The perfect wing

If the wind is too strong for hang-or paragliding, there are other toys, and Ecki quickly got them up the mountain. It was fun trying to fly this wing - Ecki has already mastered it, while it looked like wild, uncontrollable aerobatics when I tried to steer it ;)
The northerly was howling first, and it didn´t look too promising for flying, but then the wind died down and we were finally able to take off from Kronplatz. It had rained a lot on Saturday, the lift was very weak, so I could not fly over to Sand to join Alex, Guido and Regina at the flying day.
No more comps here in northern Europe this year, but they just finished the Santa Cruz Flats in Arizona. Congratulations to Kraig Coomber for winning that great comp after 7 tasks, Jonny Durand came 2nd and Carl Wallbank 3rd. Moyes rules!

Italian Breakfast

It was the greatest joy this morning when Alex taught me how to use the big pro cappuccino machine here in the hotel "Gran Paradiso". I managed the coffee, just the milk did not quite turn into the perfect "Bauschaum"-froth. I think I have to try again... ;) Oli, you would marry me for this cappuccino, best one I ever made!

Flying with Regina and Alex

Yesterday Regina and I went to St Cassian to visit Alex Ploner and go flying in the Dolomites together. His friend Roman went up the mountain with us, so we were four hang gliders in the air. Even though the forecast was marginal, we had a beautiful flight from Kronplatz. We filmed a lot, Im just reading everything into the computer, and we will edit a nice short movie soon. This weekend there will be a big party of flight at Sand in Taufers, but the weather looks quite dreadful. We will see. Tomorrow we might have a chance to fly again, and then Saturday. It is like a holiday here, just great scenery, friendly people and a secret language called "Ladinisch". More tomorrow.

Sao Paulo, Brazil

And the heli-taxis are still buzzing the city of Sao Paulo. I just arrived this morning and will only be back on Monday, so if I don´t answer telephone calls, might be because we are 5 hours back in time here in Brazil. The sun is out, but when we landed this morning, it was quite gusty. Up to 48 km/h at only 1000m... the clouds look a little blown apart, so I will just go training in the gym and if I am brave enough, in the cold pool too (it gets below 10 degrees these winter nights, and the water is not heated...)

Somewhere in Bavaria

Back in Germany, up to adidas to Herzogenaurach where I met a few of the other outdoor athletes today. Amazing people doing incredible stuff, I am so lucky to have this chance. There are journalists from the international press interviewing us for outdoor magazines, and we got to see the center of the shoe development, superinteresting! Now I know why the adidas gear works so well... ;)
Tomorrow we will go climbing with some of the best, like Thomas Huber and Beat Kammerlander. We had a blast when those guys were trying to show us the way to the hotel with their gps and got really lost ;) ;) at least they find their way in the mountains!

Kolkata, India

After a brief stay in Munich with a lot of rain and cold, I am glad to be back in summer. Stinking hot and humid here, it is not yet midday, and you see the clouds already overdeveloping... won´t be long before the first rain of the day!
Im in Kolkata for the first time and now Im curious to explore this vast place of 11 million inhabitants. Behind the hotel, there is a soccer field (the one you see on the photo), so it is amazingly quiet - the most quiet night I ever had in India, usually you hear the cars and tuk tuks honking all night.