Features on these issues provide subjects for discussion and enhance the conversation on "Talking Germany". We talk about the joys and dangers of extreme sport events like the 'Freeride World Tour'. Another topic is the first ever avalanche awareness course in Germany. School pupils in Bavaria are learning how to stay safe off the piste. And we talk about climate change and how it's causing increasing erosion in the alpine region.
Short Biography
Aline Bock was born in Gießen and grew up in Überlingen on Lake Constance. Her father, a dentist and passionate winter sportsman, gave her a snowboard for Christmas at the age of 13. Every weekend he took her and her two elder siblings with him into the mountains. At the age of 15, Bock started competing regularly in snowboarding competitions. She won the German junior halfpipe championships twice but was frustrated by her lack of international success in the event. In 2008, she switched to freeride snowboarding. Success in the event depends more on experience off-piste, which often eludes the youngest freestylers. In 2010, Bock won the World Freeride Tour, becoming world champion in the discipline. But she's no stranger to the sport's dangers. In one serious fall, Bock narrowly escaped becoming paralyzed. When she's not competing, Bock lives in Innsbruck, where she's gained a degree in Sports Management. She's currently working temporarily as junior manager of two snowboard teams.