Why did you choose the X-Pyr?
I like to discover new places, I have never flown in the Pyrenees before. It’s also the second biggest adventure race for hike and fly and I want to be a part of it.

What is your greatest sporting success?
My first participation in a hike and fly competition was X-Slovenia and I was positively surprised when I won.

When and why did you start paragliding?
I started in 2016. I come from a big hiking family, who took me to see most of the peaks in the Julian Alps. Since I have been five years old, I have been very enthusiastic about hiking, but later on when I was older I started to discover mountains also through different sports like ski touring and downhill biking, which made the descends much more fun. But that left me wondering what sport is still out there that combines hiking and adrenaline. At the age of 25 I discovered paragliding and fell in love with flying.

What is your mountaineering experience?
I have hiked almost all Slovenian mountains, I also enjoy ski touring in Slovenian mountains. For example, I skied the north face (from the top of the glacier on the north side) of one of the highest mountains in Slovenia, Triglav.

What are your best and worst sporting memories?
Maybe the worst experience I had was when I went flying as a beginner, that was probably my first year of flying, in France. My glider collapsed and I fell to the ground, I think I even cracked one of my tooth.

Have you flown in the Pyrenees before? Do you have a favourite area?
No, I have not. But I am really excited to try it out.

Is there anything you like to see (or not) in the route?
I don’t like snakes, so I hope I don’t see one.

Apart from flying far and walking little, what will your strategy be during the race?
Fly as much as I can, run as little as possible and be safe.

What does your typical training week consist of?
I train every day. I do a mixture of running, cycling, hiking and flying.

What has been the hardest part of your race preparation so far?
At the beginning of the year 2024 the weather was really bad, so we didn’t get many flying days.

What excites you most about participating in the X-Pyr?
To learn something new and see some new places.

What worries you the most about the event?
Air space regulations.

How do you know your assistant?
She’s my flying buddy.

What are your assistant’s main strengths?
She’s one of the best pilots in the world. She will help me read the weather and where to fly.

What advice would you ask of the race veterans?
If they can share some of the tactics they will use and the specifications of the route.