When you look around her gym, High Country Fitness, nestled above the NSW Snowy Mountain’s township of Jindabyne, it’s easy to see how excellence in the sporting world is aligned to success in business.

The walls are lined with photos and memorabilia from Olympic winter athletes. Penned messages of thanks from those who have trained or rehabilitated under her guidance grace an autograph wall.

Gym equipment is neatly laid out; the free weights area is organised with military precision.

Giant TV screens line the cycle and group fitness studio areas as clients enjoy both virtual and live classes. Allied health treatment rooms for massage and physiotherapists fringe the main section of the gym.

In her office, tucked away at the back of the centre, files are colour coded and positioned according to size; nothing is out of place.

This is Manuela’s world. Her happy place.

This is the business she dreamed about and the one she built in the wake of her retirement after representing Australia at the 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympic Games.

“One of my teammates used to say, I’m ‘stamped urgent’ about life,” Manuela said laughingly.

“At the time we thought the saying was pretty funny, but I’ve adopted it in all I do.

“I make life a priority. I want to get things done.”

An urgency for excellence has underpinned Manuela’s success as an athlete, a businesswoman and as an investor in the future stars of Australian winter sport.

As an athlete, she boasts a long and distinguished career on the world stage, competing for 12 years on the World Cup circuit, at two Olympic Games and being the first Australian woman to make the Olympic moguls final in 2006.

As a businesswoman, she has brought a simple business plan to life revolutionizing snow sports fitness.

As an investor, she is giving back to the next generation of winter sport athletes, through sponsorship initiatives and her involvement in guiding their rehabilitation, strength and conditioning needs.

While some people may marvel at the speed at which Manuela has embraced these roles, you only need to look at the pace and tenacity she has showed challenging the world’s toughest mogul fields to understand her drive and ambition.

“The Olympics definitely taught me resilience,” she said.

“It taught me belief in myself beyond anything. The magic of the Olympics is that anything can happen, and often, anything does happen.

“Every four years is our time to show everyone what their belief in us means.

“I love the Olympics because it is the pinnacle of sport. I take that same approach in everything I do.”

After finishing 14th at the Torino 2006 Winter Olympics, Manuela shifted her focus from elite sport to building her fitness empire on the shores of Lake Jindabyne.

She returned to her hometown from the Games and within weeks threw herself into setting up a gym at a holiday resort. But it wasn’t as celebrious as it sounds.

“They gave me this tiny room in the car park,” she said, remembering her humble beginnings.

“It was leaking, it stank. It was a storage room. It had so much old crap in it, but I measured it out and thought, I can make this work.

“I painted it in vibrant colours, purples and oranges, and had my Olympic paraphernalia and posters everywhere. I built a little stage and bought seven spin bikes.

“I ran 25 classes on my own each week. I’d run the 6am class followed by the 7.15am then 9.30am, a lunch time and evening class.

“I’d be behind the reception and check everyone in, then I’d jump on the bike on the stage and lead the class. 

“Immediately after the class I was behind reception desk trying to book customers in for another session. It was ridiculous!”

Less than four months after her return from the Olympics, High Country Fitness was born.

Today, Manuela’s new gym sits at the top of town. Adjacent to Jindabyne Central School, over-looking the shopping centre and has the sought-after lake view she has long desired. 

The two-story premises was converted from a Swiss restaurant in 2011 and impresses with high ceilings and rustic alpine beams. It has been renovated several times since – and there are more plans for expansion.

Her commitment to the business is illustrated by the fact she sleeps just five hours a night and spends her spare time reading books written by business gurus Jim Collins and Mark Bouris.

“One of my friends asked me really early on, how do you know this is going to work?” she says.

“My response was really simple. I've lived here my entire life. I know this is going to work because it's a gut instinct and I trust it.

“I’m a person who will do anything. I will work, work, work to make it better.”

Manuela says she did “a lot of adulting” in the wake of her retirement from the national team celebrating her 30th birthday, buying a house and starting her business.

While her transition from freestyle skiing was not without its emotional and physical challenges.

“The question I asked myself after the Games was: how long can I do this for?” she confided.

“When you're in a winter sport in Australia, you're paying for everything. I had some great sponsors helping me along the way and mum and dad.

“But I had this gut check moment asking what will I get out of this if instead of 14th next time, I'm 10th or ninth or even eighth? Is it worth another four years?

“I’m not getting on with my passions and my cause. My body also had a fair rattling on the moguls.

“I love skiing. I love the freestyle skiing community. I love winter sports, but I know I am much more than that. I have so much more to give.”

Born to Swiss ski instructors, Manuela and her younger brother and fellow freestyle mogul skier, Andrea, were brought up in idyllic Jindabyne in the 1980s.

Her parents Ursula and Karl met while working in Canada in the 1960s. They were married in Las Vegas and travelled the world for eight years before starting a family and settling in the Tyrolean Village on the east shore of the lake where they still live today.

Her father remembers seeing the old town of Jindabyne before it was flooded in the late 1950s. He was one among the first ski instructors at Thredbo and later took a job as a fitter and turner with the Snowy Hydro Scheme. 

Her mother worked as a bookkeeper. She also established and ran the town’s trampoline club for 33 years.

Manuela and her brother attended Jindabyne Public School before taking a 60-minute bus ride to Cooma for their high school years. After heavy snowfalls, she recalls “wagging” school to go skiing, “as long as we did our homework.”

The duo chased the eternal winter traveling the world together for more than a decade as they competed in events throughout Europe and North America.

Manuela says her parents were committed to ensuring their children took the most of every opportunity.

She remembers her mother not being surprised at all when Andrea voiced his want to do stunt work for his year 10 work experience.

Unphased by her thrill-seeking children’s pursuits, Ursula organised for him to spend a week in Sydney with acclaimed stuntman Grant Page.

It was a week well spent.

Andrea has worked as a stunt performer and stunt riggor since he retired from international skiing in 2002 - starring in films including The Wolverine, Hacksaw Ridge and the Great Gatsby.

“My parents are hard workers,” Manuela said.

“We didn't have lots of money, but we never went without anything when it came to our sport. My mum and dad saved to get us overseas; to get us to our next competition.

“We never had takeaway. We never ate out. We never went on little weekend holidays but we went to all our trampoline and skiing competitions.

“I look back on it now, they had both my brother and I in the same sport, it was so expensive. What they did for us is huge. I am so grateful.”

One thing Manuela did learn from her parents is the importance punctuality and organisation plays in success.

“It’s a Swiss thing” she joked.

“You hear that saying set your clocks to a Swiss train. I grew up with my parents saying, if I wasn't five minutes early, I was late.

“You can show someone how much you respect them by being on time. Those are some of my values. If I say something I'm going to do it.

“I know we need signed contracts today, but my word is my word.

“One of my favourite things is to under promise and over-deliver, go the extra mile and do all the things you need to do.

“You also don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression. It’s important to present as a good human being.”

Manuela embraced this approach throughout her sporting career, always grateful to those locals who donated a restaurant gift voucher, a pair of gloves or a beanie to support a fundraising raffle.

She has never forgotten, nor taken it for granted. She still writes thank you notes and is committed to giving back to her community through service to snow sports.

Over the years, she has been a regular speaker at local schools, encouraging students to follow their dreams and to embrace physical fitness, health and wellbeing.

Together with 2002 Olympics teammate and friend Alice Jones, she started the Future Olympic Scholarship Fund to help emerging Olympians with the costs associated with winter sports.

Among those to receive $5,000 support were now-Olympians Alex Almoukov (biathlon), Ben Sim (cross-country skiing), Nicole Parks and Ramone Cooper (freestyle skiing).

“Everyone knows me,” Manuela says with a contagious, yet humble energy when talking about her community.

“They’ve been so amazing. I’m so grateful for their support both as an athlete and now with my business.

“The Olympics is connection on a global scale but it’s also about celebrating and support at a local level. It’s important for me to continue that. To invest in others.”

Asked if she has taken the time to reflect on her achievements as an athlete, businesswoman and investor in winter sports?

“As athletes, I think we are always so quick to try and move on and better ourselves,” Manuela said.

“We don't ever stop to reflect; to say I’ve done well in the circumstance, I’m proud of what I’ve done. It’s just not something that happens.”

Perhaps now is the time to ‘stamp urgent’ on doing just that.

Catriona Dixon