Duotone Magazin No.01 2019

O f all the sports I enjoy, kayaking is the most accessible for me, with a launch 10 minutes from my home. Kayaking is my way of being close to nature, to feeling the elements. It also allows me to spend time with friends or my two sons while emptying my head of my day-to-day stresses. Though my parents taught me to swim at a young age, I started kayaking rather late, after university, when I went with my wife and some of her friends to Soca, a well-known whitewater river in Slovenia. Having people around you practicing the sport on a high level really helps put fears in perspective and quickly jumpstarts your skills. Ever since that first trip we get back to the same river with that same group for a long weekend getaway every year. One thing I appreciate about kayaking is the diversity the river offers. To paraphrase Heraclitus: You can never paddle the same river twice… Even doing the same runs several times; water levels change, the conditions of the river change, and the lines that you take are never the same. I’ve found parallels to this truism throughout my life, at home and at work. Kayaking and my daily job actually have quite a few similarities. Once you begin a river section you must commit 100% and remain totally focused until the end. Often there is no way out until you finish the section. At the same time, while you’re in one sense completely on your own, isolated in your own boat, relying only on your skills to navigate, you also need a strong team you can rely on for support. Unfortunately I don’t have the flexibility to go kayaking as often as I’d like, as you need that team to help manage boat transfers and logistics. Nevertheless, some of the best times are when a friend calls me up unexpectedly to do a quick run. Even if it’s a bit of a stress to squeeze it in right after work, it’s always worth it for the after-paddle glow that always follows. It’s simply magical, kayaking on a warm day and being able to drink the same water I’m riding on. Being in nature is about feeling myself and freeing my mind. Preparing for a paddle I already have to free my mind from daily distractions and concentrate on the job at-hand to get everything prepared. Therefore my head is clean of all work issues and problems before I even get in the water. The fact that there are different levels of difficulty on every river means that kayaking is able to give everything from moments of personal challenge to moments of serenity in the surrounding nature to enjoying time with my friends and family. When I finish a run I’m tired in a positive way. My head is empty, yet at the same time I somehow feel completely recharged and ready for the challenges my job brings with it. “Being in nature is about feeling myself and freeing my mind.” “Brewing beer has its own pace, it takes as long as it takes.” L AURENT HOMPESCH P RODUC T D ES I GNER Photo: Frank Stolle A s my job involves a lot of time spent at a computer I seek balance in crafting. Of all the crafts I am interested in, I like brewing beer the most. Born in Belgium I come from a country with a rich culture of beer. There seem to be endless aromas and flavors. One could say I was born with a natural interest in beer. I got passionate about brewing a couple of years ago. Some friends and I created an anniversary beer in cooperation with a micro-brewery in Belgium for the 80th anniversary of our Boy Scout group. We met with the brewmaster a couple of times in order to finalize the recipe and of course to taste our first attempts. Through this experience I learned a lot about the craft of brewing and the raw materials used for it. It kind of stuck with me until one day I couldn’t resist anymore – I had to try it myself. I started with small quantities for around 6 liters of beer, mainly due to a lack of space. Who owns pots that are capable of holding more than 6 liters? Now I make 30 liters per batch which better justifies the effort and amount of time I put in. This results in approximately 21 –22 liters of beer. Developing products like bindings for kiteboards is quite consuming. You work on the product every day, there’s constant need for revision and you are able to make changes right up to the moment before it goes into production. Usually I’m also working under pressure – there are meetings and deadlines to make. This sometimes means you have to push the process a little to make it all work – something which is not possible with brewing beer. You can’t interfere in the process or accelerate it. Brewing beer has its own pace, it takes as long as it takes. And good beer needs a lot of time as the aroma develops very slowly. So brewing has something introverted about it. You can’t force it. All you can do is choose the right ingredients in the right proportion and provide the best conditions. Lately I’ve been experimenting a lot with components like sugar and honey to see how it changes the flavor of the beer. But the rest is up to time. When I decide to do a batch I step out of the stressful, often rushed world of my job and fully commit to the slow process of brewing. It literally decelerates me. That said, brewing is a great balance to work. It satisfies me to have crafted something. This is especially rewarding when the beer tastes great. Above all, it is something you can share with friends. Spending time with people that are impor­ tant to you is soothing for the soul. Add a good beer and you get pure happiness. GREGOR KÖN I G MA N AG I NG D I R EC TOR , C F O Photo: Günther Riener T R U E 33 T R U E 32 S O U R C E S O F P O W E R