por parapentenet
The Red Bull X-Alps today enters its most dramatic, spectacular and challenging stage as the lead athletes seek to cross the High Alps between the Matterhorn, Switzerland and Mont Blanc, France. These two jewels of the Alps stand like gatekeepers over Europe highest glaciers and peaks.
But for the 30 remaining athletes in the world toughest adventure race, they present a mighty barrier. To cross them, they can reach altitudes of 4,000m which poses all kinds of difficulties.
Dramatic scenery in the Red Bull X-Alps. /Felix Wölk
One is the cold. Temperature typically drops by 1 for every 100m of altitude. So an athlete taking off in 20ºC temperatures at 1,000m could encounter temperatures as low as -10ºC at 4,000m. The windchill factor can then make those temperatures feel a lot colder, which means athletes need to wear balaclavas, insulated gloves and lightweight down jackets when they take off.
There also less oxygen. At 4,000m there is approximately 60% of the amount of oxygen at sea level and with their rapid ascent, leaving no time for the body to acclimatize, paraglider pilots can suffer from the altitude.
The aute Route between Zermatt and Chamonix normally takes hikers and ski-mountaineers several days. The Red Bull X-Alps athletes will be looking to traverse the route in just a few hours.
There are three main options from the Matterhorn. Athletes can take the Rhone valley ighway. It longer but offers reliable flying. They can stay south and follow the Italian / Swiss border, or they can take what called he tiger line or rutal bearing a direct line over the multitude of 4000m peaks.
The iger line requires exceptionally good flying conditions: athletes will be flying over remote, snow-covered glaciers, squeezing through high cols, and circling over the highest rocky peaks to gain altitude. They can not afford to land.
This is also where the Red Bull X-Alps is more adventure than race, where rivalry is replaced by camaraderie between the athletes. Yesterday, on Day 5, there was a fine example of this spirit. When Michael Witschi (SUI3) pulled his reserve parachute and made an emergency landing in a lake, many athletes nearby stopped racing to help him and fix his gear so he could continue.
There are still many days left in this epic adventure race across the Alps, until at least Friday, July 17, 12pm. Follow all the action on Red Bull MOBILE Live Tracking.
Follow the action as it happens on Red Bull MOBILE live tracking.
Stephan Gruber (AUT3). /Kelvin Trautman
Alex Villa (COL) signing in at TP4. /Kelvin Trautman
Micheal Witschi (SUI3). /Kelvin Trautman
ABOUT THE RED BULL X-ALPS
The 2015 Red Bull X-Alps is the seventh edition of the world's toughest adventure race in which athletes must hike or fly 1,038km across the Alps from Salzburg to Monaco in the fastest time possible. The race starts on July 5, 2015. It's an epic undertaking that can involve hiking up to 100km of mountain terrain in a day or flying at altitudes in excess of 4,000m. The race demands not only a very high level of endurance fitness but expert paragliding experience. The 2013 edition was the fastest on record with 10 athletes reaching Monaco. It was won by Christian Maurer (SUI) in 6d 23hr 40m.
New in 2015 is the one-day Powertraveller Prologue on July 2 which was won by Paul Guschlbauer in 2h 21m. Stanislav Mayer (CZE) was 2nd in 2h 22m and Gavin McClurg (USA2) came 3rd in 2h 24m. Athletes started and finished in Fuschl am See, passing the Turnpoints of the Zw枚lferhorn and Schafberg peaks. The first three athletes each gained an additional Led Lenser Nightpass and a five-minute headstart on the main race start.
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