Event weekend: Come, dare!
Above the clouds: Being a pilot once
Anyone who dares to storm the sky in a propeller plane and without a pilot's license will experience an emotional high-altitude flight over the weekend. A teacher sits next to the one-time pilots, explains the instruments and launches and lands the machine, in between you take over. It's best to hold the joystick firmly in your hand, not to lose sight of the altimeter and the gyro. Otherwise: enjoy! In the vicinity of almost every major German city skyscrapers can book such a special program.
Jochen Schweizer, Rosenheimer Strasse 145 e + f, 81671 Munich, Tel. 0180/560 60 88 (14 cents / minute), www.jochen-schweizer.de; Program "airplane self-flying" 319 euros
Hanging: sleeping at a height of 40 meters
At dizzying heights, listening to the rustling of trees, the call of owls and owls before the eyes close, nobody will forget that fast. Actually Gerhard Strasser would have to be in the tree rush every day. Tending trees at 20, 30 and even 50 meters is not a daily job. "Crown Overnight" is the name of his program in which he shows visitors how to climb a giant tree and spend a night there 40 meters up. As a bed in the tree, a mobile platform is attached between the branches of a Douglas fir.
Gerhard Strasser, Steigle 9, 72818 Mägerkingen, Tel. 071 24/93 20 79, www.baumkletterteam.com; two days in the forest from 130 euros
Wreck diving in the Baltic Sea
Diving in southern waters is for warm showers, diving in the Baltic Sea for those who want more. A little hardened one should already be there. In front of the island of Rügen around 1500 wrecks are said to be lying on the ground. For example, the Danish gaff saver "Harald" can be discovered there. For almost 100 years it has been lying at a depth of 30 meters and looks like a total work of art, overgrown with barnacles and mussels. If you have less experience, it is best to first explore the underwater world near the coast. Cretaceous, canyons, stone fields drag themselves across the ground. Flounder, cod and eels are looking for food. If you are lucky you can swim with a seal - at the seal border at Binz. The diving station on Rügen offers wreck diving and landscape dives on the coast.
Diving Rügen, Proraer Chaussee 50, 18609 Prora, Tel. 03 83 93/24 06, www.tauchen-ruegen.de; per dive 25 to 40 euros
Wind Rider: Free Fall
Skydiving - that requires weeks of training. In Germany's only high-performance wind tunnel, on the other hand, everyone can experience free fall. Four large propellers in the plant in Bottrop generate an air flow that simulates falling speed up to 70 meters per second. Like jumping out of a helicopter with a parachute. You "ride" almost on the air flow, which lets you float from below up to 15 meters in height. Before it starts, a skydive professional gives a comprehensive briefing and ground training.
Indoor Skydiving, Prosperstraße 297, 46238 Bottrop, Tel. 018 05/15 10 10, www.indoor-skydiving.de; from 49 euros or six flights for 129 euros
Rhein-Glück: Paddle between pots
Paddling is great and much better on the Rhine. A territory that can be rewarded by experts in canoe or kayak: paddle past a freighter, fight with waves and currents, then pass vineyards, small villages, castles and palaces. A good route to dare the Rhine adventure downstream: from Mainz to Bacharach. Especially nice stop in Rüdesheim with its wine houses in the old town. Beware of the Binger hole, there it is close in the fairway next to the many large ships. Pensions to stay there are even in the smallest places.
Tourist Information, Tel. 067 22/90 61 50, www.ruedesheim.de; Canoe rental, Wideworld Aktivreisen, Rheinböllener Str. 47, 55464 Dichtelbach, Tel. 01 74/666 13 89, www.wideworld.tv; 2 person kayak from 80 Euro / weekend
In the Underworld: biking in the mine
Helm on, miner's lamp on. Then it's time to step on the pedals and off to the underworld. In Carinthia bikers are allowed to ride a former mine tunnel. Two guides lead through the labyrinth of shafts, caves and rock formations in the mountain Petzen. From Austria over the underground border to Slovenia cyclists are on the road, the biker tunnel is seven kilometers long. For nearly a thousand years, miners have been hunting for lead there, old lorries are still on the line. No one sweats on the tour, it is barely warmer than 10 degrees below zero in the daytime. The program includes the transfer from St. Kanzian, two hours of stollen biking, five kilometers of downhill biking and, at the end, a visit to the Mining Museum.
Sport Center Klopeiner See, Ostuferstr. 9, A-9122 St. Kanzian, Tel. 00 43/42 39/32 45, www.stollenbiken.at; Tour 49 euros, rental bike 10 euros
Withstood the storm on Heligoland
Who is on the cliff at hurricane, can only crawl the last meters. Storms, cloud mountains, giant waves - the power of nature to experience when the weather is really raging, that's "stormwatching". For the intrepid, the Heligoland hotelier Detlev Rickmers offers a trip to the dune and the scientists of the Heligoland weather station during "Schietwetter". Fun makes "Stormwatching" from Windstärke 8. Anyone who registers at www.helgolaender-hochseewinter.de, will be informed two days before a gathering storm. The website www.windfinder.com calculates the wind eight days in advance.
Hotel Rickmers Islanders, Am Südstrand 2, 27498 Helgoland, Tel. 047 25/814 10, www.insulaner.de; Stormwatching arrangement 199 Euro per person in a double / F
Hiking marathon in the Alps
"Overcoming your inner bastard is a great experience," says Hans Kammerlander. The great experience shares the famous extreme mountaineer with other outdoor fans every year. On a 24-hour hike, the Kammerlander Hans brings hobby athletes to their limits. For a whole day and a night he leads them uphill and downhill through the South Tyrolean Alps: A tour leads through the Tauferer Ahrntal, another crosses the Hochpustertal. The hikers can only take four breaks to recharge their batteries for the next stage. Especially in the dark, it is difficult to keep up the walking marathon. It's best to bring a strong headlamp to keep track of every step, even at night. In the end, all who have made it, are euphoric in the arms at dawn.
Office Hans Kammerlander, Josef-Jungmann- Straße 8, I-39032 Sand in Taufers, Tel. 00 39/0474/69 00 12, www.kammerlander.com; Tours and Dates: 16th and 17th of July in Alta Pusteria, 17th and 18th of September in the Tauferer Ahrntal valley; 420 Euro, incl. Food, reminder DVD, cap, T-shirt and fleece jacket with imprint
The very private action movie
Playing stunts is a tough job. If you would like to get a taste of the action world, join a weekend workshop at Potsdam's "Stunt Crew Babelsberg". Jumping down from a house, fleeing from a crime scene after a car crash, fighting with bare fists, clinging to the roof of a moving car - in two days, the participants learn what it's like to shoot cool scenes with courage and sophisticated technology. In the end everyone gets a little movie with his stunts. Also exciting: watch the show of the professionals in the film park. Since one's hair is already on the mountain.
Stunt Crew Babelsberg, August-Bebel-Str. 26-53, 14482 Potsdam, Tel. 03 31/721 27 03, www.stuntcrewbabelsberg.de; Course 319 euros. Stunt show, Tel. 03 31/721 27 50, www.filmpark-babelsberg.de; 20 Euros
With speed through the wild water
A small piece of cloth and a free float license - nothing else is needed to be there? In the local bathhouse that may still work. In the small town Huningue in the border triangle France, Germany, Switzerland you can get to know swimming in a completely new dimension. Hydrospeed is the name of the recreational fun in the French "Parc des Eaux Vives" - pass by tongues of land, crawl through rapids, get carried away by the floods. The swimmers in wetsuits and with fins and board whiz down a white-water channel under their bellies. Clearly: For pool planners, the whole thing is not thought. After a while, the athletes feel like fish in the water.
Parc des Eaux Vives, 3 Quai du Maroc, F-68333 Huningue Cedex, Tel. 00 33/3 89/89 70 20, www.ville-huningue.fr; Hydrospeed 17.80 euros for two hours including complete equipment
