Red Bull X-Alps

The Red Bull X-Alps is a paragliding race in which athletes must hike or fly 1,200 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 turn points 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 it is to provide technical advice, mental and nutritional support.

The route traditionally covers the Alpine regions of Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and France before ending in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France. The 2017 route featured Slovenia as well.

Athletes didn't fly into Monaco due to airspace restrictions, and the term "Monaco" has been used solely for marketing purposes. That is one reason why in the tenth edition (2021) the route has been changed to not include Monaco but rather return to Austria.

The exact route is normally unveiled in the spring before the race start.

So far the race has only been won by Swiss nationals, and by Christian Maurer since 2009.

History

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.

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 forms of transport are 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 turn points 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 turn points: 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.

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 are required to hike or fly a 38 km course around two turn points, 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 turn point of Peille above Monaco, was 8d 4h 37m.

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.

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.

X-Alps 2003

Route

The first course took the athletes from the Dachstein Glacier in Austria to Monaco. It was defined by two turn points, all of which had to be taken within a radius of 100 meters. Over the years the route and the turn points 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	Stefan Bocks	Hansi Keim
5	GER2	Michael Gebert	Florian Schellheimer
7	AUS	Benn Kovco	Bryan Anderson
8	AUT2	Christian Amon	Lars Pongs	retired
9	ESP	David Castillejo Martinez	Magdalena Alcañiz Soriano
10	GBR	Aidan Toase	Jan Toase
11	GRE	Dimitris Bourazanis	Marina Zannara	retired
12	IRL	Niki Hamilton	Petra Knor	retired
13	ITA	Andy Frötscher	Florian Ploner
14	MEX	Santiago Baeza	Christian Fernandez del Valle
15	ROM	Toma Coconea	Cornel Doru Calutiu
16	TUR	Semih Sayir	Osman Grukan
17	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 Skrabalek	Jaroslav Jindra		159 km
12	FRA2	Julien Wirtz	Adrien Vicier		185 km
13	USA1	Nate Scales	Nick Greece		186 km
14	GER2	Peter Rummel	Martin Walleitner		246 km
	AUT1	Christian Reinegger	Wolfgang Wimmer		246 km
	ITA1	Andy Frötscher	Michael Pezzi		246 km
17	AUS	Lloyd Penicuik	John Binyon		283 km
18	RUS	Dmitry Gusev	Viktor Yanchenko		325 km
19	SLO	Simon Copi	Marina Istenic		351 km, retired
20	BEL	Tom de Dorlodot	Eduouard Crespeigne		retired after 437 km
21	VEN	Raul Penso	Eduardo Fuhrmeister		retired after 414 km
22	AUT2	Gerald Ameseder	Thomas Weingartner		retired after 402 km
23	SVK	Peter Vrabec	Frantisek Pavlousek		retired after 357 km
24	FRA1	Vincent Sprüngli	Jerome Maupoint		retired after 318 km
25	POL	Krzysztof Ziolkowski	Grazyna Cader-Ziolkowska		retired after 239 km
26	GER1	Michael Gebert	Christian Maier		retired after 208 km
27	CAN	Max Fanderl	Jeff Bellis		retired after 165 km
28	COL	Hugo Jimenez			retired after 140 km
29	GRE	Dimitris Bourazanis	Manos Kiriakakis		retired after 127 km
30	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	Watzmann
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	Kaoru Ogisawa	Masaru Saso		297 km
	CAN	Max Fanderl	Penny Powers		297 km
15	GBR2	Tom Payne	Alex Raymont		321 km
	CZE	Jan Skrabalek	David Bzirsky		321 km
17	POL	Filip Jagla	Piotr Goc		423 km
18	SVK	Peter Vrabec	Tomas Bernat		457 km
19	AUT1	Helmut Eichholzer	Andreas Neubacher		disqualified for flying into forbidden zone
20	ROM	Toma Coconea	Vasile Trifan Daniel Pisica		disqualified for flying into forbidden zone
21	VEN	Raul Penso	Ismael Penso		disqualified for flying into forbidden zone
22	SUI2	Martin Müller	Fabien Zuberer		eliminated (injury)
23	FRA1	Vincent Sprüngli	David Bibier Cocatrix		eliminated (injury)
24	NED	Ronny Geijsen	Hugo Robben		eliminated (injury)
25	RSA	Pierre Carter	James Braid		eliminated (injury)
26	ITA1	Leone Antonio Pascale	Maurizio Dalla Valle		eliminated (injury)
27	AUT2	Christian Amon	Manuel Goller		eliminated (injury)
28	JPN2	Masayuki Matsubara	Tetsuo Kogai		eliminated
29	AUS	Lloyd Penicuik	Lewis Nott		eliminated
30	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	Gatien de Dorlodot		183 km
12	RUS	Evgeny Gryaznov	Anton Poliakov		241 km
13	AUT1	Helmut Eichholzer	Wolfgang Ehgarter		246 km
14	CAN	Max Fanderl	Penny Powers		305 km
ITA	Andy Frötscher	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
19	GBR1	Steve Nash	Richard Bungay		385 km, disqualified for flying into forbidden zone
20	CZE	Jan Skrabalek	Karel Vrbensky		478 km, eliminated
21	RSA	Pierre Carter	James Braid		516 km, eliminated
22	ARG	Martin Romero Garayzabal	Martin Utrera		573 km, eliminated (injury)
23	JPN2	Masayuki Matsubara	Shinichi Nagashima		620 km, eliminated
24	FRA1	Vincent Sprüngli	Jerome Maupoint		631 km, 24-hour penalty for flying into forbidden zone; retired (technical failure)
25	AUT3	Mike Küng	Eduard Kumaropulos		677 km, eliminated (illness)
26	POR	Nuno Virgilio	Samuel Lopes		683 km, 24-hour penalty for flying into forbidden zone; eliminated
27	JPN1	Kaoru Ogisawa	Masaru Saso		739 km, disqualified for flying into forbidden zone
28	AUT2	Christian Amon	Mario Schmaranzer		755 km, eliminated (injury)
29	FRA2	Philippe Barnier	Herve Garcia		757 km, eliminated
30	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 Skrabalek		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
28	USA2	Stephan Haase	David Hanning Brad Sander		523 km, retired (injury)
29	AUT3	Thomas Hofbauer	Christian Grohs Vera Polaschegg		773 km, eliminated
30	NPL	Babu Sunuwar	Charles Kirsten Andreas Kastler		853 km, eliminated
31	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. 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. With seven turnpoints and a straight-line distance of 1,138 km, it was the longest route so far.

In 2017, the Prologue returned as the Leatherman Prologue race on June 29. 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 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.

#	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. Two more wildcard teams were added to the field on January 2, 2017. 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.

Rank	Team	Athlete	Wing	Supporter	Finish Time	Distance to Goal (as the crow flies)
1	SUI1	Chrigel Maurer	Skywalk X-Alps3	Tobias Dimmler	10 days and 23 hours
2	FRA4	Benoit Outters	Sup'Air Wild	Damien Lacaze	11 days and 1 hour
3	AUT1	Paul Guschlbauer	Skywalk X-Alps3	Werner Strittl		5 km from goal
4	NED	Ferdinand van Schelven	Skywalk X-Alps3	Nicole Vincent Piazza		49 km from goal
5	AUT4	Simon Oberrauner	Skywalk X-Alps3	Christoph Wolf		51 km from goal
6	AUT3	Pascal Purin	Ozone Z-Alps	Gabriele Müller		86 km from goal
7	HUN	Pal Takats	Ozone	Ferdinand Vogel		89 km from goal
8	GER1	Sebastian Huber	Advance Omega X-Alps	Martin Walleitner		95 km from goal
9	NZL	Nick Neynens	Ozone Z-Alps	Ben Neynens		130 km from goal
10	CZE	Stanislav Mayer	GIN GTO2	Jiří Dlask		172 km from goal
11	ROU	Toma Coconea	Advance Omega X-Alps2	Adrian Miclea		271 km from goal
12	FRA3	Nelson de Freyman	Advance Omega X-Alps2	Damien Pierre		275 km from goal
13	ITA2	Tobias Grossrubatscher	Ozone LM6	Lukas Hitthaler		275 from goal
14	USA1	Gavin McClurg	Niviuk Klimber	Bruce Marks		308 km from goal
15	CAN	Richard Brezina	Skywalk Poison X-Alps	Julien Maatouk		319 km from goal
16	POL	Michal Gierlach	Sup'air Wild	Dominika Kasieczko		378 km from goal
17	RUS	Evgenii Griaznov		Stanislaw Radzikowski		457 km from goal
18	USA2	Jesse Williams	Skywalk X-Alps	Pavel Cibulka		474 km from goal
19	BEL	Tom de Dorlodot	Supair Wild	Sebastien Granville		510 km from goal
20	GER2	Manuel Nübel	Skywalk Poison X-Alps	Christian Schineis		Withdrew 209 km from goal
21	FRA2	Gaspard Petiot		Laurent Peseta		Withdrew 383 km from goal
22	USA3	Mitch Riley		Thomas Alfred		Eliminated 530 km from goal
23	SUI2	Krischa Berlinger		Benjamin Jordan		Withdrew 551 km from goal
24	ESP	Jose Ignacio Arevalo Guede		Francisco Javier Delgado Cid		Eliminated 745 km from goal
25	AUS	Che Golus		Oliver Delprado		Withdrew 773 km from goal
26	ITA1	Aaron Durogati		Matteo Vettorel		Withdrew 776 km from goal
27	RSA	Duncan Kotze		Johan De Bruijn		Eliminated 832 km from goal
28	ARG	Claudio Heidel Schemberger		Jorge Zimmerman		Eliminated 967 km from goal
29	AUT2	Stephan Gruber		Florian Eder		Withdrew 984 km from goal
30	FRA1	Antoine Girard		Laurent Fischer		Withdrew 1048 km from goal
31	MEX	David Liano Gonzalez		Alejandro Gonzalez Medina		Eliminated 1059 km from goal

X-Alps 2019

Route

The 2019 route started in Salzburg, Austria and ended in Monaco.

#	Turnpoint
1	Austria	Gaisberg
2	Austria	Wagrain-Kleinarl
3	Germany	Aschau-Chiemsee
4	Italy	Kronplatz
5	Austria	Lermoos-Tiroler Zugspitz Arena
6	Switzerland	Davos
7	Switzerland	Titlis
8	Switzerland	Eiger
9	France/Italy	Mont Blanc
10	France	Saint-Hilaire du Touvet
11	Italy	Monte Viso
12	France	Cheval Blanc
13	France	Peille

Teams and results

A total of 32 athletes started the 2019 race.

Rank	Team	Athlete	Wing	Profession	Supporter	Finish Time	Distance to Goal (as the crow flies)
1	SUI1	Chrigel Maurer	ADVANCE Omega X-Alps 3 22,8	Paraglider Competition Pilot, Coach, Speaker	Andy Schäublin	9 days, 3 hours, 6 minutes
2	FRA4	Maxime Pinot	Zeolite S	Paragliding instructor / Test Pilot	Jérémie Lager	9 days, 21 hours, 52 minutes
3	AUT1	Paul Guschlbauer	Skywalk X-Alps4 S	Athlete	Werner Strittl	10 days, 8 hours, 45 minutes
3	FRA1	Benoit Outters	Supair Wild 21	Fireman	Stéphane Garin	10 days, 8 hours, 45 minutes
5	GER1	Manuel Nübel	Skywalk X-Alps4	Tandempilot / Selfemployed	Christian Schineis	10 days, 11 hours, 26 minutes
6	AUT2	Simon Oberrauner	Skywalk X-Alps4	Solo&Tandempilot	Simon Volker	10 days, 12 hours, 5 minutes
7	FRA2	Gaspard Petiot	Zeolite S	teacher university Lyon1	Laurent Pezet	10 days, 13 hours, 12 minutes
8	SUI2	Patrick von Känel	ADVANCE Omega X-Alps 3 22,8	Testpilot by ADVANCE Paragliders	Sepp Inniger	10 days, 13 hours, 46 minutes
9	ITA1	Aaron Durogati	Omega Xalps 3 21,8	paragliding pilot	Elisabeth Egger	10 days, 17 hours, 22 minutes
10	BEL	Tom de Dorlodot	Supair Wild 23	Pro paragliding pilot / adventurer	Diego Lacroix	10 days, 22 hours, 33 minutes
11	ROU	Toma Coconea	Advance Omega X-Alps 3	Fly Instructor	Adrian Miclea		78.1 km
12	USA1	Gavin McClurg	Zeolite S	Paragliding pilot/ Athlete, CEO Offshore Odysseys	Ben Abruzzo		206 km
13	ITA2	Tobias Grossrubatscher	Skywalk X-Alps4	timberman	Karl Heufler		212.7 km
14	GER2	Markus Anders	Skywalk X-Alps4	R&D Harness Skywalk, Coaching, Hike & Fly Athlete	Kilian Hallweger		215.8 km
15	NZL1	Nick Neynens	Ozone Zeolite MS	Meteorologist	Ben Neynens		263.3 km
16	MEX	Eduardo Garza	Skywalk X-Alps4 XS	Mechanical & Electrical Engineer	Bianca Heinrich		265.4 km
17	RUS	Evgenii Griaznov	SupAir Wild 23	teacher	Andrei Mashak		270.3 km
18	SVK	Juraj Koren	Gin Puma 20,5	Student/tandem/team pilot of Airdesign	Jakub Beňo		290.1 km
19	SUI3	Adrian Keller	Skywalk X-Alps4 XS	Bicycle Mechanic	Dina Sägesser		350.5 km
20	USA3	Cody Mittanck	Zeolite MS	Ecologist/GIS Consultant	Huntley Brockie		399 km
21	DNK	Thomas Juel Christensen	Zeolite MS	Project Manager	Hans Kristjan Gudmundsson		423.8 km
22	TUR	Baris Celik	Skywalk X-Alps4	Tandem pilot	Metin Kavuncu		449.1 km
23	USA2	Willi Cannell	Niviuk Klimber P 19,24	wilderness river guide	Rob Curran		471.4 km
24	HRV	Marko Hrgetic	Triple Seven Qlite MS	Paragliding Instructor	Adrien Colombié		478.3 km
25	JPN	Kaoru Ogisawa	PHI Maestro light 18.0	paragliding pilot	Fumio Miki		500.9 km
26	AUT3	Helmut Schrempf	Supair Wild 23	Paragliding Teacher, SIV Trainer	Marcus Winkler		503.4 km
OUT	KOR	Chikyong Ha	Gingliders Puma 20,5	Paragliding instructor, test pilot	Younjae Ryu		530 km
DNF	FRA3	Antoine Girard	Zeolite MS	Teacher (computer science)	Martin Beaujouan		554 km
OUT	NZL2	Kinga Masztalerz	Supair Wild 21	Coaching other pilots and growing tropical waterlilies	Chris Wright		580 km
OUT	COL	Alex Villa	Supair Wild 21	Events Productions	Lucho Jimenez		743 km
OUT	POL	Dominika Kasieczko	Zeolite S	paragliding guide pilot, architect	Kuba Poburka		870 km
OUT	LBN	Rodolphe Akl	Alpina 3 MS	Major in ranger special forces; in charge of the mountain troops	Alexandre Scelsi		990 km

X-Alps 2021

The 10th edition of the race started on 20 June 2021, at 11:30 AM from the Mozartplatz in the center of the city of Salzburg.

Route

The 2021 route started in Salzburg, Austria and ended in Zell am See.

#	Turnpoint	Location
1	Austria	Gaisberg
2	Austria	Wagrain-Kleinarl
3	Austria	Kitzbühel
4	Germany	Achental (Chiemgau)
5	Austria	Lermoos-Tiroler Zugspitz Arena
6	Switzerland	Säntis
7	Switzerland	Fiesch
8	France	Dent d’Oche
9	France/Italy	Mont Blanc
10	Italy/Switzerland	Piz Palü
11	Italy	Kronplatz
12	Austria	Schmittenhöhe

Teams

A total of 29 athletes competed in the 2021 race.

Team	Athlete	Supporter	Comment
AUT1	Paul Guschlbauer	Werner Strittl	sixth start
AUT2	Simon Oberrauner	Simon Volker	third start
AUT3	Thomas Friedrich	Arno Flitsch	first start
BEL	Tom de Dorlodot	Thibault Voglet	eighth start
FRA1	Maxime Pinot	Jérémie Lager	second start
FRA2	Benoît Outters	Tom Remi	third start
FRA3	Théo de Blic	Jules Croibier	first start
FRA4	Laurie Genovese	Alexis Reverchon	first start
FRA5	Damien Lacaze	Stéphane Garin	first start
GBR	Steve Bramfitt	Matthijs Groeneveld	first start
GER1	Manuel Nübel	Sascha Rentel	fourth start
GER2	Markus Anders	Daniel Oberauer	second start
GER3	Michael Lacher	Matthias Kraus	first start
ITA1	Aaron Durogati	Elisabeth Egger	fifth start
ITA2	Tobias Grossrubatscher	Simon Grossrubatscher	third start
ITA3	Nicola Donini	Fiorenzo Graziano	first start
JPN1	Kaoru Ogisawa	Davide Cardona	fifth start
JPN2	Ken Oguma	Tetsuo Kogai	first start
MEX	Eduardo Garza	Bianca Heinrich	second start
NED	Ferdinand van Schelven	Nicole van Schelven	fifth start
NZL1	Nick Neynens	Nicola McLaren	fourth start
POL	Michal Gierlach	Maciej Zietara	second start
ROM	Toma Coconea	Adrian Pochiu	tenth start
RUS	Andrei Mashak	Andrey Bukin	first start
SUI1	Chrigel Maurer	Thomas Theurillat	seventh start
SUI2	Patrick von Känel	Andy Jäggi	second start
SUI4	Yael Margelisch	Joël Bruchez	first start
USA1	Gavin McClurg	Reavis Sutphin-Gray	fourth start
USA2	Cody Mittanck	Robert Brockie	second start

Results

Rank	Team	Athlete	Finish Time	Distance to Goal (as the crow flies)
1	SUI1	Christian Maurer	8 days, 6 hours, 30 minutes, 28 seconds
2	SUI2	Patrick von Känel	9 days, 2 hours, 7 minutes, 30 seconds
3	AUT2	Simon Oberrauner	9 days, 2 hours, 18 minutes, 25 seconds
4	FRA1	Maxime Pinot	9 days, 3 hours, 1 minute, 14 seconds
5	FRA2	Benoît Outters	10 days, 9 hours, 12 minutes, 12 seconds
6	GER1	Manuel Nübel		39.1 km
7	AUT1	Paul Guschlbauer		43.5 km
8	ITA2	Tobias Grossrubatscher		65.6 km
9	POL	Michal Gierlach		88.1 km
10	NED	Ferdinand van Schelven		93.4 km
11	FRA5	Damien Lacaze		99.3 km
12	ITA1	Aaron Durogati		108.1 km
13	ROM	Toma Coconea		218.3 km
14	MEX	Eduardo Garza		252.7 km
15	BEL	Tom de Dorlodot		280.3 km
16	GBR	Steve Bramfitt		330.5 km
17	USA1	Gavin McClurg		393.9 km
18	SUI4	Yael Margelisch		412 km
19	GER3	Michael Lacher		429.3 km
20	JPN1	Kaoru Ogisawa		512.9 km
DNF	GER2	Markus Anders		467.8 km
OUT	FRA3	Théo de Blic		544.7 km
OUT	FRA4	Laurie Genovese		595.2 km
DNF	AUT3	Thomas Friedrich		731.5 km
DNF	USA2	Cody Mittanck		733.8 km
OUT	ITA3	Nicola Donini		739 km
DNF	JPN2	Ken Oguma		926.1 km
OUT	NZL1	Nick Neynens		1071.6 km
OUT	RUS	Andrei Mashak		1132.9 km

X-Alps 2023

The 11th edition of the race will start on 11 June 2023.

Route

The 2023 route will start in Kitzbühel, Austria and end in Zell am See.

#	Turnpoint	Location
1	Austria	Hahnenkamm
2	Austria	Wagrain-Kleinarl
3	Germany	Achental (Chiemgau)
4	Austria	Lermoos-Tiroler Zugspitz Arena
5	Switzerland	Piz Buin
6	Switzerland	Fiesch
7	Switzerland	Frutigen
8	Switzerland	Niesen
9	France/Italy	Mont Blanc
10	France/Italy	Col du Petit Saint-Bernard
11	Switzerland	Dufourspitze
12	Italy	Cima Tosa
13	Italy	3 Zinnen
14	Italy	Sexten Dolomites
15	Austria	Schmittenhöhe

Teams

A total of 34 athletes competed in the 2023 race.

Team	Athlete	Supporter	Comment
JAP	Yuji EMOTO	Benoit HOSTEIN	first start
AUS	Richard Binstead	Nicola McLaren	first start
AUT1	Paul Guschlbauer	Werner Strittl	sixth start
AUT2	Simon Oberrauner	Simon Volker	third start
AUT3	Thomas Friedrich	Arno Flitsch	first start
AUT4	Elisabeth Egger	Nadine Beck	first start
BEL	Tom de Dorlodot	Thibault Voglet	eighth start
FRA1	Maxime Pinot	Jérémie Lager	second start
FRA4	Laurie Genovese	Alexis Reverchon	first start
FRA5	Damien Lacaze	Stéphane Garin	first start
GER2	Markus Anders	Daniel Oberauer	second start
ITA1	Aaron Durogati	Bruno Mottini	fifth start
ITA2	Tobias Grossrubatscher	Simon Grossrubatscher	third start
ITA3	Nicola Donini	Fiorenzo Graziano	first start
NZL	Kinga Masztalerz	Chris Wright	second start
POL	Michal Gierlach	Maciej Zietara	second start
ROM	Toma Coconea	Adrian Pochiu	tenth start
SUI1	Chrigel Maurer	Thomas Theurillat	eighth start
SUI2	Patrick von Känel	Andy Jäggi	second start
SUI4	Sepp Inniger	André Glauser	first start
SUI5	Reto Reiser	Mimo Moratti	first start
USA1	Logan Walters	Reavis Sutphin-Gray	first start

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	Christian Maurer (SUI)	Alex Hofer (SUI)	Honza Rejmanek (USA)
2011	Christian Maurer (SUI)	Toma Coconea (ROM)	Paul Guschlbauer (AUT)
2013	Christian Maurer (SUI)	Clément Latour (FRA)	Antoine Girard (FRA)
2015	Christian Maurer (SUI)	Sebastian Huber (GER)	Paul Guschlbauer (AUT)
2017	Christian Maurer (SUI)	Benoit Outters (FRA)	Paul Guschlbauer (AUT)
2019	Christian Maurer (SUI)	Maxime Pinot (FRA)	Paul Guschlbauer (AUT) Benoit Outters (FRA)
2021	Christian Maurer (SUI)	Patrick von Känel (SUI)	Simon Oberrauner (AUT)
2023	Christian Maurer (SUI)	Damien Lacaze (FRA)	Maxime Pinot (FRA)

External links

• Red Bull X-Alps