The Red Bulletin December 2020 (UK)

Jenny Schauerte
our faces to say ‘stop’. Travelling
and living together bonds you. That
was where the ‘wolf-pack’ feeling
began. There are not many of us
[downhill skaters] and people just
don’t know about the sport. So by
making a film I wanted more people
to be aware that we exist.
Who are the Woolf Women?
When I started racing around
Europe, I suddenly met all of these
amazing women. It was incredible
that there were all these girls out
there like me, who love to travel,
skate, and are stoked about finding
a nice road. We skated together and
started bonding. I remember when
I was a teenager I always dreamt
of having a clique or a group who
belonged to me somehow, but I was
always alone until that point. Now,
I’m part of a group who like to
explore, who are open to new
things, and who love nature and
the environment. Other people
just do a lot of talking, but when
we have an idea we go for it. We like
“We’re
fearless but
also curious”
Speed freaks: the thrill of downhill skating is addictive
stepping out of our comfort zone
and feeling the adrenalin. We’re
fearless but also curious. I started
filming everything with my GoPro
because these girls are so cool. I
posted a clip called ‘Woolf Women’
and people really liked it, so the five
of us decided to make a film.
And it came at an important time
for you…
Unfortunately I lost my father three
years ago, which was a real shock,
and I became [depressed] again.
Skating with these women is like
medicine. I knew it would sort me
out and help me process [the loss].
The trip is a bit of a pilgrimage to
light a candle for my father on a
beautiful mountain. And the girls
are there to help me push through it.
So it’s not just about crazy skating –
we had a story to tell. At one point,
all the girls were lying on the floor
and we had this big map, wondering
where we should go. We found
Sumela, a beautiful monastery built
into the [Pontic] mountains in
Turkey, and I knew that was a place
my father would have liked to visit.
And no one had ever skated down
from there. So I prepped my van,
Bimbo, and set off on the 10,000km
round trip to Turkey.
Was making the film the medicine
you needed?
It was fucking wonderful. We tried
and failed to fish, and we almost
didn’t get from Bulgaria into Turkey
as we didn’t have the right papers.
Then, in Istanbul, we met the one
and only downhill skateboarder in
Turkey, who showed us a few great
spots. When we finally saw the
monastery, the view was worth all
the effort to get there. On Google
Maps’ satellite view, the road down
from the monastery looked like
a dirt path, but when we got there
it was fresh tarmac! It felt like
divine intervention. That was the
real highlight – we skated all the
way down from the monastery to
the valley.
Woolf Women: (from left) Jenny Schauerte, born in Boston, USA, but raised in
Bavaria, Germany; Anna Pixner from Austria; Lisa Peters from the Netherlands;
Jasmijn ‘Jas’ Hanegraef from Belgium; Alejandra Gutierrez from Colombia
What does a Woolf Woman do
when she can’t travel?
I was about to go and race and travel
around the world this year, but
obviously COVID stopped that. For
me, it turned into a chance to create
a base, somewhere I can come back
to after living out of my van for two
years. I moved to Innsbruck, Austria,
as most of the Woolf Women live
here, and outside my house you
can go and climb a mountain. You
can explore in the area you live in.
That’s my advice: now is the chance
to discover all the small adventures
around you that you never imagined
were there.
Schauerte’s film, Woolf Women,
premiered at this year’s Raindance
Film Festival and will be released
next spring; woolfwomen.com
LAUREEN MAHIEU
30 THE RED BULLETIN