Category Finalist 2007: wings

Thilo Brunner

Max Biedermann, Thomas, and I were looking up toward the peak of Switzerland’s Jungfraujoch — the “Top of Europe” at 3,454 meters — from the Kleine Scheidegg railway mid-station. Some clouds were rising, and we were discussing whether to go further up the mountain or fly down from here. We decided to try to fly from the summit; after an hour-and-a-half train ride, we were on top of the Jungfraujoch. Once there, I asked a lift attendant where the starting point for paragliders was. “Paragliders?” he asked me. “Nobody’s ever started from here that I can remember,” he said. “Are we the first ones ever to start from here?” I thought. “No way — let’s go!” We left the crowds behind us on the viewing platform, walked across the nearby ice field, waited for the right wind, and took off.

Athlete: Max Biedermann, Team Vuelta
Location: Jungfraujoch, Switzerland

TECHNICAL INFO

• Camera: Canon EOS-1Ds
• Focal length, digital: 200 mm
• ISO: 100
• F-stop: 8.0
• Shutter speed: 1/250