Elias Schwärzler is a stuntman and bike adventurer. The Austrian from Team Scott became famous when he filmed the Sick Series together with Fabio Wibmer. He is now World record holder and runs his own company with a support team of 19 permanent employees. Adventure holidays, photo productions, documentary films on Amazon Prime, driving technique coaching ... The guy seems to have fallen into the magic potion.
Elias Schwärzler: Interview with the extreme athlete
BIKE: You moan on Tiktok that you didn't have a coach. But you grew up with three older brothers.
ELIAS SCHWÄRZLER: (Laughs). That's right, but they had nothing to do with biking. Two are doctors, the third is a finance manager. They didn't coach me.
When did you meet Fabio Wibmer?
2015 during my studies in Innsbruck. He studied sports management, I studied business administration. We realised that we both liked biking and shot our first film clips together.
A dream team!
Somehow, yes. Everything was easy and lightning-fast, one minute we were amateurs, the next we were professionals. At the time, there was no such thing as a bike pro: a bike influencer.
You also took part in downhill races.
I did ride a few World Cups and European Cups, but I lost interest and was never really fast. It wasn't until I met Fabio that I started enjoying biking again. Because every time we went out, we challenged each other. Who would jump further? Who can get over the tree trunk? It was great fun.
Your games became the Sick Series.
The Sick series hit like a bomb. We seemed to have hit the zeitgeist exactly. We were still dreaming of being able to make a living from biking, but suddenly it was within reach. We put our studies on hold and concentrated fully on making films.
Your most successful clip "Dreamgirl" has an incredible 39 million views on YouTube. Is that where the film was made?
Yes, it was during this time that Fabio's "Fabiolous Escape", my "Dream Girl" and many others, as we took turns in front of and behind the camera.
Both clips are a mix of stunts and slapstick. A recipe for success?
Absolutely. Action alone is not enough. There are many who can do better. You need a story.
Where did the story come from?
We wrote them together. For all the clips like "Urban Freeride lives" or "Fabio's Law"; we actually brainstormed a plot together for all the clips.
How do you explain this success?
We have managed to make the sport understandable for everyone. Because no normal person can appreciate what Brandon Semenuk achieves. But if you jump over the bus stop, you can do it. Everyone understands that. If you add a story to it, the police chasing Fabio or me chasing after my dream girl, then the clips take on a certain drama. It's the only way to stand out from the flood of Internet clips.
Can success be reproduced?
No longer with 250 million views like back then. We were the only ones who made clips like that. Remember: Insta was purely a photo platform in those years. What's more, we pulled off some cool stunts. My jump over the tugboat was 39 metres. With backflips and suicide no hander, you were doing well back then. Today you can pack it in, the level of tricks has exploded.
Some people see you as an entertainer, a stuntman, less as an athlete. Does that annoy you?
No. Because my motivation is different. I don't want to be in the limelight as a sports hero, I want to found a mountain bike school. I want to show people that mountain biking and a healthy lifestyle can change their lives for the better. My Senders Academy is the first step. I want to turn people into good and safe mountain bikers.
That sounds like a do-gooder. Improving the world instead of fame?
I signed autographs for hours. Admiration is less satisfying than when someone says: because of you I learnt to do a wheelie or stopped smoking weed and now go biking.
One part of your vision is the Senders Academy. You recently hired the bike park at Geißkopf for the event, which attracted 2000 visitors. Why is the interest so high?
Five million people play football in the DACH region. There are 200,000 football coaches for them. And there are eight million people who actively ride mountain bikes at - to put it bluntly - 100 bike schools. Crazy, isn't it? In football, the worst you can do is miss the goal with poor technique, but with biking you hurt yourself! I want to make biking safer with the Academy. I haven't broken a bone in eight years as a pro because I have very good riding technique. I want to pass this on - soon internationally too. We are already the biggest mountain bike academy in the world.
Films, records, a fashion collection, the Senders Academy - where do you get all this energy from?
Success doesn't just happen to you, you have to work hard for it. I enjoy working, that's what drives me. I can't sit still because I want my vision to become reality. I dream of having my own bike park, where my sports high school is, and for one of my students to become world champion. And I work day and night for that.
More about Elias Schwärzler
Dimitri Lehner
Editor
