The Red Bulletin June 2020 (US)

48
Freeride snowboarder/wingsuiter, 39, SUI.
Lausanne-born Fasnacht knows a thing or
two about patience—she waited six years
to achieve one dream.
Géraldine
Fasnacht
49
Zuna
Rapper, 26, GER.
Music has always been a source of
strength, even on Zuna’s hardest journey.
@DIESERBOBBY, UNIVERSAL MUSIC, SÉBASTIEN BARITUSSIO, GETTY PREMIUM
WOLFGANG WIESER, DAVID MAYER, SIMON SCHREYER
Waiting for Verbier
No slope could ever be too steep
for her, and it always had to be
quick. In 1995, Fasnacht wanted
to compete in the Xtreme Verbier,
Switzerland’s wildest freeride event,
but the organizers wouldn’t let her.
At 15, she was too young and the
competition too dangerous. She was
bitterly disappointed but remained
resolute. “I trained hard, competed
in a lot of events and won most of
them,” she says. Six years later, in
the autumn of 2001, her phone rang.
It was Verbier calling. Géraldine
went on to win the event, and it
became the start of her life as a
professional snowboarder.
She snowboards in the deep,
too. Géraldine Fasnacht on
the move in Verbier.
50 Cent inspired Zuna to forge a career of his own.
HOW RAP HELPED A
REFUGEE FIND HIS CALLING
Ghassan Ramlawi—better
known now as Zuna, one of
Germany’s most high-profile
rappers—was 15 when his
family fled Lebanon. They
were turned back at borders
many times. Their odyssey
through Africa, France,
Belgium, Switzerland and
Germany finally ended in
Dresden, where they were
given leave to remain. What
gave Ramlawi strength
during this time? “I listened
to 50 Cent on headphones
whenever I could,” he says.
“Knowing that someone
had worked his way up from
the very bottom to achieve
50
success gave me hope. I
couldn’t wait to take control
of my life in the same way.”
Soon after arriving in
Dresden, he met Granit
Musa and Ali Rihilati, and
later Yassine Baybah. The
four now make up one of
Germany’s most successful
rap crews, the KMN Gang.
Three songs that kept Zuna
going during his family’s flight:
“21 Questions” – 50 Cent (2003)
“Hate It or Love It” – The Game
feat. 50 Cent (2005)
“Changes” – 2Pac (1998)
Extreme skier/ski mountaineer, 47, USA.
The Colorado native is now captain
of the North Face Athlete Team. And,
surprisingly, she’s scared of heights.
Hilaree
Nelson
“Whenever I’m on a steep, exposed mountainside
somewhere in the world and I’m at risk of suffering
an attack of vertigo, I’ll deploy the following tactic:
I just don’t look down. Visually speaking, I’ll focus
fully on the relevant meter-and-a-half that is right
in front of me. The effect is a bit like putting on
invisible blinkers.”
In 2017, Nelson skied down the Peak of Evil in the Indian Himalayas.
Then, in 2018, she descended the 27,940-foot Lhotse through its
dreaded couloir.
THE RED BULLETIN 65