Does the fear fly with you or does that feeling not arise at all?
You get butterflies in your stomach, as soon as someone is afraid, it becomes dangerous. But a bit of fluttering in the stomach keeps your senses awake. You are focused and concentrated because you know that if things go wrong, things can go haywire. The process isn’t actually any different than on the large hill, but everything is faster.
Do you long to fly again?
Of course I would also like to fly, but fortunately the mind wins. But I know I’ll get goosebumps when I see them fly at the weekend. My longest flight was 220 meters in Planica, that was sensational. But when I then experienced the weekend of records with Stefan Kraft and his 253.5 meters in 2017, it was incredible. I think I slept with goosebumps.
People are already discussing 300 m jumps, is that realistic?
It’s currently unrealistic because the hills don’t give it up. For this, new ski jumps would have to be built, which cost a lot of money. If someone makes it possible and the excavators roll, it should happen quickly. The current ski jumps are not designed for 300-meter jumps, after all nobody wants to end up in the front row of the spectators.
Will it ever be dangerous for the body?
A ski flying weekend is extremely strenuous, after which the body can be flat. I was also shocked when I read a study that when we ski fly our adrenaline levels are comparable to the fear of death. I was never afraid to die when I sat on the beam. We get used to a level that for a mere mortal is the fear of death. I also believe that we don’t breathe air because we have internal stress. If you overdo it, you may eventually even become unconscious. I don’t know how long the body can put up with this and whether there are limits that we haven’t figured out yet.
With a view of the ski flyingWM. As a ski flying world champion, do you give tips to Karl Geiger and Markus Eisenbichler, for example?
At the level where Karl and Markus perform, they no longer need tips. You know what it’s about. They have evolved – just as we have evolved from our predecessors. The only thing I do is cross my fingers because I know that wins are not always related to what you show today. Ten percent depends on what’s going on around you. One or the other favorite is having a bad day, you have good conditions – all things that happen outside of your own nose and that have to play if you want to end up at the top. That’s how I saw all my victories. It wasn’t like I was the super greatest that day and I jumped everyone to the ground.