Eli Egger
Do you have a nickname that you go by?
Eli
Where do you live?
Ramsau am Dachstein, Austria
What do you do for work?
I own a paragliding school at which I work at the office or mostly as instructor or tandem pilot
What year, and how old were you when you started flying?
I first got in touch with paragliding in 2009, during hiking holidays with my family. After spending one morning at the training hill I was completely blown away and as soon as I was allowed to, I took the courses to become a pilot in 2011 at the age of 16.
Did a family member introduce you to paragliding? Does anyone else in your family fly?
No at all, I got into paragliding because of a tourist-information folder which advertised a free taster day at Flugschule Aufwind, my company now.
What other passions do you have, or activities do you enjoy?
I am an outdoor person, so whatever takes me out into the mountains is on my “favorite activities”-list. In summer that’s hiking, trailrunning or mountainbiking often together with my dog Capper and in winter I enjoy the snow during skimos or snowboarding.
Why is flying important to you, and what does flying mean to you?
Flying mostly represents freedom and endless possibilities for me. When you are up in the air, you can fly wherever you want, travel distances unimaginable on foot, but still you feel the power of nature in every thermal and you are reminded of being grateful for the life you are living.
List as many notable accomplishments (big adventures, competition results, bivvy trips, etc) that you’ve had over the past few years.
- First woman ever to reach goal at the Red Bull X-Alps 2023
- 3rd place European Championship 2022
- 1th place British Winter Open 2022
- 3rd place PWC Colombia 2022
- Several times austrian champion (xc-comps and xc-freeflight)
Do you have any goals, dreams or plans for the next 1-2 years that you want to share?
I am looking forward to some great competition flying in the next years, but also wanna dive into hike and fly comps more than I did until now. And I also plan to do a bivvy trip in hike and fly style together with my dog Capper
