The Red Bulletin March 2014 - GU

action sport Travel Arts music

a beyond the ordinary magazine

f Guitlion Ed

march 2014 KD1

muhammad ali

The fight that shook the world

AMAZON, GET SET, GO!

Extreme jungle adventure race

top

guns Red Bull Air Race The world’s fastest motorsport takes to the skies

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THE WORLD OF RED BULL

30

high adventure

Mike Hewitt/Red Bull Content Pool (cover), Daniel Grund/Red Bull Photofiles

peter strain

Red Bull Air Race, the world’s fastest motorsport series, is back in the skies

Welcome

Out on the water, a Class 1 offshore powerboat can notch up a high speed, during a race, of about 255kph (158mph). Out on the track, an F1 car might push the needle up to 310kph (193mph). Up in the air, Red Bull Air Race pilots will push their planes past 400kph, which is close to 250mph. As the world’s fastest motorsport takes to the skies, we’ve got all the stories, stats and seat-pounding G-forces that go into making this spectacular race series.

Plus: an exclusive chat with the highly quotable Nicolas Cage, we’re roadside all the way for a remarkable race across Mexico and we look back at the moment when Muhammad Ali shook the world, with the help of the great man’s biographer. Enjoy the issue. “ I’m reinventing myself in terms

of the movies I want to do” Nicolas CagE

march 2014

at a glance Bullevard 12 oscars special Celebrating little gold men, and those who win ’em, for the Academy Awards

Features

58

30 Red Bull Air Race

All the planes, pilots and locations for the 2014 World Championship Exclusive interview with the most interesting movie star of them all

A ‘super-tri’ of running, cycling and kayaking in the heart of the Amazon

48 Walk On The Wild Side High-altitude slacklining takes tightrope walking to new heights

74

54 Angry Young Man

Former punk frontman turned rapper Itch on breaking bones and boundaries

58 Red Bull Kirimbawa Running, cycling and paddling through the Amazon rainforest

¡viva la carrera!

The legendary Carrera Panamericana is the last true road race, taking place on Mexico’s untamed highways

87

66 Sebastian Copeland

going the distance

68 Muhammad Ali

The cold-climate adventurer with Leonardo DiCaprio on speed dial

Long-jump queen Ivana Spanovic reveals the weight-room regime she swears by to achieve the big results

66

the iceman

08

74 Carrera Panamericana Rip-roaring road rally across Mexico

Action

68 Explorer and filmmaker Sebastian Copeland reveals how – and why – he crossed Antarctica with broken ribs

The night he became a legend

birth of the greatest

When Cassius Clay fought Sonny Liston 50 years ago, sport changed, politics changed – and the world changed

84 85 86 87 88 90 92 93 94 96 98

travel Rope jumping in Siberia party Rare grooves at LA club Sound get the gear Electro music musts training Get fit for the long jump enter now Wings For Life World Run My city An artist’s Copenhagen music Katy B’s top tracks gaming The new Metal Gear Solid buyer’s guide Inflatable kit save the Date Unmissable events magic moment Ice climbing

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Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull Content Pool, marcelo maragni, Predrag Vuckovic/Red Bull Content Pool, sebastian copeland, ddp images

42 Nicolas Cage

jungle warriors

Celebrate your Valentine’s moments

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Featuring Valentine’s Day Card dangle to celebrate special Valentine’s moments.

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Belfast Victoria Square

Contributors who’s on board this issue

The Red Bulletin Gulf Edition, 2308-5851

The Red Bulletin is published by Red Bull Media House GmbH General Manager Wolfgang Winter Publisher Franz Renkin Editors-in-Chief Alexander Macheck, Robert Sperl Editor Paul Wilson Creative Director Erik Turek

fernando gueiros

thomas hauser The American author’s name was first on the list when it came to finding a writer to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Muhammad Ali’s epic win over Sonny Liston.

Hauser’s book, Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times, is regarded as the definitive Ali biography, so his piece about the 1964 heavyweight bout is a must-read (page 68). “It’s hard to imagine the excitement he created,” says Hauser. “Fifty years from now, that feeling won’t be there. But the image people will have will be of a strong, vibrant young man.”

Bloodthirsty mosquitos and oppressive heat were relatively small issues for our writer on his trip to the Red Bull Kirimbawa multisport race in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. “We arrived by speedboat and it was pitch dark,” says Gueiros, who lives in São Paulo. “I had to follow the runners all the way through the jungle carrying a heavy backpack and wearing a big headlamp.”

Gueiros’ reward after 24 hours without sleep was “the sunrise at the river bank of the Amazon”.

Read his amazing tale on page 58.

Los Angelesbased Krauss previously shot The Red Bulletin’s cover with DJ A-Trak, but for this issue, we asked the photographer to get far above the madding crowd for a feature about one of his hobbies, highlining. Think tightrope walking, but the line is pliable, and it sways. “I’ve been slacklining for five years and highlining for the past two,” he says. “It’s an indescribable feeling, toeing your way across what feels like a giant shoelace.” Find your balance with Krauss on page 48.

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Photo Director Fritz Schuster Production Editor Marion Wildmann Managing Editor Daniel Kudernatsch Chief Sub-Editor Nancy James Deputy Chief Sub-Editor Joe Curran Assistant Editors Ruth Morgan, Ulrich Corazza, Werner Jessner, Florian Obkircher, Arek Pia˛tek, Andreas Rottenschlager Contributing Editor Stefan Wagner Contributors Lisa Blazek, Georg Eckelsberger, Raffael Fritz, Sophie Haslinger, Marianne Minar, Boro Petric, Holger Potye, Martina Powell, Mara Simperler, Clemens Stachel, Manon Steiner, Lukas Wagner Design Martina de Carvalho-Hutter, Silvia Druml, Kevin Goll, Carita Najewitz, Esther Straganz Photo Editors Susie Forman (Creative Photo Director), Rudi Übelhör (Deputy Photo Director), Marion Batty, Eva Kerschbaum Repro Managers Clemens Ragotzky (manager), Karsten Lehmann, Josef Mühlbacher Head of Production Michael Bergmeister Production Wolfgang Stecher (manager), Walter O Sádaba, Christian Graf-Simpson (app) Printed by British Industries, Kuwait; www.britishindustries.net Finance Siegmar Hofstetter, Simone Mihalits Marketing & Country Management Stefan Ebner (manager), Elisabeth Salcher, Lukas Scharmbacher, Sara Varming Distribution Klaus Pleninger, Peter Schiffer Marketing Design Julia Schweikhardt, Peter Knethl

peter strain dan krauss

Art Directors Kasimir Reimann, Miles English

The Belfast-based artist was commissioned to illustrate this month’s interview with Nicolas Cage, and the results give a unique insight into the mind of the gleefully eccentric actor.

“He’s an enigmatic and complex character,” says Strain, whose work regularly appears in Time, The Guardian, Empire and Esquire.

“Cage stands by the choices he has made – despite some of the critical reaction he’s received.”

The Cage opens on page 42.

“ Fifty years from now, the image of Ali will be of a strong, vibrant young man” thomas hauser

Advertising Enquiries Richard Breiss +96 5 660 700 48, richard@kw.redbull.com

Advertising Placement Sabrina Schneider O∞ce Management Manuela Gesslbauer, Kristina Krizmanic, Anna Schober

The Red Bulletin is published in Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, Ireland, Kuwait, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland, UK and USA Website www.redbulletin.com Head office Red Bull Media House GmbH, Oberst-Lepperdinger-Strasse 11-15, A-5071 Wals bei Salzburg, FN 297115i, Landesgericht Salzburg, ATU63611700 Austria office Heinrich-Collin-Strasse 1, A-1140 Vienna, +43 (1) 90221 28800 UK office 155-171 Tooley Street, London SE1 2JP, +44 (0) 20 3117 2100

The Red Bulletin (Gulf region) Boushahri Group W.L.L., Ardiya Industrial Area, Block 2, Section 107, Kuwait, +96 5 660 700 48 Write to us: letters@redbulletin.com

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ONE WHOLE EXTRA HOUR WITH THE LADS !

Playtime Than Drivetime!

More Like

the Oscars

thank you, thank you, thank you

Lucky Loser

Michael DouGlas

In 1988, Douglas won an Oscar for Best Actor playing the greedy financier Gordon Gekko in Wall Street, but he will have no such luck for his role as Liberace in Behind the Candelabra. The film premiered on US TV, making it ineligible for the Academy Awards. He won’t care too much; he also has a Best Picture statuette as one of the producers of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, and has made two comebacks to acting after a ski injury and cancer. Sir, we salute you.

Martin Schoeller/August

The best performance of the year will go unrewarded at this year’s Oscars

3

Be st pixel oscars If there were awards for Best Animated Acting

minion One of many in two Despicable Me movies, the second of which is in the running for this year’s best animated film Oscar.

DONKEY Without him, Shrek is simply about an unjolly green giant. All together: “Are we there yet?”

t h e O S CAR S

THE OSCARS’ MOST SPECIAL EFFECTS

CGI DON’T BELIEVE IT! Three films that revolutionised

cinema’s computer-generated wonder

Avata r James Cameron gave the new 3D generation its first blockbuster in 2009. In fact, it’s still the benchmark of 3D… and three sequels have been announced for 2016, 2017 and 2018.

t h e M at r i x In 1999, motion slowed right down to make ‘bullet time’. Shot with 124 cameras, action could effectively be stopped and viewed from any angle. Still influential 15 years later.

AAPimages/Allaccess/Maria Laura Antonelli, The Kobal Collection, imago(2), picturedesk.com(4), getty images(2), Corbis(3)

AND THE OSCAR FOR BEST INVISIBLE ACTRESS GOES TO...

Scarlett johansson. She’s been the muse in three Woody Allen films, voted Sexiest Woman Alive twice and in Her, her voice alone is enough to make Joaquin Phoenix fall in love with his smartphone’s speech software. Once you’ve seen – and heard – the film, you’ll understand exactly why.

Me! Me! Me! Some people seem to get one for every movie; others learn to clap and smile as the winners walk past. Oscar’s current lucky and unlucky few

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Buzz Lightyear This is what real plastic toy heroes should look like: who wouldn’t go “to infinity and beyond” with this guy?

Usual suspects

ep l Stre Mery scars 3O

lson Coen Nicho Ethanars & l JackOscars e c Jo 4 Os 3

Pa c i f i c r i m The digital technology in Guillermo del Toro’s monsters-v-giant robots epic of 2013 had a real impact in terms of visual force. You knew it was all made up, but it felt kind of real.

Thus far the bridesmaids

pp ny De John inations m o 3n

s illiam elle W ns Mich ominatio 3n

alick nce M Terre inations 3 nom

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t h e OSCA R S

infuriating blockbusters

DECODING THE WINNERS

Why do some Academy favourites polarise their audience (if they even get one)?

Kathryn Bigelow’s riveting war film about bomb disposal experts in Iraq is the least popular Oscar-winner of all time among cinemagoers. A box office damp squib.

w h y n o Ha p p y ending ?

Because, duh, war is hell.

Just not always at the movies.

WHO ’ S M I SS I N G ?

george clooney.

A MOU R

Love v Death, that age-old match-up. In director Michael Haneke’s hands it won last year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

WH AT M A K E S US YAW N ?

A deliberately slow-paced movie that dragged on for what seemed like more than its 2h 7m running time.

N O T T O B E CO N FUS E D W I T H

death becomes her, with Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn.

OR SEAN PENN. OR DENZEL WASHINGTON. OR DANIEL DAY-LEWIS.

p er f e c t f o r

military recruiters

WHO ’ S M I SS I N G ?

brad pitt

as Joe Black.

D E PA R T U R E S

Daigo is a cellist and unemployed.

So he takes a job preparing the dead for funerals. Won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar for 2008.

WH AT ’ S M I SS I N G ?

THE ARTIST

Best Picture at the awards in 2012.

A silent movie star falls in love with a dancer. But then come the talkies.

She has a career on the big screen.

He spends his days on the bottle.

WHO ’ S T H E R E A L H E R O ?

Decent careers advice.

P E R F E C T FO R Six Feet Under fans suffering

withdrawal symptoms.

s ticks in t h e m emory… ...because you and your dead buttocks will need to go and see Daigo, too.

Uggie the dog. w h at m a k e s u s yaw n ?

it’s a silent film!

ANd the anti-war movement.

WHO ’ S T H E R E A L H E R O ?

Anyone who goes to see this film on a first date, because, for such a couple,

IT MUST BE REAL LOVE! 14

A N A LT E R N AT E E N D I N G

bruce lee

comes back to life on the bamboo mat.

w h at ’ s m i s s ing ?

Apart from sound and colour? A few

more laughs. And more Uggie.

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picturedesk.com(3), The Kobal Collection, Filmladen Filmverleih(2)

T H E HU R T L OCK E R

star attractions

FANTASTICAL LEADING LADIES Great performances in sci-fi and fantasy films are rarely recognised by the Academy.

Although Sandra Bullock is a Best Actress nominee this year for Gravity, female stars in such movies tend to be remembered for other reasons

neytiri

Avatar’s leading lady may be blue, but that wouldn’t stop many a red-blooded human male looking for romance in the jungles of outer space. In 3D.

jessica rabbit

THE KOBAL COLLECTION(2), picturedesk.com

Somewhere there is a lascivious illustrator to thank for her cartoon curves in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but the love for this femme fatale is oh-so-real.

CAT W O M a N

The movie of the same name was a flop, but as far as whip-crackers go, Halle Berry in a cat mask is definitely sexier than Indiana Jones in a floppy hat.

Etalon Film/The Kobal Collection

t h e O S CA R S

WHY NO OSCAR FOR STUNTS?

HOLLYWOOD’S TRUE HEROES

Stuntmen and women risk their skin for cinema action, as demonstrated in this scene from Fast & Furious 6. There are no Oscars for their work, although they do have their own gong-giving night out at the annual Taurus World Stunt Awards. But we say this: Academy! Award these people Academy Awards! taurusworldstuntawards.com

16

This might look like Tyrese Gibson leaping out of one car and into another. But it isn’t. It’s Mens-Sana Tamakloe, his stuntman

t h e O S CA R S

CULT CLASSICS

will go down in history and yet they didn’t win an Oscar. We honour them here

ALFRED HITCHCOCK, 1968: “Thank you very much indeed.”

i ’ l l b e b ac k !

Three words was all it took for Arnie to write cinema history in THE TERMINATOR. And what did the Academy go and do?

They didn’t even invite him to that year’s awards ceremony.

Gwyneth paltrow, 1999: “I would like to thank the Academy from the bottom of my heart [continues, through tears, for another 2m 33s, thanking 23 individual friends, family members and colleagues, a film company and the rest of her family].”

LUCKY STARS THANKING

GET TO THE POINT! If you ever do win an Oscar, there are three things to avoid in your acceptance speech: wit, spontaneity and emotion.

Gwyneth Paltrow hasn’t received another Academy Award nomination since her tearful acceptance speech in 1999, which included thankyous to almost two-dozen people. Adrien Brody, who snogged Halle Berry on stage in 2003, has never made the shortlist again, either.

Greer Garson gave the longest acceptance speech in 1943, blabbing on for seven minutes. It would be the only Oscar she ever won.

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Br u ta l ly g oo d

“The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club.” The Os­cars voters agreed and overlooked Brad Pitt, who was magnificent, malevolent and never better.

i f hips co u l d k i l l

In PULP FICTION, Uma Thurman and John Travolta made one of cinema’s finest couplings, even though they weren’t a couple. Celluloid history ensued; little gold men did not.

oscar ’ s o d d est m u sic m o m ents

VOODOO DRUMMING King Of The Zombies (1941) This horror comedy was a flop, but the Oscarnominated soundtrack, heavy with hypnotic beats and chanting, became a blueprint for scary movie music.

GREGORIAN CHANTS The Omen (1976) Legendary cinema composer Jerry Goldsmith’s Oscarwinning score, including theme Ave Satani, left cinemagoers unsure as to whether they should cover their eyes or their ears. ryan inzana

Too cool for an Award They’ve given us classic moments that

BOOM-KNIRSSSCH! The Social Network (2010) Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails doesn’t do tear-jerking soundtracks, but he does do Oscar-winning and wonderfully dark electronic music.

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picturedesk.com(2), getty images, THE KOBAL COLLECTION(2)

T W O A C C E P TA N C E SPEECHES IN THEIR ENTIRETY

StudioCanal/Cinetext/Allstar

Geoff Berkshire

DANIEL BRÜHL: Nikki Lauda in Rush

HARD TIMES

“If you get the opportunity to work with a genius, Oscar-winning director like Ron Howard, you don’t normally complain, even if you have to sit in make-up for seven hours a day while filming. But I did have to take deep breaths when I looked at the daily schedule. Chris Hemsworth, first scene: kisses nurse. Chris Hemsworth, second scene: has sex with nurse.

Daniel Brühl, first scene: checks tyres.

Those were hard times for my ego.”

12 steps to success

how to build a blockbuster

Aristotle first noted the three-act structure for stories about 2,400 years ago. Since then, the work of other writers, such as Joseph Campbell and Christopher Vogler, has led to a 12-step ‘hero’s journey’ which has proved popular in Hollywood screenplays 1 An ordinary man in an ordinary world

2

3

Adventure comes calling

The call, first ignored, is then heeded

4 Our hero meets his mentor

5 The journey begins

6 First test of bravery/brains

7 9

8

Our man gets his reward

Hero arrives at villain’s lair

Villain fought and defeated

12 Back in his world, changed for better

20

11

tom mackinger

10 The journey home begins

One last struggle

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t h e O S CA R S

Marilyn Monroe

United Archives/picturedesk.com

OVERLOOKED GENIUS She was beautiful. Everyone could see that. But she was wise too, and not many knew that. She was a great actress, cast so many times as the ditzy blonde that nobody realised at the time just how excellently and patiently she played the part. Her stock has risen since her death in 1962, but not high enough.

An honorary Oscar, for the most famous and most unappreciated actress of all-time, would be a fitting reward.

t h e O S CARS

will’s way

fresh ideas

oscarwinning music movies

Will Smith’s move from music to acting was perfect timing

In 1990, Will Smith was 22 and broke. He’d released two bubblegum rap albums as The Fresh Prince and his single, Parents Just Don’t Understand, was the first hip-hop song to win a Grammy. But lil’ Will didn’t know how to budget: the US taxman was demanding US$2.8 million in unpaid taxes. What saved him was his first acting role, in a TV show created for him, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. It went on to become one of the most successful sitcoms of the 1990s and is still shown today. These days, Smith, who has twice been nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor (Ali, The Pursuit of Happyness), has no financial problems. He earned US$30m in 2013, making him the sixth highestearning actor in the world.

“ M o n ey a n d s uc c e s s do n ’ t c h a nge p e ople .

Th ey m e re ly a m pl i fy wh at ’s a l re a dy t h e re” Will Smith

Art usually imitates life, but sometimes it’s the other way around. Films have given us fictional blueprints for once far-off tech that is now becoming a reality. One thing we’re still waiting on is warp drive, though.

22

Wa l k t h e Line Addiction, prison gigs, one true love. The life of Johnny Cash, for which Reese Witherspoon won a little gold man.

se a rc h ing f or sug a r m a n A long-lost minor musician, Sixto

Rodriguez, is tracked down by two fans. Winner of the Best Documentary Feature Oscar in 2013.

h o v er bo a r d

The floating skateboard in Back To The Future II is, says Haltek Industries, just a few million in R&D cash away, with a launch planned for 2015, when the film was partly set.

ta b l et In Stanley Kubrick’s seminal 2001: A Space Odyssey, the astronauts had what looked like an iPad. Incredible in a 1968 film; today, daily life for many millions of people. the red bulletin

sascha bierl

BIOMETRIC GUNS

In 007 adventure Skyfall, Q gives James Bond a smart gun that will only react to its owner’s fingerprints.

Work is underway on the real thing in both Europe and the US.

Corbis, THE KOBAL COLLECTION(6)

Wh e n Fa n t a sy Becomes Re a l ity

r ay Jamie Foxx plays R&B legend Ray Charles and reveals stunning vocal talents.

He won a Best Actor Oscar for his efforts.

Movies’ marvellous motors

STAR VEHICLES

Cars as memorable – or maybe more so – than the films they featured in

lotus esprit

Known as Wet Nellie on the set of the Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, it worked underwater and on dry land, and was auctioned in September 2013.

DelorEan DMC-12

A failed, expensive sports coupe, of which about 9,000 were made, became a truly iconic car when it featured as the time machine in Back To The Future.

THE KOBAL COLLECTION(3)

b at m o b i l e

In Batman & Robin, Bruce Wayne’s runaround had an afterburner that gave it a theoretical top speed of 530kph (350mph). In tests it hit 225kph (140mph).

action!

3 g r e at SPORT films

F u l ly F l a r e d ( 2 0 0 7 )

Street skateboarding at the very highest level: Guy Mariano, Eric Koston and other legends in front of the camera; Spike Jonze and Ty Evans behind. Awesome slow-motion sequences.

be n di ng colour s (2012)

What it’s like to be the exceptionally talented South African surfer Jordy Smith. Especially noteworthy for epic action shot at some of the world’s most breathtaking surf locations.

24

Blake Jorgenson/Red Bull Content Pool, AccuSoft Inc, Ryan Miller/Red Bull Content Pool

Fictional sport films – Rocky, Chariots Of Fire, Million Dollar Baby – win Oscars. So why not these incredible real-life tales?

t h e O S CA R S

Where the Trail e n d s ( 2 0 1 3)

A crew of absurdly talented freeride mountain bikers risk everything to conquer the off-road places where no man on a bike has gone before.

t h e OSCARS

FLUFFED IT

BAD FILMS, GOOD ACTORS

They’ve done some good stuff, but this wasn’t it

“ Th ey s hou l d p ut s o m e u n de rwe a r o n h i m . H e’s a f re e b a l le r a n d h e’s got a ve ry b ig swo rd .” jared Leto, 2014 acting nominee, on the oscar statue

koma*

kainrath’s award

Ti lda Swinton

Oscar winner starred in Female Perversions, an erotic thriller that was neither.

Sharon stone

Eleven years after a Best Actress nod for Casino, she starred in Basic Instinct 2.

George Clooney

Eight Oscar noms, two wins, always a star of Return Of The Killer Tomatoes.

THE MONUMENTS MEN

TOMORROW’S HEROES

passing the baton

Three talents who will go down in cinema history Gravity rg

ielbe

en Sp Stev

rt Robe

es

n Jon

a Dunc

With Moon and Source Code, David Bowie’s boy made two of the smartest sci-fi films in recent memory. Just started filming a big-budget adaption of Warcraft.

26

iro De N

jiofor

etel E Chiw

Amistad was Ejiofor’s breakthrough in 1997; his performance in 12 Years A Slave has moved him into the big leagues. Rightly a hot favourite at this year’s Oscars.

ren

n Mir

Hele

lligan

y Mu Care

Mulligan has recently stood out in Drive, Shame, The Great Gatsby and Inside Llewyn Davis. Oscarwinner Dame Helen has an heiress apparent.

GONE WITH THE WIND *KOMA: Kainrath’s Œuvres of modern art

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picturedesk.com(3), Corbis(5), The Kobal Collection(3), getty images(2)

dietmar kainrath

Talent alone can’t rescue a poor script: that was a maxim of six-time Oscar-winner Billy Wilder. It’s now a favourite excuse of film actors with hindsight, and a prior need for cash.

www.marmot.eu l facebook.com/marmot.mountain.europe Klaus Kranebitter, Marmot PRO: Benny Purner Ice climbing – Norwegian style

Marmot Isotherm Hoody

t h e OSCARS

when creatures feature

roar talent

When votes were counted for the first Oscars, in 1929, canine star Rin Tin Tin was top in the Best Actor category, but the Academy wouldn’t throw the dog a bone. Other big-screen beasts have shown Oscar-winner-like qualities

godzilla

lassie

jaw s

The Christian Bale of sea creatures: potential to snap at any moment.

28

The Brad Pitt of dogs: magnificent hair, but no Oscar.

Credit: Corbis, The Kobal Collection, getty images

The Jack Nicholson of monsters: penetrating gaze, icy grin, fire beneath.

Back on the big screen – for the 29th time – in May.

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ADRENALINE

Y THAT PHOTOGRAPH REATHLESS LEAVES YOU B

INGENIOUS

HO ARE THE PEOPLE W E WORLD CHANGING TH

EXTREME

HAT ADVENTURE T DARIES BREAKS BOUN

©Dom Daher

yo u r . t n e M o M OR D BEYOND THE

INARY

your MoMent.

Beyond the ordinary

FREE DOWNLOAD

high adventure

Balazs Gardi/Red bull content pool

red bull air race, the world’s fastest motorsport series, is back in the skies

30

Racing in the clouds

Abu Dhabi stages the first event of this year’s Red Bull Air Race.

After that: Croatia in April

“ I love doing it. I’m an adrenalin junkie I have to go back to it” Ki r b y c h a m b l i s s

Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool

Brazil

In 2007, Rio De Janeiro became the first South American city to host a Red Bull Air Race event

lessed with a Texan’s natural ability to tell you exactly what he thinks, Red Bull Air Race pilot Kirby Chambliss is not a man to mince words.

Today, however, the transatlantic phone lines are doing their best to do just that for him.

As every third sentence whirls away in a whoosh of clanging electronica, it’s hard to pin down just what the double champion is saying, but when the veteran flier talks about his motivation to return to a series that next month takes to the skies again after an almost four-year hiatus, he’s crystal clear.

“It’s just me, it’s what I do,” he insists. “I’ll tell you, I don’t like the international travel, all the logistics, that’s a nightmare. And as regards safety, well, I have a nine-year-old kid now, so it wasn’t an easy decision. But I definitely want to be a part of it. I love doing it. I’m an adrenalin junkie… I have to go back to it.”

A couple of days later, fellow Red Bull Air Race World Championship pilot Nigel Lamb is echoing Chambliss’s enthusiasm. “I’ve earned a living for nearly 30 years doing air displays, but to me the Red Bull Air Race is the pinnacle of what I’ve done in that time,” he says. “To go back to air racing is really what I want to do. It’s a no-brainer.”

But while the decision to race again has been easy for those in the cockpit, for those behind the 33

scenes the act of hoisting the mammoth series back into the air has been a far more complex procedure.

After seven years, the series had, by the eve of the 2010 championship, become an unwieldy beast.

With average 2009 crowds topping half a million, the logistics and finances required to haul the series around the world had become burdensome.

It wasn’t only on the ground that issues were becoming apparent, however. In the air, too, problems were arising as a technical arms race pushed planes to their limits. When logistical issues forced the cancellation of the final two rounds of the championship, enough was enough. The series was grounded.

jörg mitter/red bull content pool(2), Daniel Grund/Red Bull content pool, Hamish Blair/Red Bull content pool

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our years have passed since then, and the championship has been reinvented with new rules, new formats and a fresh approach to safety, as new series CEO Erich Wolf explains.

“The real business started at the beginning of 2013, and from that moment on we had to sign contracts with all the locations and relaunch the sport from an aviation point of view,” he says. “However, we also realised we have to open it up to new pilots. We will have a super-licence class of 12 pilots, who are competing in a certain schedule, in a certain format. But there will be a second class of pilots, the challenger class, which is open for qualified pilots, male or female, on a global scale.

“We have also simplified the rules in order to make it easier to understand for the consumer, the spectator on site and for fans watching on TV.” The safety matters that raised concerns in 2010 have been taken in hand with the introduction of a number of standard parts, a change designed to put paid to the engine arms race that had begun to develop in the sport. Also, in a bid to improve safety, the fabric pylons used to delineate the course have been raised from 20m to 25m in height, a small increase, but one which Head of Aviation Sergio Pla says will make a big difference. “It may not look like much, but in the plane reaction time is much higher than before. We didn’t have any surprises in training. The pilots have a big margin of time and the altitude to resolve it. It makes a dramatic difference.”

New locations have also been sourced, with the city-based tracks the series latterly favoured giving way to a mix of circuits over land, water and, in a new development, more races in controlled environments – motor speedways in the US, arenas that are perfectly suited to the series.

“Red Bull Air Race is a motorsport, and we should go to the home of motorsport,” says Wolf. “We have to provide the spectators with the best quality venues, so they can see the whole race track. They should also have food and beverage services and parking.

These locations are huge, plus the venue is prepared

“ we have simplified the rules to make it easier to understand” Erich wolf

Abu Dhabi, UAE 34

American aviator Michael Goulian prepares for take-off in the 2007 Red Bull Air Race World Championship

Monument Valley, Utah, USA

British pilot Paul Bonhomme navigates through the pylons in the third race of the 2007 season

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Matthias Dolderer of Germany wows the crowds during the 2010 Red Bull Air Race Qualifying Day

already. You have grandstands there which hold 200,000 spectators and they have the best view of the track. US speedways are a perfect venue for us.

However you’ll still find us in city centres as well.”

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he pilots, too, are enthusiastic about the changes that have been wrought, with Nigel Lamb insisting that the standardised engines introduced will result in closer, more exciting competition.

“The engines thing I think is just fantastic, and it was something that I always argued for,” he says. “It makes sense on many levels. From a safety point of view it is definitely relevant, from a cost point of view it is relevant, but also, most importantly, it just creates a much better, even playing field, where it is not all chequebook-driven. You will find that the margins of power are much less between the best and the worst and I think it sets up the potential for an absolutely fantastic 2014 season.”

Chambliss too is optimistic, however, and while he acknowledges that Red Bull Air Race 2014 spec is likely to be a flight into the unknown, he’s more than happy to strap himself in for the ride.

“My goal is always to win. I’m not going to just play,” he says. “Some friends said it would be really nice if you could go, just cruise it and take it easy, but what I say is, sure, enjoy it, but remember why you’re there, remember that you were one through 15 in the world, that you’ve won the nationals five times and that you’re a very competitive person. So I’ll get the plane as close as I can, I’ll think about the fastest way to get from this gate to the next one. I’ll be doing the same thing I’ve always done – trying to win. That’s what I do.”

Getting the planes as close to the edge as possible is also what the Red Bull Air Race has been redesigned to do, though this time in the right conditions and in the right arenas, as Sergio Pla insists. “This is the most exciting motorsport in existence,” he says. “We’re the fastest series in the world. You really shouldn’t miss it.”

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redbullairrace.com

Czech pilot Martin Sonka prepares for take-off in Australia in 2010

The hot seat hustling a plane of more than 300hp through multiple high-g turns is not easy. this is how it’s done

4 2 3

6 7 15

planes burn half a gallon of fuel per minute

9 11 14

markus kucera/red bull content pool, Cameron Spencer/red bull content pool

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1 Airspeed Indicator This shows the plane’s speed in knots relative to the air.

2 Altimeter Indicates the aircraft’s altitude (in feet) above a reference level by measuring the static air pressure.

EFIS (Electronic Flight information System) Gives the pilot lap information.

The touchscreen facility can switch between display modes.

It also sends speed or G info to the Race Tower.

3

4 Engine Analyser A device that records engine data.

After a flight, info is downloaded for analysis. The switch on top is a voice alarm that warns the pilot in case of any system failure.

5 Fuel Pump Switch

7 Pedals The pedals direct the plane to the left or right on the ground.

In flight, they are used to activate the rudder.

8 Propeller Control Adjusts the pitch of the propeller blades.

Used to switch between the three fuel tanks: right wing, left wing and main tank. Planes burn around 0.5 gallons of fuel per minute in the air.

headquarters.

6 G-Meter Shows how many G is being pulled For 2014 pilots must not exceed 10G.

10 Smoke On/Off Toggled at the start of a run to emit coloured smoke and attract attention.

9 Radio For talking to race

11 Start button Fires it up!

12 Stick Left or right causes the plane to roll, forwards pitches the nose down, backwards pitches it up.

13 Throttle control The power control.

14 Transponder Relays information to the tower concerning the plane’s position and altitude.

15 Vertical Card Compass Indicates the plane’s heading.

37

Return of the king defending champion Paul Bonhomme admits he has been consumed by racing in the past, but in 2014 he’ll just enjoy the ride

when they were watching celebrations of them landing on the moon and Aldrin said: “Hey Neil, I guess we missed the whole goddamn thing.” That’s how I think about the championship now.

Before, I was so tied up in it that I think I missed the whole thing. So I’m looking forward to going back this year and enjoying it. One of the things I want to improve on is my ability to just smile my way through the race.

Are you smiling at the moment?

Not much. In fact, I’d say stress levels are running fairly high. Once we’re in Abu Dhabi [for the season opener] it will be fine, but right now it’s a little

“ My first goal for the 2014 season is not to scare myself. the second is to win” 38

bit nail-biting. It will be a race to get everything ready in time. Also, if I knew how to find an advantage in the new regulations, I’d be happier, but I have no idea how it will pan out. Now that we’ll all have the same power, weight is going to be even more important, which, for me, isn’t great. I’m one of the heavier pilots and if I’ve got to make 82 kilos, then I suspect that’s going to be a bit too much to ask. I’m 6ft 1in and… wide-boned! It’s going to come down to a blend of pilot skill and aerodynamics.

I think in terms of aerodynamics we’re OK, we’ve got a pretty slick aeroplane, but you never know.

What’s your number one goal for the 2014 season?

Not to frighten myself. If I manage not to scare myself, then by default it should be a fairly safe year, and that’s the most important thing. The second most important thing is to win. So, to be safe, not frighten myself, to win and, like I said, to enjoy it. I think that whatever order you put those in it should all work out… I think. the red bulletin

sascha bierl

Double Red Bull Air Race champion Paul Bonhomme: “Winning comes down to a blend of pilot skill and aerodynamics”

jörg mitter/red bull content pool(2), Ezra Shaw/red bull content pool

the red bulletin: Are you happy to be going back to the Red Bull Air Race? paul bonhomme: I will be as long as I win. I say to my kids: “Listen, it’s not the taking part that matters it’s the winning that counts.” That sounds flippant, but to me that’s why you enter a competition – because you want to win. I can’t see the day I would ever turn up knowing I was going to be last and just doing it for a laugh. If I was doing that I could just go flying on my days off.

Will you be approaching the championship differently this time?

I’ll admit I did get slightly consumed by doing well. It’s tempting to say it didn’t bother me, I was just out there for fun, but you don’t get anywhere like that, you’ve got to be consumed by it to do well. I had a pretty intense rivalry with Hannes [Arch] and I think actually if you asked him, and if he was honest, he’d say, yes, he was consumed by it too.

Was the decision to return easy to make?

I had to think long and hard about it. It did take me a while to make the decision because my life’s changed in the years the series has been away. I’ve got three small children and an older stepson, so the house is very different compared to when I started in the Red Bull Air Race.

I’ve got a very understanding wife, though, and she echoed what I had been thinking, which was: “Go and do well, but enjoy it. Have a good time rather than it being all-consuming.”

What comes to mind is the remark that Buzz Aldrin made to Neil Armstrong

The new air force How does a sport that rewards decades of experience bring through young racing talent? Simple: give rookies a piece of sky to race in

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here aren’t too many sports in which the cult of youth is turned on its head, but the Red Bull Air Race is one. With the 2014 field having an average age of 45, this is a sport in which the voice of experience shouts loudest.

The dilemma, then, is how to progress younger pilots through the ranks. The answer is for the series to groom a new generation of air racers through a dedicated competition, the Challenger Cup. The event will see a select band of new pilots race supplied planes on a simplified track designed to hone their skills. The goal will be for the pilots to obtain a super licence and graduate to the main series.

“They will fly with much less pressure than the race teams,” says Red Bull Air Race head of aviation Sergio Pla. “All of them will attend at least two training camps before their first race, which means that they are having at least two to three times the training time pilots had in the past [when coming to the series]. The safety margin in air racing is not big, so we need mature people who know what they are doing.”

Ensuring that the younger pilots have the necessary maturity is psychologist and Red Bull Air Race crew and safety manager Christian Czihak.

“You can be an experienced jet pilot or aerobatic pilot, but it is different to fly around a race track less than 50m off the ground – totally different,” he insists.

“You may have the skillset, but it does not mean that you can do it automatically.

What we were looking for are people who can complete the goal under stress or trauma. It is often not about how much risk they are willing to take, but how much risk they are able to take and whether they can stay within the rules.”

Red Bull Air Race CEO Erich Wolf is convinced the competition will eventually shake up the pilot order: “I am sure they will challenge the current pilots pretty soon. In 2015 we will see some new faces.”

Red Bull Air Race 2014 starts in Abu Dhabi and finishes in China

High-G turns can induce tunnel vision and eventual blackout

Feel the Force Imagine trying to bench press a small car half a dozen times in a minute and you’ll have some idea of just what kind of physical punishment Red Bull Air Race pilots endure during a racing lap weighing in Red Bull Air Race pilots are subject to extreme forces in flight. For 2014, pilots will be limited to 10G, meaning that during the tightest turns the pilot’s body weight is 10 times its normal figure. For an 80kg pilot it’s like having a small car dumped onto his chest. “It’s like being hit with a sledgehammer,” says defending champion Paul Bonhomme. “The moment of G onset is the hardest.

In less than half a second you go to 10-12 times your body weight. You’ve got to concentrate at not losing consciousness. If you keep pulling G you’ll grey out.”

In the grey area Greyout occurs due to blood being forced to the body’s lower extremities when

under high G-forces. The subsequent lowering of blood pressure in the brain causes vision to dim, a precursor to blacking out.

“You can combat it by squeezing your stomach muscles,” says pilot Nigel Lamb. “And if you contract your stomach and your thigh muscles just for a second you’ll restrict the blood going downwards and your head will clear.”

Suiting Up While the series’ pilots are used to using muscle contractions to beat the effects of high-G turns, the now mandatory G-Race suit helps them perform the task far more effectively.

Manufactured by German company Autoflug, the suit reduces the need for muscle

pressure drop

low G

The mandatory G-Race suit works when G-forces cause water-filled tubes that run the length of the suit to squeeze the pilot, thus preventing the downward flow of blood when under high G. Normal blood flow

contraction on the part of the pilot by using waterfilled ‘fluid muscles’ and non-stretch fabrics.

The suit builds up a counter pressure which combats the effect of high-G loads on the pilot, reducing the movement of blood to the lower extremities. “The suit compresses your legs and abdomen,” says Bonhomme.

“Instead of tensing yourself, the suit does it for you and that gives you about a 1.5G benefit. It might not seem much, but where it really works is in reducing fatigue.”

high G

Cutaway view of suit with engorged tubes

Increased blood flow G-Force

fly the world From tracks over the Arabian Gulf and around the racecourse of Ascot to laps of some of the US’s most famous motor speedways, the 2014 Red Bull Air Race World Championship will be stern test for pilots.

G-Force

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2.

3.

4.

5.

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7.

8.

Abu Dhabi UAE Feb 28-March 1 Rovinj Croatia April 12-13 Putrajaya Malaysia May 17-18 Gdynia Poland July 26-27 Ascot Britain August 16-17 Dallas/Fort Worth USA September 6-7 Las Vegas USA October 11-12 Location TBC China November 1-2

39

The Plane Facts Aerodynamics

With the powerplant and its ancillaries being standardised, it’s likely that pilots will start to look elsewhere for an edge over their rivals. Improving the aerodynamics of a plane is the first step.

Propeller

The propeller for 2014 has been standardised, with all teams set to use the charmingly named ‘Claw’ from US manufacturer Hartzell, as well as the company’s carbon-fibre composite spinner.

Engine

MXS-R

Unlike steel-frame fuselage planes, the MXS-R, developed specifically for racing by MX Aircraft from its MXS plane, features a carbon-fibre monocoque fuselage, meaning it’s extremely light and strong but cannot be substantially modified. The lightness does enable high speed, which is the plane’s great strength.

technical data MANUFACTURER: MX Aircraft, USA

ROLL RATE: 420°/sec

LENGTH: 6.51m (21.35 ft)

MAX G: +/-12G

WINGSPAN: 7.32m (24ft)

ENGINE: Lycoming AEIO 540 EXP (tuner: Thunderbolt)

standard WEIGHT: 571kg (1,260lb)

40

POWER: approximately 300hp

WING DESIGN: Symmetric, carbon fibre

TOP SPEED: 426kph (265mph)

PROPELLER: Hartzell

In previous years, teams were required to use engines built by US manufacturer Lycoming, but they were then allowed to send the powerplants to outside tuning houses. The 2014 season will see teams limited to Lycoming’s Thunderbolt AEIO-540EXP engine.

Data analysis

One school of thought says that with no engine advantage, pilots will begin looking at their own input in order to improve lap times. And that will come through F1-style telemetry systems. The information will allow pilots to tailor their flying to get close to the best possible lap time.

rules tweaked to improve safety could lead to a much closer battle for red bull air race honours

Exhaust

Peter Clausen Film & TV

The last piece of the standardisation jigsaw is the exhaust system.

Constructed from lightweight materials this will come from US company Sky Dynamics, and will be tailored for use with whatever model plane the pilots use.

In any form of motorsport, the pursuit of performance advantage is always shrouded in mystery. Red Bull Air Race of the past was no less complex in its pursuit of advantage, but when all the subtle modifications were boiled down, the essential target for the pilots was simple: maximising power against weight.

The desire to extract maximum power from the engine and to simultaneously lighten its load by taking weight from the plane, led the series up a potentially dangerous alley, as teams were at risk of compromising the integrity of the powerplant in pursuit of lighter, more potent elements within. So for 2014, the playing field has been levelled with the introduction of standardised engines, propellers and exhausts.

It’s a move welcomed by pilot Nigel Lamb. “It makes sense on many levels,” he insists. “Not being able to tweak engines makes it relevant from a safety perspective, and from a cost point of view it is definitely relevant. Most importantly, it creates a much better, level playing field.”

The bottom line for 2014 is that Red Bull Air Race will no longer be a power play and pilots will have to look elsewhere for the edge needed to stand on the top step of the podium.

Zivko Edge 540 V2

Corvus CA-41 Racer

The plane of choice for most pilots, the Edge has been the title-winning plane in every season. It utilises a steel tube frame, which though not as light as composite materials is, according to company boss Eric Zivko, more practical. In 2014, two versions are used: the old V2 and the new V3.

The Corvus Racer was developed by Corvus Aircraft and Institute of Aviation at the University of Budapest, in Hungary, with input from Peter Besenyei, who has been flying it since the Red Bull Air Race round at Windsor in 2010.

41

being nicolas cage w ith th r e e fi lm s i n 2 0 14 , a n d th r e e d ec a d es a s a sta r , i s th e fe a r les s , p e e r les s a cto r r e a lly sti ll c r a z y a f te r a ll th es e y e a r s? w o r d s : R 端 d i g e r Stu r m I l lu str ati o n s : P e te r Str a i n 42

Snakes, sharks, superheroes and singers’ daughters: just a tiny part of Cage’s world

Cage fighter: “I have to immerse myself in the very thing that scares me, so it loses its hold over me�

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icolas Cage is a man of extremes.

He was married to the daughter of Elvis and named his second son Kal-El, aka Superman. He owned haunted houses and was haunted for real by the taxman. First and foremost he has played characters of a variety and manic energy that most of his colleagues shy away from – angels and alcoholics, sorcerers and soldiers, for which he garnered awards, including an Oscar, and scathing reviews, and became of the object of sneers and cultish reverence. These contradictions notwithstanding, he comes across as a man in harmony with himself and also a proficient teller of tales – about the alien creature that grew into Nicolas Cage.

the red bulletin: Do you think about death? nicolas cage: It is wise to think about death from time to time. I am working on my natural fear of death, because it is a better way of life not to harbour such feelings. And I am by no means a master of that.

But I am definitely in no rush to leave.

So why did you pick up a cottonmouth viper with bare hands, when filming your most recent movie Joe? Its poison is potentially lethal.

Because it relaxes me.

Couldn’t you think of a less suicidal method?

I discovered doing adventure films that one of the things that relaxes me is stunts. When I drive a car at 100mph and dodge other cars and try to not hit the wall, it’s like a meditation. Also I am one of those people, the more coffee I drink the more relaxed I am. Now that day on Joe, I was filming a very complicated scene, and my adrenalin was going in the wrong direction. So I asked director David Gordon Green would he mind if I picked up the snake. He said: “You have to promise me you’re not going to die. Otherwise I’ll look like a real jackass.”

And I said: “I promise you and I will finish the scene.” the red bulletin

So when I took the snake, it was more about the surfing of the adrenalin, so I could get control of my own anxiety in order to play the scene – and in the end I gently tossed it into the grass and said, “Don’t kill it, it’s a friend of mine.”

Why aren’t you scared in such situations?

There is always an element of fear, but it is the fear itself that makes me want to face it. Because I have to break its power, which means I have to immerse myself in that very thing that scares me so it loses its hold over me.

It sounds as if you have had other hair-raising encounters like this?

That’s right. Some years ago I went diving in a shark cage in South Africa to confront a great white, because that was one of my most primal fears. It wound up being a remarkably calm, gorgeous experience. There was this massive shark staring at me and I felt a strange connection with this awesome animal. Or I also went to the swampland in New Orleans, where I used to live.

There was this 800-pound alligator. I saw him from the surface of the water looking up at me, he looked like a dinosaur.

What did you do?

I fed him marshmallows. They like that.

Perhaps the profession of an adventurer would be more appropriate.

In fact, I made the contract with myself when I was 16 that if acting didn’t work out, I was going to become a fisherman or merchant mariner. My first love is the ocean. I feel there is an almost indescribable calm that comes over me when I’m near the water, where I can actually feel every cell in my body relaxing.

But you seem quite relaxed now.

Because with acting I found an outlet for the energy and passion in me – and at one time anger. Without it I might have made mistakes that would have been irreversible. I could have gone in the wrong direction.

Why anger?

I wasn’t popular at school, and that was painful.

Because I wasn’t able to connect with people.

I can remember being shocked when I would come back as a child from the doctor’s office that I had normal organs and that I had a normal skeleton.

Because I was certain on some level at that age that I was from somewhere else. And my father once said literally that he felt I was the only son that he had to introduce himself to. Because he thought I was an alien, whatever that meant. But I always had 45

believe in banks, so I invested in real estate. the feeling that something else But then the whole market went in the was in store for me, that there wrong direction, and I got caught up in it. was some purpose.

But I am feeling good. I am still passionate And these negative feelings and blessed to be working with some of the have evaporated?

Oscar Oscar marriages children noms best people in the business. And ultimately I am not an angry man. I had my everything happens for a reason. moments. I find life is much easier That’s easy enough to say, but what when you’re not angry. I am happy exactly is the reason in this instance? to be on this planet. I am all about Since then, I have found a different lifestyle my family and my kids. But I’d for myself that keeps me in touch with rather stay home and play toys with humanity. I live with my family in a house my son and watch him grow up. in the Mojave desert, I am not behind So why was showbusiness the a gate anymore, I am not on some yacht or first option?

Percentage of positive Reviews of cage Film in some private jet somewhere, tucked away.

This may have had to do with my Red Rock West (1993) I get to interact with people every day, father. He did a lot to stimulate my which is a much better way to be. imagination. For example, we could Percentage of positive You also seemed to change your choice do this game where we would take reviews of cage Film of movies. Joe is a far cry from the a classic novel and I would write a Deadfall (1993) bizarre action spectacles you did in new chapter. I did it on Hermann the recent past.

Hesse’s Siddhartha, Huxley’s Brave Ag e d i ffe r e n ce That’s true, I am in the process of New World and Moby Dick. Also, when i n ye ars be twe en reinventing myself in terms of the movies I was a boy, he built me a wooden hi m and hi s I want to do. I am returning to my roots, castle in our backyard. I spent most cu r r e nt ( thi r d ) wi fe , Al i ce K i m which is independently spirited, dramatic of my hours there, this was my characters. Before Joe, I had taken a year protective bubble where I would purchase price of a dinosaur skull off to re-evaluate everything I had done, nurture my imagination and play bought by cage at auction in 2007 different kinds of performances I had done, different characters, which helped the more operatic and more baroque stuff me a lot with acting eventually. like Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance, Drive Weren’t you and your father Angry or Season Of The Witch. I wanted to alienated from each other for find something where I could use my life some years? experience, my memories and my emotions.

But we were very close in the last ta x l i a b i l i t i e s , 2 0 1 0 Do you regret some of your choices? five years before his death in 2008.

For a while you turned into the king I thought I was going to have another of B-movies. eight years with him, so I was quite I don’t look at it like that. Much has been shocked when he had the heart made of the fact that I made many action attack. But I was very thankful for alleged outgoings, 1996 – 2011 movies. The reason I did that was because this time and I was able to enjoy the first time people said, you couldn’t do that experience. Both of us were it. ‘You are not an action hero, forget it.’ So sharing this new and much lighter what you saw was a dramatic actor acting and more honest way of life. like an action hero, trying to find characters After the toy castle came a real Google search Cage’s assets that were interesting within the genre. And one you bought in Germany. results (01/2014) h av e i n c l u d e d : then I tried to mix in a little Lord Of War, I can still remember when I saw it • 15 residences a little World Trade Center, The Weather Man for the first time. I had Wagner’s • 1 Gulfstream private and Bad Lieutenant and keep the spectrum Parsifal on the stereo, and I was jet, for $30m going. Now having done that, I want to coming out of the forest, when • 1 collection of 400 old focus on the dramatic kind of filmmaking. sunlight hit the snow in such a way comics worth $1.6m And how about that need for adrenalin? that everything was glowing, and • 4 luxury yachts, one of them for $20m Usually I need that when I am making then the castle emerged between films, but I find motorcycles exciting. the trees and I felt that I was home.

And I have another dream. I am convinced Then you had to sell it because of that the ultimate thing I could do as a man communing with nature is to some financial troubles. hang-glide. You don’t pollute the environment. You literally are an eagle.

It will always exist for me in my mind like You are learning how the currents work and you are free. So someday the one that my father built for me.

I hope to go to the Alps, because there is a school out there and they How painful was it when you had to sell it, like guarantee you that in two weeks time you’ll be a pilot, where you’re most of your properties in various countries? going to meet the most amazing people, who you can just call: ‘Are you I can’t think of it as painful compared to the flying today?’ ‘Yes, I’m flying.’ ‘Let’s go.’ And you get up in the morning problems that people are struggling with around and you fly. Without a plane, but with your own wings. To me that’s the world. In that economic situation I just incredible. However so far I am not allowed to do it at this point in could not hold onto it. People try to blow it out my life. I have people waiting for me, I have contracts to sign that of proportion in terms of excessive spending.

I will not do these things. But the day will come.

I simply had to put my money somewhere, I didn’t

The numbers

95 0

20

$13.3m

$150M

mi lli on

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the red bulletin

/redbulletin

© Jörg Mitter

LI K E WHAT YOU LI K E

YOUR MOMENT.

BEYOND THE ORDINARY

Hayden Nickell executes a trick on a highline above Las Vegas

High-altitude slacklining takes tightrope walking to new heights – a nerve-racking test of balance on a swaying rope hundreds of metres in the air Words: Ann Donahue Photography: Dan Krauss

Walk on the Wild Side 49

In October 2013, several highliners walked between buildings at The Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas

T 50

wo-and-a-half centimetres is the length of a blade of grass, a baby carrot, a bottle top. It is the proverbial next to nothing.

But for slackliners, this tiniest of measurements is the base of their sport.

First, a definition: slacklining is not the same as tightrope walking. No offence to Nik Wallenda and his recent mammoth Niagara Falls and Grand Canyon tightrope walks, but slacklining is a different discipline. A tightrope, as the name implies, is a thin wire stretched taut. There is no give to the line, and the performer’s balance and centre of gravity are augmented by carrying a long pole.

Slacklining takes place on 2.5cm-wide stretchy webbing anchored across a gap.

Because it is pliable, a slackline is at the mercy of the elements – especially the wind. While a tightrope just sits tight, a slackline oscillates, and walkers can end up clinging to a line that’s behaving like a skipping rope whipped around by a sugar-fuelled schoolkid.

“Instead of controlling the line and walking it, you’re along for the ride,” says Hayden Nickell, a 22-year-old professional

Andy Lewis sets his own highline before making a world-record crossing at the Mandalay Bay

WHILE A TIGHTROPE JUST LIES still, A SLACKLINE wobbles AND TAKES WALKERS FOR A RIDE

The safety rope used by highliners is attached to the ankle or waist

slackliner from Nederland, Colorado. “You have to walk in these weird intervals. As the line goes up, you have moments where you can take eight steps. At the opposite, you’re out of control and you’re at the mercy of the line and the wind.”

Once relegated to parks and beaches as a hobby of the hippier-than-thou, slacklining is now branching out into several professional disciplines: tricklining, where performers combine gymnastics and choreography at competitions; urbanlining, which eschews the chasms of nature for the canyons between buildings; and yogalining, which incorporates asanas for those balancing and meditating on the line.

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The most spectacular incarnation is highlining, where a slackline is rigged hundreds of metres in the air, in aweinspiring locations across America both natural and manmade, such as Yosemite National Park, Hell Roaring Canyon in Utah and the Las Vegas Strip where, in October 2013, the urban highlining world record was set, bringing attention to the daredevil sport. Protected from falling only by a leash around their waist or ankle, slackliners have to constantly respond to the dynamic changes in balance underfoot.

“It’s like surfing,” says Nickell. “You wait for the good set to come in. You wait for the wind to die out and then you have

a 15-to-20-minute window to go out there and do your thing. Then another set of wind will come in and you back off.”

The wind gives the highline an ominous sound, an eerie plucked bass note as the webbing reverberates in between its anchors. When a walker looks ahead on a slackline, the brain can only register a certain amount of height through its 45 degrees of peripheral vision – any slackline 100m high and above feels the same, Nickell says. Going up higher doesn’t make much difference, but there are still times as you go up when the chattering monkeys in your brain start up.

“In your mind, you’re thinking ‘instant death’ as opposed to only being merely the red bulletin

“ T here’s no respect for Skill Anymore.

People are afraid to take risks nowadays”

Getting back into position after a fall is incredibly difficult. After a tumble and a catch by the safety rope, a highliner has to pull himself back up onto the bouncing line

mangled at the bottom,” says Nickell.

“The highline is a direct reflection of how you’re feeling on the inside. If you’re nervous, if you’re thinking about anything, all of a sudden the line is all messed up and you’re like ‘Ohhhh no.’”

For the sport’s participants, it’s this blend of acute concentration and lifeor-death risk that makes the pursuit of slacklining a near-spiritual endeavour.

Andy Lewis has a CV that should be the envy of any niche sport athlete.

The 26-year-old holds multiple slackline world records: at the end of last year, he set the urban highlining world record by walking a 110m-long line 147m up at The Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas. He’s been the star of numerous slackline videos in gorgeous locations – he lives in the extreme sports haven of Moab, Utah – and performed alongside Madonna during the 2012 Super Bowl half-time show.

But he could care less about all that.

“Why can’t I call slacklining a religion?” he asks. “The lifestyle behind slacklining has all the metaphors: one step at a time. Keep in balance. Control your fate. It directly translates to life.”

Lewis has the word ‘Slacklife’ tattooed on his arm and earned the nickname Sketchy Andy from his more adrenalinfuelled endeavours, including BASEjumping off slacklines and free solo highlining, where he doesn’t wear a protective leash as he walks across lines suspended hundreds of metres in the air. Lewis believes that pushing the limits is the essence of slacklining, and as the sport continues to grow, he will conquer longer and higher and more dazzling lines to feed his soul – even if it terrifies the public.

“People don’t want to watch you do things like that,” says Lewis. “But it’s horrible that today in life, there’s no respect for skill anymore. People are too afraid to take risks nowadays. All these pussies all over the place, they won’t even let their kids scrape their knees. Risk isn’t bad – you can be the safest mother----er on the planet and die when you crash your car.” slacklink.org

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angry

young Itch, the most recent graduate from the music school of hard knocks is a champion of gutter rap Words: Florian Obkircher Photography: Dan Wilton For eight years until 2012, Jonny Fox captained The King Blues, one of the UK’s most energetic protest punk bands.

Now, the 31-year-old is kick-starting a solo project under his nickname, Itch. (“I’ve had it since I was four. Trust me, you don’t want to know why.”) Itch’s debut album, The Deep End, out in March, incorporates distorted guitars, electronic beats and, most notably, hip-hop. The Red Bulletin caught up with the politically active lyricist before a gig in Camden in north London to discuss wheelchair stage action and squatting with Spaniards. the red bulletin: You broke your leg at a gig last year near here, at the Jazz Café. How did that happen? itch: I jumped off the balcony, stupidly, into the crowd and shattered my leg.

I managed to finish the gig though.

It didn’t hurt at the time; I must have been in shock. It was only the next day the pain started kicking in. I was like, ‘Damn, I need to go to the hospital.’

Many musicians would cancel upcoming gigs after something like that, but you went on tour instead.

I was very lucky to be given the opportunity to do the Warped Tour in the US and there was no way I was going to let anyone down. I had the 54

man

Jonny Fox, aka Itch: shot for The Red Bulletin in Camden, north London

out; I think it is the same with your mind. Your brain is a muscle and you need to keep it sharp.

Do you feel your fans appreciate all the effort you put into lyrics?

Just last night, this girl came up to me and she had my lyrics tattooed all the way down her leg in big letters. It said, ‘take pride in being whoever the fuck you want to be’.

It is always amazing to me when the words mean that much to somebody because when I write, I never do it with other people in mind. I’m always fairly selfish.

You call your music gutter rap.

What does that mean?

People rap down at you now as if they are better than you, and I always have this affinity with the lower class. I always feel that my music is singing upwards and that is where gutter rap comes from.

In Not My Revolution, you sing about your youth as a squatter in Clapham Common.

I was kicked out of home when I was 13. Looking back as a parent myself now, it was my own fault.

I was impossible to deal with. I was 13, sleeping on the streets and a group of Spanish punk rockers invited me to stay at their squat.

They spoke very broken English and were much older than me, but they gave me a lifeline. That was the first time that I heard punk music and understood the ideas. Looking back now, I think those struggles made me into a stronger person, and I feel more for other people in that situation.

Having gone through that, what do you think when London mayor Boris Johnson says the super-rich are a ‘put-upon minority’ like homeless people?

I don’t know if he is trying to troll Britain by saying things like that. It is bizarre: there are about 700,000 empty homes in the UK and I really believe that what should be illegal is having more empty homes than homeless people.

Would you describe yourself as an angry young man?

I’m not so young anymore [laughs], but I’m certainly an angry man. It comes from a place of love, though. When nu-metal happened, and people were saying bands like Limp Bizkit were angry, there wasn’t much behind that. My anger comes from understanding what is happening a little more. I’m definitely angry, and proud of it.

“I straddle the line choice of staying in bed for three months or going out on tour in a wheelchair. It was definitely the right decision to make.

Did you find a way to rock out in the wheelchair?

It was weird, because the way I normally get the crowd under control is by being a very physical performer. But this time, it forced me to do it more with what came from my brain to my mouth. It took a couple of shows to really get into what I was doing, but in the end it definitely made me a better performer.

How do fans of The King Blues react to your solo project?

Well, it is different in America. No one has ever heard of The King Blues over there, so it’s cool because I only get judged on what I am doing there in the present moment. Over here in England, it’s very much mixed. There are people who want me to go back to what I was doing before and who can’t accept that I’ve moved on. On the other hand, there are people who understand that I’m always pushing myself as an artist. It is a nice, varied reaction.

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between hip-hop and punk rock. To me, they’re both really the same thing: I see hip-hop as black punk and punk as white hip-hop”

These days you’re a rapper, not a singer. Was that like finding your voice for a second time?

Yeah. I didn’t want to call myself a rapper until I could back it up. It took years of practice. I don’t see myself as a traditional hip-hop artist; I think I straddle the line between hip-hop and punk rock. To me, they are the same thing, both organic, rebellious street music. I see hip-hop as black punk and I see punk as white hip-hop.

How often do you write lyrics?

Every single day I force myself to write a minimum of 32 to 64 lines, even if I am on tour. It’s like being in the gym.

If you are an athlete you need to work

redbullrecords.com the red bulletin

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jungle

w a rr i The people of the Amazon once gave warriors the title ‘kirimbawa’. Now, a punishing challenge of the same name asks athletes to run, ride and paddle in one of most hostile environments on earth WORDS: Fernando Gueiros PHOTOGRAPHY: Marcelo Maragni & Fabio Piva 58

ors

“ R unning here is like running on a treadmill inside a sauna.

The jungle is extreme, with hard challenges�

Manaus BraZil

T Brazilian athlete Israel Barbosa came third in the individual race with a time of 3h 21m

Competitors received a blessing from members of the local Inhaa-Be tribe before setting off

hree o’clock in the morning in the heart of the Amazon jungle and members of the Indian tribe called Inhaa-Be are wearing flashlights attached to their foreheads. It is hot and humid here in the middle of the night, the temperature rising past 28°C. Four Indians dance, evoking courage and support of the Gods to the kirimbawas – the name given to the great warriors of the tribe – the darkness broken by torches.

A fifth, an elderly woman, walks in circles, carrying a basket in which some grass is burning. “This is to purify our souls,” she says, spreading the smoke.

The tribespeople are at the start of Red Bull Kirimbawa, a multisport relay race of running, mountain biking and kayaking made up of 90 elite athletes divided into 30 teams of three. One of the runners is Pericles Villaca. “Running here is like running on a treadmill inside a sauna,” says the 39-yearold Brazilian. “The jungle is extreme: very hot and humid and with hard challenges.”

Pericles and the other 29 runners slept at the start point, hosted by the tribe, reclining on hammocks. They didn’t get a good night’s sleep. Fernanda Maciel, 33, was bitten by an insect and woke up at 2am with a swollen eye. “When I finally managed to settle, this bug bit me. There 61

Athletes had to cross a river on the final stretch of the run

“I couldn’t figure what was worse: riding in the soaking shadows or the heat of the sun”

Stage two of the race involved mountain biking over 86km of deep mud

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“ a fter finishing the race, I can consider myself a warrior�

Red Bull Kirimbawa competitors had to contend with the sweltering midday sun and the strong currents of the Amazon, Negro and Solimoes rivers in the 50km-long kayak part of the race

is a doctor here who helped me, though, and now I’m going for the run.”

It’s a 50km foot race winding through dense Amazon forest, over bumpy roads and even across rivers. With the sun rising behind the trees, the first runner finishes this first part of the challenge in 3h 15m, managing to tell, through heaving breaths, of a “fast, black animal” that crossed his path.

The first riders to start the muddy 86km of ups-and-downs on their mountain bikes didn’t know what to expect. “It’s impossible to know the depth of some muddy holes in the track,” says Rubens Donizete. The 34-year-old nevertheless managed to finish first, crossing the finish line at a Brazilian Army base with a time of 2h 55m.

“About 3km in, I started to pour with sweat and didn’t stop. It’s unbelievable; it was impossible to get dry,” he says, a few moments out of the saddle, arms and legs still shaking with adrenalin.

“And then at the end there was this very open, hot stretch. I couldn’t figure what was worse: riding in the soaking shadows or the heat straight from the sun.”

The merciless late-morning sun makes the work of the kayakers more demanding than they had imagined. Struggling against the tides of three rivers – the the red bulletin

“ I have never been in such a hard race in my life.

I had the most terrible time”

Amazon, Negro and Solimoes – eight of the 30 boatmen drop out before the finish line in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state in Brazil. The fastest time was 5h 30m; the slowest just over seven hours.

“I have never been in such a hard race in my life,” Marcelo Lins, the canoeist in the winning team, says later that day.

“I have bruises all over my hands, I had the most terrible time with the heat and the thirst, but after managing to finish the race, I can consider myself a warrior.” www.redbull.com

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sebastian copeland

The Iceman

The British explorer and filmmaker has crossed Antarctica with broken ribs, explored Greenland by kite and is friends with Leonardo DiCaprio. Here he tells us his survival tips

the red bulletin: When you crossed Greenland in 2010, you and your expedition partner Eric McNair-Landry had to sit out a blizzard for seven days in your tent. How did you stop yourselves going mad? sebastian copeland: Adrenalin keeps you alert, to start with. I was worried the storm would damage the tent. Then, getting to sleep became a problem. The wind shook the sides of the tent at speeds of up to 130kph. It felt like camping in a jet turbine.

What did you both talk about?

The thing is, you don’t go on a polar expedition with the aim of making friends for life. You seek out a professional like Eric who in all likelihood is going to see the mission through. We didn’t have any profound discussions about our childhoods.

We spent most of the day in thought; we played the odd game of chess.

What’s the most important mental quality an explorer is required to have for a polar expedition?

Your head is more important than your body – that’s beyond question. The physical preparation is the easy part.

You go to the gym and you get in shape.

Dealing with pain is more difficult.

One part of my training involves me putting on a 50kg vest and trekking through the mountains for two hours.

Obviously, you’re completely exhausted after five minutes, but you’ve got to get through it, even if it hurts. If you flag on an exercise like that, what business have you got going to Antarctica?

When you were in Greenland, you travelled on skis and were pulled along by a kite and set a new record for travelling that way: 595km in 24 hours. When did you eat?

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We cooked meals in snowmelt in the morning and evening. You can buy almost all foods in dehydrated form: beef bourguignon, fettuccine Alfredo.

You need a lot of fat and carbs. I ate Brazil nuts between stages. They have the best weight-calorie ratio. You need to be scientifically rigorous when choosing your provisions. Every calorie is counted.

In your photography and film

“You don’t sleep well when 130kph winds shake the tent. Like camping in a jet turbine” projects, you seek to address the risks of climate change. What’s the most difficult thing about raising environmental awareness?

We’re increasingly isolated from the consequences of our actions. Your electricity bill, your rubbish disposal, it’s all dealt with easily just by you writing a cheque. But when you’re living in a tent in the snow for weeks

at a time, you become aware of every single tin can. You think to yourself, “What idiot chose to camp here?”

How did you get Leonardo DiCaprio to write the introduction to your photo book, Antarctica: The Global Warning?

I work for an environmental organisation in the US called Green Cross International and helped prepare an initiati­ve for the Earth Summit in Johannesburg with Leo in 2002. After that he started coming to my presentations. I consider Leo to be one of the most committed environmentalists from the world of showbusiness. You can believe what this man says.

You broke two ribs right at the beginning of your 2011 Antarctic expedition. How did you persevere for the remaining 75 days?

I fell on a zastruga, an ice formation shaped by the wind, during a kiting manoeuvre. Ironically, I’d met an adventurer friend for dinner in Cape Town a couple of days before. He told me about how he’d broken a rib once during an expedition. I asked, “What did you do?” He answered, “Took painkillers and soldiered on.” And I took that as advice after my own accident because I knew that he’d managed with a broken rib.

What lessons do you take from your expeditions into everyday life?

Firstly, that problems don’t solve themselves by you moaning about them.

Secondly, learn some humility. Expeditions require you to have a strong ego, but there’s no more efficient way of learning humility than being exposed to the elements in a desert of ice. You get out of the plane, set foot on the ice and you know that you have 4,000km ahead of you. sebastiancopelandadventures.com the red bulletin

Sebastian Copeland

Interview: Andreas Rottenschlager

Sebastian Copeland on his way to the North Pole in 2009: “problems aren’t solved by moaning”

Born April 3, 1964 Copeland On Film Into the Cold: A Journey Of The Soul (2010) is a documentary about his 600km trek to the North Pole. Hell on Ice (2013) is about him kiting his way 2,300km across Greenland.

Minus Ten Degrees to Six Degrees Copeland is a cousin of actor Orlando Bloom, and was married to the model and actress Brigitte Nielsen from 1990-92.

Words: Thomas Hauser

Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo

When Cassius Clay fought Sonny Liston in February 50 years ago, sport changed, politics changed, what it meant to be black in America changed... the world changed.

Today, the power still resonates

birth of

the

t s e t a Gre

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On February 25, 1964, a young man named Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr entered a boxing ring in Miami and stood opposite Sonny Liston.

I

n the early 1960s, sport was one of few areas in American life where blacks could be on equal footing with whites. But in many respects, sport reflected the old order. Black athletes could become stars, but only within guidelines dictated by the establishment.

The heavyweight championship was the most coveted title in sport. The man who held the crown was supposed to be a role model. That meant being modest,

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Cassius Clay, the Louisville Lip, lands a left on Sonny Liston, the Big Bear, Miami Beach Convention Centre, February 25, 1964

respectful of authority and accepting of a class structure that denominated black Americans as second-class citizens. Clay himself later said, “Many black people thought it was better to be white.”

He defied that stereotype. In 1961, he’d met a man named Sam Saxon, one of a small group of adherents known to the media as Black Muslims who followed the black separatist teachings of the selfproclaimed messenger of the Nation of Islam, named Elijah Muhammad. Clay accepted Saxon’s invitation to attend a Nation of Islam service at a Miami temple and thereafter was indoctrinated with the tenets of the religion.

The Nation of Islam taught that white people were devils who had been genetically created by an evil scientist with a big head named Mr Yacub. It maintained that there was a wheelshaped Mother of Planes half-a-mile wide manned by black men in the sky, and that, on Allah’s chosen day of retribution, 1,500 planes from the Mother of Planes would drop deadly explosives destroying all but the righteous on Earth. Neither

of these views are part of traditional Islamic thought or find justification in the Qur’an. Moreover, while the concepts of Heaven and Hell are central to traditional Islamic doctrine, the National of Islam rejected both. More significantly, as far as most Americans were concerned, Islam adheres to the premise that hearts and souls have no colour. Nation of Islam ministers preached that, for black Americans, integration meant destruction. It wasn’t public knowledge that Clay was a convert to the Nation of Islam at the time he fought Liston, but the young fighter felt that a powerful force was on his side.

Betty Shabezz, the wife of Malcolm X, a follower of Elijah Muhammad, later recalled, “My husband indoctrinated [Clay] continuously about the fact that, not only was he young, strong and skilful; he was a man who believed in God. They talked continuously about how David slew Goliath, and how God would not allow someone who believed in him to fail, regardless of how powerful the opponent was.” the red bulletin

Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo, corbis

Liston was heavyweight champion of the world and a cold, menacing presence.

After a stint in prison for armed robbery, he’d found employment as a strong-arm man for organised crime. Then the Mob decided to promote him as a fighter.

He won and successfully defended the heavyweight championship by knocking out Floyd Patterson twice. Each time, he needed only slightly more than two minutes to accomplish the task.

Many in the boxing community thought of Liston as unbeatable.

“I remember being very nervous that night,” Pulitzer-Prize-winning writer David Halberstam later acknowledged.

“Clay seemed so young and vulnerable.

And I remember caring about what would happen to him, being frightened that a dark shadow would fall over him, because Liston seemed to be what he was supposed to be.”

Clay later admitted, “Just before the fight, when the referee was giving us instructions, Liston was giving me that stare. I won’t lie; I was scared. Sonny Liston hit hard and he was fixing to kill me. But I was there. I didn’t have no choice but to go out and fight. The first round, I was dancing, moving back and side-to-side. I hit him with a couple of combinations, and he got me once with a right hand to the stomach. At the end of the round, I went back to my corner and I felt good because I knew I could survive.”

Something on Liston’s gloves gave Clay eye trouble. He came back to the corner after the fourth round, shouting, ‘I can’t see!’ Midway through round five, his vision cleared.

Liston quit before round seven

In round three of the Liston fight, Clay went on the offensive. Mort Sharnik, then a young sportswriter, would recount the moment when the tide turned.

“Liston had seemed indestructible,” Sharnik reminisced. “But Cassius had incredibly swift hands and a manner of punching where he twisted his fist at the moment of impact, which had the effect of a pretty sharp knife. He hit Liston with a one-two combination; a jab followed by a straight right. It was like the armour plate on a battleship being pierced. Cassius pulled his jab back, and there was a mouse [a severe bruise] underneath Sonny’s right eye. Then he pulled his right hand back and there was a gash underneath the other eye. Liston’s skin had seemed so thick; I didn’t think it could possibly burst like that. And I said to myself, ‘My God! Cassius Clay is winning this fight.’

Then things got complicated.

In round four, Clay began having trouble with his vision. A caustic substance – most likely an astringent illegally rubbed on Liston’s gloves by one of his cornermen, after the third round – temporarily blinded the challenger.

Clay’s trainer, Angelo Dundee, later recalled, “Cassius came back to the corner after the fourth round and started shouting, ‘I can’t see! My eyes!’

Something was wrong. His eyes were watery. He was saying, ‘Cut the gloves off! We’re going home!’ You can imagine what was going through his mind. He was winning the fight, and all of a sudden he can’t see. I told him, ‘Forget the bullshit.

This is the championship. Sit down.’

I pushed him down, took a towel, and started cleaning out his eyes. Then I threw the towel away, grabbed a sponge, rinsed his eyes and threw the sponge away.

I got his mouthpiece back in, stood him up and said, ‘This is the big one, Daddy. Stay away from him. Run!’” Just going out for the fifth round was an incredibly brave thing to do, said Dr Ferdie Pacheco, Clay’s physician.

“It was like blinding someone and

then sending him out to fight Mike Tyson,” he said. “Cassius was absolutely brilliant then. The things he did, staying out of range, reaching out with his left hand, touching Liston when he got too close to break Sonny’s concentration.

It was an amazing, astonishing, breathtaking performance. Here’s a fighter who’s supposed to be Godzilla, who will reign for maybe a thousand years. Nobody can stand up to him.

Cassius can’t see and still Liston couldn’t do anything with him.”

Midway through round five, Clay’s vision cleared. For the rest of the stanza, the two men fought on even terms.

Round six belonged to the challenger.

He hit Liston at will and Sonny couldn’t hit him. Just before the start of round seven, Liston quit on his stool.

C

lay’s conquest of Liston showcased the attributes that would make him a legendary fighter: speed, sharp punching, masterful footwork, creativity, courage, and defensive genius.

In his own one-of-a-kind way, he was a ring craftsman of the highest order.

But much of that brilliance was overlooked in the chaos that followed.

One day after the fight, Clay held a press conference and stated that he was no longer a Christian. The following day, at a second press conference, he announced that he was a follower of Elijah Muhammad. Ten days later, the Nation of Islam leader proclaimed that: “This Clay name has no divine meaning.

I hope he will accept being called by a better name. Muhammad Ali is what I will give him for as long as he believes in Allah and follows me.”

Robert Lipsyte, who covered ClayListon for The New York Times, later said, “At that point, the press had no choice.

We were hooked into the story and had to follow it. Clay was not dismissable.

People were stuck with a heavyweight champion who said, ‘I don’t have to be what you want me to be. I’m free to be me.’ And among the things he didn’t have to be were Christian, a good soldier of American democracy in the mould of Joe Louis, or the kind of athlete-prince white America wanted.” Many Americans, black and white, took issue.

“I never went along with the pronouncements of Elijah Muhammad that the white man was the devil and that blacks should be striving for separate development, a sort of American apartheid,” said triple Grand 71

Slam-winning tennis legend Arthur Ashe.

“It was a racist ideology, and I didn’t like it.”

But for many, Ali was the ultimate symbol of black pride and black resistance to an unjust social order.

And, from 1964 until his conversion to orthodox Islam in 1975, he was the Nation of Islam’s most visible and vocal spokesman. Among the positions he preached were opposition to integration, opposition to intermarriage, and the need for a separate black homeland.

“We’re not all brothers,” Ali said. “You can say we’re brothers, but we’re not.”

Meanwhile, the war in Vietnam was raging and American men between the ages of 18 and 26 were subject to a military draft. In 1964, Ali had been classified 1-Y – not qualified for military service – as a result of scoring poorly on a Selective Service mental aptitude examination. But in early 1966, with the war expanding and manpower needs growing, the test score required for induction into the armed forces was lowered, leaving him eligible for the draft. Ali requested a deferment. But on February 17, 1966, he was reclassified 1-A: available for the draft. Several hours later, a frustrated Ali blurted out to reporters, “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Vietcong.”

The following day, Ali’s outburst was front-page news across the country. Then, on April 28, 1967, citing his religious beliefs, he refused induction into the United States Army. Almost immediately, he was stripped of his title and prevented from boxing by state athletic commissions throughout the country. Less than two months later, he was convicted of refusing induction and sentenced to five years in prison, although he didn’t serve any time. His exile from boxing lasted for more than three years.

Aided by a series of court decisions, Ali returned to the ring and his criminal conviction was overturned by the US Supreme Court. In 1974, he journeyed to the heart of Africa and dethroned George Foreman to reclaim the crown that had been unfairly taken from him.

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Then, on February 25, 1975, Elijah Muhammad died.

“After Elijah died,” Ali later recalled, “his son Wallace took over as leader.

That didn’t surprise us, because we’d been told Wallace would come after his father. But what surprised some people was, Wallace changed the direction of the Nation. He’d learned from his studies that his father wasn’t teaching true Islam, and Wallace taught us the true meaning of the Qur’an.”

Muhammad’s death marked a seismic shift for the Nation of Islam and foreshadowed a significant change in Ali’s public pronouncements on race.

In the past, the public and private Ali had seemed almost at war with one another over whether white people were truly evil. Now he was able to say openly, “I don‘t hate whites. That was history, but it’s coming to an end.”

A

li fought for the last time more than three decades ago.

His health has deteriorated markedly since then, but he remains the preeminent athlete of our time. His love affair with America and the world reached its zenith in 1996 when he was chosen to light the flame at the opening ceremonies for the 26th Olympiad in Atlanta. Three billion people around the world watched on television and were united by love and caring for one man.

It’s generally acknowledged that Ali’s most significant contributions came in

the 1960s, when he was most closely scrutinised, his conduct bordered on revolutionary, and he was at his most controversial. Ali in the 1960s stood for the proposition that principles matter; that equality among people is just and proper; that the war in Vietnam was wrong. Every time he looked in the mirror and preened, “I’m so pretty,” he was saying “black is beautiful” before it became fashionable.

Hall of Fame baseball player Reggie Jackson spoke to that point when he declared, “Do you have any idea what Ali meant to black people? As a young black, at times I was ashamed of my colour; I was ashamed of my hair. And Ali made me proud. I’m just as happy being black now as somebody else is being white, and Ali was part of that growing process.

Think about it! Do you understand what it did for black Americans to know that the most physically gifted, possibly the most handsome, and one of the most charismatic men in the world was black.

Ali helped raise black people in this country out of mental slavery. The entire experience of being black changed for millions of people because of Ali.” Ali today is a symbol of tolerance and understanding.

“When I was young,” he has said, “I followed a teaching that disrespected other people and said that white people were devils. I was wrong. Colour doesn’t make a man a devil. It’s the heart and soul and mind that count. Hating people because of their colour is wrong. It doesn’t matter which colour does the hating. It’s just plain wrong.”

But Ali is unrepentant regarding his past beliefs.

“Elijah Muhammad was a good man,” Ali has said, “even if he wasn’t the Messenger of God we thought he was. Elijah taught us to be independent, to clean ourselves up, to be proud and healthy. If you look at what our people were like then, a lot of us didn’t have self-respect. We didn’t have anything after being in America for hundreds of years. Elijah Muhammad was trying to lift us up and get our people out of the gutter. I think he was wrong when he talked about white devils, but part of what he did was make people feel it was good to be black. So I’m not apologising for what I believed.”

Thomas Hauser is author of Muhammad Ali: His Life And Times, widely regarded as the definitive Ali biography. His most recent book is Straight Writes And Jabs: An Inside Look At Another Year In Boxing. His email address is: thauser@rcn.com the red bulletin

ddp images, Keystone

‘I followed a teaching that disrespected other peop le, that said white people were devils. I was wrong. But part of what it did was make people feel it was good to be black. So I’m not apologising for what I believed ’

Clay was jubilant after beating Liston, becoming world heavyweight champion for the first time. Ten days later, he became Muhammad Ali the red bulletin

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a l a v ยกVi

c

! a r e r r a

The legendary and untamed Carrera Panamericana is the last true road race. After racing the length of Mexico, winners earn bragging rights and the chasing police convoy needs new tyres Words: Werner Jessner Photography: Marcelo Maragni

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The stages usually end in town centres, such as in this park right in front of Oaxaca’s cathedral (right).

Facing page (clockwise from top): NASCAR technology in the old bodywork, but with stopwatches and satnavs on board; a tight corner on a hillside section; Guillermo Rojas won the Carrera Panamericana 25 years ago. His son, Memo, debuted in 2013

Se disputó desde 1950 hasta 1954, 34 años después volvió en su forma moderna actual.

A

memorable order came through to the Mexican Na­tional Army in November 1953. In order to avoid unnecessary bloodshed among the participants in the Carrera Panamericana, they were to shoot on sight anything – be that man or beast – that crossed the road during the race.

Of all the pioneering road races, the Carrera, which was first held in 1950 to mark the opening of the Mexican section of the Pan-American Highway, has always been the one with a reputation for unpredictability, adventure and danger. The star racers of the day had to be press-ganged into making the trip to Mexico, even though the Carrera – in Spanish it means

the red bulletin

‘race’ – was part of the World Sportscar Championship, the most important motorsport category of its day. The Formula One World Championship was only established in 1955.

The Pan-American Highway was merely the race’s namesake. Some of the roads being hurtled along were barely tarmacked in places. Hundreds of racing drivers took a gamble on this great adventure. Many of them fatally overestimated their abilities. Cars fell into ravines, lost wheels and axles, burst into flames as they hit rocks, rolled over, had vultures fly into their windscreens.

In the early years, a lot of the accidents might have been a lot less serious if those behind the wheel had worn seatbelts and decent helmets.

There was the unpredictable behaviour of the spectators along the way. There was a rule that said any driver who came to another’s 77

“ I t’s the first time I’ve ever been scared in a car. Tense, nervous – yes. But, today I was afraid” assistance would be automatically disqualified; it applied in the case of accidents.

There is no reliable data on the exact number of deaths during the race, nor is there any official record of the Mexican National Army acting on its order to shoot. In any case, the Carrera Panamericana was called to a halt after the race in 1954. It had spun out of control.

The 1954 winner’s average speed of 222kph is unimaginable, even by today’s standards.

The race was revived in 1988 and new rules stated it was now to be driven in “appropriate cars”. For the sake of precision, the rules also broke the cars down into seven categories.

Racing for 3,500km across Mexico is no easy task for old cars with the look of the Studebaker, Oldsmobile and Cadillac about them. Their bodywork hides a tubular frame chassis with heftily souped-up V8 engines, SUV axles and racing car brakes. The people tuning the engines don’t go easy either: 700bhp comes as standard if you want to roar along at 300kph.

Memo Rojas, the most successful racing driver in Mexico, parks up at the end of the 78

Veracruz-to-Oaxaca stage and seems oddly contemplative after suffering a tyre blow-out.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever been afraid in a car,” he says. “I know what’s it’s like to be tense, nervous and focused at the start. But today I was afraid. The car is shit. It’s an overpowered piece of shit. There’s no undercarriage, no passive safety. Barrelling along at 300 in this piece of junk I was scared. You want to brake, but you can’t.”

Memo’s father, Guillermo, won here 25 years earlier, in 1988. “We weren’t sluggish back then either,” says the elder Rojas, with a smile. “We went at similar speeds. This is Memo’s first road race; when I won it, I knew every road, every turn. He doesn’t know any of that.”

At the end of day one, Memo Rojas is down in 40th place, adrift of Mexico’s elite rally drivers out in front. The pace they set on the shorterdistance special stages is breathtaking, whereas on the longer, untimed liaison stages, they go in for some advanced pack racing. In the middle of it all, where there are 172 Dodge Chargers, the Federales, the Mexican police, make sure that the pace doesn’t drop. The Carrera stickers on the the red bulletin

From dry heat to cold and fog, the weather gods bring it all to the Carrera Panamericana Left: the hairpin bends make bruised bonnets a common feature of the race Below: tyres suffer more than the rest of the car; mechanics put water in them to make sure they swell up evenly

Pin-ups and religious icons nestle side by side at the Carrera Paname­ricana.

Indeed, the loving way in which cars are decorated is a large part of the race’s charm. The route itself is shown religious reverence.

“If I die,” one driver says to his co-driver, “promise me you’ll scatter my ashes on the route”

Memo Rojas and his Studebaker. After a tyre blow-out, the driver’s side of the car has gallant battle scars

One car comes home on its wheel rims. “The best cars fall apart at the finish,” says its driver cars give them carte blanche. Anyone who stops at a red light in a village somewhere is frantically waved on. Vete, pendejo! [Get a move on, stupid!]

Before long there are the first retirements.

A Dodge manages to find the gap between the end of a fence and the beginning of a crash barrier, and wedge itself against a tree. Some kind of brake problem, the driver groans.

One of the Studebakers flips over multiple times and six cars slip on the trail of oil it leaves and come crashing off the road. Other drivers decide that, from this point on, the Carrera Panamericana should be more of an adventure holiday and choose to spend their technical budget on appropriate provisions: a good bottle of wine to go with dinner, a daily steak and champagne. Many of the participants seem to have a healthy cushion in their finances. Some are heroes just for crossing the finish line.

More drama on the final stage. Doug Mockett of the USA suffers tyre damage with about a kilo­metre to go. He virtually drags his Oldsmobile through the finish line on its wheel rims, and that’s after he’d ripped out the gearstick. “The best racing cars fall apart at the finish line,” he says, repeating an old mechanic’s adage. the red bulletin

A conspicuous number of the bangers have no working clutch and struggle across the finish in third gear, stinking to high heaven. Young Mexican Pasqual Piccolo takes a spin on the last morning of the race and two concrete pillars rip off his left rear wheel. He makes repairs and struggles on, but then the engine cuts out. The radiator has taken some sort of hit, too. He makes a phone call and gets pushed, bumper to bumper, towards the finish line in Zacatecas, where a 16-strong contingent of locals help to drag his mortally wounded Datsun to the end of the race.

The centre of this former silver-mining town has long since turned into a Mexican fiesta scene. All around there is trumpeting, drumming, confetti, enchiladas, mezcal, Corona, singing, dancing, madness. Memo Rojas comes in third in this, his first Carrera Panamericana. Not bad after an accident at the start and a whole load of other mishaps along the way. He is dancing arm in arm with the winners and the second-placed team. “Viva Mexico! Viva la Carrera Panamericana!

We are a family! See you next year!”

His father looks on with a smile on his face.

He knows exactly what his son is talking about. panamrace.com

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Epic moments from the world’s best clubs and festivals: Strobelight Anthems on rbmaradio.com

Play time: a cassette deck for your iPhone MUSIC, page 92

Where to go and what to do

ac t i o n !

T r a v e l / G e a r / T r a i n i n g / N i g h t l i f e / M U S I C / p a r t i e s / c i t i e s / c l u b s / E v e n ts Sound line-up: Australian DJ duo NERVO set the club on fire

Troy Acevedo/We Are Night Owls

Bring the bass

The likes of AfroJack and Tiesto usually play stadiums and mega-clubs, but they make an exception For Sound, the Hollywood club where star-DJs spin their favourite underground tracks Party, page 85

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Action!

travel

And anoth er thing Love russia

Aim high Scale gutwrenching stone pillars and cliff faces in the Stolby Nature Reserve, Siberia‘s Mecca for free solo climbing. sibtourguide.com

Learning the ropes Heading out into the wilds of Siberia is, in itself, a leap of faith. As one of the world’s last real offthe-beaten-track destinations, just getting to and around the Russian wilderness is demanding enough for some. Others, however, want more. Attaching yourself to a climbing rope and leaping off a bridge or disused building is one way of adding the extreme to your Russian experience. Siberia is the unofficial home of the unauthorised sport of rope jumping, an activity not unlike bungee jumping, except for two significant details: the jump locations are usually in built-up urban areas, and you don’t use an elastic cord. “We find a bridge or abandoned building in the city, attach a mountain climbing rope to our harness, with the other end firmly fastened to structure, then jump off,” says Dmitri Glebov, a regular in the annual Cup Of Siberia rope jumping competition. “The weightlessness of the leap puts your heart in your mouth before the momentum swings you under with a rush like a corkscrew rollercoaster.” The buzz is enhanced by the climb to the jump-off point, which can be up to 500m above ground, and hazardous enough on its own without the thrill being cranked up by a potential chase. “It’s not technically illegal,” says Glebov, “but the police aren’t Extreme sports happy about us doing it.” Though if tours in Siberia you’re willing to leap off a derelict are organised building in the middle of Siberia, by 56th Parallel, being pursued by angry Russian from US$2,500.

56thparallel.com police is unlikely to put you off.

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Leap in time: this is not your school playground rope jumping

Ride out Jump on a raft made of pure ice and take a trip through the Arctic waters of the Angara River as it runs off Lake Baikal.

56thparallel.com

Advice from the inside Smooth operators “The trick is to jump far enough out to get a good swing through the hole in the building or under the bridge,” says Dmitri Glebov. “It also helps to prevent jolts. Remember, this is a rope, not a bungee, and it will hurt if you just drop.”

Calm the nerves

If you’re in need of Siberian courage before you jump or a place to wind down afterwards, head for the Bulgakov Bar in Krasnoyarsk. “It’s a cool place, like a St Petersburg bar in the heart of Siberia, with great food and expertly blended cocktails,” says local tour guide Elin Kekovska. “The homemade fruit shots are particularly amazing.” barbulgakov.ru/o-bare

Spike up Join runners from over 20 countries each March for the annual Baikal Ice Marathon, the world’s fastest footrace on ice. absolute-siberia.com

the red bulletin

sellyourphoto.net(2), shutterstock(2), picturedesk.com

R ope Jumping If you’re bored of bungee, this Russian craze offers a serious adrenalin rush

Action!

party

The dancefloor at Sound accommodates up to 650 revellers

Troy Acevedo/We Are Night Owls (4), picturedesk.com, corbis (2)

Floor-filling electronic dance music has a tried-and-tested formula – those catchy tunes over big beats – but what happens when star DJs want to change it up a bit? At Sound in Los Angeles, they prefer playing their favourite underground tracks. “Afrojack usually plays his big-room, bigfestival sound, but he comes into our club and he’ll play a darker, more underground set,” says Kobi Danan, managing partner at Sound. The vibe here is different from the blingy velvet-rope attitude at most clubs in Hollywood. “It used to be about standing around looking for the next celebrity, but what’s cool now is dance music,” says Sound CEO Rob Vinokur.

What’s also cool is the interior, which matches Caravaggio-inspired fabrics with wood panels from Frank Sinatra’s mansion, so there’s always one celebrity in the house. sound nightclub 1642 N Las Palmas Ave Los Angeles, California www.soundnightclub.com

the red bulletin

Hollywood nightspots with old tinseltown style

Musso & Frank’s Restaurant It was here that Charlie Chaplin challenged Douglas Fairbanks to a horse race down Hollywood Boulevard. This may be because it has the best martinis in town. mussoand frank.com

Sound effects los angeles top DJs break new ground at the club that encourages deck hands to delve into their deep cuts

V i nta g e vibe

Superstar DJs at Sound: R3hab (right) and Tiësto (bottom)

Do u b le D uty Musicians who changed genres

Iggy Pop Was a blues drummer in Chicago before becoming a punk god, proving that heroin really does change people.

Avalon Hollywood It was a theatre in the 1920s, then a radio studio in the ’40s, before evolving into a music venue in the ’60s and staging The Beatles’ first West Coast show. avalon hollywood.com

Katy Perry Ever wonder about the ‘Jesus’ tattoo on her wrist?

She was a Christian songbird before she became a pop star.

Michael Bolton Once opened for Ozzy Osbourne before taking the mantle as the mulleted king of easy listening.

We’re not kidding.

Darius Rucker Went from frontman of cheesy soft-rock balladeers Hootie & the Blowfish to a bona-fide Nashville country singer.

Roosevelt HOTEL Grab a cocktail and look out for the ghost of Marilyn Monroe, who reputedly haunts the place she once lived. facebook.com/ hollywood roosevelt

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get the gear 1

3

tips from a pro

Revolution in sound: the microKORG korg.com

going live

Oliver Thomas Johnson, aka Dorian Concept

Make some noise

E LECTRONIC MUSIC Making the maximum out of a micro-synth turned one young YouTube curio into an international player

“The microKORG is a simple synthesizer,” says Dorian Concept. “It doesn’t really have that design that you see on other synths where you have all these different crazy knobs.” The Vienna-based musician, 29, has this music box to thank for kickstarting his career. In 2006, he posted the first of a series of videos on YouTube in which he displays total mastery of the microKORG, his fingers flying over the mini-keyboard and tweaking the knobs.

The clips gathered many hits and the admiration of musicians, including Flying Lotus, who were impressed by the otherworldly sounds Concept was creating.

A year later, he’d gone from bedroom twiddler to graduating from the Red Bull Music Academy in Toronto and playing music festivals. A debut album followed in 2009, since when he has continued to play live and record, all the while staying loyal to the machine that gave him his big start. ninjatune.net

electro gear Three tools to make an EDM smash hit

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2

1 GET WITH THE

4 NOT ALWAYS

PROGRAM “The program select divides 128 sounds into eight categories, ranging from trance to drum ’n’ bass. It’s all a bit fixed, I know, but it makes for a solid starting point.”

RIGHT “As I have a nervous left hand, I am always very active with the pitch and the mod wheel.

But then again, this is how I love to make my music.”

2 SWEET RELEASE

“During the live show I use Ableton Live software mainly for backingtrack purposes,” says Dorian Concept. “I take all the lead parts of my original tracks and try to recreate them on the spot with the microKORG. Sometimes in a club I feel like a one-man wedding band.”

“Take a standard sound like the clavichord or organ, turn the release button right up and set the oscillator to the highest level: all of a sudden it sounds pretty weird.”

3 DUB BE GOOD

TO HIM “People are always curious about a dubby, pitchy effect that I get a lot. It’s basically me messing with the delay, which, on the microKORG is very responsive and fluid.”

CNTRL:R

CDJ-2000 NEXUS

ABLETON LIVE

For laptop artists who like twiddling real knobs, a hands-on MIDI controller developed by legendary DJ Richie Hawtin.

Today’s DJ can have all his music on a USB stick and those tracks can be manipulated like vinyl on this multi-format machine.

The software used by live electronic musicians, including Dorian Concept, because it’s so intuitive to use and feature-packed.

lividinstruments.com

pioneerdj.com

ableton.com

the red bulletin

Lander Larrañaga/Red Bull Music Academy

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Action!

workout

Ivana Spanovic's personal best: “my legs are my main assets”

Going the distance athletics Long-jump queen Ivana Spanovic needs to stay small in order to achieve big results

Predrag Vuckovic/Red Bull Content Pool(2), shutterstock

Heri Irawan

“Take-off power isn’t the only key factor in the long jump,” says Ivana Spanovic, who won bronze in the long jump at the 2013 athletics World Championships in Moscow.

“Your run-up speed is just as important. So my legs are my main asset. In the build-up to competition, I work on them every day in two training sets, each of which lasts for hours. The fitness centre is my second home.” The Serbian, 23, has to strike a balance between her power and her weight. “Because you have to dynamically make your body as small as possible in the air, I’m very careful about what I eat and weigh myself regularly. If you’re a single kilo overweight, you’re already at a disadvantage. The lighter you are, the further you can jump. It’s as simple as that.”

Pressing time: Spanovic works on her leg muscles

hot tunes, cold water

“My iPod is my full-time training partner,” says Spanovic. “Jay Z’s hip-hop spurs me on for tougher sets and I relax to Thomas Newman during cool-down. Speaking of cool-downs: after a heavy workout, it’s off to the ice bath to avoid aches and pains.”

hang ti m e an d step to it!

EXERCISE 1

Abs training with a difference: going against gravity increases the pressure on your abdominal muscles and lessens the strain on your spine.

1

2

EXERCISE 2

Put more spring in your step for a better take-off.

Hang upside-down, holding a ball in your hands. Raise your upper body towards your knees.

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Touch the tips of your toes with the ball and then slowly – that’s important! – return to position 1.

Step onto a stool carrying a 15kg barbell and once on the stool, straighten your bent leg quickly.

Once both legs are straight, quickly raise the other knee.

Repeat 10 to 15 times on each leg.

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world run

So far, so good

AT THE WINGS FOR LIFE WORLD RUN, THE GLOBAL RUNNING EVENT TAKING PLACE IN 35 COUNTRIES – INCLUDING THIS ONE – ON MAY 4, IT’S NOT YOUR TIME THAT MATTERS. IT’S THE DISTANCE YOU COVER. HOW FAR CAN YOU RUN BEFORE BEING CAUGHT? AND CAN YOU OUTRUN THE WORLD?

WHETHER YOU’RE A RELUCTANT RUNNER OR AN ULTRARUNNER, TEST HOW FAR YOU CAN RUN AT THE WORLD’S FIRST SYNCHRONISED GLOBAL RUN. FIRST CHOOSE WHICH KIND OF RUNNER YOU ARE, THEN DO THREE SIMPLE CALCULATIONS AND TESTS (SEE BELOW) TO FIND OUT WHAT KIND OF WINGS FOR LIFE WORLD RUNNER YOU CAN BE

The Keep-Fit Fan This is you because:

You run three times a week to stay in shape.

Vitals:

1 Cooper test: 2,500-2,800m 2 Resting heart rate: 50bpm 3 BMI: 18-25

The Non-Runner This is you because:

You run very occasionally or not at all.

Vitals:

1 Cooper test: probably not recommended 2 Resting heart rate: >65bpm 3 BMI: 30-35

The Hobbyist This is you because:

You run once or twice a week for your health.

Vitals:

1 Cooper test: 1,800-2,200m 2 Resting heart rate: 50-60bpm 3 BMI: 20-30

Kilometres run per week: <1

Kilometres run per week: 5-10

Current predicted World Run distance: 1km.

Start training* tomorrow and at the World Run you’ll achieve a distance of…

Current predicted World Run distance: 10km Start training tomorrow and at the World Run, you’ll achieve a distance of…

5km

15 km

The Marathonner This is you because:

You run almost every day and have experience of the 26.2-mile race.

Vitals:

1 Cooper test: 3,400-3800m 2 Resting heart rate: 35-45bpm 3 BMI: 16-20

The Ultra-Runner This is you because:

You think you can win Wings for Life World Run.

Vitals:

1 Cooper test: >4,000m 2 Resting heart rate: 30-40bpm 3 BMI: 16-20

Kilometres run per week: 30-40

Kilometres run per week: >70

Kilometres run per week: >100

Current predicted World Run distance: 15km.

Increase your training, and at the World Run you’ll run a half-marathon in 1h 52m.

Predicted World Run distance: 30km Increase your training, and at the World Run you’ll run a marathon in 3h 8m.

Current predicted World Run distance: 70-100km You might have to – and can – run 99km in 5h 48m to be the global champion.

21.1km

1 COOPER TEST Determine the distance you can run in 12 minutes

42.2km

2 RESTING HEART RATE Number of heartbeats per minute at rest

70–100km

3 BMI (Body Mass Index) Body weight in kg/(height in m)2

*Work out your pace with the personal goal calculator: wingsforlifeworldrun.com

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the red bulletin

Philip Platzer/Red Bull Content Pool, Harald Tauderer/extreme sport management

How far can you go?

enter

n ow

an d get training

tips from a pro ULTRAMARTHON RUNNER CHRISTIAN SCHIESTER ON HITTING YOUR STRIDE AND HOW TO TALK YOURSELF TO VICTORY

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WHAT’S THE USP OF WINGS FOR LIFE WORLD RUN? “The moving target. You start with the crowd, but you’re not running against the others. You’re running against the Catcher Car. So there might only be one ultimate victor, but there’ll be lots of winners.”

Global gathering W ings For Life World Run A starter’s gun on six continents: The first worldwide running race in sporting history gets under way in May next year. Anyone who wants to race against the rest of the world can take part. Here are the details

2

HOW DO YOU GET MOTIVATED FOR TOUGH RUNS? “Make it into an adventure. Run to the woods, sit down, enjoy nature or have a picnic, and then run back. Then it stops being hard work and becomes fun.”

3

WHAT ABOUT ROOKIES? HOW CAN THEY GET UP TO SPEED? “Start with a run around the block and make a note of it. Then increase your distance. Keep the notes! They’re inspiring. I still log every kilometre.”

1. THE WAY IT WORKS

4. THE RESULT

In 35 countries, 37 races will all begin at 10am UTC (Co-ordinated Universal Time; 10am GMT) on May 4, 2014. ‘Catcher Cars’ will start reeling in the participants 30 minutes later. The last person in the world to be caught wins.

The last man and last woman running will be crowned global champions and win a special roundthe-world trip. Each country will also record its national winners. All runners will be able to check online to see how they did. “Who in the world ran further than I did?”

2. THE CHASERS

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WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE WHEN YOU’RE IN THE ZONE? “Any pain disappears. You feel like you could do anything and carry on running forever. Beginners get into that flow very early on. In my case now, sadly, it doesn’t happen until I’ve run about 60km.”

“Write down the distance each time you run”

Wings For Life World Run ambassador Christian Schiester

The ‘Catcher Cars’ will gradually increase their speed at predetermined intervals. Once a runner is caught, or passed by a car, he or she must drop out of the race and the distance run at that point is automatically recorded.

5. THE PARTICIPANTS

3. THE COURSES

6. THE MISSION

They fall into five categories around the world: coastal runs, river runs, city runs, nature runs and runs with a view. The event’s homepage (wingsforlife worldrun.com) gives you the latest weather reports, detailed course information, training plans and a distance-time calculator.

The Wings for Life World Run motto is: Running For Those Who Can’t.

All of the money earned will go to the Wings For Life Foundation, which supports worldwide scientific research programmes looking for a cure for spinal cord injury.

You can find more information at wingsforlife.com.

Beginners, hobby runners, top athletes and stars, such as former Formula One ace David Coulthard. The aim is to cover as much of the course as you can to help cure paraplegia.

Compete against the rest of the world in the Wings For Life World Run. You can register online until April 20, 2014, at wingsforlifeworldrun.com

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City Guide

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copenhagen from the inside

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copenhagen skatepark.dk

TOp Five his City HIGHLIGHTS

the fashion scene here, and it’s as good as any New York boutique. You’ll find the latest thing, from streetwear to brands such as Kenzo, Comme des Garçons and Nike.”

Eske Kath, artist, sculptor and performance artist

Great Dane days c openhagen New old bars, pizza in the meatpacking district, and the entire universe under one roof: the best of the Danish capital, according to local artist Eske Kath “What do I like about Copenhagen? The fact that it’s dynamic and lively, but also small and nicely manageable,” says painter and perfor­mance artist Eske Kath. He has designed album covers for Danish pop singer Oh Land and had the honour of painting a ceiling at Amalien­borg, the home of the Danish royal family. “You soon feel at home here, mainly because of the people who, for the most part, wander the streets with a smile on their faces.” Kath has lived in New York for a while now, but he is always drawn back to his hometown. “If New York is the heart of the world, Copenhagen is the heart of Scandinavia.”

These are the five places he says you must visit. eskekath.dk

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COPENHAGEN SKATEPARK Indoor paradise for skaters: the best in the city and with the biggest vertical ramp in Scandinavia. Both pros and amateurs are welcome.

1 Mikael Andersen

Gallery Bredgade 63 “This modern-art gallery shows work by talented young artists.

It’s a real springboard if you want to make a career of it: my works have been shown here.”

4 Kodbyen

Vesterbro “The so-called meatpacking district is one of Copenhagen’s up-and-coming areas. I go to art exhibitions there and I like to treat myself to pizza at a bar called Mother.”

2 Cafe Dyrehaven

Sonder Boulevard 72 “Copenhagen is extremely expensive, but in this ’70s-style hipster bar you can get really cheap beer and the best open sandwiches in the city.”

3 Wood Wood

Gronnegade 1 “This place is a real focal point of

5 Tycho Brahe

Planetarium Gammel Kongevej 10 “This is my favourite place in the city. It’s so inspiring to relax and meditate as you look at the constellations. Nothing’s better for driving your creativity.”

URBAN HIGH ROPING At the world’s highest high-rope course, you negotiate the lines 50m above ground.

You can also go climbing and abseiling or experience free fall. urbanrangercamp.dk

INDOOR SKYDIVING A parachute jump with no parachute.

Experience the feeling of skydiving at the only wind tunnel in Scandinavia, with vertical wind speeds of up to 120kph. airexperience.dk

the red bulletin

alBERT EXERGIAN, JOHANNES LANG

Kon gev ej

Corbis, Urban Ranger Camp, Copenhagen Air Experience/Henrik Sorensen

mel

K H øbe av n ne ha ba vn de s

Pile Alle

Gam

P RO M OT I O N

MUST-HAVES! 1

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1 HELLY HANSEN EVOLUTION JACKET This jacket is a Helly Hansen classic.

Waterproof, breathable and seam-sealed, it’s insulated with Warmcore by PrimaLoft to keep you cozy and comfortable. Other features include articulated arms for extra mobility, a ski pass pocket, snap-away powder skirt and dual hand-warming pockets. Plus the racing stripe has been redesigned to make you look even faster as you cruise down the slopes with style.

RRP: €255. Member’s Price €242.25.

2 HELLY HANSEN LIFA DRY REVOLUTION LONG SLEEVE Never has a base layer been so functional. This Helly Hansen Dry Revolution long-sleeve base layer top for men features the unique LIFA staydry fibre technology, which is designed to provide a dry layer next to your skin during aerobic activity, and a seamless construction for comfort.

RRP: €55. Member’s Price €52.25.

3 HELLY HANSEN MEN’S LEGEND CARGO PANTS With a classic resort look that never goes out of style, these breathable, waterproof, insulated ski pants for men will keep you dry, warm and comfortable when time on the mountain is a priority. With PrimaLoft insulation for exceptional thermal regulation, there’s also mechanical venting to keep you warm or cool depending on the conditions and activity. The fit is relaxed, and they come with braces, articulated knees and boot gaitors.

RRP: €160. Member’s Price €152.

4 SMARTWOOL ATHLETE ARTIST SKI SOCKS Designed by artist Anthony Boronowski, these socks are the most technical works of art of the slopes. The 4-Degree Elite Fit System uses two elastics for greater stretch and recovery to keep the sock in place, while Reliawool Technology creates the most comfortable and durable SmartWool ski sock yet. There’s also strategically placed mesh ventilation zones to provide ventilation for temperature and moisture management.

RRP: €25. Member’s Price €23.75.

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5 OSPREY CYBER PORT The Cyber Port is a streamlined, technically sophisticated panel-style daypack designed with access to and interaction with 21st-century electronic devices as a priority. It has a zippered main compartment with a fleece-lined, padded laptop/tablet sleeve, a window that lets you use a tablet without removing from the pack, so it stays safe and protected, an internal organiser and a zippered sunglasses compartment.

RRP: €90. Member’s Price €85.50.

6 SCOTT CHASE MIPS Combining innovative technology with style and function, the Chase helmet includes G-Vent Technology to reduce goggle fogging and increase helmet airflow. It also has the addition of MIPS technology, which makes it one of Scott’s most protective and most stylish helmets in the category. The MIPS technology means that if the helmet is subjected to an oblique impact, the low friction layer allows the shell to rotate relative to one’s head, which helps protect the brain.

RRP: €145. Member’s Price €137.75.

All items available from 53 Degrees North in Blanchardstown, Carrickmines, Cork and online. www.53degreesnorth.ie

Action!

Burning issues

MUSIC

Finally ripping and ridding CDs? Here’s how to beat scratches

Kathleen Anne Brien, alias Katy B

In 2011 Katy B pulled off a huge coup. The 24-yearold Londoner managed to combine dubstep and garage in her debut album, On A Mission, bringing together the seemingly incompatible underground club sound of her home town and great pop melodies. The album shot to No 2 in the UK charts and her new style quickly spawned a number of imitators. Her new album, Little Red, out now, sees her still innovating while building on the sound she is famous for – and staying ahead of the pack. It’s full of hymns to the night, meetings under lights, and the magic of clubs. Here she tells us about songs that have inspired her, and that she can’t resist when the DJ drops.

1 Arctic Monkeys

katybofficial.com

2 Indeep

3 Banks

“I don’t really have a soft spot for guitar music, but the way Alex Turner tells stories is what I love in a songwriter.

I discovered this song last year when I downloaded all the Mercury Prize-nominated albums, as I was on a panel on the night. The guitar riff is so sexy. It reminds me of Bad Boys For Life by P Diddy. That’s probably why I connect to it even more.”

“My parents would play this at their parties when I was growing up. It’s so simple and catchy, I wish I had written it myself. It’s got a bassline and a drumbeat, a singer and some strange rap at the end: that’s it. No matter what kind of party you play it at, it always goes off. That’s probably the best thing you can achieve with a dance song.”

“Banks reminds me of the kind of person who, when I was younger, I would look up to – she’s classy and interesting. I love her and her music, which is electronic but quite R&B as well. This song reminds me of Timbaland, but it’s a bit darker. This young British singer is the real deal, and definitely one to watch in 2014.”

Ciara ft. Nicki 4 Minaj

5 Skream

“Ciara is an amazing performer.

I love her last album, and this song in particular because the beat is so hard and she really owns it. Obviously we all love Nicki, but some of her tunes go to a younger crowd, so I forgot how good she was. She’s spitting for half of the tune. Her lyrics are just so sick and she’s so gangster on it.”

“This track, from Skream’s debut album, was a big influence for On A Mission.

It’s dark, but you can still dance to it.

It reminds me of when I was 18, going to FWD [seminal club night in London where, legend says, dubstep was born].

Now, Skream and I work together occasionally: it’s amazing when those you’ve grown up respecting, respect you.”

Do I Wanna Know

I’m Out

Last Night A DJ Saved My Life

Rutten

This Is What It Feels Like

Software

Free data recovery programs, such as Recuva, can also read damaged CDs. Once you’ve backed up your data, burn it onto a new blank disc.

R etr o M an ia Get behind the deck

freezer

iRecorder No cassettes here. Instead, plug an iPhone into this ’80s-style tape recorder and play MP3s using five chunky buttons. Like the old days… but with no mangled tape. red5.com

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Spread some on a scratched CD with a soft cloth and polish: this removes part of the protective layer so scratches become less deep. Rinse with warm water.

Put a disc in a freezer bag for a couple of hours, to reduce the density of the CD material.

As it expands again in the warmth, the smaller scratches will disappear.

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florian obkircher

Playlist The chart-topping Katy B sings about life under the disco ball. So what are the tunes that get her out onto the dancefloor?

TOOTHPASTE

Getty Images, shutterstock

Princess of clubs

Action!

games

Gaming By Numbers Standing out in a world of ones and zeroes

Hideo Kojima: directing the action

V is for victory

6

M etal Gear Solid V: Ground zeroes win-win for gamers when genres collide

South Park The Stick Of Truth is the sixth game to feature Cartman and co. Out in March; last year the show mocked its delayed release.

Hideo Kojima is the Quentin Tarantino of video games. He’s one of few games makers with a profile like that of a cult film director (Kojima bills himself as the director of his works) and through his Metal Gear series of games he is as responsible as anyone for gaming being referred to as cinematic. As well as proudly displaying his movie influences – Die Hard, James Bond, Heat, Children Of Men – he is determined to be innovative. Players have had to find clues on games packaging and plug a controller into the ‘wrong’ socket to defeat a boss. With Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, he is mashing up two game genres: stealth and open-world. Not all the fans are happy about this, and are worried that the challenging, sneaky claustrophobia of previous black-ops adventures – this one takes place in Cuba in 1975 – won’t be possible on a vast canvas. Naturally, Kojima says he has devised new ways to play. “With the stress and tension levels that players will experience going through the game,” he says, “I can guarantee that it’s not going to make [it] easier for anyone.”

Out in March for Xboxes and PlayStations, with linked elements on smartphones. metalgearsolid.com

stickoftruth.com

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Size of the development team who, since May 2012, have been working on The Elder Scrolls Online, a massive fantasy RPG out in April. elderscrollsonline.com

Cuban missile crisis: the latest Metal Gear Solid game

o u t n ow

Nerd Play

PAUL WILSON

Rule the pop culture world with Geek Resort Design, build and run a theme park with a geeky theme: sci-fi, manga, fantasy, horror or other nerdly subjects. Looks cute and cuddly, but this is seriously involving and fiendishly addictive. Extra nerd points: you can get 3D-printed models of your characters. On Android and, as of February, iOS. amastudios.com

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Fight! Fight! Fight!

Old-school kit for new gen machines There is a generation of gamers who did not spend formative time in arcades, and that is just very sad. You can bring the arcade back – without the sticky floor and the annoying kid jogging your elbow – with a FightStick Tournament Edition 2. Ball-handled joystick, eight big buttons: fighting-game perfection. madcatz.com

5m

Downloads of Red Bull Kart Fighter in 2013.

A recent update to the free racing game added five new tracks, making 40 in total. games.redbull.com

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Action!

buyer’s guide

Blow up

The Cave Unwieldy tent poles can stay in the attic now this futuristic option is available. It’s one piece, so just a few minutes’ work with an air pump stand between you and a new home-from-home. Plus it can handle any type of weather you’re happy to brave yourself. £464/€549 heimplanet.com

INFLATABLEs are not just for the swimming pool: this range of gasfilled gear will help you see in the dark, survive on a mountain and enjoy a better commute

Luci light This little ecofriendly lantern is bringing light to the world’s off-grid areas. It’s powered by solar energy, is waterproof and comes with 10 LEDs, which provide 15 sq ft of light for up to 12 hours. £19.99/€24 firebox.com

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Deckvest 5D Anyone who thinks of the colour orange when they hear the term ‘life jacket’ will appreciate the subtle shades and ergonomic design of the Deckvest. It’s lightweight, effective and fully adjustable, making it almost as comfortable as nautical knitwear. From £220/€260 spinlock.co.uk

ABS Vario Base Unit 15L In an avalanche, bigger is better: larger objects rise to the surface, making this backpack with twin 85-litre airbags potentially lifesaving for off-piste snowsports. It inflates in 2.5 seconds. Since 1991, 97 per cent of people who have deployed one have survived. £575/€697 snowsafe.co.uk

JP Allround Air Inflatable paddleboards stand up in comparison with their hard rivals. They’re cheaper, tougher, packable – opening up hard-to-reach waters – and solid enough for cruising, racing and surfing. At 13kg for board, pump and paddle, this is one of the lightest. £789/€934 supinflatables.co.uk

LUKE KIRWAN

RUTH MORGAN

Hövding bicycle helmet This airbag-like device may revolutionise urban cycling. A tear-proof nylon hood only emerges when needed, giving more shock absorption than any other helmet. An algorithm stops it activating when it shouldn’t, so it’s as clever as it is good-looking. £337/€399 hovding.com

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95

Action!

save the date

Dirty work: Jonny Walker returns to enduro action

The Jonny Walker spirit Instead of celebrating New Year, Cumbrian king of enduro Jonny Walker was having elbow surgery. But now he’s fighting fit and ready to join the British Extreme Enduro Championship for the second round in Cowm Quarry, Lancashire, to take on fellow pros including first round winner and former champion, David Knight. redbull.com/enduro

March 3

Heroes welcome

March 1-2

Welsh rare bits Expect nerdy nostalgia at the Cardiff Film and Comic Con, as legendary props like Indiana Jones’ whip and the Back To The Future DeLorean are on display. showmastersonline.com

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Ever wished you’d seen Andre Agassi (right), Pete Sampras, Pat Cash or Ivan Lendl do battle live on court? Well there’s still time. Though retired, the former champions can’t resist the lure of World Tennis Day, and will be dusting off their rackets to demonstrate their still-superior skills in an A-list tournament held inside at London’s Earl’s Court. worldtennisday.com

From February 28

The stars come out Film The Grand Budapest Hotel, set in 1920s Europe, is unmistakably a Wes Anderson production. Shot in his trademark colourful comic style, he’s called upon the talents of Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Saoirse Ronan, Tilda Swinton (as you’ve never seen her before), Ed Norton, Jude Law and Bill Murray among others, to tell the twisting tale of a hotel concierge (Ralph Fiennes) accused of murder. grandbudapesthotel.com

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Mihai Stetcu/Red Bull Content Pool, picturedesk.com, Getty Images, Twentieth Century Fox, Julia Boggio Studios, Ian Chandler, st. patricks festival, sony music, imago

March 2

January 19

On yer bike The London Bike Show aims to unite all manor of cyclists, from road to mountain.

The biggest names in biking, including Sir Chris Hoy, will be there to share their knowledge, BMXers do battle on the bespoke half-pipe and there’s the chance to test-ride a dream bike on a pro track. thelondonbikeshow.co.uk

don’t miss

March 14-17

Going green It’s possible to celebrate St Patrick’s day in pretty much any city in the world: everything from the famed Las Vegas sign in the US to the ancient pyramids of Egypt have gone green in honour of the country’s patron saint, such is the popularity of the Irish nation. But Dublin is the authentic epicentre of celebration, where for four full days funfairs, street performers, Céili dancers and drinks stalls will fill the streets, culminating in a huge fancy dress parade where absolutely anything goes. www.stpatricksfestival.ie

winter sports on home-grown snow

16 february

Be inspired Get motivated to take to the indoor slopes at the Slide2Sochi event in Dorset, which features demos from the pros, competitions, taster sessions, and is open to everyone. snowtrax.eu

March 17

Go West Lancashire lads Adam Kaye and George Townsend, aka Bondax, have come a long way since they started making music in their bedrooms. Now aged 19 and 20 respectively, they’ve played Bestival, supported Basement Jaxx and toured America. Now they’re joining breakthrough band London Grammar at Bristol’s O2 Academy. soundcloud.com/bondax

Dress to impress: not everything in Dublin is green on St Patrick’s Day

27 february

March 5

Going for goals This is a significant Wednesday for the England and the Republic of Ireland football teams. Denmark will become this year’s first visitors to Wembley Stadium for the home side’s last match before Roy Hodgson names his provisional World Cup squad.

Meanwhile in Dublin, the ROI national team are taking on Serbia, and hoping to better the nil-nil draw they managed in Belgrade 2012, some recompense for missing out on a World Cup place. fifa.com

February 28 - March 6

Queen Bey Beyoncé, or Mrs Carter as she’s now oft known, has become the undoubted global goddess of all things pop, attracting men and women in almost equal numbers (though maybe for different reasons). If you need proof of her supremacy beyond the album sales, chart positions and general online ubiquity, she’s also had the rare honour of having a new species of horsefly named after her. Not even Madonna got that. The curvy chanteuse graces a British stage this month with a series of dates at London’s O2 Arena.

Go large(r) Experienced slope snowboarders wanting to advance to a park course of boxes, rails and kickers are in for a challenge. Get advice from pros at the Maverix Freestyle Academy held at Manchester’s Chill Factore. chillfactore.com

15 March

be in it, win it Enter the Coe Cup, a qualifier for the Freeride World Tour, held on a run in Scotland so steep it’s named The Flypaper. glencoe mountain.co.uk

theo2.co.uk

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97

Magic Moment

Lienz Dolomites, Austria, 7.11.2013 “You actually feel safer climbing in arch-shaped sections,” says ice climber Peter Ortner. The Austrian, also a world-class free climber, has learned to recognise dozens of types of ice. His life depends on it. “Some look as if they’ll hold you, but they’re so soft, and vice versa.”

“ One tiny tap from the ice pick can cause huge chunks of ice to fall – and me with them” Martin Lugger

Peter Ortner, climber

The next issue of the Red Bulletin is out on march 15 98

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FATE DOESNâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T ASK. IT COuLD ALSO bE mE. Or yOu. David Coulthard.

13-time Formula 1 Grand Prix Winner and Wings For Life Ambassador.

SPINAL COrD INJury muST bECOmE CurAbLE. In funding the best research projects worldwide focusing on the cure of spinal cord injury, the Wings for Life Spinal Cord research Foundation ensures top-level medical and scientific progress. We assure that hundred percent of all donations are invested in spinal cord research.

your contribution makes a difference.

Donate online at www.wingsforlife.com

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