Children of the Hidden Slopes
Meet the “Schattenkinder”
They ride where others don’t. They live with risk. But above all, they live with a deep love for the mountain. On the shady north face of the Gemsstock, where the sun barely reaches, a quiet freeride scene defines winter in Andermatt. This is a story about freedom, community and the snow that means everything here.
It’s a mild winter evening in Andermatt. Mild, at least, for a high Alpine valley where the wind is a constant companion. On the stone bench in front of the village’s bustling wine bar, Janick Staub and Leoni Zopp sit side by side. He’s got a beer, she’s sipping sparkling water. Both are gazing up at the mountain that reigns above the rooftops and is a constant presence in their lives: the Gemsstock. It’s already dark, but the slopes feel close.
To most, “Gemsstock” sounds like just another Alpine peak. But to those in the know, it means so much more. It’s a myth, a mindset. And above all, a freeride paradise. Freeriding means skiing beyond the groomed slopes. It’s about fresh powder lines, instinct over stopwatch, freedom over rules. It’s skiing’s cooler, wilder, more individualistic sibling – a subculture with its own language, its own legends, its own code. Here, it’s not about speed, but about the choice of line, flow and creativity. Sure, videos are shared, runs are rated, competitions are held, but the heart of freeriding lives in the moment, not in medals.
Or in English quite literally “the children of the shadows”. They are a looseknit crew of locals who grew up skiing the north face of the Gemsstock. There’s no club, no group photo, no website. But everyone in the village knows who you mean when you talk about them. The Schattenkinder are young, stylish and deeply connected to this revered mountain. They know every couloir, every windloaded ridge, every patch of untouched snow. Janick, 34, and Leoni, 24, are two of them. How many Schattenkinder there really are is hard to say. But all of them
share this: they’ve known the Gemsstock since childhood. And they prefer to stay in the background, hence the name. Schattenkinder. The children of the shadows.
There’s another reason for the name too: the mountain’s northfacing, shaded slopes. In winter, the Gemsstock sees very little direct sunlight. That has two consequences. First, fewer tourists head this way. Second, the powder sticks around far longer, and sometimes even well into spring. For freeriders like Janick and Leoni, it’s a blessing.
“For me, the Felsental is the most beautiful and versatile descent on the Gemsstock. It leads all the way from the very top down to the village, through terrain full of rocks, gullies and endless variations. Precisely because it’s so playful and intricate, I always find new lines. Sometimes I carve tight turns, sometimes I take the direct way down, sometimes I just let myself flow. Each run feels unique. The Felsental is never the same twice – and that’s exactly what makes it so special to me.”
Of course, northfacing slopes are also known for a higher risk of avalanches. The cold snow layers don’t settle as easily, instabilities can last for weeks. The Schattenkinder know that, and yet, they ride. Not out of defiance, but because they understand the mountain.
Andermatt enjoys around 150 ski days a year on average. Janick and Leoni are out for over 100 of them. They know where the last lines were, which way the wind was blowing, when the snow fell. When you’re out there as often as they are, you develop an intuition for risk, and even more for timing.
“The Gemsstock has a soul,” says Leoni, her eyes drifting up towards the slope. Janick nods. The Gemsstock isn’t a glacier giant, or a flashy star in glossy brochures. That’s exactly why they love it. It’s their mountain. There’s no endless list of options, no anxious debates about which zone to ride. You ride the Gemsstock. That’s it. The simplicity is part of the magic.
In big freeride areas, you’re often left wondering: “Did we choose the wrong line?” Not here. In Andermatt, you start your day and either you go to work, or you go skiing. That’s the rhythm. That’s how the Schattenkinder have always done it, since they could stand on skis. And still today, even if work (for Janick) or university (for Leoni, who studies psychology) pulls them to the lowlands from time to time. But as soon as it snows, they come back. It’s as if the Gemsstock calls them, bringing them back together on their beloved mountain.
They’re a couple now. Leoni knew of Janick before she really knew him personally. He was one of those local legends – the ones the ski club kids idolised on their first Gemsstock missions, Leoni admits. He was one of the cool ones. When she eventually brought him home, her mother just smiled: “Of course you’d fall for a Schattenkind.” The funny thing is that Leoni once had a very different path. She was a racer, and a serious one, and part of the Swiss Alpine development programme. She trained hard, raced FIS and attended a sports academy. Then came the crash and a concussion that didn’t go away. For years, she struggled with migraines. Eventually, she realised the cost was too high. So she quit racing and returned to what she’d always loved most: skiing off-piste. Freeriding. Freedom.
Ski racing is structured, timed, competitive. Only one can be the fastest. Freeriding is intuitive, self-determined and deeply communal. There are contests, sure, but they’re just one sliver of the scene, and certainly not its soul. “In freeriding, you get to decide what perfect means for you,” says Leoni.
One of her longtime coaches told her after she quit: “I always knew. You don’t belong between the gates, you belong on the mountain.”
“Choosing a single favourite line on the Gemsstock is hard –
because wind and snow change every ride. Most often I ski the official descent route: it’s varied, accessible and gives
me a different feeling each time. Sometimes I include small
cliffs, sometimes I go fast, sometimes I add jumps. Often
it’s my very first run in the morning, when I check the conditions. Even without fresh snow, it’s fun – and to me, it always feels like home.”
Today, alongside her studies, Leoni is part of the international freeride scene. Brands send her to photoshoots in Canada, France and Kazakhstan. She spends weeks filming in far-off ranges, skiing for the camera with crews from around the globe. But none of those places feel like the Gemsstock. And no team is quite like the one here.
There’s Carlo Danioth, for example – head of piste safety and mountain rescue. If you want to know what the snowpack’s doing, what the wind has shifted, what the avalanche risk really is, you go to Carlo. He’s been skiing these faces since long before the word Schattenkinder ever appeared on Instagram.
And then there’s Lisi Baumann. She’s been here since 1991, starting out as a gondola attendant. Now she’s the mountain’s beating heart. Lisi is the one who makes everything run. Her day starts at six, when most are still sleeping. She rides the early service lift to the mid-station, fires up the lifts, shovels snow, brews coffee. Always with a sharp eye and a quick joke.
Janick and Leoni love the mountain not just for its terrain, but for the people who shape it. Because freeriding isn’t about showing off – well, maybe a little – but mostly, it’s about community. You ride together. You watch out for each other. If one person says: “This feels sketchy today,” the group turns back. The Schattenkinder trust each other. They take responsibility for one another. Maybe that’s what makes this mountain so special: you never ride it alone.
A heartfelt project by Leoni Zopp and her colleagues: a group of inspirational women from Sweden, Austria, Canada, France, Italy and Switzerland gathered in Andermatt for five days. Their goal was to share experiences, encourage one another and explore ways for women to gain more visibility
in the male-dominated outdoor sports scene. The result: a community that is set to grow.
www.instagram.com/freeridefemmes
Back at the wine bar, Janick and Leoni talk about what you don’t see when you look at freeriders from the outside: the judgment calls, the caution, the days you sit it out. Freeriding
isn’t just about powder joy. It’s about knowing when not to go. About living with risk, and living with restraint. “Some lines you can only ski because you’ve skied them
a hundred times before,” Janick says. “And still, you might come home and think: that was too close.” He’s talking about the days where, in hindsight, they realise they got lucky.
Not because they were reckless. Just because freeriding always carries an element of chance. And yet, adrenaline is part of it. Freeriding lives at the edge of comfort, because that’s where you feel it all. In complete mindfulness. The connection with nature. That moment when everything else fades and you’re just… there.
Maybe that’s the truth of the Gemsstock: it forgives a lot, but it forgets nothing. And those who ride it, know it. That’s why the Schattenkinder – Janick and Leoni – keep glancing up
from the bench. Up towards the face where the shadows begin. And for anyone now thinking: “Sounds amazing, but that’s just for experts”. Don’t worry, the Gemsstock is for everyone! There are marked runs, guided tours and expert instructors in Andermatt to help you take your first steps into freeriding. This mountain makes space for quiet curiosity and wild adventure. It’s a mountain like no other, that’s what makes it the Gemsstock.
