Hello and welcome to the online home of the Hearts of Hills girls!

What will you find on here?

Interviews with female skateboarders of all disciplines. Tutorials. Vids. Photos. Reports of what we've been up to. Information about upcoming events we're hosting/going to and write-ups of events we've attended. Gear review and much more, so stay tuned and check back for the latest update on what mischief we've been up to, the carnage we've caused and where we've been shredding.

Our mission is to encourage and support girls on wheels of all disciplines, ages, levels and backgrounds - because we ladies need to unite and show the boys how we rock. This blog is available in German (all of us are German native speakers) and English, and without further ado - we would like to introduce ourselves so read on and get to know us better! (You can also click on the individual team member profile pictures for general info about each one of us)


Nicola 'Nico' Reinthaler:



1. How long have you been skating?
I first started out when I was about 10 however that doesn't really count. The first time I stood on a longboard was 5 years ago, I was surprised at how easy it was. In spring 2009 I took part in a race for the first time, that was in Kobernaußerwald (AUT).


2. How did you find your way from a snowboard onto a longboard?
It was actually my brother who got me into it - snowboarders want to enjoy boards during summer as well :-)


3. What do these two board sports have in common, and how do they differ?
My knees prefer longboarding as the legs aren't attached to the board so the impact from underneath is not as high. The slopes are generally not as smooth (i.e. bumpier) than tarred roads which can be quite painful and put a strain on the knees.
Longboarding is more difficult as far as technique is concerned and you're the queen if you can do stand-up slides - as a snowboarder you're still considered a beginner once you've dialled drifting....hehe!


4. How do you see us ladies within the sport in the future?
Well, if I look at my little daughter I'm thinking....DAAAMN, she's going to rock on that plank of wood one day! All I can say is - Girls, keep the sport varied, don't limit yourselves to one discipline, try to do a little bit of everything don't only strive to smoke down that hill, there are so many cool things to do on a board, sliding, pool, street and so on. The only way to develop and expand your skills is to constantly work on getting and increasing a good and solid board feeling!!!

5. What's your motto?
She who brakes loses!
Its all about fun!

Fee Bücheler, aka Ms. Hügelherzblut:




1. How long have you been skating?
Here's the story about how Ms. Fee got into skateboarding:
When I was about 12, I wanted to have a skateboard reeeally badly. Back in the days it wasn't a very popular sport among girls however. Around about the same time, I actually won one as a prize during a competition of whose balloon would fly the farthest. The problem was however, that the boys were far too cool to take a girl out riding with them and if you don't really know what to do with that plank of wood....well that doesn't really help either. To keep it short, the board was merely used as some kind of buttboard and ended up in the corner at some point (despite this I didn't end up being a buttboarder *sniggers*)
My second attempt at learning how to skate resulted from snowboarding, as I suffered severe board withdrawal symptoms during the summer months....that was a bout 6-7 years ago. Maybe in my heart I've always been skating, I don't know (sorry guys we girls do need a bit of pink fluff)

2. Being a woman, how do you feel among all the guys in this traditionally male dominated sport?
Ha! Men??? More like a bunch of playful boys ;-)


3. What's your advice to girl newbies who are only just starting out?
Take your time and get to grips with the basics and have a go at all the different aspects of skating.


4. How do you see us ladies within the sport in the future?
Hmmm....I think we'll become stronger as it were - the next generation of girls will be skating on a totally different level! I can also see that we're getting more and more numerous thus a clear split will inevitably come - there'll be those who like to feel the wind in their hair, the freeriders, the downhill racers etc etc

5. Why Hügelherzblut (hügel = hill(s), herz = heart, blut = blood)?
Hügelherzblut stands for transferingr emotions onto your board, to let yourself go and find yourself at different spots again and again. Yeeeeah, it would be nothing without the hills! The only thing that didn't fit into the name was my love for corners.....next time!


Judith "Ju" Richter:




1. How long have you been skating?
Since 2006


2. What's your favourite discipline?
Oooh, there's too many! It always depends on the conditions and on what's available....sliding, cruising, DH, miniramp....:-)

3. What's your advice to girl newbies who are only just starting out?
Try to skate with others regardless of what level they're on. You will learn a lot and push can each other further.


4. What' the worst injury you've sustained so far?
Phew, apart from the typical road rash and a few sprains I've been lucky so far, no noteworthy injuries as of yet.


Christine Maier:




1. How long have you been skating?
Got my first longboard in September 2008 after my bike was repeatedly stolen and I decided I needed another means of transport of some kind to get me around town that could be kept indoors. This first board was thus mainly used to get me to and from places and I didn't do much more other than cruising around. I quickly got to know a bunch of longboarders in London (you guys know who you are, especially one in particular ;-) ) thus learnt a lot more about the sport which until then I didn't really know anything about, I'd never even heard of it...it wasn't until this year however that I developed a more serious interest and decided to go for it.


2. What does skating mean to you?
When I'm on my board I forget everything else and focus completely on what I'm doing that very moment - for me it's the best (and only) way to wind down an otherwise pretty busy brain for a while.


3. Do you have any goals within the sport and if so, what are they?
Ummm that's a difficult one since I'm still quite at the start of it all....so much to see, to do, to learn, so many places to go to! Just to have loads more fun on wheels with like-minded people I guess!

4. Being a woman, how do you feel among all the guys in this traditionally male dominated sport?
To be honest I did find it somewhat intimidating to start off with, which I'd say is the main reason why I held off for a long time. A lot of guys don't take girls on wheels very seriously, and a lot of girls aren't interested in much more other than some gentle cruising around as they are scared of hurting themselves, an argument I've heard many a time when trying to get my female friends into the sport, while the universal guys' answer to everything (with regards to skating) seems to be 'you need to go FASTER'! I think that highlights the difference between guys and gals within the sport pretty well (note - I don't mean to tar everyone with the same brush, this is meant to be general statement that reflects my personal experience, obviously doesn't apply to everyone...). I've met some really good people this year, boys and girls, so really looking forward to seeing what next year has in store and curious as to how the perception of women in the sport is going to change in the future, as it undoubtedly will, and for the better, and personally I hope that perhaps we can contribute to that and do our little bit as well.

5. What would you like to change about the sport?
The status of women, however this will hopefully happen gradually, hopefully there'll be a few more of us at the events each year.



Franziska "Franzi" Stolz:





1. What's your favourite discipline?
I think I'm the odd one out in the team - my absolute favourite is vert skating and bowl....generally speaking I'm more of a transition skater. I do like cruising down a hill on a longboard though, if only I had more time!

2. Being a woman, how do you feel among all the guys in this traditionally male dominated sport?
Pretty good overall actually, I think I'm fairly accepted in the scene and have found my place by now. The thing is that it does take a damn long time to be accepted as a lady within the sport, a long time until the boys realise that us ladies really enjoy skating too, that we learn new tricks and don't just give up after the first slam and that we don't skate to look good on a board or to be cool or whatever. When I started out it was quite difficult for the first few years. I would get dissed and told to leave the skating to those who know what they're doing and to go play with dolls and shite like that. Apart from the fact that I was already 22 back then, so far too old for that kiddy crap, comments like that only made me more determined and made me want to prove them different.

3. How do you see us ladies within the sport in the future?
Ummmm...... this kind of question that casts a view on the future is difficult to answer, coz at the end of the day it turns out the complete opposite way anyway. At the moment, the number of ladies who skate is still small but steadily growing and I think it's going to carry on that way. Nowadays girls in the younger generation are brought up differently, more confident and cheeky and more daring, which wasn't so much the case back in the days, when girls simply had to be well-behaved and play with dolls and if you nicked your brother's crane or digger or even thought about it, it would be considered as extraordinary, with a negative connotation.


4. What's the worst injury you've sustained so far?
So far I've been very lucky as far as injuries are concerned in the 13 years of skating. I've only really had 2 heavy stacks. The first time around, my trucks were too loose, I was riding fakie and all of a sudden the board started to wobble and I lost control as I got shaken around so badly. I got thrown off, I remember finding myself in free fall but I didn't know in which direction I was flying so I couldn't stave it off - fell flat on my face on the flat bit of the vert, followed by a brief blackout. Result - a broken nose, 2 black eyes and the worst concussion ever! All this happened in 2004, the day before the Slam City Jam World Cup in Vancouver! The contest kicked off the following day around 10 or 11am. Apart from a massively swollen nose I was feeing dizzy with a bad headache and I found myself struggling to estimate distances - I nearly fell off the ladder when getting onto the ramp and made lots of mistakes with the transitions. Nonetheless, I didn't do too badly actually, compared to the 2 other girls that were there, saw it all on video later, however I was judged down and came last, hence this crash was actually worse than the other one. The second time was during summer 2008 when I tore the band in my right knee, right away from the bone, together with a peasize bit of bone which now floats around somewhere in my knee. It happened during a handplant attempt in a concrete bowl. Haven't sustained any lasting damage though and my skating ability is not affected.


5. What do you do when you don't skate?
My typical day looks something like this - I work in 1 to 3 different jobs which means I run around from one place to the next all day, get home in the early evening, quickly check emails, do some housework, eat something and perhaps do some more work as I also wash and iron the restaurant linen. It that doesn't have to be one I edit photos or crochet a hat or do some other crafty stuff and then it's late and bedtime again already. During the week I'm usually too tired to skate, except on Thursdays when I go to Basle for a vert session.

Susana 'Su' Torroais




1. How long have you been skating?
The first time that i put my feet on a skate was in the summer of 2007. Of course it was a longboard.

2.Being a woman, how do you feel among all the guys in this traditionally male dominated sport?
Well... in Portugal, unfortunately, you don't see too many girls riding, it's mostly a guys thing. So I'm always riding with the boys, but I don't have any complaints, in the contrary, they are great, very welcoming and always ready to give a lot of great tips. I guess that most of my evolution was due to this awesome companionship. I love riding with the boys, but it will be so much better if they were more girls to ride with...

3.What's your favourite discipline?
I love carving and sliding.

4.How do you see us ladies within the sport in the future?
World wide i see the girl thing getting definitely stronger. All around there's already a lot of ladies with great potential shredding the hills like crazy. So in the future, i can only see great things for us! If we keep this stoke and will to grow and share our passion, we have everything going for us. We just have to believe!

5.What's your motto?
Live Long. Love Life. And Be Free.