Red Bull X-Alps

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The Red Bull X-Alps is one of the world's toughest adventure races in which athletes must hike or fly 1,000 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 turnpoints 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 providing technical advice, mental and nutritional support is almost as demanding.

The route traditionally covers the Alpine regions of Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and France before ending in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France. Athletes don't fly into Monaco due to airspace restrictions, and the term "Monaco" is used solely for marketing purposes. The exact route is normally unveiled in the spring before the race start. For the first time in the race's history, the 2017 route will feature Slovenia.

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 had to hike or fly a 38 km course around two turnpoints, 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 turnpoint of Peille above Monaco, was 8d 4h 37m.

The race

In 2017, the Red Bull X-Alps will return for their eighth edition. Starting in Salzburg, 32 athletes of 21 nationalities will race a straight-line distance of 1,138km across the Alps to Monaco via 7 turnpoints in 7 different countries. The athletes are only traveling this long distance by foot or paraglider, which makes the Red Bull X-Alps the world's toughest adventure race.

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.[1]

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 form of transport is not permitted.

The first edition led from Austria's Dachstein Glacier 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 turnpoints 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 turnpoints: 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. So far the race has only ever been won by Swiss nationals.

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.

The 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.[2]

X-Alps 2003

Route

The first course took the athletes from the Dachstein Glacier in Austria to Monaco. It was defined by two turnpoints, all of which had to be taken within a radius of 100 meters. Over the years the route and the turnpoints have changed.

# Turnpoint
1   Switzerland pass over Verbier
2   France Mont Gros

Teams and results

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.

Rank Team Athlete Time Distance covered
1 SUI   Kaspar Henny 11 Days and 22:55:30 Hours
2 FRA   David Dagault 12 Days and 03:20 Hours
3 GER1   Stefan Bocks 12 Days and 08 Hours
4 GER2   Thomas Friedrich 672 km
5 SUI2   Urs Lötscher 668 km
6 SLO   Uros Rozic 657 km
7 CAN   Will Gadd 656 km
8 GER3   Holger Herfurth 648 km
9 ROM   Toma Coconea 618 km
10 AUT2   Walter Holzmüller 554 km
11 TUR   Buhara Arif Kemal 525 km
12 POL   Krzysztof Ziolkowski 522 km
13 ITA   Andy Frötscher 511 km
14 AUT1   Gerhard Gassner 486 km
15 MEX   Carlos Carsolio 462 km
16 BUL   Slavi Vasilev 357 km
17 GBR   Jon Shaw 263 km

X-Alps 2005

Route

Dachstein Glacier, Austria, to Monaco.

# Turnpoint
1   Germany Zugspitze
2   France/  Italy Mont Blanc
3   France Mont Gros

Teams and results

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.

Rank Team Athlete Supporter Time
1 SUI3   Alex Hofer   Heinz Haunschild 12 Days and 01:20 Hours
2 SUI2   Urs Lötscher   Andreas Wild + 1 Day, 1 Hour
3 SUI1   Kaspar Henny (defending champion)   Elio Baffioni
4 AUT1   Helmut Eichholzer   Elisabeth Rauchenberger
5 GER1
GER2
  Stefan Bocks
  Michael Gebert
  Hansi Keim
  Florian Schellheimer
AUS   Benn Kovco   Bryan Anderson
AUT2   Christian Amon   Lars Pongs retired
ESP   David Castillejo Martinez   Magdalena Alcañiz Soriano
GBR   Aidan Toase   Jan Toase
GRE   Dimitris Bourazanis   Marina Zannara retired
IRL   Niki Hamilton   Petra Knor retired
ITA   Andy Frötscher   Florian Ploner
MEX   Santiago Baeza   Christian Fernandez del Valle
ROM   Toma Coconea   Cornel Doru Calutiu
TUR   Semih Sayir   Osman Grukan
USA   Kari Castle   Craig Goddard

X-Alps 2007

Route

Dachstein Glacier, Austria, to Monaco.

# Turnpoint
1   Austria Dachstein
2   Italy Marmolada
3   Switzerland Eiger
4   France/  Italy Mont Blanc
5   France Mont Gros

Teams and results

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.

Rank Team Athlete Supporter Finish Time Distance to Goal (as the crow flies)
1 SUI1   Alex Hofer (defending champion)   Sandro Schnegg 14 Days and 1 Hour
2 ROM   Toma Coconea   Razvan Levarda + 04:35 Hours
3 SUI3   Martin Müller   Fabian Zuberer + 1 Day and 00:15 Hours
4 SUI2   Urs Lötscher   Nicole Willi + 1 Day and 05:50 Hours
5 JPN   Kaoru Ogisawa   Masaru Saso + 1 Day and 22:54 Hours
6 GBR1   Aidan Toase   Bhavna Patel 102 km
7 ESP   Ramon Morillas   Oscar Atillo 124 km
8 GBR2   Ulric Jessop   Ruth Jessop 130 km
9 USA2   Honza Rejmanek   David Hanning 142 km
10 ITA2   Leone Pascale   Roberto Maggi 152 km
11 CZE   Jan Skrablek   Jaroslav Jindra 159 km
12 FRA2   Julien Wirtz   Adrien Vicier 185 km
13 USA1   Nate Scales   Nick Greece 186 km
14 GER2
AUT1
ITA1
  Peter Rummel
  Christian Reinegger
  Andy Frötscher
  Martin Walleitner
  Wolfgang Wimmer
  Michael Pezzi
246 km
17 AUS   Lloyd Penicuik   John Binyon 283 km
18 RUS   Dmitry Gusev   Viktor Yanchenko 325 km
SLO   Simon Copi   Marina Istenic 351 km, retired
BEL   Tom de Dorlodot   Eduouard Crespeigne retired after 437 km
VEN   Raul Penso   Eduardo Fuhrmeister retired after 414 km
AUT2   Gerald Ameseder   Thomas Weingartner retired after 402 km
SVK   Peter Vrabec   Frantisek Pavlousek retired after 357 km
FRA1   Vincent Sprüngli   Jerome Maupoint retired after 318 km
POL   Krzysztof Ziolkowski   Grazyna Cader-Ziolkowska retired after 239 km
GER1   Michael Gebert   Christian Maier retired after 208 km
CAN   Max Fanderl   Jeff Bellis retired after 165 km
COL   Hugo Jimenez retired after 140 km
GRE   Dimitris Bourazanis   Manos Kiriakakis retired after 127 km
TUR   Yurdaer Etike   Erdem Tuc retired after 23 km

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.

# Turnpoint
1   Austria Gaisberg
2   Germany Zugspitze
3   Austria Großglockner
4   Italy Marmolada
5   Switzerland Matterhorn
6   France/  Italy Mont Blanc
7   France Mont Gros

Teams and results

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
CAN
  Kaoru Ogisawa
  Max Fanderl
  Masaru Saso
  Penny Powers
297 km
15 GBR2
CZE
  Tom Payne
  Jan Skrablek
  Alex Raymont
  David Bzirsky
321 km
17 POL   Filip Jagla   Piotr Goc 423 km
18 SVK   Peter Vrabec   Tomas Bernat 457 km
AUT1   Helmut Eichholzer   Andreas Neubacher disqualified for flying into forbidden zone
ROM   Toma Coconea   Vasile Trifan
Daniel Pisica
disqualified for flying into forbidden zone
VEN   Raul Penso   Ismael Penso disqualified for flying into forbidden zone
SUI2   Martin Müller   Fabien Zuberer eliminated (injury)
FRA1   Vincent Sprüngli   David Bibier Cocatrix eliminated (injury)
NED   Ronny Geijsen   Hugo Robben eliminated (injury)
RSA   Pierre Carter   James Braid eliminated (injury)
ITA1   Leone Antonio Pascale   Maurizio Dalla Valle eliminated (injury)
AUT2   Christian Amon   Manuel Goller eliminated (injury)
JPN2   Masayuki Matsubara   Tetsuo Kogai eliminated
AUS   Lloyd Penicuik   Lewis Nott eliminated
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).

X-Alps 2011

Route

Mozartplatz, Salzburg, Austria, to Monaco.

# Turnpoint
1   Austria Gaisberg
2   Austria Dachstein
3   Austria Großglockner
4   Italy Drei Zinnen
5   Switzerland Piz Palü
6   Switzerland Matterhorn
7   France/  Italy Mont Blanc
8   France Mont Gros

Teams and results

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   Gatein de Dorlodot 183 km
12 RUS   Evgeny Gryaznov   Anton Poliakov 241 km
13 AUT1   Helmut Eichholzer   Wolfgang Ehgarter 246 km
14 CAN
ITA
  Max Fanderl
  Andy Frötscher
  Penny Powers
  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
GBR1   Steve Nash   Richard Bungay 385 km, disqualified for flying into forbidden zone
CZE   Jan Skrablek   Karel Vrbensky 478 km, eliminated
RSA   Pierre Carter   James Braid 516 km, eliminated
ARG   Martin Romero Garayzabal   Martin Utrera 573 km, eliminated (injury)
JPN2   Masayuki Matsubara   Shinichi Nagashima 620 km, eliminated
FRA1   Vincent Sprüngli   Jerome Maupoint 631 km, 24-hour penalty for flying into forbidden zone; retired (technical failure)
AUT3   Mike Küng   Eduard Kumaropulos 677 km, eliminated (illness)
POR   Nuno Virgilio   Samuel Lopes 683 km, 24-hour penalty for flying into forbidden zone; eliminated
JPN1   Kaoru Ogisawa   Masaru Saso 739 km, disqualified for flying into forbidden zone
AUT2   Christian Amon   Mario Schmaranzer 755 km, eliminated (injury)
FRA2   Philippe Barnier   Herve Garcia 757 km, eliminated
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.

X-Alps 2013

Route

Mozartplatz, Salzburg, Austria, to Monaco.

# Turnpoint
1   Austria Gaisberg
2   Austria Dachstein
3   Austria Wildkogel
4   Germany Zugspitze
5   Italy Ortler/Sulden
6   Switzerland Interlaken
7   Switzerland Matterhorn
8   France/  Italy Mont Blanc
9   France Saint Hilaire
10   France Peille

Teams and results

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 Skrablek
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
USA2   Stephan Haase   David Hanning
Brad Sander
523 km, retired (injury)
AUT3   Thomas Hofbauer   Christian Grohs
Vera Polaschegg
773 km, eliminated
NPL   Babu Sunuwar   Charles Kirsten
Andreas Kastler
853 km, eliminated
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.[3] 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.

# Turnpoint
1   Austria Gaisberg
2   Austria Dachstein
3   Germany Aschau - Chiemsee (Kampenwand)
4   Austria Lermoos
5   Italy Brenta, Cima Tosa
6   Switzerland St. Moritz - Corvatsch
7   Switzerland Matterhorn
8   France/  Italy Mont Blanc
9   France Annecy
10   France Peille

Teams and results

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.

Legend
Wildcard Team
Rank Team Athlete Supporter Finish Time Distance to Goal (as the crow flies)
1 SUI1   Chrigel Maurer (defending champion)   Thomas Theurillat 8 Days and 4 hours
2 GER3   Sebastian Huber   Martin Walleitner 8 Days and 22 hours
3 AUT1   Paul Guschlbauer   Werner Strittl 9 Days and 4 hours
4 FRA2   Antoine Girard   Demelin Mathieu 9 Days and 5 hours
5 FRA4   Gaspard Petiot   Laurent Pezet 9 Days and 5 hours
6 ITA   Aaron Durogati   Ondrej Prochazka 9 Days and 6 hours
7 NED   Ferdinand van Schelven   Anton Brous 9 Days and 22 hours
8 USA2   Gavin McClurg   Bruce Marks 10 Days and 4 hours
9 GER4   Manuel Nübel   Christian Schineis 10 Days and 17 hours
10 NZL   Nick Neynens   Louis Tapper 10 Days and 18 hours
11 FRA3   Nelson de Freyman   Thomas Punty 11 Days and 2 hours
12 CZE   Stanislav Mayer   Petr Kostrhun 11 Days and 8 hours
13 SUI4   Peter von Bergen   Philippe Arn 11 Days and 12 hours
14 KOR   Chi-Kyong Ha   Yun Jae Rju 11 Days and 15 hours
15 USA1   Honza Rejmanek   Jesse Williams 11 Days and 17 hours
16 POL   Pawel Faron   Piotr Goc 11 Days and 20 hours
17 SWE   Erik Rehnfeldt   Peter Back 11 Days and 21 hours
18 SUI3   Michael Witschi   Yael Margelisch 11 Days and 22 hours
19 AUT3   Stephan Gruber   Claus Eberharter 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.[4] With seven turnpoints and a straight-line distance of 1,138 km, it was the longest route so far. The new route and the unpredictable weather conditions made it one of the toughest in the race's history.

In 2017, the Prologue returned as the Leatherman Prologue race on June 29th. 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 back 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.[5]

# Turnpoint
1   Austria Gaisberg
2   Slovenia Triglav
3   Germany Aschau - Chiemsee (Kampenwand)
4   Austria Lermoos
5   Italy Monte Baldo
6   Switzerland Matterhorn
7   France Peille

Teams and results

The competing athletes were announced on November 2, 2016 via social media.[6] Two more wildcard teams were added to the field on January 2, 2017.[7] 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.[8]

Rank[9] Team Athlete Supporter Finish Time Distance to Goal (as the crow flies)
1 SUI1   Chrigel Maurer   Tobias Dimmler 10 days and 23 hours
2 FRA4   Benoit Outters   Damien Lacaze 11 days and 1 hour
3 AUT1   Paul Guschlbauer   Werner Strittl 5km from goal
4 NED   Ferdinand van Schelven   Nicole Vincent Piazza 49km from goal
5 AUT4   Simon Oberrauner   Christoph Wolf 51km from goal
6 AUT3   Pascal Purin   Gabriele Müller 86km from goal
7 HUN   Pal Takats   Ferdinand Vogel 89km from goal
8 GER1   Sebastian Huber   Martin Walleitner 95km from goal
9 NZL   Nick Neynens   Ben Neynens 130km from goal
10 CZE   Stanislav Mayer   Jiří Dlask 172km from goal
11 ROU   Toma Coconea   Adrian Miclea 271km from goal
12 FRA3   Nelson de Freyman   Damien Pierre 275km from goal
13 ITA2   Tobias Grossrubatscher   Lukas Hitthaler 275 from goal
14 USA1   Gavin McClurg   Bruce Marks 308km from goal
15 CAN   Richard Brezina   Julien Maatouk 319km from goal
16 POL   Michal Gierlach   Dominika Kasieczko 378km from goal
17 RUS   Evgenii Griaznov   Stanislaw Radzikowski 457km from goal
18 USA2   Jesse Williams   Pavel Cibulka 474km from goal
19 BEL   Tom de Dorlodot   Sebastien Granville 510km from goal
20 GER2   Manuel Nübel   Christian Schineis Withdrew 209km from goal
21 FRA2   Gaspard Petiot   Laurent Peseta Withdrew 383km from goal
22 USA3   Mitch Riley Thomas Alfred Eliminated 530km from goal
23 SUI2   Krischa Berlinger   Benjamin Jordan Withdrew 551km from goal
24 ESP   Jose Ignacio Arevalo Guede   Francisco Javier Delgado Cid Eliminated 745km from goal
25 AUS   Che Golus   Oliver Delprado Withdrew 773km from goal
26 ITA1   Aaron Durogati   Matteo Vettorel Withdrew 776km from goal
27 RSA   Duncan Kotze   Johan De Bruijn Eliminated 832km from goal
28 ARG   Claudio Heidel Schemberger   Jorge Zimmerman Eliminated 967km from goal
29 AUT2   Stephan Gruber   Florian Eder Withdrew 984km from goal
30 FRA1   Antoine Girard   Laurent Fischer Withdrew 1048km from goal
31 MEX   David Liano Gonzalez   Alejandro Gonzalez Medina Eliminated 1059km from goal

Winners

Year Winner Second Third
2003   Kaspar Henny (SUI)   David Dagault (FRA)   Stefan Bocks (GER)
2005   Alex Hofer (SUI)   Urs Lötscher (SUI)   Kaspar Henny (SUI)
2007   Alex Hofer (SUI)   Toma Coconea (ROM)   Martin Müller (SUI)
2009   Chrigel Maurer (SUI)   Alex Hofer (SUI)   Honza Rejmanek (USA)
2011   Chrigel Maurer (SUI)   Toma Coconea (ROM)   Paul Guschlbauer (AUT)
2013   Chrigel Maurer (SUI)   Clément Latour (FRA)   Antoine Girard (FRA)
2015   Chrigel Maurer (SUI)   Sebastian Huber (GER)   Paul Guschlbauer (AUT)
2017   Chrigel Maurer (SUI)   Benoit Outters   Paul Guschlbauer (AUT)

References

  1. ^ Red Bull X-Alps
  2. ^ X-Alps, Red Bull. "Rules - Red Bull X-Alps". redbullxalps.com. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  3. ^ X-Alps, Red Bull. "Red Bull X-Alps Route". redbullxalps.com. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  4. ^ X-Alps, Red Bull (29 March 2017). "The Route for the 2017 Red Bull X-Alps has been announced!". redbullxalps.com. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  5. ^ http://www.redbullxalps.com/race/prologue-2017.html
  6. ^ "Athletes announced for Red Bull X-Alps 2017". 2 November 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  7. ^ "Two wildcard athletes announced for Red Bull X-Alps 2017". 4 January 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  8. ^ http://www.redbullxalps.com/athletes.html
  9. ^ "2017 results". redbullxalps.com. Retrieved 17 July 2017.