Matterhorn Meets Bladerunner: When Challenges Become Wings of Opportunity

Flying the Matterhorn

Flying the walls of the Matterhorn with my paraglider has been my dream ever since our attempt in 2016 the wind reached over 120 km/h and was hurling ice cubes the size of footballs at us. Of course, we turned around.

When my friends Andi, Chris, and I spotted a good weather window to climb the Breithorn, a relatively easy 4'000m peak above Zermatt. We had big ambitions… flying the new distance record from that peak with a paraglider.

When we stepped out of the cable car, we noticed however that the cloud base was lower than expected. Additionally, climbing the peak took a lot longer than expected. The height made it really difficult to breathe for one member of our party.

Soon, we realized: there was no way, we could fly the record that day. We were devastated.

Sitting on our backpacks, I was looking out into the distance… The Matterhorn, Switzerland's most iconic mountain, looked so close. Almost as if you could touch it. Or fly it!! We would just need a bit of luck and some good thermals to get there.

When I took off, I flew by the mighty north face of the Breithorn towards the Matterhorn. First, there was only light lift, if any. Could I make it? But soon, the vario (an instrument that beeps if you go up) started beeping ever so slightly, becoming more and more consistent, until I found solid lift that catapulted me back to 3'900m.

Reaching the Matterhorn seemed possible. And it was! 20' later, I was circling around the H?rnli Hütte, which is the infamous hut with 150 beds from which most ascents of the Matterhorn take place.

I had completed a dream, although I set out to do something completely different that day.

Turning a Challenge into an Opportunity

What made this adventure a success? After all, I could have tried to fly the route, land somewhere halfway, and be frustrated.

First, I thought it was just to give luck a chance. Staying curious and exploring opportunities, doing the best from the given day.

Pondering on the way home, I realized that it was even more than that. It was turning a challenge into an opportunity.

This is the mindset that changed everything for us that day. On the other side of the challenge, we often can find opportunities where others turn around.

Bladerunner

The movie Bladerunner is another example of the "turning challenge into an opportunity" mindset. When Ridley Scott asked for the budget and set to create a futuristic movie, he received only a fraction of the funds he wanted because the studios did not believe in his movie as much as he did.

Ridley only received a used set where they used to shoot gangster movies during the 1920 prohibition times.

Ridley felt insulted. How could he shoot a futuristic film in a 1920 black and white set. Ridley, was able to reframe the situation. He realized that the future always elbows the past aside.

So, he overlayed the old set with futuristic aluminum pipes and neon billboards. The real magic that gives the movie its distinct character, however, was created because Ridley did only shoot at night to bring out the neon and in the rain to amplify the effect. The old scene did not matter anymore. The old constraints faded in the background for a new opportunity.

Ridley's approach gave the movie its futuristic, sinister, dark and I feel somewhat dystopian feel, creating an entirely new genre of movie: Tech Noir.

It's Ridley's movie that he is most proud of, kicked off his career and earned almost 40mUSD in the box office.

The Verdict

Turning a challenge into an opportunity can change your world.

It is a mindset that we can learn. Sometimes, it happens like a light switch. An epiphany moment, in which someone turns on the light in the room. This can happen in a single conversation.

Once, the light is on, you see a world full of opportunities. You see challenges as a path for personal growth.

I challenge you: do it right now: take a pen and note down the answer to the following questions:

• What's the biggest challenge that you face right now?
• What's the hidden opportunity inside?
• What becomes possible for you if you turn your challenges into an opportunity?

Often, the biggest challenges are the biggest opportunities. However, there's a caveat: the bigger the challenge, the more difficult it is to change our mindset. Often, we need someone to challenge us, to move us, to excite us. To see what we don't see and tell us what no one will tell us.

If you would like to develop this growth mindset to set you up for unshakeable confidence and success, write me a simple personal message. I will answer, no matter what challenge you are facing.

Climb your peaks,

Oliver

PS: "Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain but all happiness and growth occurs while climbing it" – Andy Rooney

PPS: What's next? This was a perfect test for the 14 days flying bivouac trip to the Himalayas in October. Stay tuned.

Sources:

Tech Noir: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tech_noir

https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Blade-Runner#tab=summary