Hedwig Wessel, skier on top

“I’m going to cry all day, I’m so excited.” Forever a regular on the podium, but in second place, Hedwig Wessel admits she has accepted over time. Accepted the fact that he will never be a champion and victorious in the Freeride World Tour, a world competition in which the elite of his discipline has passed for sixteen years. “Looking back, it is difficult to explain the reasons for my failures in the last three years. I could do a better jump, or jump that rock bar better…variables are so important. We can give ourselves all the excuses in the world, the reality is I just wasn’t strong enough.” Two years ago, the Norwegian told herself that despite her level and the pride with which she looked at herself, despite the excellent results, she would never be the best. It took months for him to digest this observation and move on. Until the day he finally took the first step this Friday, March 22nd.

He has always competed, first in mogul skiing. – of which he became one of the best in the world, then in freeride. At age 11, she admired her coach, Kari Traa, the 2002 Olympic gold medalist in Salt Lake City. She was always the little girl who dreamed of winning, as competitive as she was on the ski team. The Norwegian women, almost all blonde, in their pink and beige overalls. He is the director and producer of the documentary film. Headspace: , we hear he says he loves outfits, ski masks and, above all, winning. However, the disappointments continued, in Sochi in 2014 and then in PyeongChang in 2018, where he was injured and asked himself. “What am I doing wrong? Will I ever be able to count in this discipline?

“Experience is an advantage”

Tired of always being on the same track doing the same tricks, he wants to rediscover the essence of his passion and see the world.. His mother says that at the age of 5 he already preferred skiing in the forests near Oslo to the slopes. Hedwig grew up with two brothers, an older and a younger one. Quite lively brothers : “We weren’t the best host family,” their mother says with a smile. In order to direct the energy of the cheerful children, the parents decided to make them play sports several times a day. Skiing, gymnastics, tennis, sailing, Hedwig plays competitive sports following her father, a European windsurfing champion, among others. “I started when I was 3 years old, it saved us from killing each other, we were crazy kids.”

I’m going to cry all day, I’m so excited

Hedwig Wessel

At age 23, he started the Freeride World Tour, and for the past five years, he says he’s learned something about himself every year. “Experience in this field is an advantage. The older you get, the more years you ski, the better you know your limits. Are you making better use of your talent? When you’re younger, you’re always pushing the cursor, you jump too much, which will cause you to fall, you have less control over taking risks. Sometimes it works and you win, sometimes it breaks and you fall. Your athletic journey is like a roller coaster. One day you’re the best, the next you feel like crap. Every year of skiing adds a stone to the building. I’m able to adapt, to make these small changes that will make all the difference.”

Often on the podium, he moves to victory, but runs out of steam along the way. He decides to retire from competition in 2022 after finishing second in the Freeride World Tour. “I didn’t think I would come back, I needed something else.” In August 2023, when his manager asked him to participate again, he flatly refused, the page was turned. Telling him over and over that he’s ready and that it’s time, he finally agrees to try his luck one last time. “If I win, there is no better way to end my career.”

“More Focused”

As she makes her way through the crowd, skis in hand, to the first step of the podium in Verbier this Friday, March 22, Hedwig flashes this proper smile, relieved. Lifting the heavy goblet at arm’s length, he looks up at the sky as he says thank you. “I have tried so hard to get there in recent years, the level is getting higher and higher. I see all the people who are with me and I’m thankful.” The champagne bottles explode in all directions and only his companion, the mountain skier competing at that moment, is missing on the board. “I thought of him first, he also participated in the Olympic Games, he is an athlete, I respect that he also goes his own way.”

I wonder what has changed? After so many years of work, how do we finally manage to achieve this ultimate goal of being the best? “I was trying to be smarter and more focused on myself than results. I have selected the lines (trajectory on the slope, editor’s note) who wouldn’t let me take the easy way out without making a fool of myself. Naturally, your body and mind will always gravitate towards the path you are most comfortable with. As if they were telling us “don’t hurt yourself, don’t hurt yourself”. But if you choose a path (trajectory, editor’s note) In the middle of a steep slope that doesn’t give you that chance, no matter what happens, you can’t get stuck at the top, so you go down.”

Walking off the stage with a world title, what’s the best thing you can do? Hedvig Wessel admits that she wants to enjoy the life she has built, live like a skier and not an athlete, and start a family. He has been preparing for the sequel for several years now. She created the Sister Summit, an event that connects the world’s top female athletes. The desire comes from the loneliness he faced in his early years. Most female freeriders only train with men, so building a female community was important to her.

The idea is to use each other’s experience to maximize your own potential. Strategic negotiation workshops and yoga classes are offered during the week; speakers teach you how to eat better or improve your concentration. “These are life lessons that will make you a better person and enable you to achieve your goals.” Ultimately, the organizers, including him, would like to make this experience free for everyone and find sponsors to devote countless hours to it without getting paid.

Passing on what he has learned, fully embracing his emotions, all this is also visible in his YouTube series. unfiltered, mini-episodes in which he films himself and reveals behind the scenes. “I was always a very strong child who never cried. When I stopped taking the pill and took up yoga and meditation over the last ten years, it changed the way I express my emotions. I am very interested in what I do. during my victory on Friday, I felt the love of those around me, I had the impression that I had accomplished this feat with my family, my friends, my coaches. I didn’t feel this excitement when I was skiing. Over time, I shared with them my difficulties, my sufferings, my ups and downs. That’s why they feel more concerned. Everyone involved in the Freeride World Tour knows very well the challenges I went through and that makes my victory even more beautiful.” Skier Elizabeth Geritsen, who left the competition, commented on this year’s final. Her emotion, when Hedwig Wessel’s victory was announced, was clearly visible on the live broadcast. “There are so many risks in Freeride, we know how mentally taxing it is. We could all die tomorrow. We’re happy to be alive, seeing each other at the bottom, it’s great,” the skier recalled.

On the evening of her victory celebration, Hedwig Wessel dances, invites us to come. It was as if all the sacrifices and disappointments vanished into thin air. The pure joy on his face was that of a child in Norway when he discovered the joy of being in nature with his family. In images from his archive, we see an adult leading him on his skis, in his little white hat with pom-poms and red pants, and we realize that he has always been in his place.