Free riders board a Zeppelin to fly from Friedrichshafen, Germany to the Eastern Alps in Austria to abseil, ski and snowboard on pristine alpine slopes.

In the middle of February three Tyrolean Free riders, Stefan Ager, Andreas Gumpenberger and Fabian Lentsch step into the cabin of a giant 75-meters airship at the Zeppelin hangar in Friedrichshafen, Germany to take off direction Brandnertal, Vorarlberg, Austria.

They arrive above Kleiner Valkastiel (2.233 m), open the hatch and throw a 50-meter rope into the deep. Locked in, they rope down and float in the air to experience an almost surreal, breathtaking unseen scenery.

Looking through the open hatch, Stefan Ager's pulse rised: "When I was hanging under the Zeppelin, I felt like abseiling off a cloud, it did really feel bizarre," he says.

Once the athletes were delivered back on solid ground, the Zeppelin turns and sees off the riders on a steep flank for them to ride down picture-perfect untouched mountain tracks.

Andreas Gumpenberger is relieved everything worked out so well: "This was more than just abseiling off a giant Zeppelin. The project demanded long preparation. The cabin of the airship had to be adapted slightly and the pilots were at their limits in points of flight altitude and range of the airship."

It took the crew two years of intensive preparation to make this idea happen.

Free riders board a Zeppelin to fly from Friedrichshafen, Germany to the Eastern Alps in Austria to abseil, ski and snowboard on pristine alpine slopes.

In the middle of February three Tyrolean Free riders, Stefan Ager, Andreas Gumpenberger and Fabian Lentsch step into the cabin of a giant 75-meters airship at the Zeppelin hangar in Friedrichshafen, Germany to take off direction Brandnertal, Vorarlberg, Austria. They arrive above Kleiner Valkastiel (2.233 m), open the hatch and throw a 50-meter rope into the deep. Locked in, they rope down and float in the air to experience an almost surreal, breathtaking unseen scenery.

Looking through the open hatch, Stefan Ager's pulse rised: "When I was hanging under the Zeppelin, I felt like abseiling off a cloud, it did really feel bizarre," he says. Once the athletes were delivered back on solid ground, the Zeppelin turns and sees off the riders on a steep flank for them to ride down picture-perfect untouched mountain tracks.

Andreas Gumpenberger is relieved everything worked out so well: "This was more than just abseiling off a giant Zeppelin. The project demanded long preparation. The cabin of the airship had to be adapted slightly and the pilots were at their limits in points of flight altitude and range of the airship."

It took the crew two years of intensive preparation to make this idea happen.

Full interview transcript:

Stefan Ager, AUT, athlete: Not real, we expected it to be crazy, but it was really surreal. We had 50 meters ropes and after 10 meters you look up and you see a 75 meter long giant above you.

Andreas Gumpenberger, AUT, athlete: Compared to a helicopter a zeppelin is totally different. It has ist limitations, it´s limited on the flight altitude and also in the distance, so you have to pick carefully where you want to go.

Fabian Lentsch, AUT, athlete: It was difficult up on top, it was crusty and rough, then I expected a hard landing, but it was super soft and I sinked in and almost stumbled to the front.

Fritz Günther, pilot in chief: What we did today, was never done before, no another company and no airship did that before.

Oliver Jäger, operating pilot: It was an awesome day, an incredible project, simply genius.