Elissa Dresdner

I learned to ski around the age of 4, taught by my mom and dad, though it was only once a year on family vacations for most of my childhood. Then I moved to Canada for university, and suddenly I was skiing once or twice a week all winter – a Bachelor’s in Powder Studies, if you will. I was not a childhood prodigy, just years of enthusiastic recreational skiing with friends on Thursday nights and weekends at uni, and last year I figured it was time to level up, so I did my first season of training and working as an instructor. On the mountain, I’m a bit of a skiing omnivore: piste cruising, freeride adventures, the occasional park session, and maybe even some snowboarding (don’t tell my skis). My best memory? The last day of last season—T-shirts, slush, and a couple of final runs on the beginner hill with the people I’d shared birthdays and holidays with, and fought over the microwave with. It felt deeply nostalgic even while I was living it.

I became an instructor because teaching people to love skiing is almost as fun as skiing itself – it keeps you active, puts you in the mountains, and I love getting to know people on the lift. My favourite thing about the job is watching someone else’s obsession come to fruition. I teach piste skiing in St Anton and Lech.

One surprising fact about me: I perform in operas in the summer – I hold two bachelor’s degrees, one in political science and one in classical voice performance. When I’m not singing, summers are about squeezing in as much sunshine as possible: beach volleyball, surfing, football, travelling, instructing on a dry slope in Copenhagen, and refurbishing old furniture. I’m also a huge foodie, and cooking for friends and family is a weekly thing.