The traditional start of the race takes place directly in the city center of Salzburg. The city’s famous Mozartplatz sings a new tune as athletes and fans toe the start line before running towards the Gaisberg. The first few steps of this 1,138 km journey are easy because adrenaline is high – but they’re definitely not slow. Tradition almost requires athletes take off running – rarely will they run this quickly during the long haul across the race route. Situated in the Northern Alps far to the East, Salzburg is the perfect jumping-off point for the race, as it offers easy access to numerous paragliding ‘super-highways’ that will allow the athletes to move quickly through the air. The city start makes for a perfect day-long excursion for fans of Red Bull X-Alps – action begins at mid-day, allowing time for spectators to travel in – and the start of the race is easily accessible by public transportation or with a 15-minute walk from the main station. Following the start everybody rushes to the next turnpoint (and first take-off!) the Gaisberg. But be warned: if you want to see the start at the Mozartplatz – get there early to claim your viewing area – there’s always a crowd, rain or shine!

One of the two most northerly Turnpoints of the race, just south of Chiemsee in the Chiemgauer Alps. A ‘booming’ start to the race may see some competitors arrive on the first day – but for most, it’s likely they’ll arrive early on day 2. Standing in their way is the Hochkönig mountain group – a challenge either flying or hiking.  In Aschau, they’ll need to pencil their name in to the signboard at the paragliding landing – then they can easily hike back up to the launch at the famous Kampenwand. For spectators, it’s a great spot – convenient to the A8 autobahn, and near enough to the start that you can catch a good bit of action in a few short hours. We recommend following the athletes on Live Tracking to estimate when your favorite athlete will touch down in Aschau – then getting to the Turnpoint early just in case the athletes get the chance to start moving fast. It can be tough to catch a paraglider! 

After Aschau – Chiemsee, the contest aims south, towards the first BIG challenge: crossing the main alpine ridge on their way to Kronplatz, Italy.

Deep in the Italian Dolomites lies the Kronplatz – and don’t let the name fool you. The ‘platz’ is not a town square, rather, a mountain top – albeit a pretty flat, friendly one. There’s a few big plusses here for athletes: if they can approach via the air, top-landing is super easy – as is taking off again, as the mountain terrain will let them launch in any direction. However, there’s some challenges: they’ve got to cross the main alpine ridge to get there, and even the mountain passes are at well over 2000m. It’s not going to be easy, no matter what. 
With the signboard at the top of the hill, and such an easy launch, competitors will probably move in and out of the Turnpoint quite quickly – but in those few minutes, there’s definitely plenty to see. For those looking to watch the race, the Kronplatz lift will get you up to the summit to see the action – so you don’t even have to hike like the competitors do. 

To continue on, the athletes turn almost 180 degrees to head back North, direction Zugspitze – crossing back into Austria and once more over the German border, to arrive at Germany’s highest peak, then fly down into Lermoos.

It’s back across the main alpine ridge – crossing numerous valleys to get to the Zugspitz Arena. While there’s good cross-country flying, there’s often strong northern winds slowing you down. Then the athletes have to avoid the airspace restricted zone around Innsbruck – meaning a diversion no matter what. They’ll need to get all the way around the Zugspitze in Germany from the north side – then glide back down across the Austrian border to Lermoos in Tirol, Austria. The good news: if conditions are good, they can do the whole route (up until the signboard) in the air, meaning it could go quickly. The bad news: they’re only allowed to cross the line going from east to west. For spectators, another prime location – easy access to the signboard and great visibility as the athletes approach. However, by this time, there’s going to be some pretty big gaps in the field – so definitely take note of the Live Tracking and see where your favorite Red Bull X-Alps athletes are on the course! 

Leaving Lermoos, it’s time for the third border crossing as they head to Davos, Switzerland. 

The home of the World Economic Forum gets a little more adventurous with the arrival of some of the best adventure athletes in the world. To get there, they hope to take a ride on the paragliding super highway of the Engadin Valley, almost all the way to Davos – if it’s a good flying day, they can make that trip in just a few hours – maybe as little as three or four. There’s a beautiful landing spot right by the lake, so a few athletes will for sure be having a short refreshing swim before they take off hiking. The Turnpoint signboard is at the valley landing – but  there’s lots of easily reachable take-offs for them to continue on. When will the athletes actually arrive in Davos? At this point, it starts to get really difficult to predict their timing – it all depends on the weather. 

From there, they’ll keep moving towards Engelberg – Titlis – one of the highlights of the race thanks to the incredible viewing available from a high-alpine location.

Another nasty one: if you reach it flying – you can just touch down, and take off again. If the weather isn’t working, it can be a huge challenge to access the Turnpoint at the top of the mountain.  Red Bull X-Alps regulations will put some no-go zones around this unique Turnpoint –  the summit is accessible by foot only from the town of Engelberg –meaning a huge diversion from the straight-line route if athletes can’t get in the air. The good news? There’s a big, huge, mountain station at the top – meaning a bite to eat and a refreshing drink is sure to be on top for the athletes that have just made a long haul to the summit. 

For spectators, it’s a unique high alpine environment, accessible by cable car, that will offer some incredible views on a good flying day. Upon arriving here, the athletes will have covered just over half of the straight line distance of the race. The next Turnpoint: the infamous Eiger.