielen Dank Emily, ich wünsche dir und den Mädels vom Bögei’s Girlie Demo-Team weiterhin viel Spaß und eine erfolgreiche Saison!

Picture credits: Heather Vierthaler