Shane
Tighe

When it comes to having the right kind of experience for Red Bull X-Alps, Shane Tighe ticks all the right boxes. He loves big adventures. One of his proudest achievements is making a solo vol biv flight in Pakistan – that’s flying cross country at altitudes above 5,500m and camping wild. He’s made dozens of 200km flights and one 300km in length. He’s got the paragliding credentials.

More significantly, he’s proved himself on the international competition circuit. Normally Australians do not perform well against local pilots in Europe. But in the 2024 X-Pyr race across the Pyrenees he made a big impression and came third. Not bad given it was his first ever hike and fly race. For much of that race he was switching the lead with Simon Oberrauner. “He knows how to fly flatlands and mountains and we'll see him more,” Simon said afterwards.