#256 From Newbie to the Red Bull X-Alps with Sebrand Warren

Sebrand Warren got his start paragliding just a few short years ago in the US but got hooked immediately and set his sights on the ultimate challenge- the Red Bull X-Alps. Last year he dedicated himself 110% to the race by moving his life, job, and girlfriend to France to learn the intricacies of the Alps and the relentless physical training that is required to compete. In this episode we discuss the challenges and experiences surrounding the Red Bull X-Alps, including Sebrand’s recovery from a serious injury that happened just days after the race ended, the mental challenges faced during the race, and the importance of team dynamics.

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#241- Tom De Dorlodot and Resilience

A year ago almost to the day professional Red Bull adventure athlete, 9 time Red Bull-Alps competitor, brainchild of “The Search” projects, professional speaker, loving father and husband Tom De Dorlodot was learning how to kite-ski in Norway for a future planned expedition across the length of Greenland when things went horribly, horribly wrong. This wasn’t Tom’s first major injury, but this one has forced Tom into some scary places both mentally and physically. Tom’s year has been a blur of darkness and light: nine major surgeries, months of antibiotics, at times a real risk of losing his leg pulling against optimism, hope, love of family and beautiful lessons.

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#228 Eat, Sleep, Fly 100 km Repeat with Mathew Fiddes

Mathew Fiddes, a relatively new pilot, set out to win the Australian XC league in the 23′ XContest season. Despite early challenges, he aimed for 52 100 km flights in a season and achieved this goal by traveling extensively. A discussion at the Red Rocks Wide Open covers his journey and future aspirations.

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Episode 199- A story of avoiding inconvenience with Alejandro Barañac

We have a saying in our sport, “never avoid inconvenience.” But it’s easier said than done. An easy field a kilometer away from the train station, or a really tricky field right next to it? Landing in strong wind across a river that means a long walk, or landing in strong wind near a road that will have rotor? In the 21′ Vercofly a number of pilots were injured. Some due to rowdy conditions, but several were just because of pilots making poor decisions. This is one of the latter stories from a first-time hike and fly competitor, Alejandro Barañac.

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Bonus Episode- Joerg Ewald and Going Dark

On August 19, 2020 veteran World Cup pilot Joerg Ewald lost control of his wing very low on the terrain during a World Cup in Disentis, Switzerland and the world went dark. Literally. Joerg has almost no memory of the crash because of the hard blow and is incredibly lucky to have survived the crash. His recovery has been slow and considerably brutal.

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Episode 66- Andy Hediger and becoming an Airman

If it flies, Andy Hediger flies it (or jumps out of it!). Sailplanes, trikes, hang gliders, light-weight airplanes, wingsuits, Swift, Archaeopteryx, Virus, but he rates the paraglider as the king of them all. The developer of the D-Bag, Andy was there at the absolute beginning of Acro and cross country, sewing some of the very first wings and his passion and love of the sport is as strong now as it was in the beginning. The “Airman” has pushed the limits of flying, safety, instruction and certification from the advent of the sport and was one of the first pilots to develop SIV to help make the sport more safe, and why most schools still get it wrong and why so many accidents keep happening.

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