X-Alps 2025:
What a race
What a Race !
The Red Bull X-Alps 2025 were more thrilling than ever: An exceptionally strong field made for a gripping race all the way to the finish. In just under 8 intense days, Chrigel Maurer reached the finish line less than 30 minutes behind the winner Aaron Durogati – securing an impressive 4th place in the world’s toughest adventure race. This year’s Red Bull X-Alps featured an exceptionally strong field and stayed thrilling until the very end. Huge respect and congratulations, Chrigel! Your consistency, creativity and spirit continue to inspire. We are proud to have you flying ADVANCE. Patrick von Känel (8th), a seasoned veteran, and Nicola Heiniger (10th), an impressive rookie, also made it to the finish among the top ten. With Erlend Ukvitne and Sebrand Warren also reaching the float in Zell am See, a total of five ADVANCE athletes completed this incredible challenge. Congratulations to all of you on this outstanding achievement!
Home Turf
Within just two hours, all three ADVANCE athletes from the Bernese Oberland — Patrick von Känel, Chrigel Maurer and rookie Nicola Heiniger — reached Turnpoint 8, their home turnpoint. At the Niesen, this iconic mountain where they’ve trained, flown and dreamed for years, they met their families, signed the board and immediately continued the race. There’s no time to rest. That’s the Red Bull X-Alps. We’re proud of you and excited to see when the other ADVANCE athletes will reach the Niesen.
For many of us at ADVANCE – teammates, test pilots and staff – it was the perfect place to cheer on our athletes in person. Our headquarters is within sight of the Niesen summit, and our gliders and harnesses are developed and tested right here.
The equipment
When every gram counts and maximum performance is key, ADVANCE athletes rely on specially developed equipment. At the Red Bull X-Alps 2025, they will be flying the OMEGA ULS Comp – a refinement of the proven OMEGA ULS. Thanks to further structural optimisations and the use of high-quality materials such as Skytex Hard Finish fabric on the inner structure and Dyneema® Composite Fabric on the lower canopy, the glider is up to 350 g lighter. This ultra-light competition wing is produced exclusively for X-Alps athletes.
Our X-Alps athletes have opted for an extremely simple and minimalist harness design. They expect this to provide the easiest possible handling in demanding conditions and minimal weight. Each of these unique pieces is 100% customised to each individual athlete and has no adjustment options. This saves even more weight and brings down the weight of the athlete's harness to just around one kilo.
ADVANCE XALPS TEAM 2025
Meet our Team
Meet our incredible lineup of athletes for the Red Bull X-Alps 2025 – a thrilling mix of a reigning champion, seasoned veterans, and rising rookies. From Canada to Europe to China, each of these pilots brings a unique combination of skill, determination, and passion to the table – representing the very best in paragliding performance.
The Tom de Dorlodot Case
Tuesday Talks
Over the course of eight weeks, we introduced one of our ADVANCE X-Alps athletes every Tuesday. Here you can find all the portraits from the series – eight inspiring personalities, eight individual paths to the toughest adventure race in the world.