German paragliding champion Ewa Wisnierska has survived being sucked into a storm that pulled her higher than Mount Everest.

Ewa Wisnierska, 35, who lost consciousness as she climbed through a thunder cloud she became covered in ice and battled hailstones the size of oranges. She was pulled 9,940m (32,612 feet) above sea level in the storm near Tamworth, in New South Wales, paragliding officials said. A 42-year-old Chinese man, He Zhongpin, was killed in the tornado-like storm. They - along with 200 others - were preparing for a world paragliding championship in the town of Manilla, Australia, when the thunderstorm hit.

Remarkable
Championship organiser Godfrey Wenness said it was remarkable that Ms Wisnierska had survived. "There's no oxygen," Mr Wenness said. "She could have suffered brain damage but she came to again at a height of 6,900m with ice all over her body and slowly descended herself." Ewa says she felt like an astronaut returning from the Moon as she landed.

"I could see the Earth coming - wow, like Apollo 13 - I can see the Earth," she said.

She was sure her chance of surviving was "almost zero". "I was shaking all the time. The last thing I remember it was dark, I could hear lightning all around me," she told Australia's national broadcaster, ABC. Ewa finally made contact with her ground team at 4,000m (13,123 feet). She told them: "I can't do anything - it's raining and hailing and I'm still climbing - I'm lost." But Ms Wisnierska finally managed to land - 60km (40 miles) from where she took off. She spent only an hour in hospital after the ordeal, receiving treatment for severe frostbite and blistering on her face and ears. She had been trying to skirt the storm front but became trapped when two storm cells merged, Mr Wenness said. Officials used her GPS equipment and computer to track her path as the storm dragged her away.

Life Lottery
Mr Wenness lauded Ms Wisnierska for her strength of mind - as well as her physical prowess.

"It's like winning Lotto 10 times in a row - the odds of her surviving were that long," he said.

Ms Wisnierska - the 2005 World Cup paragliding winner - says she still wants to compete in the championships next week.

Mr He, whose body was found 75km from where he took off, was believed to have died from a lack of oxygen and the extreme cold, event organisers said.

Mount Everest is the world's tallest peak, at 8,850m (29,035 feet) above sea level.

Manilla 2007