The competition was cancelled due to west wind, unfortunately we still don’t have a west take-off in the region. I checked Google-earth for some trails and went for a hiking trip. I aimed for a 1600m high mountain but missed my goal. They have no signs nor maps here and finding your way is often just a game of trial and error. I got stuck between two of those cliff-sections and ended up crossing sideways for a long time, no way to go up or down.

Training effect was affected by many stops for...

I am in Linzhou for a few flights, that is a sleepy one-million town out of nowhere in China. They have the best lamb-legs ever but you cannot get them between 2 and 6 o’clock in the afternoon. They have a little competition here, three tasks flown yet. Today however, everybody was brought to another city called Anyang for an opening ceremony. Those are always huge here, much bigger than in any worldwide event I’ve ever been to – and today, the ceremony was more important than the flying, a...

I have a lot of fun lately on the mountains surrounding the city. I can go by bus, walk up and fly. Yesterday I went by taxi though, maybe twenty people couldn't get into the bus because it was so full already - around 8 o'clock in the morning these buses get ridiculously crowded!

However, there was a perfect wind on my recently found take-off again. It is a small area without bushes, barely wide enough to spread a glider. Someone has planted bushes all over my little take-off but I see little...

We get nice weather lately, the temperatures are still nice for training and the flying works too! I have finally found a little area without bushes on Wutongshan, the highest mountain around. Last Sunday I took off there again. The crowd was shouting of excitement when I thermalled over the top, another three circles later I lost their voices far below me. There were some thermals in the flats this time, I was impressed to fly all across my home-city, it is an endless jungle of high buildings,...

I have bought a bag full of Xalps-shoes of my size, when I passed through the USA during my Chinese New Years holiday.

Now I am running on a daily basis early in the morning, before anybody else gets up, before the city traffic gets heavy, before my phone starts ringing.

It was going alright until I tried to surf a rocky spot on Hainan island last week. I was trying to get into the water when some white-water came in unexpectedly and swepped me away. I felt like being flushed down the...

The time is ripe! Running shoes instead of surf board. There are still 117 days left for the start. I got my personal training schedule from Roland. He is experienced in creating such plans because in he's past he was responsible for the austrian ski team. I hope I wouldn't mutate to Hermann Maier!

pic: training in chinese bush

Während ich noch im Schnee rumlaufe trainiert Alex im fernen China schon im grünen Hinterland von Shenzen. Geplant ist, dass Alex dann im Juni nach Europa kommt und dann geht das gemeinsame Teamtraining los. Also so richtig aufeinander abstimmen!

Bilder: Training in den Alpen und Training am Strand