MINI-BIO

Looking back, I wanted to turn away from a “system” in elementary school that seemed inhumane to me. There was no one there who wanted to cater to my talents and basic needs as a child and “BERGBAUERNBUB”. I allowed theory and people who, far removed from any practical experience, saw this theory as the highest credo to determine my life. As a child, I couldn’t know any better and I felt at the mercy of it all.

A class teacher, whose favorite hobby was hunting, was able to break my ice. I understood that there should be a life besides and after school. From then on, I was a straight-A student and at the same time opened the door to the freedom I had regained, which I initially lived out as a cross-country skier in various competitive squads.

This was followed by a decade that was characterized by my GENERATION-X’s very strong focus on performance and success. Unfortunately, this also affected my approach to mountaineering. And once again, my origins, my passion for exercise in nature, my roots as a mountain farmer’s boy collided with my reality as a man in a pinstripe, IT project manager and executive in an organization filled with thousands of people.

The desire for change became great. So great that I used my boundless energy to complete a 2-year training course to become a mountain and ski guide. From then on, it was clear to me that there was only one life with and in the mountains.

BUT: My lifestyle had left its mark both mentally and physically. I regularly took my car in for a service. But I freely sacrificed my health to my arrogance that I could achieve anything.

When I think back today about how brutally I treated myself and my body, I often feel that I didn’t deserve all the people and animals who were like guardian angels on my path through life. BUT: If you are lucky enough to be born into a life like mine, then one saying is 100% true: “Happiness is what you are.”

Georg Fraberger, psychologist and author of “Ohne Leib mit Seele”, gets to the heart of the matter in his book.

DID THAT MAKE IT EASIER?

My ego as an achiever has changed. I “shed my skin” like a snake, so to speak. The result was a total change in values. The egomaniacal, ambitious and probably even narcissistic achiever, who ticked according to rules, duties and customs, became a compassionate family man. The small and sensitive “mountain farmer’s boy” became widespread and replaced “having” with “being”.

The path back to “my freedom” was tough. Emotional intelligence and compassion became the focus of my existence, which had a strong influence on both my work as a mountain guide and my development as a musher of Siberian huskies. In retrospect, as a Generation X purist, I would have failed miserably at both!

It was not “easy” to trust this development. Especially as the word “easy” turned out to be very difficult. Because “simple” means “gaining clarity through deep understanding”. And only my change was able to establish this relationship between the “now” and the me in the past. Seeing and understanding this difference was the most instructive thing of all. A meeting point on earth, a weapon against everything that could harm me, my family and this existence. A deep understanding of what is important to me and what seems right.

“The way is the goal” – Confucius expresses this very “simply”. What this really means can only be EXPERIENCED.

And as I still feel quite lonely with this approach to life and mountaineering, we at the Lechtal Mountain School have decided to convey these important messages on all our guided tours and training courses. Not as a lecture. Subtle. Packaged in the mountain world to which we take you.

INDIVIDUAL – PERSONAL – SUSTAINABLE