Silvia Mittermueller from Germany is one of the strongest female riders in the snowboard scene. Learning to snowboard in 1997, she has grown into an extremely well-rounded rider, able to take it from the pipe to the park to the pow with ease and complete a balanced season comprised of strong video parts and competition results. With such compelling style, 26 year old Silvia proves she is one of the best riders out there spending a lot of time in the states to fine-tune her park skills.

In the 07/08 season, Silvia made a brief appearance at the 6Star Burton European Open placing 3rd in the Slopestyle. However, a mid-season injury kept her out of competition for the remaining months causing her to work harder than ever to get back on top.

Upon her return, Mittermueller made her mark. With her new sponsor Rome SDS she filmed with “Kidz On Shred” productions and put together a banging video part in “No Correct Way”.  The film pushed Silvia’s international impact to new heights, backing up the talk with some impressive riding.

She began her competitive 08/09 season at the 4Star Horsefeathers Pleasure Jam, placing second and carrying her momentum and winning attitude to the 6Star Burton European Open taking fourth place amongst a brutal field of international slope stars.  Victory seemed imminent and it came in Canada where she took out the 5Star Burton Canadian Open Slopestyle in its inaugural year in what was a very important and happily earned win for the German shredder.

Silvia’s hard work earned her more success with another podium at the 5Star Nissan X-Trail Asian Open and Top Ten finishes at two major season ending contests, the 6Star Burton US Open and Roxy Chicken Jam. She finished her season just shy of the TTR Top in World No. 6.

Able to ride amongst the best female competitors, the 2009/2010 season provides ample opportunity for Silvia to improve and build upon her already stellar list of results and establish herself as a returning threat to the TTR Title race and whatever happens, she’s sure to impress.

Interview January 15th 2008 in Laax, Switzerland



First off, how did you get into snowboarding?



It’s been a long time! It was 1997 and my parents wanted to learn how to snowboard. I was a ballerina back then. I didn’t think about snowboarding too much, even though I had tried skateboarding. When my entire family tried to learn how to snowboard, I just thought I’d try it as well. At first I was miserably untalented. I broke my arm the first day! I took quite a while but in the end I understood how it worked.  In the beginning it was just because of my parents and I had no talent. Haha. 



What makes snowboarding so fun for you? Why is it addictive?



I think it’s because there’s an endless variety of tricks you can learn. You’re never at a point where you say “ok, I’ve seen it all, done it all, tried it all, I’m never going to learn anything new” and then you quit. No, there’s always something new to learn and to do, whether it’s new terrain, new tricks, or whatever you want like. The other thing, snowboarding is one of the last sports where you’re still completely free. You don’t need to be on a national team, you don’t need a coach or to work out like crazy if you don’t want to. You can still be successful and absolutely accepted and I think it’s awesome that there’s still a sport like that. 



In that sense, what are your thoughts on competition? Last year you finished 8th on the TTR Tour, do you still just like to ride for fun, or do you like to do competitions, or do you like to film?



I like to do everything, which gets me into serious trouble sometimes cause I just don’t have the time to do everything. Like, a couple of ok results, and half a video part and a couple pictures… nothing 100%. Honestly, I like competing when the set up is good, the people are nice, the judging is right, and you have a lot of practice. There are people that hate on contests, but if they’re perfectly organized, they’re really fun and I enjoy doing them. But then with filming, I think filming is the best way of showing what you can do. It’s not just capturing one day like at a contest. It’s from your entire season and your skills on different terrain. So I think it all has to work together. I still have pictures in magazines, and I’m happy every time I see a picture of anyone that’s awesome, and I want to have one too! So I think in the end I want everything and to try everything. Sometimes I’m stressed and overwhelmed because it’s hard to combine it all. 



Do you have a favourite experience from last year, competition or film-wise? 



Competition-wise, maybe the Vail session was my favourite because it was a completely different competition format and set up. It was mostly jibs, and fun jibs! …Stuff you’ve never hit before, so it’s totally different. Also, with the judging, there were 15-minute periods where everybody was ranked, I really enjoyed that. Filming-wise, I finally experienced those ‘picture-book’ Japan, tree-riding powder days. I was in Japan just for the World Cups, which was not the best way to experience Japan. I went on a trip though and we went to the North Island and we had hip-deep powder, going in between trees and it was still untracked at noon. That was a really good experience. 



That’s awesome! Now, Turning towards the TTR, what are your thoughts on the Tour and it’s place in snowboarding?


I think it’s awesome how everything is developing. There’s more and more support from the industry, and now there’s prize money and a title that you can get. People actually really pay attention to that. I think the whole way it’s going is really good, cause I’m not stoked at all on the FIS World Cup. I still experienced ISF times. When the ISF went down, that’s just when I started. I had two snowboard world cup experiences, and that was a cool thing. But there was only the ISF and that’s not snowboarding, and that’s not fun, and it’s only pipe. And they’re built kind of only for guys. I think the TTR is really good and I’m happy to see that it’s getting better and better, and getting recognized.  



Within the TTR, riders are progressing to incredible levels. How do you feel about the progression of female riding?



There’s a lot moving forward with girls riding. In competitions, yeah sure girls are trying harder things and sometimes linking better runs together, both in pipe and slopestyle contests. But I think the big step forward is happening in filming. For example if you look at Marie France’s part in the Rome video last year, that’s actually the best female video part that’s ever been put together. I think that’s a really good direction for everything to move forward.


In terms of progression, you see guys spinning huge 10s and even 12s and now even the girls are getting up to 9s. Do you think it’s necessary, in competitions, for riders to spin to win? Do you think riders are sacrificing style at all? 



Well, there are, both girls and guys, who can do huge rotations and still look good in the air. I mean it doesn’t always go perfect even with the small spins. You can see a pretty backside 180 and then you can see an ugly, rolling down the windows Backside 180. I don’t think you can focus too much on a couple people that spin without style, cause there’s always a way to screw things up, or do things well. I think it’s good progression, to move forward. If it’s not 100% super perfect and beautiful looking the first time you do it, I still think it’s good that girls try and push further.



Do you think all female contests like the Roxy Chicken Jam are important? Do you think there should be more? Should there be more mixed-gender like the BEO?



I think there should not be more than there is already. All girl contests are only good if all the girls are there. If you only have a bunch of local girls show up, the level doesn’t get pushed that much, and it turns into a backside 360 contest. Then people keep talking crap about female snowboarding. It’s just not pushing the whole thing, I think. It’s good to have just a bunch of only-girl contests that every girl goes to. Two Chicken Jams is perfect. Don’t do too many. Don’t have too many girl contests with a low level of riding. 



So what do you like to do outside of snowboarding?



Well lately I’ve been really focused on training. Cause I tore my ACL in July and had surgery at the end of July. Yeah today, it’s been 5 ½ months. This is my first contest since then. So far it feels good. I feel good on my feet and did well on my runs. It’s just a really good feeling. But to come back to the question, haha. Outside of snowboarding I like anything that challenges my head. Like trying to speak more French, or reading good books, playing chess, or learning something that I didn’t know before. I think it’s important in whatever you are doing to keep learning and to keep your eyes open. That’s what I do, traveling-wise, talking to people-wise, language-wise, and sports-wise, or anything I need-wise! Haha. I just try to be open for any experiences in life and take what I can. 



Words of wisdom for female up-and-comers?


Don’t jump a big jump when you’re going too slow. That’s the most important thing in snowboarding. That’s how you always get hurt, so don’t jump when you’re too slow! And don’t drink pool water….