Red Bull X-Alps 2009 Starts tomorrow

The 2009 Red Bull X-Alps begins on July 19th and 30 pilot/athletes from 23 countries, will travel 818 Km.(508 miles) from Salzburg, Austria to Monaco. The route takes competitors through the Alps on an amazing journey. Competitors will travel by foot or paraglider depending on their skills and the weather. Alex Hofer is the favorite with 2 X-Alps wins to his credit.

The live-tracking available on the X-Alps website and personal blogs of the competitors (see below) will allow a view into the epic adventures.

I am truly envious of these individuals who have interrupted their lives to embark on this test of their skills, physical strengths, and mental toughness. When I think about the explorers of old, Lewis & Clark, Stanley and Livingston, I am amazed at the personal suffering and commitment these men endured. The closest a 21st century man can come to this kind of adventure is a X-Alps type of journey.

Honza Rejmanek is a California pilot participating in his second X-Alps. In 2007 he placed in the top 10 even though he started the race with a terrible stomach problem that basically put him days behind from the beginning. Fly safe and have fun Honza!

Redbull X-Alps 2009 - Teaser
by Petzl-crew

To follow the action you have many options:

X-Alps 2009 official website
X-Alps mobile live (for mobile communication, without flash)
X-Alps RSS Feed
X-Alps Facebook
X-Alps twitter
I can't figure out why the gap below. . . scroll for individual blog links. Thanks to Otto Schulz for putting this info together.
Tim

Country	Flag	Athlete	Age	Supporter	Glider	Personal blog / website	prev. participation
AUS		Lloyd Pennicuik	43	Lewis Nott	Axis	link	2007 (17.)
AUT1		Helmut Eichholzer	32	Andreas Neubacher	Advance	link	2005 (4.)
AUT2		Christian Amon	38	Manuel Goller	Swing Stratus Proto		2005
BEL		Thomas de Dorlodot	23	Maxime van Dyck	Gradient Avax XC2	link	2007
CAN		Max Fanderl	43	Penny Powers	Nova Factor	link	2007
CZE		Jan Skrabálek	38	David Bzirsky	Gradient	link	2007 (11.)
ESP		Ramón Morillas	41	Juan Morillas	Advance	link	2007 (7.)
FIN		Jouni Makkonen	37	Toni Leskelä	Gradient Avax SR7
FRA1		Vincent Sprüngli	43	David Bibier Cocatrix	Gin Boomerang		2007
FRA2		Julien Wirtz	32	Adrien Vicier	Ozone	link	2007 (12.)
GBR1		Aidan Toase	35	Charlie Merrett	Ozone	link	2005 • 2007 (6.)
GBR2		Tom Payne	33	Aley Raymont	Axis Venus II light	link
GER		Michael Gebert	28	Florian Schellheimer	Gradient Avax XC2	link	2005 (5.) • 2007
HUN		Pál Takáts	23	Mauritz Volkmer	U-Turn	link
ITA1		Leone Antonio Pascale	41	Maurizio Dalla Valle	Gradient Avax	link	2007 (10.)
ITA2		Andy Frötscher	40	Raphael Graetz Murphy	Skywalk	link	2003 • 2005 • 2007 (14.)
JPN1		Kaoru Ogisawa	49	Masaru Saso	Gin Boomerang X6		2007 (5.)
JPN2		Masayuki Matsubara	37	Tetsuo Kogai	Nova Triton
NED		Ronny Geijsen	30	Hugo Robben	Gin Boomerang
POL		Filip Jagla	31	Piotr Goc	Gin Boomerang X6
ROM		Toma Coconea	33	Vasile "Gigi" Trifan	UP X-Alps Proto	link	2003 • 2005 • 2007 (2.)
RSA		Pierre Carter	43	James Braid	Gradient XC
RUS		Evgeny Gryaznov	36	Dmitry Gusev	SOL Torck
SLO		Primoz Suša	31	Igor Erzen	MacPara Magus 6	link
SUI1		Alex Hofer	32	Nicole Schlotterer	UP Trango Xlight	link	2005 (1.) • 2007 (1.)
SUI2		Martin Müller	42	Fabien Zuberer	Gin Boomerang 5 light	link	2007 (3.)
SUI3		Christian Maurer	26	Thomas Theurillat	Advance Omega	link
SVK		Peter Vrabec	36	Tomas Bernat	Axis Mercury 2008	link	2007
USA		Honza Rejmanek	33	Dave Hanning	Axis Mercury	link	2007 (9.)
VEN		Raul Penso	35	Ismael Penso	Niviuk		2007