Flying during the Red Bull X-Alps 2013 at Eggishorn in Fiesch, Switzerland on 11 July 2013. Photo: Felix Woelk / Red Bull Content Pool
Are you tough enough? The Red Bull X-Alps 2015 is getting ready to open its doors to applications from around the world.
Applications to take part in the “world’s toughest adventure race” can be made via the official website, www.redbullxalps.com from July 1st until August 31st 2014.
Organisers released their very first press release of the 2015 race today, 24 June. It reads:
The Red Bull X-Alps is back on! Applications for the world’s toughest and most prestigious adventure race open on July 1st. Have you got what it takes to cross the Alps? Can you fly with the best and run for days on end? Now is the time to see if you’re up to the challenge.
The race committee will select the best athletes from around the world based on their mountaineering and trail running experience, endurance fitness, mental strength and flying ability. Only the most impressive adventurers will be considered.
“Successful applicants have to be among the world’s best paraglider pilots,” says race mastermind Hannes Arch. “But they also need a lot of backcountry experience and must have a feel for things like the weather, navigation, mountaineering and know how to make good and safe decisions at an extreme level of stress and fatigue.
The Red Bull X-Alps is not just a physical challenge. It’s about the body and the mind. The athletes have to race at an extreme and intense level for 18 hours a day and sustain that for 10+ days. It’s physically and mentally exhausting. If you make a wrong decision you don’t just fall back in the rankings, you can get into danger! This is serious adventure.”
The 2015 Red Bull X-Alps will be the seventh edition of the epic race. Athletes must journey non-stop for more than 1,000km across the Alps by foot or paraglider via set turnpoints. The race requires a very high level of endurance – it’s not uncommon for athletes to hike up to 100km in a day. The exact route, which promises to be even more demanding, including turnpoint locations, will be announced in the spring of 2015. The rules will also see some updates, which will be communicated in the lead up to the race.
“What you can’t get across is just how mind-blowingly epic this race is,” says 2013 Red Bull X-Alps athlete Stephan Haase.
From the start gun to the finish, there is no let up in the intensity of the battle. In the 2013 edition, fans were gripped by the epic nine-day duel for 2nd place between Frenchmen Clement Latour and Antoine Girard. They covered a total distance of 2,500km, did not sleep in the last 24 hours and arrived at the finish line within an hour of each other.
“It’s this kind of drama that makes the Red Bull X-Alps so unique and such an awesome event to follow, whether on the ground or via live tracking,” says race director Christoph Weber.
The 2013 race was won by the Swiss athlete Christian Maurer in the time of 6 days, 23 hours and 40 minutes. It was his third successive win – and a new record. Will 2015 see a challenger to his reign and a new Red Bull X-Alps champion? Could it be the race when the legendary Romanian Toma Coconea – who’s competed in every race – finally triumphs? Or will a new face emerge to take the race by storm. The field is wide open!
• Got news? Send it to us at news@xccontent.local
Buy and sell gear on Skyads.aero
