Red Bull X-alps 2023 – Official Video on Paragliding.TV
Red Bull X-alps 2023 – Official Video on Paragliding.TV
It’s a story of the world’s top adventure athletes battling it out across the mountains and skies of the Alps in a bid to be crowned champion of the most important and challenging race on the calendar – the Red Bull X-Alps.
This year saw 28 male and four female athletes race for a chance to stand on the coveted podium of the world’s toughest adventure race, in which athletes hike and fly across the Alps via foot and paraglider.
That story is told in the official Red Bull X-Alps documentary: The Champions Challenge, which has just been released. Since 2009 the race has been won by the Swiss legend, Christian “Chrigel” Maurer (SUI1), but this year he had to fight harder than ever to seal his victory.
Red Bull X-alps 2023 – Official Video on Paragliding.TV
The Champions Challenge tells the story of the battle at the front, following Maurer as he hikes and flies around the 1,223km course followed by the challengers – Maxime Pinot (FRA1), Damien Lacaze (FRA2) and Pal Takats (HUN). The action follows the athletes across some of the most challenging and spectacular terrain the Alps has to offer.
With 2023 being the 20-year anniversary of the first ever Red Bull X-Alps, the 40-minute documentary also delves into the archives to show footage from the early years, when athletes hiked with 20kg backpacks and flew with paper maps strapped to their legs. It includes an interview with the only man to have taken part in every edition, the Romanian running man Toma Coconea (ROU).
Paul Guschlbauer
Austria
There are also interviews with veteran athlete Tom de Dorlodot (BEL), the race’s co-founder Ulrich Grill and its safety director Jürgen Wietrzyk, recalling the early days of the race.
Giving perspective to the athletes’ achievement is the race’s longtime reporter Tarquin Cooper, who helps to convey the magnitude and difficulty of the race.
Other athletes featured include Eli Egger (AUT4), the first woman to ever make goal in the race’s history and veteran athletes Aaron Durogati (ITA2) and Paul Guschlbauer (AUT2).
“It’s a thrilling watch,” says Red Bull X-Alps co-founder Ulrich Grill.
The Champions Challenge is available to watch for free on Red Bull TV and on redbullxalps.com
After 13 days of intense racing the world’s toughest adventure race has come to an end. The clock officially stopped on the 2023 Red Bull X-Alps at 11:30am on Friday June 23, just a few hours after Japanese athlete Emoto Yuji became the 23rd athlete to make goal. It’s been an historic and record-breaking edition of the race.
- 23 athletes made it to the finish line – more than at any time in the race’s history
- Eli Egger (AUT4) has become the first woman to make goal
- Damien Lacaze (FRA2) made the longest flight in the race’s history: 266km in 11h 13m
- It was the fastest race on record – with Chrigel Maurer (SUI1) finishing in 6d 6h 1m
- It was Maurer’s 8th consecutive victory – another record for the Swiss athlete
- It was the closest race on record, with 17 athletes all arriving within 24 hours of Maurer
- 2023 was the 20th anniversary of the first ever Red Bull X-Alps
Red Bull X-alps 2023 – Official Video on Paragliding.TV
Comments Ulrich Grill, who co-founded the race with the late adventurer and pilot Hannes Arch: “This has been the most extraordinary edition that anyone can remember. It’s been the fastest, the closest and most exciting race to follow. My congratulations go out to all athletes and their supporters. I salute their physical endurance, their paragliding skill and above all, their ability to stay safe in challenging conditions.”
Race director Ferdinand Vogel said: “With the 2023 edition, the race has reached new levels of speed and professionalism. What we see this year is that the level of athletes is just so unbelievably high. Never before have we seen athletes so closely bunched together and the lead change hands so many times. They are able to fly in the most challenging conditions. They are extremely strong on the ground. This was a race where the slightest mistake was punished. So I salute all the competitors. They all deserve our respect and congratulations – and a much needed rest!”
The 2023 Red Bull X-Alps began in Kitzbühel on June 11, with 32 athletes, including four women, embarking on 1,223km course around the Alps via 15 Turnpoints and five countries. The route followed a westward course across Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Athletes then had to round Mont Blanc in an anti-clockwise direction before returning across northern Italy. The final obstacle saw them cross the main chain of the Alps to the finish in Zell am See where athletes landed in spectacular fashion on a landing float in the lake.
Red Bull X-alps 2023 – Official Video on Paragliding.TV
While the battle for the podium was fierce and intense, for most athletes the primary objective was to simply make it around the grueling course. For them, taking part is the culmination of years of dreaming and many months of intense training while some had overcome insurmountable odds just to make it to the start line. The finishing float was the scene of many emotional moments as athletes broke down in tears as they savored their moment of victory.
French athlete Tim Alongi (FRA4), who managed to complete the race, despite breaking his back in a skiing accident in January, summed up the feeling for many: “I wish I had a word for this feeling of happiness,” he said.
For full race results go to redbullxalps.com.
James Elliott (CAN) was this evening on the point of becoming the first Canadian to complete the world’s toughest adventure race, the Red Bull X-Alps. He was expected to arrive on the top of the final Turnpoint Schmittenhöhe, at 17.30 from where it is just a short glide to the finishing float in lake Zell.
The 40-year-old adventurer and former serviceman spent the day hiking across the main chain of the Alps to get into goal before the clock stops on the race on Friday, 11:30. Strong winds prevented him flying but he did manage to glide some of the distance from the lower slopes of the Grossglockner, Austria’s highest mountain.
On his way up to Schmittenhöhe he talked about the highs and lows of the race: “I experienced amazing glides and moments which I will remember for my whole lifetime. I would have never made it without my team. It has been a crazy race. I’ve had my expectations and they have been blown away, physically and mentally.”
In reaching Zell am See, he becomes the 22nd athlete to make goal in this record-breaking year of the race, which takes place – on a different route – every two years.
Race director Ferdinand Vogel said: “I would like to congratulate James on his incredible achievement. It’s important to remember that athletes who come from North America do not have the same advantage as local athletes from the Alpine countries. They are hiking and flying these mountains for the first time so to complete the course is an impressive feat.”
Just two athletes remain on the course-line, Emoto Yuji, a 46-year-old Japanese mountain guide and Jordi Vilalta, 39, Spain’s top hike-and-fly athlete.
They have until 11.30 on Friday, June 23, to make it before the clock stops. By early evening, Yuji was in striking distance and looked set to get to the finishing float. If he can make it, he’ll become the second Japanese athlete to finish the grueling race after Kaori Ogisawa made Monaco in 2007. The odds on Vilalta are slimmer but he was doing his best to try and finish.
This morning, Australian athlete Rich Binstead was eliminated. He said he was disappointed but had an incredible experience. “It’s been the best thing I’ve done in my life – and one of the hardest – but I’m keen to do it again. I’m already thinking how I can be stronger and a better pilot.” The Australian’s race nearly ended on day two when he suffered a massive allergic reaction, requiring the intervention of the race doctor. “I came out in hives, and it got worse and worse, my tongue and lips started swelling, my blood pressure dropped. I was totally out of it. If I was by myself in the wilderness it would have been serious.”
Who’s going to make it to goal? Follow Live Tracking on redbullxalps.com to see if all athletes can make it.
Red Bull X-alps 2023 – Official Video on Paragliding.TV