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Janik Riebli lends a hand on his parents’ farm – the family sells its own cheese.
Riebli points up the mountain. Up there, on Alp Jänzimatt, far back in the canton of Obwalden, he will spend the night. All alone. Without a cell phone. Just relax. “Just the hand organ, a bit of bread, cheese and Anke – and I,” says the 24-year-old with a smile. It’s a warm autumn day when Blick meets the up-and-coming cross-country skier in his home town of Giswil. And one of the last few weeks that he can do even more freely before the pre-season definitely picks up.
But it is typical of Riebli that he has to flee to an alp in order to actually do nothing. Because when he’s at home on the farm in Giswil, he likes to lend a hand. Almost too much for someone who, as a professional athlete, already puts in an enormous amount of work and who actually depends on good regeneration.
Riebli is a trained farmer. In Davos, where he still lives in a flat share of four, he completed his training. On his parents’ organic farm, he puts what he has learned into practice in the cow or chicken coop: “Sometimes I have to slow myself down, but I just enjoy working with the animals.”
Riedli sells cheese in his fan shop
But what is even more uplifting is cheese making. The family sells various of its own varieties in a small shop. A day in the cellar with the hundreds of 12-kilo chunks laid out is exhausting, especially since each individual loaf requires care. Riebli also offers the cheese in its own online fan shop, as well as the “Luisbiobäwurst”, a kind of Landjäger.
Whether the Obwaldner Lausbube can increase the demand this winter with sporting success? When it comes to goals for the current season, the man with the big grin and broad shoulders gets a little more serious. He says: “It’s about the breakthrough now.” Now that the team’s star and results-maker, Dario Cologna, has retired, eyes are more on those athletes who were on the second row until last season.
“I hope that we can continue to bring results.”Janik Riebli, Swiss cross-country skier
Riebli, whose strengths are clearly in the sprint, knows this: «I hope that we can continue to bring results. And I also hope that people won’t be disappointed with our performances. You mustn’t forget: It wasn’t that long ago that we were lucky that anyone even scored points.”
Riebli’s long-term goal is the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. He just missed out on Beijing last February. Now he wants to take the next step in the World Cup. Next at the Tour de Ski, starting on December 31st in Val Müstair, where he tackles the first two stages. Along with other young hopefuls such as Valerio Grond, who, like Riebli, was already in a sprint semi-final this winter.
Riebli has already indicated his potential with a few top 10 results. But when asked about the pressure, he dismisses it: “Oh, I put a lot more pressure on myself than it comes from outside.” And if it still gets to be too much for him, he knows: taking the hand organ and a bit of provisions up the alp always helps.