SAFA Skysailor Magazine

27 July | August 2023 SKY SAILOR One athlete to attempt a breakaway was Maurer (SUI1) after pulling a Night Pass and hiking until midnight to get ahead. It wasn’t just an attempt to steal a march on his rivals, he was determined to be the first to arrive at TP 7, Frutigen – his own backyard. He received a hero’s welcome on landing as family and friends embraced him. Fighting back tears, he revealed: “It’s a dream to be here first. Yesterday I was unsure if it would work.” Thursday, 15 June: Day Five On Thursday, half the field crossed the main chain of the Alps into Italy for the homeward leg back to Austria on Day 5, with Maurer (SUI1) holding a narrow lead over Pinot (FRA1) in a replay of their duel two years ago. By mid-afternoon, Maurer had tagged TP 11, Dufourspitze – despite suffering from a cough that meant he was not sleeping or feeling well. At one point, it looked like Maurer was charg- ing ahead, but tricky flying conditions in north- ern Italy meant the pack was gaining on him. There were wild scenes on the border of France and Italy at TP 10, Col du Petit Saint-Bernard, as Simon Oberrauner (AUT1), Sepp Inniger (SUI4) and Tommy Friedrich (AUT3) all landed within seconds of each other, took a selfie – a race rule – and quickly launched back into the sky. Friday, 16 June: Day Six Every edition of the Red Bull X-Alps has been won by a Swiss athlete, but on Thursday night and for much of Friday morning a new name was at the top of the leaderboard: Lacaze (FRA2). The 37-year-old French alpinist covered a distance of 226km from Mt Blanc across the northern lakes of Italy to Sondrio in Lombardy during an extraordinary day of 11 hours 13 minutes in the air, while battling strong winds, turbulence and airspace restrictions, admit- ting: “It was tricky all day long, very difficult, very long and slow in the middle due to the wind, but I managed to keep in the air and not make mistakes.” Saturday, 17 June: Day Seven Having been overtaken by Pinot (FRA1) and Lacaze (FRA2) towards the end of day five, Maurer managed to claw his way back into the lead and never looked back on day six as he touched down on the winning float in the Austrian town of Zell am See in a new record time of six days, six hours and one minute. Kinga Masztalerz (NZL) on Hochgrundeck, Austria, 12 June Photo: Vitek Ludvik / Red Bull Content Pool Richard Binstead (AUS) in Kitzbühel, Austria, 11 June Photo: Christian Lorenz / Red Bull Content Pool