Time-out for home

As a professional volleyball player, Peter Wohlfahrtstätter is at home all over Europe. But for at least three weeks a year nothing can stop him returning to the place of his roots: Hopfgarten im Brixental.

Coming home for a breather. For Peter Wohlfahrtstätter as a professional volleyball player, the world spins at breakneck speed all year round. One cup match follows the next. Within seconds a block or a smash decides on victory or defeat. The pressure to perform in top-class sport is enormous and the feeling of winning is sometimes so overwhelming, you think you can fly. But no match point or championship title can replace one particular feeling: the feeling, for a moment, of returning to your native home during the year – for a time-out and to recharge your batteries.

“I had one of the best childhoods imaginable in the countryside. Skiing in Winter, cycling in Summer, and in between school and helping out on my parents' farm.” Of course, getting up to work in the stables early in the morning didn’t always evoke the same enthusiasm in Peter Wohlfahrtstätter every day, but the athlete would only learn to appreciate the high regard and humility for growing up in such a sheltered way later on in life. “As a professional athlete, my place of residence changes frequently, currently I'm at home in Lisbon. Anyone who travels as much as I do, sees the world through a different perspective. I've seen a lot of poverty and I know how lucky we are to be able to live here in Austria. A friend of mine is from the Caribbean. I showed him photos of the Kitzbühel Alps and explained that our lakes are of drinking water quality. He couldn't believe it and said he would trade with me immediately. That’s when you really appreciate what you have."

Even as a child, Peter knew that sport was his life. He started with football. At ski racing he was already on the podium and it was here that his coach, at the time, noticed him for his height and asked him if he would like to play volleyball. Asked, affirmed, done! Shortly after, he moved to Vienna and within three and a half years Peter made it to the national team. Today he looks back with a smile on his early days: "If you move to Vienna as a native Tyrolean, you have to say everything three times at first, so that everyone understands you." Stays in Poland, Belgium, France and finally Portugal followed, where he is currently under contract with Benfica. While Lisbon, a big city within close proximity to the sea, exudes a Mediterranean charm, it is his hometown of Hopfgarten im Brixental that lets him unwind completely. There is exactly a five-minute walk from his house to the foot of the Hohe Salve, Peter's very personal local mountain. “For me, mountain hiking is pure freedom. The higher you go, the more appealing and attractive the distant views become. These magnificent emotions can’t be found in any city. For me, it’s like meditating."

#KitzbühelerAlpen | #LebenswegeTirol