The most important learning experiences of Nicola Thost were those that she gained as a professional athlete.
Nicola Thost helps people to turn their dreams into reality. She hasn’t just acquired her knowledge as a coach through her own training. Quite simply, her path in life seems to have made Nicola predestined to give people mental strength. As a successful athlete she has coached herself, so to speak, and proven what people are capable of if they can channel their personal strengths. She addresses this ability in her coaching programme, which is called The Path.
In this respect, her personal focus is consistently on enjoyment and fulfilment on the path to achieving the goal, and not just the goal itself. It was with this mindset that Nicola established her own incomparable track record as a professional snowboarder:
Olympic Champion Snowboard Halfpipe Nagano 1998, 25 World Cup wins, 2x ISF World Tour Winner 1998 & 1999, and Freeride World Tour Winner Verbier Xtreme 2015.
Nicola has also made her mark as a mentor to youngsters, not least in the memories of many young athletes:
She organised the Burton All Girls Camp and the “Red Bull Upsprings” events. As the founder and initiator of the “Sprungbrett” talent scout series, she has supported 300 rookies over the last 10 years and developed her personal team of junior coaches, photographers and film makers.
We share our enthusiasm for outdoor and mountain sports with Nicola, who has been enthusiastically using our equipment for some five years.
We met with this charismatic athlete and talked about High Performance Mental Coaching and her life’s journey.
Experiencing nature as the key to personal development
Nature is at the very heart of Nicola Thost’s life journey. After all, both her sporting achievements and her work as a coach have taken place in nature:
“I have always felt my happiest when I’m out in nature, even when I was a little girl.Snowboarding was what allowed me to find myself. The great outdoors was where I found peace as a little girl, which wouldn't have been possible anywhere else. For this reason alone, I made sure that nature would be a big part of my life. I find nature to be healing, and it is closely connected with my consciousness. Even as a snowboarder, I never wanted to go on the lines that were really dangerous or spectacular, but preferred those which were in keeping with the aesthetics of nature and felt natural.”
In this style, Nicola shaped the world of freestyle snowboarding.
Of equal importance to the theatre of nature are the conscious decisions that Nicola has taken in her life.
In 2017, for example, she ended her second professional career as a freerider on a high - at the summit of Wildseeloder, with a wildcard for Alaska in her hands, the next stop on the Freeride World Tour - precisely 20 years after winning her first major Masters World Cup at the "Lords of the Boards” down in the valley.
Similar to the "Springboard" project, which Nicola brought to a successful conclusion with a farewell tour in 2019 after 10 years.
“In recent years, as an active athlete, I began developing my work as a High Performance Mental Coach to branch out into new areas, including professionally.
I asked myself what I wanted to do in the next 20 years, and the kind of people whom I would like to spend time with and work with.
It's good to be able to bring projects to a close consciously, rather than waiting for them to fall apart or until you don't have any other choice.
The great opportunity for change is in embracing it, becoming familiar with it, and practicing it. On a step-by-step and beneficial basis and with the support, which is helpful to us. That’s how we become the master of our destiny - this is what I’m living, what I love doing, and what I’m passing on to others.”
Snowboarding was Nicola’s passion and became her profession. She experienced the same sense of enthusiasm when organising camps and working with young people.
With these experiences and her education as a graduate of sports science and a mental coach, Nicola now accompanies, encourages and supports extraordinary people to live their dreams and turn them into reality.
The little girl who coached herself to Olympic champion
“I never had a personal coach, in those days things were very different. It goes without saying that I was inspired by some special people, including the best halfpipe riders, successful entrepreneurs and my physiotherapists. I looked at things closely and I didn’t ask myself whether I was capable of something, but how to do it!
I always read a lot on my travels - books and articles about sports and personal development. Reflecting on things in great detail is also part of my highly sensitive disposition - the experiences I gather in my life become important and valuable lessons in my life.
I think that’s why I’ve become such a versatile instructor. As a young woman, I coached myself to Olympic champion, to three no. 1 comebacks after injuries, and through personal challenges.
I love seeing the young athletes - but also the independent businesspeople or customers from the creative sector whom I coach - develop, and gaining the self-confidence, clarity and strength they need to become successful in the path that they are taking.
“It’s about dreams that we don't dare to dream.”
Nicola’s dominant sense is her sense of perception. This sensitivity, with which she gauges people and the environment, is a superb asset to her as a coach. She has learned how to put this perception into words over the course of several years. It is her key to helping people find their hidden dreams again and putting them onto the path to making them come true.
“It’s part of my personality that I see the world differently and in greater detail. The people who turn to me as a coach are often quite similar to me. They are often athletes or successful businesspeople. They live with the challenge of having to draw on their potential in a certain situation when they are under pressure. In this respect, it is necessary to learn how to look at oneself. To be aware of one’s thoughts, feelings and ideologies and to act proactively. Just one thought from the outside can have an impact on everything. I am able to provide them with supportive mechanisms that they integrate in their lives.”
The goal of the individual units in connection with experiencing nature and exercise is greater quality of life, successful achievements and satisfaction.
“The magic of nature calms the mind, revitalises the senses and reveals what is important to us from the bottom of our hearts. Sometimes in life, nature becomes our pharmacy: It leads us back to ourselves and makes us healthy, happy and fulfilled.”
Fotos: Nicola Thost/THE PATH und Chris Gollhofer.
