Tag Archives: red bull x-alps

Countdown to the The Red Bull X-Alps, Training Anyone?

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I’ve been getting a lot of questions about what the physical training looks like for what is known as the “toughest adventure race on Earth”, the Red Bull X-Alps. As it says on the X-Alps website: It’s a bold claim – but one it surely deserves. It’s difficult to think of another race that demands such a high level of fitness and technical skill – or lasts so long. The combination of trekking and paragliding is one of the most exciting hybrids to emerge from the ongoing convergence of mountain sports.

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Behind the scenes- Preparing for the Red Bull X-Alps

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This post is about some of the random but critical things that go into the lead-up to the event. Obviously you fly as much as you can and when you aren’t flying you’re pounding your body. I’m not going to talk about that aspect as that should be pretty obvious, and the physical training I do would be five blog posts just to touch the surface and probably of very little use for 99.9% of pilots so we’ll leave that a mystery. And lets face it, you would have to be pretty twisted to want to do it! What I thought might be interesting is all the side stuff that is so critical when it comes to having a successful campaign.

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Episode 25- Kari Castle and flying for life

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Kari Castle has been flying for 35 years. You name it, she’s flown it. Hangliders, paragliders, paramotors, speed wings- her passion for flying began early and she still goes hard. She was winning hang gliding competitions before paragliding was even invented and then when paragliding came around she went ahead and won a bunch of those too. A fraction of her resume is enough to put most of us to shame: 14 national HG championships, 6 national PG championships, 3 world HG championships, multiple distance records, Red Bull athlete, and that’s just the beginning. Kari has made a life and a living out of flying and her wealth of knowledge is a tank I try to tap in this great conversation with a true legend in human flight.

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Episode 17- Will Gadd and the Mastery of the Sky through Mastery of Self

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Will Gadd began his flying career in the early 90’s and quickly became one of the most prominent pilots in the world. A Red Bull original gangster, Will is considered one of the best mixed climbers on Earth. He’s a world class whitewater kayaker, mountain guide, speaker, author, journalist, expedition leader and is highly regarded for his views on risk management; maintaining a safety margin; his model of the “positive power of negative thinking”; his studied ability to appropriately assess weather and terrain; and his amazing knack to keep pushing the limits in a unique and pure style.

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Episode 15- Ondrej Prochazka and Leaving the Office Behind

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Ondrej only began flying in 2010 but last month he broke the Esfera world record (off-axis Infinity) in Mexico and sends it hard in cross country as well. Not many athletes hit switch so well when it comes to paragliding and in this episode we find out what drew Ondrej to acro initially; how important it is to go well beyond simple SIV courses; why acro is safer than XC; what it’s like to be a supporter in the X-Alps- what they have done right as a team and how they plan to improve; how he’s made paragliding his life on a $6,000 annual budget (yes, you read that right) and a lot more. Enjoy!

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The Deep Line- Part I

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The February issue of Hangliding and Paragliding just got delivered with a feature about my X-Alps experience (the first of a two-part series) which is actually an excerpt from a book about the race that has been delivered to my editor and we hope to have published by April of this year. I hope you enjoy it!

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Episode 14- Paul Guschlbauer and conquering the Red Bull X-Alps

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Paul Guschlbauer has become one of the best adventure cross-country pilots in the world and showed his amazing skills this year in the 2015 X-Alps by coming in 3rd place and giving Chrigel a hell of a run for his money. In this episode Paul grants us an intimate view of what he’s done right, what he’s done wrong, some hard lessons along the way and a lot more like the pressure of making a living from sponsorship. And most importantly- can Chrigel be beaten? Listen to find out.

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Episode 12- Aaron Durogati and Training to Win

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Aaron Durogati is only 29 years old, but he’s already been a world champion, gotten 6th and 7th place in the last two Red Bull X-Alps and has a LONG list of podium finishes. A Red Bull athlete and ambassador for several other brands, the “Italian Stallion” is making a good living in the sport of paragliding and in this episode we dig into how he does it. From learning how to fly at the tender age of 15 we find out how he’s approached progression, how he won the 2014 Superfinal in Colombia, how he’s been training for the X-Alps (and what he’ll change for the next one), what it’s really like to fly in the “toughest adventure race on Earth”, and ton more. Enjoy!

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Episode 9- Thomas de Dorlodot and the Endless SEARCH

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Thomas de Dorlodot is probably the most enviable pilot in the world. He’s made a living out of traveling the world and documenting his expeditions. A 5 time Red Bull X-Alps competitor and Red Bull Athlete Tom started flying when he was 15 years old. He’s flown above 7,000 meters in Pakistan, paramotored over the Marquesas in French Polynesia, glided over volcanoes in Guatemala and Tanzania, hucked acro over Victoria Falls and is currently working on sailing around the world. His accolades and accomplishments are too many to even list here, but it hasn’t all been a rosy romp through la-la land and in this episode we dive into his two accidents this year, one a major accident during his Adriatic expedition with Paul Guschlbauer and the other that ended his X-Alps campaign on day 7; we talk about how Tom approaches risk; how he plays the sponsorship game; how he prepares mentally and a lot more.

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