Oberwiesenthal is where he was born and as every native of Oberwiesenthal can tell you, Oberwiesenthal is the highest city in Germany, at 916m.
And, not surprisingly, Oberwiesenthal, near Leipzig, in the former German Democratic Republic, is all about the skiing.
That has led Mr Fudel, the son of German cross-country representative Frank Fudel, to the Cardrona Valley and a winter of teaching New Zealanders everything he has learned about the sport since he began at the age of 7.
Once he has completed his sports science masters degree in Leipzig, Mr Fudel would like to begin coaching young people to the standards required for the Winter Olympics.
For the moment, he is one of three international cross-country ski instructors at the Snow Farm, and he is impressed with the snow and conditions so far.
Mr Fudel says competitive cross-country skiing requires talent, stamina, determination to succeed at the highest level, a good coach and "a little bit luck".
Competition distances range from sprints over 1.8km to endurance events up to 50km and a "typical training regime for a professional cross-country skier can involve up to 30 hours a week on the snow as well as cycling, swimming and strength-training".
Skiing ranks second only to soccer in public interest in Germany and, of the skiing disciplines, biathlon, which combines cross-country skiing and rifle-shooting, is the most popular spectator event.
Mr Fudel was born the year before the Berlin Wall came down and he believes the differences between east and west are diminishing, although east German wages and prices are still lower than in the west.
Mr Fudel said the main reason he and his girlfriend, Stephanie, came to New Zealand was for its outdoor activities, and they have spent much of the summer tramping, mountain biking and doing "touristy things".
