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Oh my god! Awesome!
Oh boy...
Nice ey, the Schoberkogel. Let's go speedriding.
Speedriding! Speedriding! Come on, come...
I am Paul K.
And I am Paul G.
Both of us are students of mechanical engineering in Graz.
So we both have a lot of spare time for hobbies.
Speedriding is a combination of flying and skiing.
Simply paragliding fast forward.
In comparison to speedriding, paragliding is two times slower...
and you have twice as much time for every reaction.
The idea of the Speedraid film project came up while speedriding in Austria.
One day Paul came along with a list of ten mountains.
I just took a map and marked the ten most interesting mountains...
within the array of the Alps.
So we instantly had the perfect combination...
of speedriding and mountaineering.
Preparation time was about two months.
To save money, we bought an old minibus...
and converted it from a simple transporter into a comfortable camper.
Since I chose the mountains from a map without knowing them,
we could not know what actually awaits us there.
For sure we planned the project thoroughly,
but a certain risk always remains.
In the course of the project, we learned quite fast what happens if you make mistakes.
The consequences of such mistakes became obvious at the Eiger and the Königsspitze.
We started the whole thing with great enthusiasm,
so we did not think much about the dangers and risks.
The take-off conditions on Piz Palü were definitely rough.
It would not have made any sense to try with a normal paraglider.
After our trip, my father asked why I chose take-off places where I could die.
I could not explain it to him, but I am definitely not eager to die.
Hey man! How awesome! I don't get it.
Boy, I hope Paul comes down here safely.
Rough take-off conditions: following wind and twenty meters to ski down...
before you come to the cornice.
I surely do not want to put my life at risk.
Ok, it won't work like that.
I almost went back down that part on Piz Palü.
It became overcast and the take-off was really short.
*** Paul, the weather is getting worse!
Paul to Gero, do you copy? The conditions are rather bad, we take off in 5 minutes.
And clouds pull in from the right, so we don't have much time left.
The most terrifying moment is preparing for the take-off.
Then you wait for a second, take a deep breath and let go.
Famous last words: I love doing that!
Now there is nearly no wind.
Damn powder snow.
All right? - Yes
Now there is wind again, isn't it?
Don't know
Ok. Go, go, go...
***, now there is quite some following wind from behind.
Could you maybe tell me, when there's a little less wind?
*** wind!
How awesome was that!
How was your take-off?
Man, that was rough. There was quite some wind from behind.
That sausage tastes kind of awful.
I imagined that this would be our style:
Approach the mountain quickly, work with the conditions we find there,
carry our gliders up the mountain and go down fast - by flying of course.
Like the alpine style was defined: without camps, without porters.
Just take with you what you need for the day and make the most out of it.
We go for a little walk.
In speedriding, it is extremely important to know the terrain,
especially the contours.
We are constantly checking that out, as we are walking up the mountain.
After 5 days of waiting, finally good weather.
A little wind, but that should work.
No, it's good. I'm ok.
Personally, I am excited not so much about the beauty of the mountain,
but about the fact that I can climb up 5000 feet of difference in altitude.
That is what I like, because I can challenge myself for a certain time.
Grüezi!
We are doing a little bit of climbing here.
Where are we climbing up?
Up it goes, up on the ridge.
From far down there we came up.
Nice!
Shall I belay you?
No, it's alright. How does it look like up there?
It goes around the corner, but basically we're on top.
We are here on the ridge.
You can jump around here.
The rope gets tangled up everywhere.
We made it!
Actually I forgot the name of this summit, but *** it.
It is the nicest summit so far. Especially because we're the only ones up here.
Crossing the glacier, we jumped over some crevasses.
And this is where we go down.
We will be ready for take-off in about 20 minutes.
On the summit you need to change your equipment, from mountaineering to speedriding.
That means, ripping the climbing skins from your skis, putting on the harness,
preparing the glider, sorting out the lines and then: take-off!
A little nervous?
Not right now, because we are in an absolute lee position...
but around the corner we have 20 mph wind speed.
We are preparing the gliders, then we ski around the corner and take off from there.
Where is the wind coming from suddenly? That means it is getting stronger around the corner.
Gero, do you copy? The wind is strong, we got to get out of here.
Gero!
I would love to take off now. I am kind of ready.
How can I ever unravel this mess?
Seems like I snagged my glider on something.
Maybe not so nice to look at, but I can say...
...the smell is worse.
Great!
I thought we have to call off the whole Speedraid Project.
When I called you, you said: "I fell and my foot hurts really bad."
Hi!
I am alive!
I just had an accident on the glacier...
My foot hurts, but it is stabilized in the ski boot. I hope it's not broken.
That was a rough slam.
I bumped into an ice wall at full speed.
Then I fell over it and 5 meters down on the other side.
No, you don't have to come here. Ok, bye.
Damn. Are you alright?
Well, if something's broken, it's the foot. But I'm not sure yet.
Dude, be carefull!
That was kind of unpredictable. I thought everything's fine...
...suddenly there is this wall in front of me.
I really fear, that the leg is broken. It hurts.
Can you see him disappearing in that crevasse?
Hey Paul, sit down, relax.
Now it's time to wait.
Desperate situation.
The mistake at the Königspitze was...
that we did not go up the same way we were flying down later.
I told the doctor that I have 5 more weeks on this trip...
and that they have to fix it somehow.
Initially, he wanted to send me home.
Did the doctor say: "More flying less skiing in speedriding?"
Did he prescribe that?
From the weather forecast we knew...
that it would change for the worse in the afternoon.
And hiking up, we saw the weather front approaching.
So the question was:
Do we go up to reach the summit...
or do we take off from where we are?
Hey, what's up?
Up there, we are going to make use of the ice axe.
I think we made the most difficult part of the ravine.
Now, let's prepare for the speedride.
Because of the fresh snow, we will launch from here.
I have to jump around to make a lane here.
Everything ok!
Suggested CT is refused by the patient.
Respite suggested, if physical complaints...
Who shall understand that? Doctor's language.
X-ray shows possible fracture.
I would say we go on, no?
And then it says: Speedride forever!
It is 14°F and I don't think it's cold.
Why is the gas not burning?
It's too cold.
Dude, that smells good!
Really good, don't you think?
It was about time.
I could eat three more plates.
Cover the feet with the blanket.
We could cook the whole night through.
I have to get my sleeping bag out of the rear.
Jeppa!
Dude, it's damn cold.
Here we have a sleeping bag...
further, a sleeping bag...
and then, another sleeping bag.
To enwrap ourselves...
so we don't fell the 5°F that much.
Like banana split.
Don't fall.
Morning.
How was it?
Well, really warm!
Getting out of the sleeping bag is a problem.
Though, it was a little chilly.
Now we head down south...
because there is an orographic barrier in the north.
There is some sort of barrier...
However, they predict one week of bad weather.
That's why we go south...
to Monte Rosa.
The biggest drawback in the whole project was the bad weather in April.
Last year, we had generally good conditions,
and this april was really unsettled.
We are on our way to Monte Rosa.
We could not plan anything.
We said: Maybe the weather is good. Let's see.
There was no time to calm down. That was stressful too.
It's windy.
There are helicopters flying around down there.
No chance for a speedride.
We're not very lucky today!
We have to turn here.
If you accomplish something...
you can experience the most glorious moments in your life.
But it can be frustrating...
if something does not turn out the way it was planned.
It's cold.
Finally perfect flying conditions.
You've got to take every chance you get.
If there is one week of good weather...
you can decide yourself if you want to go up the mountain today or tomorrow...
or if you rather relax that day.
But that just did not work out.
We had to take every chance we got,
because the weather might turn bad again the next day.
We never knew if we were going to fly or to ski down.
The motivation certainly was to go up fast,
because than there was a bigger chance to fly down.
Weather is great here...
...on Gran Paradiso.
You just have to take advantage of the good conditions.
We're now at the Barre des Écrins.
We did not reach the summit,
but it was nice anyway.
Well, who knows?
I hope it stays like that.
Up here definitely not.
Ok.
That's good.
Miss you too.
Yeah, the sun is out.
Time to dry our stuff.
We are in beautiful Finale Ligure.
Bella Italia!
Just a moment ago the sun was out.
In an alpine situation, you will experience moments...
where you have to concentrate on survival and safety.
There is a certain attraction to that.
There is no going back. You cannot say: "Ok, I had enough now!"
Who climbed this wall in 2 hours and 50 minutes?
It was Ueli Steck, I think.
2 hours 57 minutes or something like that.
But I think, somebody has set a new record since.
We could also approach it from the other side.
I don't know.
All I know is that if we fly down on this side...
I am going to face a lot of fear.
I noticed that the harder the route and the intenser the experience,
the more I live the moment.
And experiences like that moment on the Eiger...
bring you back to reality.
Paul was sliding down that slope,
from the upper part to the point where the rock is.
There was rotten ice, with air entrapments.
At first I thought, I was skiing in powder...
...and suddenly I was sliding down the mountain.
I wanted to go down 10 meters for take-off.
I walked without my poles, without ice axe, just slipping down.
And then I thought: No! That can't be the end.
So I pulled the skis around and got hold on the last ridge.
But he had some trouble too?
One of my crampons snagged on my trousers and I fell.
Could you fetch your ice axe?
Yeah, but it takes some time untill it sticks.
Bad feeling, huh?
Something I don't want to experience again.
To slide and to know that this might be the end,
was an intense experience.
I do not want to experience that again.
And for sure a moment I will never forget.
We are on the Eiger glacier.
We had bad weather first, but now it is getting better.
The Eiger!
World-famous mountain!
The Eiger! I came from faraway to climb it.
The conditions were really dangerous.
You could not really tell, whether the crampons stick or not.
It's nice here on the Eiger.
Kind of steep.
We didn't expect the ice. Too much ice here.
I hope we'll reach the summit soon.
I fell back and sat down on a stone,
beaucause my motivation was declining.
I knew that climbing down again...
would be a huge problem.
Everything ok?
Damn!
Paul has got a cramp in his foot.
Eigercramp, the classical Eigercramp.
That is quite a bold venture, we are aiming for.
I am here on the summit of the Eiger.
The view is absolutely amazing.
This is a nice summit.
The take-off place.
That is the Eiger north face.
The fog down in the valley lifted.
I thought: Damn, it would be great to fly down now.
That would have been so much easier.
The last few meters.
That was rather icy, wasn't it?
Dude, the altitude gives me a headache.
Today was a sick day!
I took my time.
I repeated every step thoroughly.
A safe take-off is worth some 5 extra minutes of preparation.
Everybody is responsible for himself now.
I hope we meet down there.
Yeah, me too.
Climbing up I concentrated on every move.
And then there was one second where I thought:
"That's easy. Only 5 meters to ski down."
Take care you don't slip.
*** hell, get in there.
What's the matter?
***! I nearly killed myself!
Let's get out of here.
Damn poles, get in there!
Right side to the left, left side to the right.
Paul, see you in hell.
We are too young, and too ambitious.
I'm just glad that I beamed myself out of there.
When I think about Christian climbing down for another 4 hours.
And suddenly the Eiger vanished. That is so far from reality.
You're up there in the worst situation ever...
and 5 minutes later, you're down here and completely safe.
Today I celebrate my second birthday.
A large beer, please!
Me too, please!
A small one, please!
Further down I thought I can ski down easily.
Then I recognized that it was unskiable crusted snow.
A nice bar you picked.
The first one you saw, right?
I was so thirsty.
What a day!
Normally, that's the way up.
After a good flight and a safe landing,
when it gets quiet around you,
then you are redeemed.
Everything worked out well, you had a great experience,
you can sit back and enjoy the safety.
In the mountains everything is simple:
You have a goal in mind and you work towards it.
That's quite simple.
For me, alpinisme has no deeper meaning.
Or does it have a spiritual meaning to you?
I just like being in the mountains.
I like that,
there is a big mountain, a huge wall, a challenge.
And you are going for it.
The alpine area will always attract me,
because I know what it offers.
For me the Speedraid Project is not over yet.
30 years ago, mountaineers trained in the Alps...
to make first ascents on really high mountains.
The Speedraid Project was such a training too.
Speedriding is addictive.
For me it is ultimate freedom.
You can ski on the ground and fly through the air.
I think speedriding is a dangerous drug,
because you want to increase the dose really fast.
The satisfaction does not last for long.
You have to move on and achieve new goals.
Until someone gets hurt...