Merry X-mas and a Happy New Year!!

Winter is here!!!!

The winter has arrived!!!!

Last week it snowed already for a couple of days and we got a good first layer of snow on our mountains. This weekend "Frau Holle" braught us some more ....

Enjoyed some ski- touring in the Italian Alps and some snowboarding on my home mountain n Innsbruck. Had a great time. finally some distraction from university!!! The second picture is the view from the " Axamer Lizum" to the Inntal- quite nice,no? 

Have a peaceful Christmas!

Back in Tyrol

Hi there!

Back home in Innsbruck I enjoyed last weekend with its beautiful weather on top of my home mountain... Went up to the " Seegrube, Nordpark" and then continued to clime the Brandjoch. I could even see my house from up there. Amazing view over Innsbruck and the Inntal. Guess it was the last time without snow up there...right now the coldfront and the snow is getting close...Winter is coming! Get ready!

Slideshow OZ

Hallo!

Now I am back home in Austria since one week. Oh what a change!!

Having a nice fall here in Innsbruck, but I cannot deny that I am missing the ocean, sailing, surfing, my travel friends in down under, the whales, easy life...

Back home universtiy is full on for my and i am just hoping that winter will kick in soon!

Here finally more pics in a slideshow from down under!

More about Western Australia

Hi there!

Mh...what should I say- I had three more awsome weeks in Western Australia. Incredible sailing, surfing, snorkling, watching sunsets, yoga on the dunes, watching fullmoon rising, campfires, new people. Just magic times. Now getting back to Perth , selling the car, saying good-bye, which is going to be HAAARD!
Then some more days stopover in Mauritius before finally heading back home to Innsbruck...
Life is good. check out the pics!
See u out there!!
Uli

Sorry having probs to upload some photos now- will be online later in a slideshow!

West Coast Paradies

Once again,-and for that time finally at the beginning of the season I am back in Western Australia.
Juhuuuu!! After two weeks in Mauritius I flew directly to Perth with a 7hrs flight. Pretty easy going.
A good friend of mine- Stian- was already in Perth, just waiting for me to go up north again with his fully equipped camping car.... So in a three days time we made it back up to the "G-Spot" of the West coast. This time an incredible confortable trip!
At our arrival we were immediately welcome with a huge- I mean huge- swell!!!
This spot looked totally different then later in the season. The tide was scary low 8 like it is many times in september)- the reef clearly visible- and the waves were not only biiig, but massive!!!!!!! I went straight out sailing! Took me some time though to get used to this "New Place". the wave was sometimes really really sucky, Bubbles coming up all of a sudden and some broken gear was seen that day. Fortunately not mine...maybe i took it too easy...
The first three weeks up there were just great. Temperatures still very nice, not too hot, big waves, good surf, a second HUGE Swell. and tons of wales passing by on her way down south.
Now we are on a shopping trip back down in Carnarvon, getting food for another three weeks in Paradies!!
How much I love this place!!!!!

So next news will be at the end of my trip....
Hope you all had a good summer!
ULI

Sumbawa Story online!!

Hallo!
Finally i can announce that my story from my trip to sumbawa is online under:

http://www.windsurfersmag.de

enjoy!!

Surfing and Kiting time in Mauritius

Hi!
Already ten days in Mauritius now. Having a great time. Unfortunately the swell never has the right size. Either it is dead flat- thats when it is kiting time for me...funny and quick to learn...
Or..yesterday the swell picked up to a 3.8m and 18seconds period. All channels in Le Morne were closed and we had a great day surfing in Tamarin!!
Still Paradies here. The evening ended with some great Barbecue!!

Mauritius once more...

Uli in One Eye

Babsy Table Top



Hi!
I arrived here in Mauritius with my friend Babsy Strasser one week ago.
We are sharing a great time here!
Although the swell is not the biggest at the moment we had already good sessions in Manawa, One eye and some jumping on the little reef. Also getting on my kite some more when it is really flat and practising some jumps,- getting in the waves with the kite is not far away anymore..
Some more days to wait and it will get really biiiiig again! Enjoy life!
ULi

Pics Pozo

Hallo !
Finally I got some more pics from the Comp in Pozo, Gran Canaria ( thanks to John Carter) and some days sailing in Fuerteventura! In the meantime I am back home in Austria since one week. Nice weather. Back in the mountains. Mountainbiking, climbing, next week in internship on the surgery departement of an hospital in Linz. For short time serious again.....

Gran Canaria Worldcup is over...

Hallo!

Finally I give you some updates about my contest in Pozo, Gran Canaria. I was quite crestfallen after the results- but now I am finally back on my computer...
This year i only did the wave- comp.
The days before the competition we had really good sailing in Ojos de Garza and also in Pozo. Nice waves and i felt pretty good for the comp. although i did not sail for a long time..
the waveriding started straight away on the first day of competition. Waves were a smaller than the days before, but ok for Pozo.
In my first heat I was against Laure Treboux- the amazing freestyle sailor.
I got a nice wave right at the beginning,rode it and tried to hit the endsection...but too close to the rocks...And up there I was. On the nice slippery pozo rocks, right in the onshore corner of the bay..like a turtle. Not soo nice..I spent 3-4 min there until I made it back on the water after the set. Still had a good forward and a tabletop and another waveride- which I maybe did a little bit on the secure side..Actually I thought it would still be enough to advance as Laure is not the big jumper. But concerning the judges it was not. I was quite broken after that, but tried to keep myself head up for the duoble elimiation to come back!!
then the waiting game began......6 days without any waves. the wind getting stronger and stronger each day- and still flat.
I got a little impatient those days to be honest. Sitting on the beach in that wind killed me- and not geting to sail alot, as the bay was " closed" for the freestyle and slalom sailors..Maybe I lost focus a bit. That´s not really me , as normally i am quite competitive- do not know what happened..maybe still sad about the result in the single.
Finally on the second last day we could conplete the double.
I won my first heat against the Isreal girl: Lee-el Kortsiz, but not with a good performance to be honest. The next heat I was against Junko Nagoshi from Japan. that was a pretty hard seeding right at the beginning of he double. I could have beat her with a relly good perfromance.- But I missed out a second jump. I had a solid forward, but did not find enough steep ramps. Had a crashed backllop, but no safe tabletop....Too bad. Out! Over for me. With a ninth place. How bad!
My worst result since i am doing competitions...
Guess it was a mental problem here. did not figure it out yet...

Now i am a week on fuerteventura. Easy nice wavesailing with 4.7m, a bit of kiting, visiting friends...good for the soul!!

Here some pics- hope I get the new pics from Pozo soon!
ULI

Some memories-Slideshow from Australia

Hi there!

Here in Pozo we did already the first single elimination yesterday....Conditions were "so-so". Windy for my 3.7m, in the morning still some nice waves, getting smaller and smaller when the tide came in. Riding small waves seems not to be my strong suit.....dropped out far too soon. Now I can only give my best in the double elimination and make my way back!!!!
Let´s hope for some waves in the next days to have a fair competition for everybody!!
Today there was only slalom racing for the men. Antoine Albeau still on the TOP!!
In the meantime- getting bored today in the stones here- I sorted out some pics of my trip this winter to Australia...some better waves..Enjoy!

PWA Worldcup in Pozo, Gran Canaria

Hallo!
Finally the first worldcup is starting.
The whole PWa-circuit meets again at the windy island of Gran Canaria for competitions in wave for men and woman, freestyle woman and slalom for men. We are welcome again by strong wind and lots of stones...
I arrived here four days ago. Little late as I had to do some exams at university....
the first two days pozo showed itself in a different light. No wind. Classy swimming conditions. the last two days we found pretty good wave- conditions in the north of the island- "Ojos de Garza". the putside point was working very fine and I had a lot of fun sailing again!!!!
Today we had inscription in Pozo and finally could get on the water here. the wind was strong for my 3.3m, and the whole crowd showed the big jumps...was pretty busy, but nice!
Looks like we are going to start the waves competition tomorrow. I hoped I would have some more days to get used to this conditions again, after a long time not beeing able to sail....But it is like it is- and fortunately we have some waves...it can also be different here!!
So I´ll give my best tomorrow. With the age comes the experience, no?


this is the nice view from the plane to the "inntal " and Innsbruck


the Hintertuxer Glacier


a little spanish football fan with the german flag...????


Material-storage at the Bar "La Ola"


Tall Tine Slabe from Slowenia and small Uli Hölzl from Austria at the Opening ceremony

Selling stuff!!!!

Hallo!

I am cleaning my cellar and I am selling a lot of windsurf ( snowboard) equipment to make some space and some money for my next trips.....
Most interesting for you might be:

Ezzy Sails from 2008, NEW: 4.0m, 4.7m
Ezzy Sails from 2008 used: 3.7m ( nearly new!!), 4.2m, 5.0m
Ezzy Sail from 2007: 3.7m

Dakine Harness T3 Wave, Size S, in great condition!!

LORCH Oxygen Waveboard 75L, from 2007, like NEW!

Wave-Fins , Us BOX ( F2, Maui Fin Company): Size: 19-23cm, NEW and used

Extension, Arrows, 25cm, normal diameter
Extension Arrows, 0 cm, ND

Contact me soon before I am on the Canary islands!!

Have a nice summer!!
ULI

Shorttrip to Marocco

Marocco!!!

This journey was i real last minute decision for me. Three very good friends of mine ( Heidi, Natascha and ULi und Markus) had planned this trip already a lont time ago...( yeah,- they are working doctors and cannot be so spontaneous anymore...)
As I had to wait for some "university dates" I only could decide in the last minute if I could go. And two days before - when the wind- and waveforecast looked incredible good, I also found a very cheap flight.
Nicola Thost- a german friend of the good old snowboarding times- and now also dedicated windsurfer, also joined me. Great - no travelling alone!!
So, two days later we sat in the plane from Munic to Marrakesch. Finally going to the ocean again! I was so much looking forward to it! More than three months I haven´t been on the water.
In Marrakesch we took a local taxi, which drove us directly to the windsurfing capital of Marocco- Moulay. ( 20km near Essaouira).
Heidi had already organised that we could stay with them at a local family´s place in this fishervillage. Simple- but really nice!
So interesting to get to know their culture. The life of these women is definately not the easiest one, but they seem to be happy and it is so nice to see a whole big family living together in peace!!!! Their son- Abderazaq Labdi- is one of the next future pros of Maroc. Real good stylish sailing! There are actually a lot of young guys now in this village who have a great potential. Since some years Fta ( a guy who also helped Boujmaa to travel out of Marocco, and who is having a big nice restaurant now in Moulay) is organising some equipment for them - and they are totally addicted!! A real good thing.- At the moment it is a guys sport only in Marocco. It might take another long long time until the girls have the possibility and the "permission" to practise some sports- watersports, wear swimsuits, neopren.....It is still another world. And I still do not know and somewho it is hard for me to understand what the marrocain girls think when they see us women practising this sport....would they like to try?..or does it just not exist in their heads to have the possibility to move so freely on the beach and on the water??.....Are they jealous??..or do they think that we are just crazy???...doing a men´s thing and acting against our femininity?......MHHH?????
It makes me think a lot!!!!!!!!
So, to keep it short- we had a great week. For four days the wind was howling for my 3.3m and 3.7m ezzy sail and the smallest Lorch Baby- My Oxygen 60L. the waves were about 2 meters every day. The last two days the wind was light and I was kiting....First days in waves. Totally exited about that! I still have noooo control at all, and I had to walk back upwind, dropped the kite in the waves.... - but it is Adrenaline again....
Yeah WE had a GREAT week together!!!
Two more weeks to go - then POZO in GRAN CANARIA.
I know that I did not train at all for this competition...But I still go, will give my best and I am really looking forward to see all the people from the tour again- and to sail !!!

Summer in Tyrol

Hi there!

Some short news....unfortunately still not from the water...but i am having a good time here at home.
I as for a great mountainbike tour today at the "Seegrube". Pretty hard to bike up those 1300hm, as I did not move too much lately.
On the Top of the Nordkette they are getting prepared for the Soccer European championships by building a VIP tent for all the important rich football-people....
the cable car to the Top of the "Hafele-Kar" was still running. Believe it or not- there were still people with their skis and snowboards. I was skiing down with the "Figls". This are super short skis , which you can only use in the mushy summer snow. You just go straight- thats super fun!!!!
There was also a competition of the hang-gliders. Great! That´s my next sport I have to learn!!
I hope I can soon give you some news from the water again!!- Going to Maroc on tuesday for a shorttrip. The wind should be good.- Let´s see!

Website online!!!!!

Hallo!

Finally I can announce that my website is online! Check it out under:

http://ulihoelzl.windgirls.com/

Freestyle Worldcup Neusiedlersee , Austria

Hallo !
Just some short news from the Worldcup at the Austrian Surfers Mekka- the Neusiedlersee.
There was a ten days action going on at the lake near Vienna. First starting with the free Surftest for all visitors. Then from the 29.4.-4.5. the PWA FReestyle Worldcup took place. Once again- "Men only". What a pity !!! We girls, we only had one time the chance to participate. This was in 2000- when I unfortunatley just could watch with two crutches after my knee operation.
Unfortunately not a lot of things are changing in womens sports...I guess there are several reasons why they do not want the girls to compete....First of all the would need another 10.000 Euro prizemony extra for the girls- which cannot be a problem at such a huge event. Maybe the PWA doesn´t try hard enough to get us in. Maybe the organizer of this event is not a "girls-fan". For sure our level of sailing is not far as good as the men´s- but I guess we do not look bad on the water- especially those new girls on the tour are ripping!! - on the beach we look better as well... So why? Maybe- and I guess most of all- they make enough money anyway out of this huge event- without the girls being there... Sad but true. If this can change one day? Maybe we have to sell ourselves in another way..!!
This event is also THE biiiiig party-summer opening for the whole Vienna area..The sports part of this event is for most of the peope not the main reason to come! ( I would not wonder if some of the visitors would not even know that there is a windsurfworldcup going on....)
And to be honest I also went there mainly to meet people, lot of old friends, and to party - like a real groupie!!. There were great concerts, great music, dancing the whole night through...I had a lot of fun. Good, there are no more pictures existing...
beside the party performance- which was exeptional from everybody- the guys showed an increible new range of manouvers on the water.- Please do not ask me the names of the tricks....
The wind was not great for the guys, just enough to get a comp going. They were sailing with 100L freestyleboards and 5.8m sails...but their show was amazing!!
The last sunday they were lucky with the wind and could finish the whole single elimination. Results:

1. Jose "Gollito" Estredo
2. Marcilio Browne
3. Tonky FRans

Austrians:
9. Michael Sumereder
9.Michael Roßmeier
17. Chris sammer
17. Tom föda
17. Max Matissek
33.Tom Hartmann
33. Max Schanda
33.Alexander Seyss

Still winter in Innsbruck

Hi everybody!

It´s april! Springtime and winter are fighting each other. Last week we finally got again a huge amount of new snow. At Arlberg it was 120cm. Powdertime!!! Juhu!!! Still loving it like in my old times. Had a little photoshoot at Stubaier glacier. thanks to Tommy Bause!!!! GReat job. check out: www.bause.at

Uzbekistan

Hallo!
I am back from Uzbekistan from our Heliboarding trip since a couple of days. Check out: http://www.snowxplore.de.
It was a great week for us girls as we could spend some time together again. Unfortunately - snowboarding wise - the trip did not turn out as planned. After some good rides on the first day, one Helicopter ingenieur had a very bad accident. This was a terrifying experience for all of us and we had to see that middle Asia is definately still a very different country concerning medical support. Good that our group was sticking together very well and we handled the situation quite good. I am still so sorry for that guy!!! After that accident we did not get any allowance to fly anymore. Very sad. So we made the best out of it and spent our time visiting this incredible country. Did some sightseeing in Samarkand- a great old city on the "silk-road", visited markets and bazars, went hiking in the mountains and had some parties together like in old times...I guess the three guys who were brave enough to join us - definately learned something new about woman.. ( Although I guess we did not behave like " average" woman..- sorry guys!) Definately we have to do some more trips the following years all together again! Ride on!

( pics by Marco Igel, Uli Hölzl)







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