When and how did you learn to paraglide?

I got into the famous sport of paragliding back when pilots were heroes and would jump off every mountain—it must have been around the early ’90s, a time when most pilots knew each other. In the late ’90s, I quit after an uncontrolled crash and took it up again in mid-2005—when the gliders had become much safer and more powerful.

My first harness—a Supair Air Bulle—I kept as a memento of that time.

Could you share an interesting paragliding memory with us?

It’s quite difficult to name just one. I’ve had some incredible flights in and over the Dolomites, flying alongside my family friend Manuel along the Zugspitz ridge, where an eagle family shared the airspace with us. There’s a long list of amazing cross-country flights along the main Alpine ridge, soaring into the sunset over a dune in Sicily… all of them unique.