Rules

Regulations are subject to change without notice!
 

1.    Overview

1.1    The Red Bull X-Alps is an adventure and paragliding competition for selected international Athletes.

1.2    The challenge is to cross the Alps from East to West and finish in Monaco as quickly as possible travelling only by paraglider or by foot. Teams will start in Salzburg (Eastern Austria) and travel past turn points defined by the Race Committee. The Athlete who reaches goal in Monaco first is the winner of the race.

1.3    All decisions regarding the organisation and running of the Red Bull X-Alps are made by the Race Committee. The Race Committee consists of:
Hannes Arch (Red Bull X-Alps mastermind and inventor), Hannes Arch e.U.
Christoph Weber (Race Director)
Ulrich Grill (Organiser), zooom productions

Any questions or queries for the Race Committee before the race start must be made to Claudia Maur (Hannes Arch e.U.) via info(at)redbullxalps.com.
During the race, all Athlete queries should be made to Christoph Weber.

2. Conditions for Participation

 
2.1    Only teams selected by the Red Bull X-Alps Race Committee are allowed to take part at Red Bull X-Alps 2011.
 
2.2     Participants must register as a team. Teams may only have two members – an assistant and an Athlete. Single registration is not allowed.

2.3     All Athletes and assistants must be highly qualified and experienced in paragliding and mountaineering to participate in the event.

2.4    Only Athletes with a valid official paragliding license may take part.

2.5    Every Athlete must prove third party liability insurance as holder of the paraglider used during this competition. The insurance sum has to be within a limit of at least 1.5 million Euros. Every Athlete must prove emergency rescue insurance to cover the expected rescue costs in the countries in which the event takes place.

Both insurances can also be obtained directly before the competition at the Race Committee for an amount of 60 Euros (these insurances will be only valid during the event). Insurances will be checked and confirmed by the race director.

WITHOUT THESE INSURANCES THE ATHLETE IS NOT ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE COMPETITION.

2.6    Athletes must sign a disclaimer that will be provided by the organisation committee.

3.    Selection

 
3.1    The number of participants is limited to a maximum of 30 teams plus a possible two wildcard teams (64 total participants).

3.2    The Race Committee determines the selection of Athletes.

4.     Race-Schedule

4.1    July 10, 2011:  Athlete interviews, photo shoots and filming. All Athletes may be requested to be available during the week leading up to the event.

4.2    July 13, 2011: Official race welcome briefing. Athletes who do not participate in the welcome briefing will not be permitted to start the race.

4.3    July 17, 2011: Start of Red Bull X-Alps 2011
Salzburg City Centre, Austria

4.4    July 20, 2011 at 07:00 hours
The last team in the Red Bull X-Alps ranking will be eliminated. Thereafter every 48 hours the last team will be cut from the race unless the Athlete has passed the turning point Mt. Blanc. This rule applies only for Athletes who haven’t quit the race.

Once the first Athlete has reached goal there will be no further eliminations.

4.5    Race finish: A team is seen as having completed the race as soon as the Athlete has reached the finish. All the other Athletes then have another 48 hours time to finish the race. After these 48 hours, the race will be officially over and Athletes will be requested to stop racing.

4.6    All teams, also withdrawn Athletes, are expected to attend the prize giving ceremony and party in Monaco, which will take place within 36 hours of the race finish. If the race ends by midday on the final day, the party will take place that evening. If the race ends after midday, the party will take place the following evening.

4.7    The race can only be cancelled by the Race Committee.

5. General Conditions

5.1    A team consists of two participants, an Athlete and an Athlete's assistant. Each Athlete nominates his own assistant at the online registration. The assistant cannot be replaced during the race unless this is necessary as a result of sickness, injury or exceptional circumstances. In this case the Race Committee must be informed. The Race Committee must approve any change of assistant beforehand.

5.2    During the race, the Athlete must fly using his minimum equipment or walk carrying his minimum equipment. Any other transportation including aid from any third parties is strictly prohibited. Any Athlete contravening this rule will be disqualified.

5.3    During rest periods the Athlete is not permitted to move away from his Stop Position (position of the Athlete after he has switched off his Tracking System) by more than 250m.

5.4.    The Athletes have to make an uninterrupted rest from 23:00 till 04:00. If an Athlete is still moving after 23:00 or before 04.00 he will be subjected to 24 hours penalty.

5.5    The assistant can use any means of transportation but is not permitted to fly  along side his team Athlete or undertake any form of motorized, powered flight or sailplane flight.

5.6    Only the assistant can be responsible for the team’s organisation and Athlete’s requirements. The teams must organise themselves before and during the event. Athletes are not allowed to seek out or accept professional third party advice during the event, except hiring local authorised mountain guides for safety reasons, which has to be approved beforehand by the Race Director.

5.7    An authorised mountain guide must accompany teams for dangerous hiking and climbing sections on glaciers or extreme alpine conditions (e.g. Lyskamm at the Matterhorn, which could be used to cross the Monte Rosa glacier). Teams who decide to appoint a guide must report to the Race Director before attempting the difficult section. The Race Director must approve the appointment and give permission for the team and guide to continue. The Race Committee will determine the most evident of these difficult sections prior to the race start. If any other difficult section is approached by a team the Race Committee can instruct them to be accompanied by a mountain guide before continuing.
If the assistant is a certified mountain guide and guides the athlete through these sections mentioned above, a third person is permitted to move the team’s vehicle with the prior approval of the Race Director.

5.8    The assistant must be contactable by mobile telephone 24 hours per day.

5.9    All teams are obliged to give interviews at any time during the race.

5.10    All Athletes must make daily updates to their personal internet diaries on www.redbullxalps.com. To make these updates they will receive a mobile phone to send images, videos, text and voice messages via MMS. Athletes must submit at least one text blog and two photos per day. At least one video blog every two days must be uploaded. Teams will be subjected to 6 hours penalty time for each failure to comply with this rule.

Athletes are also obliged to make weekly diary entries leading up to the race via www.redbullxalps.com from 01 March 2011 onwards.

5.11    All teams must submit video footage (minimum 5 minutes per day) every 48 hours. The assistant is obliged to deliver all video footage to the defined meeting points or directly to the Red Bull X-Alps communication crew. Communication equipment (video cameras and tapes) will be supplied by the Race Committee. Teams must only use the memory cards provided by the Race Committee to record footage. Do not record footage on personal memory cards.

5.12    Each team must be prepared for spot checks by the Race Committee during the race. These spot checks will inspect the teams’ equipment and their way of transportation or movement. 

5.13    The Athlete can at any time during the race be obliged to take a doping test. Should the Athlete’s test return a positive or non-negative result, or the Athlete refuses to take the test, he will be immediately disqualified from the race.
The Race Committee will refer to the newest prohibited list published by the World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA) and available to view on www.wada-ama.org

Tests will be carried out by the Red Bull X-Alps Race Doctor.

5.14    The minimum penalty for any deviation of the Red Bull X-Alps rules is six hours.

5.15    Any Athlete or team can quit the race at any time, after having informed the Race Committee.

5.16    The Race Committee has the right to change any rules before the start of the race.

5.17    Athletes with penalty times have to prolong their next rest for the duration of their penalty time. Failure to comply with this rule leads to disqualification.

5.18    The Race Committee has at any time the right to disqualify a team if the Race Committee feels that the Team’s safe participation in the event is at risk.

6.    Flight Rules

6.1    Between 21:00 and 05:30 the Athletes are not allowed to fly.

6.2    All Athletes are obliged to respect VFR (Visual Flight Rules) regulations. Any Athlete violating VFR rules takes full responsibility of the legal consequences.
If there is sufficient evidence that an athlete flew into clouds it will lead to a penalty defined by the Race Committee.

Any Athlete flying into forbidden zones defined by the Red Bull X-Alps organization will be disqualified immediately. An athlete's altitude is verified by the GPS height recorded by live tracking. If a backup track (IGC) is used to verify a violation, then this GPS height will be used as evidence.

The route flown will be tracked by the GPS logger. The exact notification of the forbidden zones will take place at the briefing before the race start. The race committee will supply all teams with printed maps of the forbidden zones.

6.3    Launching is to be done without any help. Holding the paraglider or the Athlete is allowed only for safety reasons on structural parts belonging to the normal flight equipment and must only be held by hand. E.g. no type of winch towing is allowed. Any Athlete contravening this rule will be disqualified.

7.    Equipment

7.1    The Red Bull X-Alps is a paragliding cross country event, therefore the use of paragliders with 16m² (laid out surface) or less, or of a surface loading exceeding 6kg/m², (so called speedgliders) are prohibited.

7.2    The Athlete must always carry or fly with his minimum equipment.
The Red Bull X-Alps minimum equipment must consist of at least one paraglider, one harness, one emergency parachute, one helmet, one mobile phone, one GPS-Tracking-Device, one Back-up GPS and one emergency signal red rocket. Rockets will be supplied by the Race Committee.

7.3    The Athlete should carry an emergency receiver during the race. This is strongly recommended by the Race Committee.

7.4    Every Athlete will carry a GPS-Tracking-Device, which the organisers will put at their disposal for the duration of the race.

7.5    In addition to the GPS-Tracking-Device, every Athlete is advised to carry a GPS Logger. Each team is responsible for its own track log.

Every GPS-Logger can be used if it meets the following requirements:
•    The IGC File must contain barometric OR satellite altitude.
•    The IGC File must contain a valid Security Record (G Record).
•    All models must come with an interface cable for download.

7.6    Any Athlete caught by the Race Committee during a spot check not carrying his Red Bull X-Alps minimum equipment will be disqualified immediately from the race.

7.7    The Red Bull X-Alps minimum equipment is not allowed to be exchanged during the race. The only exception is if the equipment is damaged or stolen, in which case the Race Committee must be informed immediately. Teams will be subjected to 24 hours penalty time for each failure to comply with this rule.

7.8    All teams must have their equipment, including rescue systems, checked and approved by the Race Director before the race start. Overloading of the used rescue systems is not allowed (takeoff weight has to be within the certified maximum loading of your rescue system).

8.    Branding, Logos

8.1    Athletes must wear official Red Bull X-Alps branded products during all photo and film shoots as well as during media interviews and appearances. Failure to do so will result in a minimum time penalty of 24 hours or possible exclusion from the race.

8.2    The bib (speedarm) must always be worn as the outermost layer of clothing during the flights. Failure to do so will result in penalty time. Athletes may place one personal sponsor logo on the sleeve of the speedarms, defined by the organisation and communicated in time.
However no other personal sponsors are allowed on official Red Bull X-Alps clothing. The personal sponsor logo must be supplied to the Race Committee in vector format by April 1, 2011. Failure to provide the logo in the correct format by the given date will result in the personal sponsor logo not being printed onto the speedarms. Cost of the printing of the personal logo onto the bibs will be paid by the Athlete (approximately €50).

8.3    The Glider: Red Bull X-Alps logos and official sponsor logos will appear on every Athlete's gliders in the following locations (see Appendix A for details):
•    on the stabilizers (right and left sides, and top and bottom of the canopy, 60x60 cm);
•    in the centre (top or bottom to be specified by Race Committee of the canopy 300x140 cm);
•    to either side (left or right of the centre logo, inside and outside of the glider
•    140x60cm).

All logo positions have a buffer zone around them where no personal sponsor logos are permitted. The zone is 25% the size of the logo and applies either side of every official logo position. See Appendix A for details.

The glider canopy must have one continuous plain white area that covers a minimum of 75% of the top and bottom surface areas.

8.4    Stickers for branding gliders will be supplied to all Athletes in advance of the event and must be applied according to Red Bull X-Alps guidelines, which will be distributed with the stickers.

Athletes will be requested to supply a photo of the branded glider to the Race Committee within two weeks before the race start (until July 03, 2011). If the Race Committee deems that the stickers have not been applied in the correct positions, the Athletes must re-brand the glider and will bear the costs of doing so.

Personal sponsors and logo placements are allowed but have to be approved by the Race Committee and must not conflict or be in competition with the official event title sponsor, Red Bull.

8.5.     Helmet: One Red Bull X-Alps sponsor logo will appear on your helmet. Athletes must keep 10x10 cm of the frontal area on your helmet free for a sticker provided by the organisers. There is also a buffer zone around this sticker in which no other stickers may be placed. The buffer zone extends 5cm to the top, and left and right sides of the sticker, and between the bottom of the sticker and the rim of the helmet. The remainder of the helmet is free for Athletes’ personal sponsors. See Appendix A.

8.6.    Car: Two Red Bull X-Alps stickers (350x250mm) for Athlete support cars must appear on the right and left side of the front doors. The organisers will provide the Athletes with these stickers. Athletes must keep the doors free of any other personal sponsor logos.

9.    Route

9.1    Each team can choose their own route but must pass the official turn points in the listed order as described in rule 9.2.

9.2    The turn points are:

Start: Salzburg, Austria.
Athletes must walk through a corridor flagged out and a Red Bull arch positioned in Salzburg centre. Coordinates: N47.79885° E13.04840°
 
TP1: Gaisberg, Austria.
Athletes must walk through a corridor leading up from the north side of the summit to a large inflatable Red Bull can positioned on the summit of the Gaisberg mountain.
Coordinates: N47.804402° E13.110662°.
If flyable, the take-off area on the Gaisberg will be defined by the Race Committee.
 
TP2: Dachstein, Austria.
Athletes traveling on foot must pass through a gate defined by two beach flags or by flying over a 200m wide virtual line situated over the gate without height limitation.
Coordinates: N47.47107° E13.62078°

TP3: Großklockner, Austria.
Athletes must fly or walk through a cylinder centred on the Grossglockner, Austria.
Coordinates: N47.07436° E12.69471°. Cylinder: 6km radius.

TP4: Tre Cime, Italy.
Athletes must fly or walk through a cylinder centred on the Cima Grande, Italy.
Coordinates: N46.61917° E12.30417°. Cylinder: 1km radius..

TP5: Piz Palü, Switzerland.
Athletes must fly or walk through a cylinder centred on the Piz Palü, Switzerland.
Coordinates: N46.37833° E9.9605°. Cylinder: 6km radius.

TP6: Matterhorn, Switzerland.
Through a quarter-cylinder sector, the radius of which is centred on the Matterhorn Peak, Switzerland, with coordinates: N45.97651° E7.65832°. The quarter-cylinder has a 5.5km radius, and is bound by its North and East sides (see diagram). The Athletes must fly or walk through this sector. It is prohibited to enter or exit the sector through the sides of the sector i.e. the Athletes must enter and exit via the curved section. Any Athlete violating this rule will be immediately disqualified.

TP7: Mont Blanc, France.
The summit of Mont Blanc in France – Coordinates: N45,83249° E6,86427°. The Athlete must fly or walk North of this point.

TP8: Mont Gros, Monaco
The summit of Mont Gros in Monaco - Coordinates: N43,76549° E7,44273°. The Athletes must fly or walk through a virtual cylinder with a radius of 3 km around the summit of this point. All Athletes must pass then through a controlled gate at Peille take-off before departing for Monaco. They can then either fly or walk to goal at Monaco beach, defined in detail by the Race Director at Peille take-off.

Finish: Monaco
The coordinates of the finish in Monaco will be declared before the first Athlete reaches Mont Gros. The Athlete has to land or at least finish the race with his minimum equipment on the float, unless otherwise instructed by the race director.

9.3    The Athlete is not permitted to use any tunnel connection between different valleys and no highway or motorway tunnels.

10.    Route Documentation

10.1    The GPS-Tracking-Device sends information to the internet, where the Athletes’ current position will be displayed online. The online data serves as a route confirmation for the Athletes and the Race Committee.

10.2    The Race Committee reserves the right to inspect any team's track log backup (see rule 5.8).
 
10.3    The backup track log must display a tracking interval of 15sec or shorter.

10.4    The Race Committee understands “a complete and clean track log” as follows:
•    Each time the track log is started anew, the Athlete must be within 250m of his last recorded position.
•    The track log must not have missing track points for more than 5 minutes
•    On the ground, a speed of 5 m/s must not appear for more than 10 minutes
•    In flight, a speed of 20 m/s must not appear for more than 20 minutes.
•    The flight track log has to show that no airspace violations were made. Any track logs with missing log points close to forbidden zones and with suspected airspace violation will result in disqualification if the backup track log cannot clearly show that the airspace was not violated.
•    According to possible inaccurate GPS position recording there is a 100m buffer zone inside forbidden zones. Violation of this buffer zone will lead to a penalty of 24 hours.

11.    Route Evaluation

11.1    Every Athlete must be able to present a complete track log.

11.2    The routes will be evaluated on a daily basis. The Race Committee will analyse each Athlete’s route every day, based on the online track log. In the case where a track log was found to have infringed any of the Red Bull X-Alps rules, the Athlete has to deliver his backup track log within six hours after the Race Committee’s request to the Athlete.

11.3 If there is any abnormality in the online track of the Athlete a special icon will appear on the webpage.

 12.    Prize Money

12.1    A final results table will be put together as soon as the race is over. Participants are judged according to the time it took them to reach Monaco or the number of kilometres* missing to the goal of the event.
 
*Number of kilometres means the total straight line distance between the Athlete’s final position and the goal in Monaco around the turn points which where not passed by the Athlete. Athletes with more correctly passed turn points in correct order will have a better ranking than others who have not passed as many turn points, even if they have a greater number of kilometres to the goal.

12.2    The total prize money of 28,500 Euros will be divided among the Athletes according to their final position in the race field.

The breakdown in prize money is as follows:

1          €10,000
2          €5,000
3          €3,000
4 -10    each €1,500