We found this video over at the Adventure Journal and couldn’t resist a repost on our site! Keep your eyes on the spectators and the proximity in which they are buzzed!

The great folks over at prAna sent me this new video of extreme sports athlete Dean Potter.

Posted over at the Red Bull site on their “Holy Shit” list, and that just might be what you’ll say after checking out this latest video about a 36km freefall project sponsored by Red Bull.
Base jumping, transonic, supersonic…definitely testing the limits. This will be appropriately added under both our WTF? and EXTREME category. We will be sure to keep you posted with future updates about the Stratos Project.

When Felix Baumgartner jumps from 36km up in the atmosphere for the Red Bull Stratos experiment, it will be a true jump into the unknown. No one quite understands what the effects will be of Felix freefalling through the sound barrier (supersonic) and then back again to subsonic speeds… Some of the project’s key players explain the processes involved.

Check out this awesome footage of base jumpers Roberta Mancino and Jeb Corliss in Kuala Lumper, Malaysia. It was shot of the new GoPro HD in 1080p.

Just visited IWEND and stumbled across a great posting by Steph Davis, superhuman: climber, base jumper, wingsuiter extroardinaire.

This is from her blog: High Places

Out in the Utah desert in the Dirty Devil Wash is a secret canyon. Robber’s Roost was one of Butch Cassidy’s cattle rustling hideouts, inaccessible on horseback except by one trail. Remnants of his shelters still remain, along with ancient petroglyphs on the rock walls.

Just above Robber’s Roost, a 600 foot cliff drops straight down to the river bed. Base jumpers can escape by climbing out a narrow slot canyon.

Myles of Earl from steph davis on Vimeo.

Out in the Utah desert in the Dirty Devil Wash is a secret canyon. Robber’s Roost was one of Butch Cassidy’s cattle rustling hideouts, inaccessible on horseback except by one trail. Remnants of his shelters still remain, along with ancient petroglyphs on the rock walls.

Just above Robber’s Roost, a 600 foot cliff drops straight down to the river bed. Base jumpers can escape by climbing out a narrow slot canyon.
Continue Reading

While the Paragliding World Cup looks like it was a blast, the SPOT ADVENTURES Page has definitely caught my attention. A feature that allows SPOT users to share their journeys with photos and the exact GPS waypoints. A little vicarious adventure never hurt anyone, and it´s always fun to play around with Google Maps.

In this slideshow, a member of Team Superfly documents one of the tasks during the world cup, requiring tremendous skill to navigate 87 miles to the various points. Check out the photo showing what appears to be hundreds of paragliders in the sky at once.

Other features allow you to download the Google Earth KML file and follow the trip in 3d! Or if you are feeling really inspired you can download the GPX file and load it onto your GPS and follow their tracks.

Paragliding World Cup, Mun Gyeong Korea

Widget powered by Spot Adventures: GPS Geotagging

On August 13-15, 32 athletes will compete in Romsdalen, Norway in this unique wingsuit competition to see who will be the world’s fastest flying human being. The format will have a 2 jumper speedrace in a 6 round contest. The World Base Race is free to the public and promises to be a great event for both the participants as well as the spectators!

Thanks to Josh at Face Level for telling us about this great video from Norway from the recent ‘fastest man in Norway’ competition’. The camera is attached to his foot (instead of helmet cam) and the footage includes some great cliff shots while showing everything the flyer is doing and seeing.

The World Base Race finals will take place next weekend in Norway.

This 5 day event will begin in Hellesylt, Norway as a 3 day competition July 9-11, and the Base Race finals will be taking place in Romsdalen, Norway August 13-15.

Thirty-two of the worlds best flying athletes, including Face Level’s own CORE Team FLI athlete Neil Amonson, will be competing head to head, after jumping off Gridset skolten. There will be two jumpers per race, and six rounds to see who will be the first to cross the finish line 750m away.

Hans Holmefjord, a Norway native, reached a top speed of 234 Km/h after 16.6 seconds. That’s 145 miles per hour! Will he get beaten out this year?

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After a physical and mental torture, Christian Maurer (SUI) crossed the Red Bull X-Alps 2009 finishing line in Monaco at exactly 11.24 hours local time on Wednesday morning. Having set off from Salzburg armed with only a paraglider and hiking gear, the 26-year-old extreme sportsman came out on top in the toughest of battles across Europe’s highest mountains against 29 other athletes from 23 countries. The 2007 winner, fellow countryman Alex Hofer, was the only other athlete to reach the Mediterranean principality.

MONACO. Maurer covered an incredible 1,376 kilometres on the edge of physical and mental exhaustion during the planet’s toughest adventure race as he became the first athlete to plunge into the refreshing waters of Monaco’s legendary harbour on Wednesday morning, writing extreme sport history in the process as he finished over a day ahead of Hofer.

However, the Swiss athlete’s route to the millionaire playboys’ favourite playground on the Mediterranean Coast was anything but luxurious. As well as completing turnpoints at mountains including the Gaisberg (AUT), the Watzmann (GER), the Grossglockner (AUT), the Marmolada (ITA), the Matterhorn (SUI), Mont Blanc (FRA) and Mont Gros (FRA) with no external help, Maurer was also forced to withstand the worst nature could throw at him, including heavy rain, fierce storms and extreme heat. Yet, thousands of vertical metres over rough terrain with bleeding blisters and extreme flights despite sleep deprivation weren’t enough to bring Maurer off course as he emerged victorious in the 2009 edition of the race.

Third place went to the American athlete Hozna Rejmanek as he recorded the best ever result for a non-European racer. The pain in Rejmanek’s knees was so extreme during the final days that he had been forced to walk down the mountains backwards.

Only 18 of the original 30 starters made it into the final standings, with 12 athletes retiring from the race early or being disqualified. Meanwhile, Maurer began to take stock of the toll the race had taken on him: “My body is totally exhausted, I won’t move a metre over the next few days. I was on the edge during the whole race, but since landing in the water I feel better than ever – mentally, at least!”

The Swiss athlete spent a total of 42.17 hours in the air, ran for a further 87.32 hours (and spent a mere 100 hours resting!) as he covered no fewer than 34,890 vertical metres on foot and 999 kilometres with his paraglider during the 1,376 kilometres from Salzburg to Monaco.

The finishing area remained open for 48 hours after the winner’s arrival, with the final position of the athletes still on the course being used to calculate the official race standings after the cut-off point. In 2007, five athletes reached the line in Monaco.

Final Result Red Bull X-Alps 2009:

1. Christian Maurer (SUI)
2. Alex Hofer (SUI)
3. Honza Rejmanek (USA)
4. Aidan Toase (GBR)
5. Evgeny Gryaznov (RUS)
6. Michael Gebert (GER)
7. Jouni Makkonen (FIN)
8. Pal Takats (HUN)
9. Ramon Morillas (ESP)
10. Thomas de Dorlodot (BEL)
11. Julien Wirtz (FRA)
12. Andy Frötscher (ITA)
13. Kaoru Ogisawa (JPA)
14. Max Fanderl (CAN)
15. Tom Payne (GBR)
Jan Skrabalek (CZE)
17. Filip Jagla (POL)
18. Peter Vrabec (SVK)

Withdrawn:

Helmut Eichholzer (AUT)
Toma Coconea (ROM)
Martin Müller (SUI)
Masayuki Matsubara (JPA)
Vincent Sprüngli (FRA)
Lloyd Pennicuik (AUS)
Raul Penso (VEN)
Ronny Geijsen (NED)
Pierre Carter (RSA)
Leone Antonio Pascale (ITA)
Primoz Susa (SLO)
Christian Amon (AUT)

At 11:24 Christian ‘Chrigel’ Maurer (SUI3) landed in Monaco to become the 2009 Red Bull X-Alps Champion.

“Flying from the middle of the Alps to the ocean has long been my dream” Maurer said, just after landing. “And I did it!”

Maurer travelled over 190 km yesterday and did what many thought was impossible, by flying right over the coast to land at a beach east of Monaco by the evening.

He then hiked up Mt Gros, the final turnpoint, but when he arrived at the summit failing light and poor wind conditions meant he had to wait until today to complete the race.

Maurer flew and hiked the 818 km course in just 9 days, 23 hours and 54 minutes: this is a new race record.

The Red Bull X-Alps race will now finish at 11:24, Friday July 31. Rules state that the race closes 48 hours after the winner touches down, so the remaining athletes must push hard if they are to make Monaco.

Alex Hofer (SUI1), winner of the Red Bull X-Alps in 2005 and 2007, is currently 150 km north of Monaco, and flying fast. Race Director Steve Cox predicts he will arrive within the deadline, but it will be tight.

“This has been the toughest Red Bull X-Alps in history,” said Cox. “Athletes have had to contend with strong headwinds, fiercely turbulent thermals and a whole lot of pain in their journeys,” he continued.

Photocredits: ©Dean Treml, Olivier Laugero and Chris Hoerner/ Red Bull Photofiles.

It´s amazing to see that there is a race like this going on. Certainly an event that warrants the often used label, “extreme”. Here is a recent press-release giving details about the progress of the athletes. More coverage to come in the future. Watch the action unfold on Red Bull Mobile Live Tracking at www.redbullxalps.com

Christian Maurer (SUI3) is raising the bar at the Red Bull X-Alps 2009, creating a huge lead over his rivals despite extreme flying conditions.

Thirty athletes began the race at 11:30, Sunday July 19 from Salzburg, Austria, and in just five days, Maurer has completed more than 350km of the 818km course.

It’s a stunning achievement when considering he has passed the turnpoints around the summits of Waltzmann, Grossglockner and Marmolada with nothing more than his hiking boots and an unpowered paraglider.

This morning, July 23, Maurer hiked up through a forest near the border from Italy into Switzerland, west of Tirano. He was over 325 km down course when he launched his paraglider and started surfing the ridges heading west towards turnpoint 5, the Matterhorn.

“It’s looking windy today,” he reported just before taking off, but I’m going to fly low and fast.”

Defending champion Alex Hofer (SUI1) is further north, trying to close the gap on the leader by taking advantage of lighter winds as he approaches the eastern Swiss border. Continue Reading

Today 30 athletes set out from Salzburg on the adventure of a lifetime: the Red Bull X-Alps.

At 11:30 the start gun went off, startling much of the crowd gathered in the Mozartplatz – but it was nothing compared with the shock of what’s to come for the competitors.

Ahead of them, they face Europe’s harshest mountains and extreme alpine weather conditions. Rules state they must cross the entire Alpine chain by foot or by paraglider in their quest to reach Monaco.

The athletes burst over the start-line and ran full pelt for the first of seven turnpoints: the Gaisberg. Pierre Carter (RSA) was the first to reach the 1288 m summit. Thousands of spectators watched the 43-year-old South African crush his opposition with a 1hr 10min time, recorded by event sponsor Suunto.

This is Carter’s first Red Bull X-Alps, and before the start he commented that he was feeling relaxed: “this is my first time, so there’s far less pressure on me than the others”, he said. Carter’s reward is the SalzburgerLand Gaisbergkonig prize: a luxury three-day break, but he won’t be taking that for quite some time.

Hot on his heels were Christian Amon (AUT2) and Michael Gebert (GER). All athletes launched their paragliders into cloud-covered skies. With no lift to keep them aloft, they glided down to the valley below before packing up their rucksacks and setting off south-west.

A tight race is now unfolding as athletes battle it out on foot. Their next objective is the Watzmann. They must then conquer the mighty Grossglockner: at 3798 m, it’s Austria’s highest mountain. Then they must tackle the Marmolada, the Matterhorn, France’s Mont Blanc before heading south to Mont Gros and gliding to the beach at Monaco. The race is expected to take between ten and fifteen days, depending on weather conditions.

Film and photography crews are in pursuit by helicopter, paraglider and SUV. Hundreds of thousands of people are watching the race unfold live at www.redbullxalps.com. The site’s Live Tracking and news reports reveal every athlete’s position and route in real time.

Photocredits: ©Red Bull Photofiles

This morning, a squadron of six Red Bull X-Alps athletes flew a test flight directly over the city centre of Salzburg, Austria.

The flight was part of preparations leading up to the world’s most spectacular adventure race, the Red Bull X-Alps which begins at 11:30 on July 19 in Salzburg.

The athletes will compete in the 818km event, where competitors must hike and fly through the Alps and negotiate seven turnpoints before reaching the goal in Monaco. Every competitor will have a GPS device which tracks their exact position and displays it on a Live Tracking map on the official event website.

Air traffic at busy Salzburg airport was diverted temporarily to allow the athletes to fly directly over the dramatic Festung Hohensalzburg castle. It’s the first time permission has ever been granted from the control tower for such a stunning flight.

Heli Eichholzer (AUT1), Christian Amon (AUT2), Alex Hofer (SUI1), Martin Müller (SUI2), Christian Maurer (SUI3) and Michael Gebert (GER) launched from the Gaisberg mountain, glided across Salzburg’s Old Town, circled the Castle overlooking the city and landed in the Henkerswiese just south of the world-famous fortress.

Photocredits: ©Red Bull Photofiles

           Three world renowned base jumpers, Jeb Corliss (USA), Chris “Douggs” Mcdougall (Australia), Paul Fortun (Norway), traveled 10,000 miles across the globe seeking Tian Keng, or “The Heavenly Pit.” They document their trip in a cool film that was recently showcased at the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour, and received rave reviews.
           ”Millions of years old, half a mile deep, waiting for eons to test the endurance, skill and courage of the men who dare to parachute into her heart.” The perfect place for these guys to showcase their talents.
           Visit their website to find out more.