Hot sand, the mountain shakes and rumbles. The experience of nature impresses me just as much as the ride down the volcano. - Hannes Klausner
FREERIDE: You call your project Freedom. Why Freedom?
Hannes Klausner: As a biker, you have to ride on trails. They set the course. But I am impressed by the open terrain, as I know it from skiing. You stand on the summit and find your own line down into the valley. As a freeskier, I love this feeling. On Mount Etna, with its slopes of lava sand, it seemed to me that this was also possible on a bike. So free choice of line, complete freedom.
In your last project, you searched for this freedom in quarries. Did you not find it there?
I found some freedom there myself, but the slopes were short and the gravel was often rough. Or the terrain was too technical, so the rocks dictated where I had to ride. That's why I wanted to go to Mount Etna now. The mountain slopes looked like deep snow in winter, only black.
Classic freeriding seems to be going a bit out of fashion. How do you see it?
Freeriding is moving more and more towards slopestyle. Even the Rampage is mutating into big mountain slopestyle. That may be the spirit of the times. But I like freeriding the way it used to be. You can call it oldschool now, but for me, classic freeriding was the reason I started biking in the first place. No format, no rules, free terrain - without having to rebuild everything - freeriding in the literal sense of the word.
Just like in the early days when Wade Simmons and Brett Tippie surfed down sandy slopes.
Exactly. When I heard about Simmons and Tippie back then and saw the films, their idea really spoke to me. Because at the time I was skiing a lot and thought to myself: Wow, freeriding is also possible on a bike. You have to do that.
You said that you are also inspired by wingsuit flying. How so?
With the wingsuit, you can choose your own course, even in three dimensions. Complete freedom: you fly wherever you want. I really enjoy that. So why not transfer it to the bike? I researched the best places to do this, checked out a few volcanoes and then chose Mount Etna, where the conditions seemed to be the best and the descent the longest.
Wingsuit flying, on the other hand, is a rather safe sport.
The image is deceptive. Sure, when you jump off rocks in a wingsuit, you can't afford to make a mistake. From an aeroplane, on the other hand, it's pretty safe. Freeriding is more dangerous, albeit less deadly.
Do risk and danger make the experience of sport more intense?
I can only speak for myself: I'm not looking for danger. But the better you get, the higher the drops, the speed, the steepness - the danger inevitably increases.
You call this type of biking: the next level freeriding. Bike pro Andreu Lacondeguy seems to be on a similar trip. Why?
Andreu has done everything in freeriding, from dirt jump to slopestyle. Now he wants to ride where perhaps no one has ever ridden before. He is on the hunt for lines like this. Perhaps the film "Where the Trail Ends" gave him a taste for it.
Is it worth humping the bike and climbing up the mountain for hours on end?
100 per cent.
How long did you have to scramble up Mount Etna?
We were travelling for a day.
Very few hobby freeriders have tried so-called screesurfing like you did on Mount Etna. What makes it so appealing?
It's a game of traction. Your tyres have to roll to build up speed. Only then are lean angles possible and you can push the bike into the turns. It's a technique that I also had to get used to. Once you've got it down, you can surf through the slope without braking. The fascination is the same as with deep snow skiing. Once you've experienced it, you'll want to do it again and again.
How heavy is the technology?
Not difficult, but it took me a few days to find out how good the grip is and how much I can push the bike into the turn. Because you're also getting very fast.
How fast?
I don't know exactly, but I was probably travelling at 80 to 90 km/h.
Have you ever fallen?
Only on the test day, on the long 1000 metre descent, I didn't. I almost crashed, but was able to catch the bike again.
When screensurfing, you can see how the tail is swivelled to the side. Do you have to wave like that?
When it gets steep, yes. That's the technique for controlling your speed. Similar to the edges when skiing, you chop into the slope with the tail. You literally pull the bike back and forth. The flatter and more open the slope, the wider and more carved the turns. As you can see, there are many parallels to deep snow skiing.
How important are the conditions?
Everything depends on the conditions. If it's coarse gravel instead of sand, fun becomes torture. Or if the slope is riddled with large boulders. On Mount Etna, there is only one month of the year when such a descent works. Too early in the year and the sand here is frozen over. Too late, and it gets so hot and deep that you sink into it.
How can I imagine that: scrambling up, travelling down?
No. That doesn't work with freeskiing either. You have to know roughly where you're going and know the conditions. There are also drop-offs and cliffs on Mount Etna. Careful preparation is important so that you know where you are going and what to expect. In some places, lava rock protrudes from the sand, very sharp-edged. You need to be aware of such danger spots. I picked a line with perfect sand from top to bottom. It was incredibly beautiful to ride.
Where else can you do this apart from Mount Etna?
In my opinion, Mount Etna is pretty perfect for getting this experience. It's also legal, by the way. The advantage: you can drive very high up Mount Etna by car. That was also important to me for my project, I wanted to live at the spot. From there, you can gain your first experience without a long climb. In short: Etna is the best choice for us on the continent. But of course, there are also volcanoes in Kamchatka, Central America or South America. Andreu Lacondeguy was travelling in Peru and was able to make some crazy descents there.
Mount Etna is active. Did you feel anything of it?
You bet. The mountain shook and smoked. I drove right into the crater. At the bottom, the ground was so hot that it was impossible to sit down.
Mount Etna erupted in February '22 and you were there in May. Was your project dangerous?
It was a dance on the volcano - that's what you have to call it. Locals declared us crazy. The mountain was rumbling, the weather was constantly changing. Sometimes it was sunny, sometimes you couldn't see your hand in front of your eyes. But we were lucky, six days later Mount Etna erupted for a whole week.
What is your next project?
Of course, I'm not going to tell you yet. I have so many ideas. That's not the problem, it's the financing that's the difficult part.
Hannes Klausner (42), Team Kavenz
The former snowboard pro from Salzburg calls himself an adventure sportsman and is constantly on the lookout for cool lines. He looks for them in quarries, sandy deserts, volcanoes - Hannes has even skied down the Egyptian pyramids.
Shout your happiness to the heavens! Once you've done it, you'll be overcome by a feeling of happiness that's hard to describe.
Freeride riding technique tips from Hannes Klausner: How to surf through gravel
1 Preparation
No master has yet fallen from the sky: Familiarise yourself with the terrain, get used to the conditions and take a close look at your line before you plunge into a slope from above. Overconfident quick-fire actions can quickly backfire here.
2 turns
As with skiing, you need speed. Only then can you push the bike into a turn. Important: The wheels must roll; no abrupt braking manoeuvres! The front wheel needs grip, the rear floats. Start with gentle turns first.
3 Position
Even if it takes effort: Stay in front. A central position is the recipe for success. Don't hang off the back! This is the only way to get pressure and grip on the front wheel and take the weight off the rear. The softer and looser the surface, the more careful you need to be when cornering.
4 Speed
Control the speed! On flat terrain, your turns can be long and fast. The steeper it gets, the more energetically you flick the tail from side to side. This slows down the ride. The tyres must not lock, otherwise they will slip.
Dimitri Lehner
Editor
