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World Paragliding Championships Manila, NSW, Australia, 2007

Ewa Wisnierska, the German Paragliders pilot who reached an altitude of 9947 metres and survived lightning, pounding hail, minus 40-degree temperatures and oxygen deprivation after a storm system sucked her to an altitude higher than Mount Everest as she prepared for the World Paragliding Championships in Manilla, Northern New South Wales..Ewa Wisnierska, 35, passed out due to a lack of oxygen and flew unconscious for up to an hour covered in ice after reaching an altitude of 9947 metres - near the cruising height of a jumbo jet. Her top speed of ascent was clocked at 20 metres per second and her descent at 33 metres per second by an on-board tracking system. The previous altitude survival record for a paraglider was 24,000 feet..Chinese pilot He Zhongpin, 42, was not so lucky, he was found 75 kilometres away from his launch site, and most likely suffocated or froze to death after being sucked into the storm..Ewa Wisnierska went on to compete in the Paragliding World Championships which took place between 24th February and 9th March 2007 where she finished 10th in the female division of the competition.....

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Ewa Wisnierska, the German Paragliders pilot who reached an altitude of 9947 metres and survived lightning, pounding hail, minus 40-degree temperatures and oxygen deprivation after a storm system sucked her to an altitude higher than Mount Everest as she prepared for the World Paragliding Championships in Manilla, Northern New South Wales..Ewa Wisnierska, 35, passed out due to a lack of oxygen and flew unconscious for up to an hour covered in ice after reaching an altitude of 9947 metres - near the cruising height of a jumbo jet. Her top speed of ascent was clocked at 20 metres per second and her descent at 33 metres per second by an on-board tracking system. The previous altitude survival record for a paraglider was 24,000 feet..Chinese pilot He Zhongpin, 42, was not so lucky, he was found 75 kilometres away from his launch site, and most likely suffocated or froze to death after being sucked into the storm..Ewa Wisnierska went on to compete in the Paragliding World Championships which took place between 24th February and 9th March 2007 where she finished 10th in the female division of the competition.....