Less than four months after her return from the Olympics, High Country Fitness was born.
Today Berchtold’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.”
Berchtold 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 confides.
“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, Berchtold 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.
Berchtold 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, travelling the world together for more than a decade as they competed in events throughout Europe and North America.
Berchtold’s 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,” Berchtold says.
“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 Berchtold did learn from her parents is the importance punctuality and organisation plays in success.
“It’s a Swiss thing” she jokes.
“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 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.”