The Red Bull X-Alps is a paragliding race in which athletes must hike or fly 1,200 km across the Alps. It first launched in 2003 and has since taken place every other year. Around 30 athletes take part and must navigate their way via a predetermined set of turn points that vary with each race. Every kilometer must be covered either on foot or by paraglider. Teams consist of one athlete and one official supporter, whose role it is to provide technical advice, mental and nutritional support.
Athletes didn't fly into Monaco due to airspace restrictions, and the term "Monaco" has been used solely for marketing purposes. That is one reason why in the tenth edition (2021) the route has been changed to not include Monaco but rather return to Austria.[2]
The exact route is normally unveiled in the spring before the race start.
So far the race has only been won by Swiss nationals, and by Christian Maurer since 2009.[3]
History
All routes so far: ● 20030● 20050● 20070● 20090● 20110● 20130● 20150● 20170● 20190● 20210● 2023
The concept for the Red Bull X-Alps was developed by Austrian pilot Hannes Arch who saw a TV documentary in which German pilot Toni Bender crossed the Alps from North to South by paraglider, carrying all his equipment, sleeping rough and hiking parts of the way.
"I thought it would be cool to base a paragliding competition on this format and developed a basic concept for it - and the idea was born! Together with Red Bull, we have developed it over the years to be the Red Bull X-Alps it is today - the toughest and most extreme endurance and outdoor race in the world. Its simplicity is what makes it most appealing. We start in Salzburg and whoever arrives in Monaco first wins. That's it. It's about body and soul, not about hundreds of rules and regulations," Arch has said.[4]
When conditions are good, athletes use paragliders to fly, and when they are not they must run or hike, carrying their paraglider and other mandatory equipment. The use of tunnels and all other forms of transport are not permitted.
The first edition led from Austria's DachsteinGlacier to Monaco via Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitze, Mont Blanc and Mont Gros in France. Seventeen athletes and their support teams covered a distance of 800 kilometers as the crow flies.
Over the years the route and the turn points have changed. From 2009 the race started off in the Austrian city of Salzburg. At 1,031 kilometers, the 2013 course was the longest in the history of the race and athletes had to pass 10 turn points: Gaisberg, Dachstein, and Wildkogel in Austria; Zugspitze in Germany; Ortler/Sulden in Italy; Interlaken, Matterhorn in Switzerland; Mont Blanc, Saint Hilaire, and Peille in France.
New to the 2015 race was the Powertraveller Prologue, a one-day hike and paragliding contest in the Salzburgerland region. Starting and finishing in Fuschl am See, athletes are required to hike or fly a 38 km course around two turn points, the Zwölferhorn and Schafberg peaks. It was won by Paul Guschlbauer in 2h 21m. In 2017, the prologue will return to Fuschl am See as the Leatherman Prologue on June 29.
The 2015 race started July 5 and ended July 17. It was won for the fourth time in a row by the Swiss athlete Christian Maurer who reached the finish, a landing float in Monaco bay, on July 14. His official time, which stops at the final turn point of Peille above Monaco, was 8d 4h 37m.
Thanks to GPS-Live Tracking, all athletes can be followed in real time on the official website throughout the race. The exact position of the athletes is monitored via data loggers and GSM cell phones. The athletes also carry a camera with them at all times. Stills and videos are used in the athletes’ online diaries, which are kept up to date by their supporters.
Rules
The first athlete to reach Monaco wins the race, which ends 48 hours later but not before a set finish time as defined by organizers. Thereafter, the race will officially end and athletes will be requested to stop racing. Pilots who have not reached the final destination within this time will be ranked according to the distance left to the final destination.
Since the 2011 edition, athletes are forced to have a mandatory rest between 23:00 and 04:00 and stay within a radius of 250m of their resting position for safety reasons. In 2013, the mandatory break was extended by 1.5 hours, from 22:30 to 05:00. If an athlete was still moving in that time, he would be subjected to a minimum penalty of 24 hours. Athletes with penalty times had to prolong their next rest for the duration of their penalty time. Failure to comply with this rule led to disqualification.
New in 2013 was the so-called Night Pass, which allowed athletes to hike through the night. To use they had to inform organizers of their intention by 12:00 local time the day they wished to use. The idea behind the Night Pass was to allow athletes a chance to advance their position by tactical means once during the race. They may be able to hike to a key point where they can extend their lead or pass teams in front.
Since 2013, prototypes are banned from the competition and all equipment, including paragliders, harnesses, and helmets must comply with EN or LTF certifications.[5]
X-Alps 2003
Route
The first course took the athletes from the Dachstein Glacier in Austria to Monaco. It was defined by two turn points, all of which had to be taken within a radius of 100 meters. Over the years the route and the turn points have changed.
Of the 17 competitors who started the race on July 14, 2003, on the Dachstein, only three made it to Monaco. All others completed between 30% and 90% of the course.
17 athletes, two of which were women, competed in the second Red Bull X-Alps, starting on August 1, 2005. Four teams reached the final destination while three teams had to withdraw from the race due to injury. All others completed between 25% and 88% of the distance.
30 teams started on July 23, 2007, for the third edition of the Red Bull X-Alps. 12 teams had to withdraw. Five teams made it to the final destination in Monaco.
Martin Müller was the fastest athlete, however, he was penalized with 36 hours due to an airspace violation in Sion, Switzerland. Müller was taken over by Alex Hofer and Toma Coconea at Mt Gros and only placed third. Winner Alex Hofer traveled 900 km (61% of the distance) in the air and walked 588 km (39%). In comparison, Coconea flew 24% of the distance and walked the other 76% (1,021 km).
X-Alps 2009
Route
For the first time the race started from the Mozartplatz in the center of the city of Salzburg, the end goal however remained the same. The number of turnpoints was increased to seven.
The fourth edition was the first one to start from a new starting point. On July 19, 2009, 30 teams started from the Mozartplatz in the Austrian city of Salzburg. Only two teams made it all the way to the final destination in Monaco while 12 teams had to withdraw, were disqualified or taken out of the race.
Rank
Team
Athlete
Supporter
Finish Time
Distance to Goal (as the crow flies)
1
SUI1
Chrigel Maurer
Thomas Theurillat
9 Days and 23:54 Hours
2
SUI2
Alex Hofer (defending champion)
Nicole Schlotterer
+ 1 Day, 09:24 Hours
3
USA
Honza Rejmanek
David Hanning
139 km
4
GBR1
Aidan Toase
Charlie Merrett
164 km
5
RUS
Evgeny Gryaznov
Dmitry Gusev
193 km
6
GER
Michael Gebert
Florian Schellheimer
203 km
7
FIN
Jouni Makkonen
Toni Leskelä
230 km
8
HUN
Pal Takats
Mauritz Volkmer
231 km
9
ESP
Ramon Morillas
Juan Morillas
237 km
10
BEL
Tom de Dorlodot
Maxime van Dyck
238 km
11
FRA2
Julien Wirtz
Adrien Vicier
245 km
12
ITA2
Andy Frötscher
Raphael Murphy Graetz
288 km
13
JPN1
Kaoru Ogisawa
Masaru Saso
297 km
CAN
Max Fanderl
Penny Powers
297 km
15
GBR2
Tom Payne
Alex Raymont
321 km
CZE
Jan Skrabalek
David Bzirsky
321 km
17
POL
Filip Jagla
Piotr Goc
423 km
18
SVK
Peter Vrabec
Tomas Bernat
457 km
19
AUT1
Helmut Eichholzer
Andreas Neubacher
disqualified for flying into forbidden zone
20
ROM
Toma Coconea
Vasile Trifan Daniel Pisica
disqualified for flying into forbidden zone
21
VEN
Raul Penso
Ismael Penso
disqualified for flying into forbidden zone
22
SUI2
Martin Müller
Fabien Zuberer
eliminated (injury)
23
FRA1
Vincent Sprüngli
David Bibier Cocatrix
eliminated (injury)
24
NED
Ronny Geijsen
Hugo Robben
eliminated (injury)
25
RSA
Pierre Carter
James Braid
eliminated (injury)
26
ITA1
Leone Antonio Pascale
Maurizio Dalla Valle
eliminated (injury)
27
AUT2
Christian Amon
Manuel Goller
eliminated (injury)
28
JPN2
Masayuki Matsubara
Tetsuo Kogai
eliminated
29
AUS
Lloyd Penicuik
Lewis Nott
eliminated
30
SLO
Primoz Susa
Igor Erzen
eliminated
Chrigel Maurer was the fastest athlete and the first to reach Monaco from the air (he landed at Roquebrune Beach and ran to the last turnpoint on Mont Gros from where he flew to the final destination). Defending champion Alex Hofer arrived one day later. The winner traveled 72% (999 km) of the overall distance (1,379 km) in the air and walked the other 28% (380 km).
As in 2009, the 2011 race started from the Mozartplatz in Salzburg. The 30 athletes who had been nominated by the race committee took off on July 17, 2011. Only two teams made it all the way to the final destination.
Rank
Team
Athlete
Supporter
Finish Time
Distance to Goal (as the crow flies)
1
SUI1
Chrigel Maurer (defending champion)
Thomas Theurillat
11 Days and 04:52 Hours (24-hour penalty for flying into forbidden zone)
2
ROM
Toma Coconea
Daniel Pisica
13 Days and 03 Hours
3
AUT4
Paul Guschlbauer
Sara Gudelius
9 km
4
SUI3
Martin Müller
Boris Aellen
73 km
5
GBR2
Jon Chambers
Richard Chambers
113 km
6
GER
Michael Gebert
Florian Schellheimer
172 km
7
NED
Ferdinand van Schelven
Anton Brous
173 km
8
FRA3
Clement Latour
Sylvain Dhonneur
174 km, 24-hour penalty for flying into forbidden zone
9
FIN
Jouni Makkonen
Toni Leskelä
176 km
10
USA
Honza Rejmanek
Dave Hanning
181 km
11
BEL
Tom de Dorlodot
Gatien de Dorlodot
183 km
12
RUS
Evgeny Gryaznov
Anton Poliakov
241 km
13
AUT1
Helmut Eichholzer
Wolfgang Ehgarter
246 km
14
CAN
Max Fanderl
Penny Powers
305 km
ITA
Andy Frötscher
Robert Mur
305 km
16
BRA
Richard Pethigal
Dioclecio R. Filho
327 km, 24-hour penalty for flying into forbidden zone
17
POL
Pawel Faron
Piotr Goc
350 km
18
ESP
Oriol Fernandez
Armand Rubiella
389 km
19
GBR1
Steve Nash
Richard Bungay
385 km, disqualified for flying into forbidden zone
20
CZE
Jan Skrabalek
Karel Vrbensky
478 km, eliminated
21
RSA
Pierre Carter
James Braid
516 km, eliminated
22
ARG
Martin Romero Garayzabal
Martin Utrera
573 km, eliminated (injury)
23
JPN2
Masayuki Matsubara
Shinichi Nagashima
620 km, eliminated
24
FRA1
Vincent Sprüngli
Jerome Maupoint
631 km, 24-hour penalty for flying into forbidden zone; retired (technical failure)
25
AUT3
Mike Küng
Eduard Kumaropulos
677 km, eliminated (illness)
26
POR
Nuno Virgilio
Samuel Lopes
683 km, 24-hour penalty for flying into forbidden zone; eliminated
27
JPN1
Kaoru Ogisawa
Masaru Saso
739 km, disqualified for flying into forbidden zone
28
AUT2
Christian Amon
Mario Schmaranzer
755 km, eliminated (injury)
29
FRA2
Philippe Barnier
Herve Garcia
757 km, eliminated
30
NOR
Ivar Sandstå
Øystein Dagestad
786 km, 24-hour penalty for flying into forbidden zone; eliminated
Defending champion Chrigel Maurer was the first to arrive in Monaco after 11 days, 4h and 52min after covering a total distance of 1,807 km, 1,321 km of which he covered by paraglider and 486 km on the ground.
31 athletes took off from the Mozartplatz in Salzburg on July 7, 2013. A record number of ten teams made it all the way to Monaco.
Rank
Team
Athlete
Supporter
Finish Time
Distance to Goal (as the crow flies)
1
SUI1
Chrigel Maurer (defending champion)
Thomas Theurillat
6 Days and 23:40 Hours
2
FRA1
Clement Latour
Philippe Barnier Bruno Deloustal
8 Days and 16 Hours
3
FRA2
Antoine Girard
Nelson de Freyman Yves Bernard
8 Days and 16:30 Hours
4
GBR
Jon Chambers
Richard Chambers Tom Payne
9 Days and 05:12 Hours
5
ITA2
Peter Gebhard
Heidi Insam Gerald Demetz
9 Days and 07:40 Hours
6
NED
Ferdinand van Schelven
Anton Brous
10 Days and 09:27 Hours
7
ITA1
Aaron Durogati
Renata Kuhnova Ondrej Prochazka
10 Days and 10:28 Hours
8
SUI2
Martin Müller
Stephane Voeffray Julien Andrey
10 Days and 21:43 Hours
9
AUT1
Paul Guschlbauer
Sara Gudelius Axel Gudelius
11 Days and 05:47 Hours
10
ROM
Toma Coconea
Daniel Pisica Adrian Miclea
11 Days and 11:22 Hours
11
USA1
Honza Rejmanek
Luis Rosenkjer Jesse Williams
101 km
12
FRA3
Victor Sebe
Vincent Tourangin Hugues Baschet
113 km
13
BEL
Tom de Dorlodot
Cedric de Bruyn Sebastien Granville
153 km
14
RUS
Evgeny Gryaznov
Tatsiana Spirydonava Valeriy Maznev
154 km
15
POL
Pawel Faron
Piotr Goc Witold Wladyka
154 km
16
JPN1
Kaoru Ogisawa
Fumio Miki Hideo Inaba
168 km
17
ITA3
Andy Frötscher
Robert Mur Michael Schneider
182 km
18
JPN2
Shoichiro Tadano
Masaru Saso Naohisa Okada
184 km
19
CZE
Michal Krysta
Standa Mayer Jan Skrabalek
229 km
20
GER3
Max Mittmann
Matthias Christen Roger Christen
261 km
21
AUT2
Mike Küng
Eduard Kumaropulos Renate Schatzl
379 km
22
VEN
Raul Penso
Dario di Gioia Gabriela Guzman
385 km, 48-hour penalty for flying into forbidden zone; 24-hour penalty for needing to be rescued by a mountain guide in rough terrain
23
CAN
Max Fanderl
Penny Powers Mik Broschart
411 km
24
GER2
Lars Budack
Jonathan Möller Wenzel Piel
428 km
25
KOR
Pil Pyo Hong
Kim Min Soo Ryu Yun Jae
430 km
26
RSA
Pierre Carter
James Braid
553 km
27
ESP
Iñigo Gabiria
Iñigo Arizaga Xabier Amorrortu
588 km
28
USA2
Stephan Haase
David Hanning Brad Sander
523 km, retired (injury)
29
AUT3
Thomas Hofbauer
Christian Grohs Vera Polaschegg
773 km, eliminated
30
NPL
Babu Sunuwar
Charles Kirsten Andreas Kastler
853 km, eliminated
31
ARG
Claudio Heidel
Jordi Tosas Carlos Fernández Carrasco
877 km, eliminated
At 1,031 km, the route was almost 200 km longer than in 2011. Chrigel Maurer was the first to arrive in Monaco, winning for the third time in a row. He made it in a record time of 6 days, 23h and 40min. He traveled a total distance of 2,556 km, 2,288 km of which he covered by paraglider and 268 km on the ground.
X-Alps 2015
Route
The route was announced on March 19, 2015.[6] It follows an arc of Europe's highest mountains, starting in Salzburg, Austria and finishing in Monaco. The 2015 route has ten turnpoints and a straight-line distance of 1,038 km and is more challenging tactically than the 2013 race due to it having less obvious flight paths.
New to the 2015 edition was the Powertraveller Prologue, a one-day hike and paragliding race around the mountains of Fuschl am See. The first three athletes to finish the Prologue were each rewarded with a five-minute headstart in the Red Bull X-Alps race start on July 5 and an additional Led Lenser Nightpass to journey through the night, which is normally a mandatory rest period. First was Paul Guschlbauer (AUT1) 2h21m, second was Stanislav Mayer (CZE) in 2h22m, third was Gavin McClurg (USA2) 2h24m.
On December 29, 2014 the first 31 teams were revealed. Two more wildcard teams were added to the starters field on January 8, 2015. The race was won for the fourth time in a row by the Swiss athlete Christian Maurer in 8d 4h 37m, flying an Advance Omega paraglider.
11 Days and 6 hours, 48-hour penalty for flying into forbidden zone
20
USA4
Dave Turner
Krischa Berlinger
140 km, did not finish
21
GBR
Steve Nash
Richard Bungay
178 km, did not finish
22
AUT2
Gerald Gold
Othmar Heinisch
302 km, did not finish
23
USA3
Dawn Westrum
Jaroslaw Wieczorek
375 km, eliminated
24
BEL
Thomas de Dorlodot
Sebastien Granville
499 km, withdrew due to injury
25
AUT4
Pascal Purin
Florian Ebenbichler
531 km, withdrew due to injury
26
ROM
Toma Coconea
Daniel Pisica
555 km, withdrew due to injury
27
RSA
Stephan Kruger
Konstantin Filipov
575 km, eliminated
28
GER1
Michael Gebert
Tobias Böck
575 km, withdrew
29
ESP
Ivan Colás
Íñigo Arizaga
611 km, withdrew due to injury
30
COL
Alex Villa
Stefan Hodeck
635 km, eliminated
31
SUI2
Samuel Vurpillot
Martin Müller
755 km, eliminated
32
GER2
Yvonne Dathe
Thomas Ide
840 km, eliminated
33
FRA1
Clément Latour
Barnier Philippe
Did Not Start
DNS
X-Alps 2017
Route
The route was announced on March 29, 2017.[1] With seven turnpoints and a straight-line distance of 1,138 km, it was the longest route so far.
In 2017, the Prologue returned as the Leatherman Prologue race on June 29. The one-day hiking race which saw no paragliding due to bad weather took place around the mountains of Fuschl am See. The athletes started in Fuschl and reached the Zwölferhorn before returning to Fuschl as fast as possible. The first three athletes to finish the Prologue race were rewarded with a head start on day two of the main race and an additional Ledlenser Nightpass to journey through the night, which is normally a mandatory rest period.[7]
The competing athletes were announced on November 2, 2016 via social media.[8] Two more wildcard teams were added to the field on January 2, 2017.[9] In 2017, 31 teams took part in Red Bull X-Alps; 12 rookies, as well as reigning champion Chrigel Maurer and legend Toma Coconea, who has taken part in every edition so far.[10]