The Red Bull X-Alps is a paragliding race in which athletes must hike or fly 1,200 km across the Alps.
Around 30 athletes take part and must navigate their way via a predetermined set of turn points that vary with each race.
[3] 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!
Seventeen athletes and their support teams covered a distance of 800 kilometers as the crow flies.
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 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.
The exact position of the athletes is monitored via data loggers and GSM cell phones.
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.
The idea behind the Night Pass was to allow athletes a chance to advance their position by tactical means once during the race.
Since 2013, prototypes are banned from the competition and all equipment, including paragliders, harnesses, and helmets must comply with EN or LTF certifications.
Martin Müller was the fastest athlete, however, he was penalized with 36 hours due to an airspace violation in Sion, Switzerland.
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.
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).
[6] 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.
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.
The one-day hiking race which saw no paragliding due to bad weather took place around the mountains of Fuschl am See.