The mountains were waiting for her, for this fleet-footed and joyful Canadian \u2013 Jennifer Maier, maiden name Wong.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n She came to our chat in the neighbouring village over fields and hills. On the way back via the Kienberg, she popped on her headtorch and enjoyed the walk through the darkness and silence all around. The natural world is her inspiration, especially since the Salzburger Saalachtal has become her home. Love brought her here: the son of the Knappen farmer in Lofer, Thomas Maier, studied at the higher education institute for \u201cGlobal Sales and Marketing\u201c in Steyr. And here in the Upper Austrian city, she completed a semester abroad as a Canadian \u201cTourism-Marketing\u201d student. The pair married last year as new graduates: she wore a \u201cPinzgauer Dirndl\u201d which she sewed herself. It must have been a huge adjustment for her, swapping the city of Vancouver with a population of 2 million for a village with 2000 souls in the heart of Europe? \u201dNo way\u201c, says Jennifer and explains in her lively way, \u201cHere, you have adventure on the doorstep. And then the air is fantastic and the water so fresh!\u201d It sounds like a kitschy homeland novel, but it comes from her heart. For her \u201chen weekend\u201d, her farewell to the single life, she undertook a three day mountain tour with her friends who travelled from \u00dcbersee. She is already a regular guest in the climbing paradise in Wei\u00dfbach. She also took part in the \u201cStoabergmarsch\u201c: \u201d40 kilometres and around 4500 metres of altitude\u201d are the hard facts of this 24-hour route between Salzburg and Tirol. \u201cIt was sooo cool!\u201d With lots of gestures the Canadian illustrates her description and says, \u201cIt was so intense! Hiking in the Loferer Steinberge, the coming darkness, yoga at midnight between the craggy peaks\u201d. She has already climbed several mountains. \u201cHochkranz, Gro\u00dfes Hundhorn, the Stadl and Wagendrischlhorn\u201d, she lists, and German already comes easily to her. Her mother tongue is English but she also speaks the fluent Cantonese of her parents who originate from Hong Kong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course she misses her family in Vancouver. Her mother and father, an engineer, moved there for better career opportunities. She and her brother grew up there. An enormous granite massif in Squamish, one hour away, attracted the passionate hiker Jennifer straightaway. And here? \u201cHere, I want to start out in \u201cAdventure\u201d tourism and experience all seasons of the year intensively\u201d, she reveals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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