adventure
Christian Maurer was the first athlete to approach the coast of Monaco © Olivier Laugero/Red Bull Photofiles
day camping at 2,700 m above sea level, 30 km east of the Matterhorn. The next morning, he flew down to the Saas Valley where he began hiking again, eventually climbing another 1,500 m to the next take-off. “It was really tough,” said photographer Vitek Ludvik who accompanied him for the hike. “He was tired from the other days’ racing, but was still strong and it was very hard to keep up.” Alongside his Matterhorn flight, Maurer also lists his final glide from the last turn point, Mont Gros, down to the float in Monaco as one of the most memorable from the 2009 Red Bull X-Alps. His ruthless decision making and undeniable skill and fitness meant he landed 33 hours ahead of previous champion and second place finisher Alex Hofer, also Swiss. “You have to walk and to fly,” Maurer says, “and you
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Christian Maurer and Thomas Theurillat walking towards the Matterhorn © Dean Treml/Red Bull Photofiles
have to do all of this by yourself for 24 hours a day – this makes it really extreme.”
The Route Start: Turn point 1: Turn point 2: Turn point 3: Turn point 4: Turn point 5: Turn point 6: Turn point 7: Goal:
Salzburg (AUT) – 0 km Gaisberg (AUT) – 6 km Watzmann (DEU) – 38 km Grossglockner (AUT) – 94 km Marmolada (ITA) – 189 km Matterhorn (CHE) – 518 km Mont Blanc (FRA) – 579 km Mont Gros (FRA) – 813 km Monte Carlo (MON) – 818 km