“Where am I?” the small frightened creature asked the snowman who suddenly appeared at his side. “You fell into the snow, don’t you think that’s funny?” replied the snowman. “Snow?!”, what a strange word. What is that?” asked the small strange being.

“Before I tell you what it is, first tell me your name and where you come from,” answered the snowman with the carrot nose.

“My name is Snowli.” “What a lovely name!” replied the snowman, “and what a coincidence because it sounds just like “snow” and that’s what you landed in! You know, you landed in a snow village called the “Swiss Snow Kids’ Village”.

Surprised and happy, Snowli made friends with the big white snowman and told him his adventures. His parents had sent him on a wonderful journey through the universe so that he could get to know space, other planets and other peoples. That’s why he landed on our planet Earth.

“And now Mr Long Nose, can you tell me what this cold, white stuff is?” The snowman bent down towards him and began to tell the fascinating story of snow.

“Snowli, you have had a very long journey to get to planet Earth. And you know something? Snow also has a very long and difficult journey to make before it lands on the ground! Snow is not just frozen rain. The delicate white snow flakes form inside clouds. The clouds are like a factory that makes small crystals and these are joined together to make snowflakes. When it is warm, the flakes melt on their way down to Earth and become raindrops. Only in winter, when it is very cold, do the flakes fall as snow all the way down to Earth.”

Snowli could hardly believe that such incredible things happened on Earth and listened attentively to the snowman: “As they fall, the flakes are sometimes borne far away by the wind and they pass through damp, cold and warmer layers of air. These layers of air change the flakes which then take on the most incredible shapes. There are stars, columns, needles, triangles or squares. There are hundreds and thousands of different shapes and nobody knows whether two the same have ever fallen on the Earth!”

“Do you know which one is the most beautiful shape?” asked the snowman. “No,” replied Snowli totally confused. “The most beautiful shape is definitely the star! That is a snowflake with six spikes. When it next snows, we will try to look at one closely. You will see how evenly formed and how fragile it is, almost as if it cannot be from this planet!”

“But why do different temperatures change the shape of the flakes?” asked Snowli. “When it is very cold,“ continued the snowman, “the snow is dry and powdery because the flakes cannot stick together. But when it is warmer, the snow melts a little and becomes wet. That’s why it is much easier to build a snowman with wet snow than with dry snow because it sticks together much better!”

Snowli, full of curiosity, suddenly asked Mr Long Nose: “How many snowflakes are you made of?” “Oh! Oh! Oh! That is a difficult question, Snowli! I am made of so many that it is impossible to count them all!” replied Mr Long Nose with a smile.

Snowli listened attentively to Mr Long Nose and was absolutely fascinated by his story. “You can glide, brake, do turns and even jump on snow,” explained the snowman.

“Doesn’t that hurt your paws?” asked Snowli, who was impressed. “Do I look stupid?” answered the snowman smiling, “I forgot to tell you that you can only glide really fast, do some incredible turns and come to a sudden stop with the help of some very special equipment. Sometimes, if there is a lot of fresh snow, you can only move forwards with great difficulty and when the snow is frozen, you need to move like an acrobat to keep your balance.”

“Mr Long Nose, would you describe this “very special equipment” to me?”

“This ‘very special equipment’ is ‘skis’ or ‘snowboards’,” continued the snowman. “Skis have a long and amazing story just like snow. They were invented thousands of years ago and their inventors used them in just the same way we use them today. In the early days, you didn’t use them for sliding along but to stop yourself from sinking into deep snow. You used them every day in winter when the snow covered hills and valleys to get around or hunt animals. Skis were more like snowshoes then. Like all articles in daily use, they have developed over the years, changed shape and are an important means of locomotion for gliding and getting around.”

“Long, short, narrow or wide, in painted or unpainted wood, the skis are no longer used for the same purpose as they used to be. Now, they are considered leisure equipment. You will see, there is nothing nicer than skiing through a forest.”

“And the snowboard?,” asked Snowli. “Snowboarding is a modern sport which was invented to bring fun and excitement to young people. It was those crazy people that like surfing on giant waves in the sea who had the idea of surfing on snow too. The great snow sports family not only consists of skiing and snowboarding but also cross-country skiing and telemark skiing, with the last one being the so-called daddy of the family.”

The snowman was an amazing source of information and Snowli was the most curious creature that had ever landed on the Earth … They took a walk together.

The snow village was so big that you could hardly see to the end. With each gust of wind, it snowed again from large trees, which painted the village white again like paintbrushes.

All day long Snowli and Mr Long Nose played together, ran after each other and romped in the snow. Snowli was happy: he had discovered the earth and also a very special village, a very dear friend and a fascinating, white, soft thing, but…

“My little feet are freezing!” Snowli remarked in surprise. Without wasting any time, Mr Langnase took him to a small wooden house, handed him a fine hot drink, biscuits and lit a fire in the fireplace. He also gave him a scarf so big that all you could see were his big eyes. He also gave him warm socks, shoes, a pair of gloves, big sunglasses and a funny hat.

Because it was so warm inside, Mr Longnose had to leave the house as quickly as possible, because he was beginning to melt! But Snowli, tired from his journey and all the impressions he had gained, fell asleep next to the fireplace. He slept deeply and soundly. So deeply that he stayed in the house for several days.

It was good to sleep after such a long journey with all the incredible things there were on the Earth, all of which were so new for our little friend.

The best thing, however, was that he could sleep in the certainty that he was safe, and in a wonderful place where you could learn so many new and interesting things and he dreamt and dreamt …

Mr Long Nose had put so many clothes on him that he could hardly walk. He stumbled to a forest where he saw a bear behind a tree who was doing rather strange exercises. The bear was moving on peculiar boards and despite his weight, he didn’t sink into the snow. Snowli plucked up the courage to ask the bear what he was doing there.

“I’m playing in the snow, sometimes with skis, sometimes with a snowboard! I go through the forest, turn right round and then go forwards and backwards! Would you like to try it too?” asked the bear.

“Why not!” replied Snowli.

First he tried on the skis! They both had such fun and played cat-and-mouse games together. Snowli quickly learnt how to run away on skis and hide behind the trees!

The bear was very nice. He gave him so many tips that Snowli felt a bit like a young bear. What an indescribable feeling!

Snowli travelled further in his dream and found a beautiful slope with a slight incline. He began skiing down it and travelled faster and faster. He couldn’t stop! Completely petrified, he closed his eyes and when he opened them again, he felt himself travelling more slowly again and to his amazement, he was standing in front of a penguin!

“My goodness, that was really scary!” The penguin took his hand and comforted him: “I will show you how to ski safely and quickly on the snow. I will also show you how to stop because that is very important!”

Even though he didn’t always manage it and sometimes fell over, he had a lot of fun. The soft snow eased his falls and it didn’t hurt. It was also easy to get up again and continue skiing.

The penguin was just as nice as the bear. He gave him so many tips that Snowli felt like a young penguin. What an indescribable feeling!

Snowli skied faster and faster. At the bottom, the slope was even steeper and there were trees everywhere! He had to be careful not to hit any! “Ski, stop, climb up to the left, ski, stop and then climb up to the right, this is hard work,” thought Snowli.

Next to a large silver fir tree, puffing like a locomotive, he suddenly heard a strange laugh and then a voice saying to him: “What a funny way to move! What are you doing? You need to learn how to do proper turns!” Snowli looked around and suddenly saw a small snake on a branch.

“A sn…, sn… snake!”, stuttered Snowli, surprised to see this not exactly commonplace animal. “Don’t worry, I can show you how to do any turns you want to!” said the snake. The little snake was a very kind and attentive playmate. He explained to Snowli how to do turns and how to avoid all the obstacles in the forest. One turn to the right, one to the left and even backwards: what a joy!

Snowli and his new friend also had races to see who was faster, once on skis and then on the snowboard!

The snake gave him so many new tips that Snowli felt like a young snake. What an indescribable feeling!

“Here a turn and there a turn,” sang Snowli as he skied towards the valley. He completed one turn after another and easily avoided all obstacles, braked to a halt to admire the mountains and sometimes he followed animal tracks by sidestepping. After another tree, he suddenly felt light, very light, far too light …

“But, but, but I can’t jump let alone fly!” he screamed, beside himself with fear. Fortunately the jump wasn’t too far and the soft snow broke his fall. He had hardly recovered from the initial shock when he saw a strange animal with large paws directly in front of him, standing upright.

“Hello little one,” he said, “would you like me to teach you how to jump?” “Please do,” replied Snowli, “I would even like to learn to fly. But who are you?” “I am a kangaroo, the king of jumping. I can teach you how to jump but not how to fly.”

The kangaroo built lots of moguls and jumps. Snowli sometimes felt as though he was touching the sky with his hands. He often jumped up so high and so far that he thought he would never touch the ground again.

The kangaroo, king of jumping, gave him so many tips that Snowli felt like a young kangaroo himself. What an indescribable feeling!

Before he waved goodbye to the kangaroo, Snowli jumped one more time. The jump was so high that he thought he was back in space, on the way back home.

“No!” shouted Snowli, “I want to stay on the Earth! There are still so many new things I want to learn!”

Snowli was so excited that he woke up! Thank goodness he was still in the small wooden house in the snow village. It was very warm inside. Outside, the snowman was in his place, just as motionless as his carrot nose.

Snowli stretched and felt somewhat strange. He sat down and noticed that his body somehow felt stronger. When he lifted the blanket, he saw that his legs had become blue and firm. His upper body was now a beautiful orange colour, the same as the penguin’s. His paws were now yellow and hairy, like that of a bear.

Snowli turned around and realised that a red snake’s tail was sprouting out of his kangaroo hindquarters. Full of astonishment, he stood before the mirror and realised that the only thing that hadn’t changed was his head. His beautiful head – white, soft, with large blue eyes and long ears. From these features, Snowli realised that he was still himself.

His body had changed, however, and had taken on the shape of the animals that he had met in his dream who had helped him to have so much fun on skis and snowboard.

After recovering somewhat, Snowli decided to go outside and tell his strange story to the snowman with the carrot nose. He had hardly got outside when a crowd of children greeted him with a beautiful song! All the children wanted to learn to ski and ride snowboards and they all wanted a friend for this adventure: Snowli.

Mr Long Nose hadn’t moved, nevertheless some children swore they had seen him smile and straighten up his carrot nose when he saw Snowli playing with the children.

Snowli was the friend of all the young champions in the snow village. He brought joy to them all, and all of them were interested because he could now do everything that he wanted to on the snow with skis and snowboard. He travelled forwards and backwards without any difficulty, he could ski, turn, jump and even invent funny tricks, which was actually his speciality!

Do you want to try out a few fun tricks on the snow? Then ask Snowli for a few tips. Then ask Snowli for some advice.