Vanja Pakaski p2

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datrip: Seems like river surfing is THE secret behind all those mountain people entering the lineups and amazing people with their surf skills. Does river surfing really improve one´s performance at sea? Which one is your home river spot, by the way?

Concerning the boys, do they push you just by giving an example or is there some desire to prove something, to show them that girls REALLY can surf, that gives you extra motivation?

Vanja: I never had that kind of thinking to improve myself surfing against the boys (girls do rock anyway, he he!:)) no honestly, I mean there´s no point about showing others what your surf level is about, I just wanted to keep up with those guys and enjoying myself while catching good waves. Surfing a harder or bigger spot made me just more proud of myself...at least I wanted to prove myself doing it as good as they do! For sure the river was a push up for my experiences in the ocean. it gave me a lot more self confidence in moves, security and balance.
I do believe that all the training influenced my later surfing in the ocean, and I still love to join the river-lineup, the people are just gold! I was lucky to get this caravan near my home spot, the river wave at Reuss in Bremgarten, when I was about 12 years old. Since then I'm spending every free minute there:)

datrip: So you´re surfing a river since the age of 10. No wonder that you improved that quickly! Still it is a difficult task to get to the point where you feel comfortable in serious surf when you´re living inland and don´t have the chance to get into the ocean on a regular basis (at least for me that keeps being a problem). Besides getting pushed / motivated by the boys, did you have any special strategies or methods to cope with that inlanders handicap and get used to the power of the ocean? Any special swim training? Diving in the bath tub? Special mental preparation?

You´re doing snowboarding and skateboarding on a pretty high level too. What fascinates you with board sports in general? And what´s the differences between the three?

Vanja: to be honest, it took a lot of time till I was mentally prepared surfing bigger waves. I had to work on some personal fears, everyday in a big surf I was fighting and encouraging myself to go out again and again. It took some time. The river is a help for your technique and movements on the board, but not a preparation to deal with the ocean. Otherwise it would be to easy, wouldn´t it?! Republicas "ready to go" is that one song I love to listen before a surf! It makes you feel like you can go on everything! In between that, Yoga gives you strength and health and the best way to keep your head clean. And the best workout is simply to go out and paddle!

I do not skating and snowboarding like I did before. I had to leave it a bit behind, as I got always the same injuries on knees and wrists. It´s mainly skateboarding I miss. The way´s been separated with those guys I´ve been skating. It´s like in school when it ends you all go different ways. Maybe we got to old for that, we couldnt keep up with the younger generation:) I still love to ride my longboard and on a very smooth road in summer when the sun is setting, it feels like surfing Honolulu. With all this sports it is the same you´re looking for: to get that euphoric feeling again and again and again... and having a yummie bbq after:)

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