My experience

We sat down with Simon and talked about his Red Bull X-Alps 2021. He told us about his highlights and stand-out moments and how the race compared to his previous ones.

 

What was your highlight of the race?
There have been so many intense moments, but the highlight for me was the last push up to Schmittenhöhe. My supporter Simon Volker arrived just in time to run the last meter with me and on the way up so many people were cheering and running with us, this was definitely my highlight.

What was the toughest part for you?
Day 5 was the toughest part for me and my team. It was raining almost all the time and the flying conditions were really challenging. We did about 70km and 4,500 vertical meters that day.

What was THE stand-out memory for you?
Knowing that my altitude will be enough to fly across Col de Miage (Mount Blanco) and therefore saving a lot of time and energy.

How was this race in comparison to your other Red Bull X-Alps races?
For me, this time was different because I managed to concentrate more on my own decisions and therefore on my strengths. When I competed my first Red Bull X-Alps in 2017 I wanted to do this as well, but I underestimated how hard this race is.

Inside my race

Dive into Simon's day-to-day experience through the race news and social media updates to see what it takes to complete the world's toughest adventure race!

Final rankings 2021

The clock stopped at 11:30AM on Friday July 2, 2021

RBX21 Final rankings

The Red Bull X-Alps 2021 has finished. The clock stopped at 11:30AM on July 2, 2021 and these are the final rankings.

Congratulations to Christian Maurer (SUI1) who is the champion for an incredible seventh time, and to all our Red Bull X-Alps athletes, supporters and teams for a safe, fair and exciting race.

Thank you for following, but stay tuned. The race may over, but keep an eye on all our channels where we will be publishing new photos and videos, race drone footage, race analysis, athlete statements and interviews. We will be sharing special moments from throughout the race, stories and interviews with the athletes – and of course the 52-minute documentary.

Day 10

Day 10 Wrap-up: Three pilots in goal today

Patrick Von Känel (SUI2), Simon Oberrauner (AUT2) and Maxime Pinot (FRA1) battled it out for the podium

RBC celebrate in the Red Bull X-Alps finish in Zell am See, Austria on June 29, 2021.

Day 10 started with a poor weather forecast, and pilots taking shelter wherever they could from torrential deluges. The forecast from Ubimet was not what any athlete would have asked for: a cold front moving in from France and spreading into Switzerland and Austria; foehn winds and weak thermals. 

Maxime Pinot (FRA1) and Simon Oberrauner (AUT2) were at Antholz first thing, sheltering from the rain under leaden grey skies that didn’t look like they were going to relent. One athlete was pictured crouching under a big rock! 

Simon is third

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Simon Oberrauner (AUT2) taking off to fly down to the raft in Zell am See to claim his third place in the Red Bull X-Alps 2021. He came incredibly close to Patrick von Känel (SUI2) who just landed on the raft before him. He finished his race in 9d 2h 18m 25s.

Now they are running!

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Simon Oberrauner (AUT2) and Patrick von Känel (SUI2) are running up the hill towards the Turnpoint 12 Schmittenhöhe with their gliders over their shoulders. They both had to land below the summit and are racing each other to the signboard. 

That's fast!

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Simon Oberrauner (AUT2) is determined to beat Patrick von Känel (SUI2) to Turnpoint 12 Schmittenhöhe. He is speeding along at a roaring 70km/h! He and Patrick have the same distance to go and are at the same height. We are on the tip of our chairs!

It's all about height

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Actually, Simon Oberrauner (AUT2), currently behind Patrick von Känel (SUI2) and Maxime Pinot (FRA1) in the race for the podium, is doing better than the others. Simon is at over 3000m and while he still has 10km to fly, Maxime is too low to cross the Pinzgau valley at 1400m and Patrick had to land and take off again, which cost him valuable time. It is really going to be a photo finish!

Weather trouble

AUT2 performs during the Red Bull X-Alps in Carena, Switzerland on June 28, 2021.

Simon Oberrauner (AUT2) and Maxime Pinot (FRA1) don't seem to be in a hurry this morning. This has a good reason though, Simon tells us. "We have bad luck with the weather today. Around Bolzano a large rainstorm is developing with a lot of southwest wind. It could pass us and we will have two or three hours to fly. That's enough. But it's not clear if we should fly. That's X-Alps!" He added that hiking to Zell am See is still 111 real kilometers, 5600m up and 4700m down.

Flying at 1881m altitude – 149.27 km to finish – 2nd place

Resting – 1139.59 km to finish – 8th place

Day 9

Simon had a good day

AUT2 Antholtz

Simon Oberrauner (AUT2) has had a wonderful day at the front of the pack, currently in shared second place with Maxime Pinot (FRA1) Simon said: "Today was unexpectedly good. We started with 30km running, and then it was clear that the day was very good. It was important to get into the air as soon as possible. We had very special conditions today at Ortler. The cloudbase was at 4200m, that is very rare and we could fly over the peak of Ortler. The south wind pushed us perfectly towards Kronplatz. I'm very happy to be here in Antholz now and I hope tomorrow will be not too windy and the thermals will be good and I hope to see you all in Zell am See."

Crossing Meran

AUT2 performs during the Red Bull X-Alps in Carena, Switzerland on June 28, 2021.

Simon Oberrauner is leading the chase for second one into Turnpoint 11 Kronplatz. He just crossed the Meran valley and is climbing up again on the other side, close to the line Chrigel Maurer (UI1) took. 

Day 6

Simon says: 'Mont Blanc'

Simon Oberrauner (AUT2) performing during the Red Bull X-Alps above the Rheintal / Liechtenstein on 23-June-2021. In this endurance adventure race athletes from 18 nations have to fly with paragliders or hike from Salzburg along the alps towards France, around the Mont Blanc back to Salzburg.

Simon Oberrauner (AUT2) has had a good day according to his supporter this evening. At 9:30pm he was just 3km behind the race leaders and third-equal. "Tonight we hope to get as far as we can towards Turnpoint 8. Like the others we will stay overnight near there and then plan to fly round it in the morning." After that, a really good day of flying beckons. The forecast is for excellent conditions. "We hope to fly to the Mont Blanc Turnpoint, of course, and then around it, into Italy and beyond."

Day 4

Flying at 1881m altitude – 149.27 km to finish – 2nd place

Day 1

Resting – 1139.59 km to finish – 8th place

The Red Bull X-Alps is on!

Race Start

And they are off! The start of a 12-day race across the European Alps. From the centre of Salzburg to Mont Blanc and back – a distance of 1238km. Incredible scenes here as just minutes ahead of the start the entire field of athletes sang Happy Birthday for Tom de Dorlodot (BEL). That is the true spirit of the Red Bull X-Alps right there. We look forward to a fast, exciting and safe race over the next two weeks. We are here for the duration – follow Live Tracking and don't miss a second!