Aaron Durogati ended Chrigel Maurer's dominance of the RedBull X-Alps when he won the 1283km race in style in June. Bastienne Wentzel talked to him and the other final four about what was extraordinary and at times controversial, edition of the competition.
Bastienne Wentzel and Erwin Voogt contributed to reporting the race for Cross Country with photos, videos and interviews on social media, online as well as in print.

We talk about arc in the design of a paraglider, but what does that actually mean?

Met onder andere: Red Bull X-Alps special | Interview met Sebrand Warren | Live tracking | Vol-bivouac avontuur in Frankrijk | Soaren op Madeira | Harnassen en protectie deel 4 | Vliegen rondom een CTR | Lessen na een ongeval | Langs de Liftlat: Mark de Lange | Drieluik hike&fly rondom Alpenreuzen deel 1: Jungfrau.

Naviter is a new race partner this year in the Red Bull X-Alps, which kicks off on 12 June 2025. It means they will be supplying all athletes with a flight instrument for tracking; the brand new Naviter Omni. But behind the scenes, Live Tracking is a lot more involved than just following the tracks of the athletes. Let's take a look. (Image: Naviter)

During the CIVL Plenary meeting in March, a proposal to allow performance equalisers in competitions was approved. The purpose is to reduce the inherent performance advantage of larger over smaller gliders by putting foam tubes on the lines of larger gliders to add drag. (Photo: Ozone)

Kanan
"When I was about six years old, we saw gliders on a family holiday in Panchgani. My dad asked them 'Will you take my daughter?". So I was strapped to the chute and in my memory the person behind me was just hanging from the two lines he was holding. Later I learned that the pilot sits in a harness too, and I thought, ah, that makes a lot more sense now!"
 
Josh
"I was around paragliding before I could walk or talk because of my dad Jocky Sanderson. I used to go tandem with him all the time. I initially learned paragliding at 13 and passed my exam at 14."

Met onder andere: Hike&fly in Colombia | Stubai Cup 2025 | Interview Greg Hamerton | Harnassen en protectie deel 3 | Recensie Gin Calypso 2 en Camino 3 | Langs de Liftlat

Have you seen the videos of paraglider pilots flying through tunnels? How do they do that? (photo: Adi Geisegger)

Finally, the day arrived that you can fly free. You just passed your exams and received the coveted pass to free flight: your pilot's license. Classic psychology tells us that you have graduated from 'unconscious incompetence' - when you started to fly you didn't know what you didn't know - to 'conscious incompetence'. You've become conscious of the fact that full competence in flying is still a long way away. Or as one instructor put it: you've learned to launch, land and not hit anything. But there is so much more to learn when it comes to flying. Where to start?

Porosity is one of the main properties that should be checked when your glider gets its periodic inspection. But we may be measuring it wrong, experts say. "We should be measuring flow, not time."

Met onder andere: Hike&fly naar de top van de Mt. Blanc | Parakites in opmars | Mount Manganui (Nieuw Zeeland) | Red Bull X-Alps 2025 - interview met Nederlandse deelnemer Sebrand Warren | Harnassen en protectie deel 2 | Vliegdagen voor paramotor, delta en ballonnen | Recensie: Moyes Gecko | Paramotorvliegen over Lelystad Airport | Afsluiting Acroseizoen 2024 | Liftlat: Doseah Morriën