WORLD Extreme Skiing champion Andrea Binning recently returned to her home mountain, Hotham, with her family for the first time in a decade.
Andrea, who lives in Chamonix, France, said she feels at home at Hotham, and it was terrific to share the mountain with her family.
“I feel quite grounded here at Hotham, I have a lot of old friends," she said.
"It’s not just the skiing, it’s everything around it that makes it so special.
"At Hotham I just love how when you’re going skiing everything funnels into this one place, everyone hooks up.
"There's no other place where you have the resort on top of the hill, you realise how special it is.”
Andrea became one of the top female freeskiers and took up residence in The Alps in Chamonix.
She started as an alpine race competitor and later moved into freestyle mogul skiing.
She went on to win the World Extreme Skiing Championships in Valdez in Alaska and The Red Bull Snow Thrill of Chamonix.
Andrea now resides in Chamonix France together with her husband Stian Hagen and their son Aksel Hagen and daughter Camila Hagen.
Andrea’s favourite parts of Hotham are the skiing terrain and the close-knit community.
“My favourite memory from this trip is the skiing we got to do as a family on the hill and catching up with friends," she said.
"From earlier times at Hotham, it was about the community and the friendships that I made as well as the skiing and night life.
"I have lots of good memories of great parties and hiking around and exploring the terrain on powder days.”
Andrea had tried to get her family to Hotham for many years, but as Chamonix has such long winters, they were always pushing for a summer holiday!
They didn’t have high expectations when it came to skiing in Australia but were pleasantly surprised with what they found at Hotham.
“The family were so impressed with Hotham, I got an official apology from them on the chair, and they were so stoked that we came here, they loved the playful terrain and the skiing,” said Andrea.
“It made me so happy that they liked Hotham so much and loved the skiing! We all can’t wait to come back to next year.”
