A skiing accident changed everything. For five years, mountaineer Melanie Grünwald fought her way back — step by step, flight by flight. Ultimately, she stood atop the highest peak in the Alps, thanks to her paraglider.
“Be glad you can still walk at all.” I'm sitting in the doctor's office. It’s my 28th birthday. I barely manage 2,000 steps a day. The doctor's words echo in my mind. My urge to move, my life in the mountains – is it a thing of the past? I grew up in the Alps. At six, I stood on my first three-thousander, at twelve on a four-thousander. Movement was my identity, the mountains my home. I loved the beauty, the effort, the focus, the suffering, the happiness at the summit – and the moment when you are safely back down again.
Standstill
But a seemingly harmless skiing accident in 2019 led to three unsuccessful knee operations and five years of chronic pain. Every step hurt. Getting up was difficult. Painkillers, weight loss, hopelessness. “There’s nothing more we can do“, they said. And I fell – deeper than ever before. In the pain clinic, I made a secret decision: I would return. To the mountains. Somehow.
Millimetre by Millimetre
Then – without my knowledge – friends signed me up for a paragliding course. Maybe I could fly, if I couldn’t hike anymore? March 2022: I’m standing on the practice slope in the Zillertal. The glider is ready, but the pain is stronger. I give up. Not just flying – everything feels lost. But one last, risky procedure gives me a tiny chance. I lie in bed for 60 days, fighting for millimetres. Every bit of progress is a victory. Millimetres turn into steps, into ten minutes of walking, into jogging, into short hikes. And eventually – into flying.
When walking is no longer possible – fly
I convert a van and take three months off.
In Garda, I’m gifted a tandem flight. What begins as a distraction becomes a revelation. I’m hooked. I want more. I have eight days to get my license in Werfenweng. I fly, learn, run, study theory at night in the van – and I do it. A new world opens up:
Hike & Fly.
New Freedom
With my PI 3 (21 m²) I hike up painlessly and fly down — fast, light, free of knee pain. I fly in Millau and Annecy. I fall in love with dancing in the thermals. Flying replaces what I thought I had lost. With 200 flights behind me I moved to Chamonix. This was the start of a new chapter. The Mer de Glace, the north face of the Aiguille du Midi, Mont Blanc – my grandfather stood on its summit nine times. I want to follow him. At my own pace. From the very bottom. In one go. Flying from the summit.
The Big Day
After intense preparation – 2,000 metres of elevation gain every day, vertical kilometres, training with the smaller Pi3 (16 m²) – I set off for the magical summit. But at 4,300 metres, it’s over. I’m dehydrated, empty. Still, I fly – and the flight is magical. Suddenly, everything that didn’t work out doesn’t matter anymore. Because my knee was never the problem.
The Flight of My Life
One week later: second attempt. I set off at midnight, run through the night, and greet a spectacular sunrise at the Dôme – alone, calm, ready. 7:40 a.m., seven hours and forty minutes after setting off, I reach the top. 4,807 metres above sea level. I – who three years ago fought for millimetres – am standing on the highest point in the Alps. The return flight is a victory lap. Air beneath my feet, white all around me, my heart full. I have returned.
Not the same – but with wings.
The Equipment
More About Melanie
Melanie Grünwald
Raised in the Austrian Alps, she now lives in Chamonix. As a mountaineer, adventurer and pilot, she stands for courage, endurance, and equality in mountain sports.