On the road with "Radl Wadl" Andy

Andy Schedler, alias "Radl Wadl", was born and raised in St. Johann in Tyrol. His travels have taken him as far as the soaring mountains of Nepal, but he is certain: "The most beautiful place is my home, the Kitzbühel Alps."

"It sounds clichéd and cheesy, but it's true: the Alps are my source of energy," says Andy and, after the long climb from the valley, sits down contentedly in the green grass of the Tyrolean alpine pastures with a view of the Wilder Kaiser. "There's no hustle and bustle up here, you can safely leave it in the valley. An acquaintance from Vienna asked me how I can be so rooted to my homeland? You only have to rotate once with your eyes open in the middle of this panorama to understand that." His long white beard and unmistakable Tyrolean dialect confirm any doubt that this is a genuine alpine man sitting in front of you.

Even as a child, he spent a lot of time in the mountains with his father, an avalanche rescue dog handler. It soon became clear that he also had a passion for the mountains in his blood from an early age. As a long-distance lorry driver, he was initially drawn out into the wider world, and as a UN soldier he was able to experience life in Syria up close for a year and get to know the people there. He soon realised: "Every single person counts, not the ethnic group or the country they belong to. No one should be generalised." The Nepalese mountains, which seemed so unattainable for Andy as a child, he visited as an adult. But even a summit victory on Mera Peak at an altitude of 6,476 metres could not change the insight he had already acquired: "As impressive as the landscape there may be, it's most beautiful at home." This realisation defined his life from then on. He gave up his job as a lorry driver and instead got a job at the local council office so that he could fully pursue his passion in his free time.

The idea of bringing his tours and climbs to a wider audience was actually the result of a bet: "During the pandemic, I was sitting with my granddaughter, who tried to explain TikTok to me and proudly boasted that she already had 100 followers. I teasingly told her that I could easily do the same and so I became a Youtuber practically overnight." What began with video recordings on a mobile phone is now technically upgraded and has become a huge success under the name Radl Wadl's E-bike & hike experience with over 900 subscribers. The tours that Andy shares with his followers show his home, the mountains of the Kitzbühel Alps. The idea behind the name "Radl Wadl" is based on two knee operations: "I now have two artificial knee joints, so long climbs were no longer possible for me. Combined with an e-bike, such tours are now possible again and two-day hikes have become one-day tours. This has huge advantages that I would like to show other people."

Andy is continuously motivated to go long-distance hiking. There, he finds the peace that his soul needs away from everyday life and stress. "After two or three days of hiking, you escape from your everyday concerns, find yourself and can unwind. All the obligations that otherwise slow you down are suddenly forgotten. It doesn't matter whether your mobile phone is fully charged in your rucksack or the battery has long since run out. That's where I gather my energy," from such tours and from his local mountain, the Ursulablick, a summit with a view of the Kitzbüheler Horn and the Wilder Kaiser. At 1,245 metres above sea level, its summit is by no means the highest, but its impressive view makes it a hot spot for many locals and tourists. When Andy arrives at the summit cross after a long day's work and the sun sinks low over the St. Johann valley, he echoes the sentiments of the singer, Reinhard Fendrich: "...do bin i her, do g'her i hin." ("This is where I'm from, this is where I belong").

#Kitzbüheler Alpen | #Ways of Life Tyrol