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Mixing business with pleasure in Scandinavia • SEK 40,00 THE SCANDINAVIAN www.sosmag.se NO 9 • SPRING 2008INSIDER

TUNNEL VISION A day in the life of tunnel pilot HALLAND Big adventures in little Sweden WHITE WATER KAYAKING THE SKY IS NO LIMIT Per Wimmer LIFESTYLE INTERVIEW

The

is no limit

By David Wiles, Photography: Kimberly Wiltshire

When you’ve made your millions, earned term and call it “private space exploration”– four Masters Degrees, travelled to more than began in 2001 when American Dennis Tito “Earth is pretty 50 countries and set up your own investment paid a reported $20 million for seven days bank (all while still in your 30s), your aver- aboard the International Space Station (ISS). much explored. age run-of-the-mill challenges may no longer In the seven years since, only four other peo- suffice. ple have followed him. There is a So, Per Wimmer is setting his sights higher, But now a new race is on to start regular, com- Coca-Cola about 100km higher to be precise -- in space. mercial flights into space – 100km above the Wimmer is a 39-year-old, investment banker, Earth is the internationally-defined bound- dispenser who is set to become the first Dane and only ary – with several companies at various stages the second Scandinavian to leave the Earth’s of preparations to make the next great step for pretty much atmosphere. He has so far invested in the tourism. region of $1 million of his own money and Wimmer is hoping that his voyages will take everywhere a significant amount of time over the last place sometime between 2009 and 2010. One and that takes seven years in pursuing his dream. No date will be with ’s Virgin Galac- has yet been set for this adventure, as there tic aboard SpaceShipTwo, which will carry a bit of the fun is still much testing of man and spacecraft to six passengers and two pilots to an altitude be done, but Wimmer himself is pretty much of 110km. Branson and some members of his away for me.” ready for the trip of a lifetime. And just to family will be on the first trip. Wimmer, as make sure he really does fulfil his dream of one of its 100 “Founders”, is hoping to leave in his hometown of Slagelse, about 100km travelling into space, he has signed up and the Earth’s atmosphere shortly thereafter from Copenhagen and went on to pass the paid for no less than three separate journeys on one of the subsequent flights at a cost of Baccalaureate in France in double-quick into the heavens. $200,000. time, having skipped the first year and done Trip number two is a suborbital journey with the second and third year simultaneously (the The new space race Space Adventures, the company which has failure rate among native-speaking French The idea of going into space was hatched back taken all five space tourists to the ISS to date students is 48 per cent!). Next came a Law in 2000 when Wimmer was discussing ex- and whose Explorer “spaceplane” has been degree and then a Masters in Law from the citing travel destinations with a friend. “I’m developed alongside the Russian Federal ; a Master of Laws an adventurer, and this person asked if I had Space Agency. He is not allowed to talk about (LLM) from the ; an in- heard that it was possible to go into space, his secretive, third mission. ternship at the United Nations in Geneva; an which I hadn’t,” he says. “Within 48 hours M.A. in European Political Science from the of that conversation I had written the first High achiever College of Europe in Bruges; and a junior post cheque, and it snowballed from there.” So, who is Wimmer? What you might call a in the cabinet of the Vice-President of the Eu- Space tourism – some are dismissive of the high achiever, he was top of his class at school ropean Union.

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Wimmer then took a few months off to thing, for some reason it’s OK. I’m not too write a book (in French) about the future sure why. Maybe, because it is so fascinating development of Europe, before being of- and different and literally out of this world. fered a place at Harvard to do a Masters in Or maybe, because we are all part of it. When Public Administration (MPA). He travelled I go up there it is not just me, but the world for six months halfway through has an astronaut. So it is ‘us’, and that means the two-year programme, and on comple- I can get away with a lot of things.” tion of his MPA whittled the mountain of job offers he received down to two: one Been there, done that from top investment bank Goldman Sachs, He has the money and time; he is his own boss and one from Bill Clinton, which would – he launched Wimmer Financial on October have made him the only foreigner on the 4th last year, the 50th anniversary of Sputnik’s prestigious Presidential Management In- launch – and is not currently in a relationship, tern Programme. Decisions, decisions. He so there is no one to try to talk him out of it. chose Wall Street over the White House and But why invest what for most mortals is crazy so began a glittering career in investment money in an adventure – or three – which are, banking. let’s face it, fairly high risk and which will last It is hard not to feel just a little inferior in the for just a few hours from lift-off to landing? presence of such accomplishment – which, Wimmer breaks it down into three, what he it must be said, he carries off without ar- calls, “motivational factors”. The first is an in- rogance. The fact that he has a somewhat terest in space picked up from an inspirational noble or perhaps even regal look, comple- physics teacher back home in Slagelse. The mented by a perfectly waved fringe, adds second is wanderlust. “If you look at my back- to the impression of ascendancy. Thus, in ground on the travelling side, I do like to get an attempt to find a chink in the armour, out there, be as pioneering as possible. Unfor- the question has to be asked: has Wimmer tunately Earth is pretty much explored. We ever failed at anything? He shifts in his seat, have been everywhere - there is a Coca-Cola blushes slightly and answers almost apolo- dispenser pretty much everywhere. And that getically, no, he hasn’t. “About 90 per cent is takes a bit of the fun away for me. As human hard work and determination, and the rest beings we have only travelled in two dimen- is probably good luck,” he says, as if trying sions, and now the third dimension is starting to prove he is not Superman. “You need to to open up, and I very much want to be part of have a bit of good luck now and then, and I that. For me that is the ultimate trip.” have had that. If I look back there are prob- The third factor behind his decision to go to ably a few days I would change, but not a space is his “entrepreneurial” spirit. “I am an lot of them.” entrepreneur – I have started my own bank. Seasoned observers of Scandinavia will The opening up of space to people like you know that such success and drive, being the and me is a new thing. It attracts a lot of tallest poppy in the field, but still stretch- people who think like me. That is a huge side ing higher, is often frowned upon. Accord- benefit because I get to work with some bril- ing to Jante Law (Jantelagen in Swedish, liant, inspiring people who have some crazy, Janteloven in Danish) you shouldn’t think wacko ideas.” you are special or better than anyone else. Of course, there are probably thousands of Someone with Wimmer’s CV and ambition people around the world who are adventur- Per Wimmer’s ‘Seven Fundamental Values’ should, by Scandinavian rights, be a favou- ous, like taking risks and are interested in rite target for hostility. But, he says, he has space, but they have not signed up for three 1) Allow yourself to be inspired. Think out of the box 5) Teamwork: the sum of the parts is greater than the individual parts alone been given a fair bit of slack. “The first rea- space trips. So what makes Wimmer differ- 2) Follow your heart and passion. Have fun 6) Take calculated risks: assess risks/rewards 3) Focus and execution 7) Inspire others, especially children, and encourage them to live their dreams son is I am already a bit of an oddball, as I ent? First, he says, there are the formal cri- 4) Time discipline: be conscious about time allocation have already moved abroad, and why would teria that a space tourist must fulfil. You have anyone want to do that?” he says. “Second, to been in good health with no heart or back although Jante Law is still prevalent in Den- problems, and, obviously the big one – you mark, when it comes to the whole space need deep pockets. That rules out a whole lot

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“When I go up there it is not just me, but Denmark has an astronaut. So it is ‘us’, and that means I can get away with a lot of things.”

of wannabes. Then, there is the personal side mer believes that we are on the threshold of around doing on Earth actually is, because of it. “I think the key, differentiating factor a new era of private space travel. “There is a you are really seeing the big perspective for is that when I put something into my head, mini-revolution taking place that many peo- once, and truly the big perspective. So, there I do it,” he says. “My decision-making goes ple are not aware of,” he says. “This is going will hopefully be a bit of time to reflect, and like this: I throw a lot of balls up into the air, to be big. This is going to be comparable to the by that time it will probably be time to go back pull some of them down and consider the pros late 20s early 30s, when the private aviation home again.” and cons. And once the line is drawn there is industry took off. Back then, aviation was just But what he hopes he will be able to avoid no going back, it is just execution, execution, for government officials and very high-worth – and he is already planning ways to do so – execution,” he says, accompanying the words people. Later, normal people got this possibil- is the sort of crash-landings other astronauts with a chopping motion with his hands, re- ity of travelling by air. And look at where we have experienced after reaching the absolute vealing some of the attitude that helped him are now with EasyJet and Ryan Air. I’m not pinnacle of their professional and private in the financial world. “I guess that is one saying we will get down to the same price lives. He gives as one of his biggest role mod- thing that separates me from the rest and that levels as that, but we are transforming what els Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon is why I am doing it now as one of the first.” is happening. That whole revolution is yet to and whom he knows personally. Aldrin went come, but it will come.” through personal crises and became an alco- Frighteningly real Wimmer recently received a request to speak holic after the initial hullabaloo over his great Getting into space has become something of in Spain at the conference of a major elec- achievement had died down. a career in itself, with Wimmer putting the tronics manufacturer, which he says shows “It’s sad that he had that big fall, but it is cer- equivalent of a third to a half of a normal job’s that the interest in what he is doing goes be- tainly a lesson for the rest of us,” says Wim- working hours into the project over the past yond national boundaries, beyond the Dan- mer. “It shows that it is important for us to seven years. This includes giving presenta- ish interest in him just because he will be the have something to land on once we come tions on his project, speaking at schools, and first person from that small country to go into back from these high highs. These are emo- media calls, such as the ten days he spent with space. “So, it is clearly a global story,” he says. tionally very high highs we are talking about, Danish TV and four days with “People are fascinated by this. This is the fu- where you transport yourself out to a place in New York in January. And then, of course, ture. If you want to illustrate something with where few have been before and it seems to there is the training itself. the future, then space is now sexy again. I am have a big impact on people. So, I have a few Much of it involves teaching the body how very glad we are at that point where we are things in the drawer at the moment that I can to deal with the forces put on it while trying able to motivate and excite people with re- land on and that can fill out the gaps over the to escape the Earth’s atmosphere, or re-enter newed interest in space. This is what people years to come.” it. This has meant acrobatics in a MiG 25 jet want to read about.” And something else that should help him fighter at speeds of Mach 3, and rides on the keep his chin up should there come some world’s biggest centrifuge, at Star City in Rus- The big picture great post-space downer after his return to About Per sia, pulling 6G. “F16 pilots need to handle Besides the thrill of physically leaving the Earth is the fact that his greatest challenge is Name: Per Wimmer 7.5G, a nd hu ma n s d ie a f ter 12 ,” ex pla i n s W i m- Earth’s atmosphere – if only for about half yet to come, still a few decades and inevita- Born: 1968 in Slagelse, Denmark mer. Recent training with Virgin has included an hour – Wimmer is expecting his “ultimate bly several million dollars in the future. Per Family: single what sounds like the ultimate video game: a trip” to involve the sort of deep, transcenden- Wimmer’s ultimate goal in life is to plant the Career: financier, astronaut, ad- simulated launch of SpaceShipTwo in a cen- tal experience that professional astronauts Danish flag on the moon. Do you doubt he’ll venturer and motivational speaker trifuge with what is effectively a mini-IMAX have spoken of after returning from space. succeed? Lives in: London screen showing the cabin and the view from “It is possible that it will be a philosophical Spends his down time: with friends the window. “You become a virtual astronaut, internal trip if it is quiet enough for that. We and watching good movies but it feels frighteningly real,” says Wimmer. will be transported so far away from friends, Would rather die than: “not be “It’s exciting, thrilling, exhausting.” family, professional and private surroundings able to live out my dreams.” From his vantage point half within the space that maybe it will give thought to life and industry and half in the “real” world, Wim- how insignificant the stuff we are running

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