SAFA Skysailor Magazine

28 SKY SAILOR July | August 2023 “It’s unbelievable to be here after such a short time and several tough moments. When I crossed the main ridge together with my team, it was incredible.” An astoundingly fit 40-year-old mountain athlete with a natural feeling for the best stra- tegic route decisions, race director Ferdinand Vogel was quick to congratulate: “I congratulate Maurer on another outstanding performance. It’s an amazing achievement – again! He makes decisions on gut instinct and his instinct is incred- ibly good because he just has so much experience and he also prepares for every situation.” Sunday, 18 June: Day Eight One day after Maurer (SUI1) claimed his eighth X-Alps victory, a record number of athletes landed on the finish float and brought an end to their epic 1223km odyssey around the Alps. A total of 17 athletes were able to hike through the night to reach the finish, with Damien Lacaze (FRA2) reaching TP Schmitten- höhe at 3am and choosing to hike, then swim to the float in order to claim second place in a time of six days, 18 hours and five minutes: “It was a great experience for me. It was not a goal to make the podium – a dream too big – I only came for the adventure with my team, but am very happy, if a bit tired to enjoy it.” Fellow Frenchman Maxime Pinot touched down less than an hour later with a time of six days, 18 hours and 47 minutes. He said: “I’m happy to be here and thankful for my team. Without them I wouldn’t have made it. It was such a tough edition. I feel mentally drained. I need to rest.” Other finishers included Austrian Simon Oberrauner who ‘drew’ a heart in the sky for his girlfriend Anna with his GPS tracklog, Swiss New records fall at the 2023 Red Bull XAlps Chrigel Maurer (SUI1) at Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Italy, 16 June 16 Photo: Sebastian Marko, Red Bull Content Pool