“Did you book your flight yet?” Anna Gasser asks over the phone. It’s late September. 

“Not yet, Anna,” I reply. “I can’t really justify spending the money to go ride park jumps on a glacier in Switzerland anymore.”

“That’s not a reason, book your damn flight and get over here,” she says. 

I don’t have much of a choice—it’s rare that Anna doesn’t get what she wants. She is a stubborn and singularly focused human who has accomplished more in her first decade of snowboarding than most athletes do in their entire careers. But she isn’t your typical “best in the world” athlete. Her craft isn’t honed in the gym alongside nutritionists and sports psychologists. Rather, her regime of bell-to-bell park days, year-round winters and schnitzel mit pommes has proved to be a winning combination. For her, every waking hour is dedicated to snowboarding.

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