Red Bull X-Alps 2007 DVD

Bob Drury gets a sneak preview of the 2007 race film

Let’s face it. Even if you live in Outer Mongolia, work in a sheep-eyeball removal factory and take the number 37 camel train to and fro each day, you’ve probably still heard about the Red Bull X-Alps. The most gruelling event in paragliding hit its third anniversary this year and celebrated by delivering a race like none other.

Thirty teams set off on the 850 km route to traverse the most difficult and impressive terrain the European Alps has to offer. The Marmolada, the Eiger and Mt Blanc all played their role as the race unfolded and the teams battled along the course. I was part of the entourage that followed behind, interviewing and reporting on the trials and tribulations of the teams. I saw first-hand the beauty and the pain of the event. Not just the splendour of the mountains they crossed, but the story of Tomo Coconea’s audacious ground-based assault on the might of the Swiss superstar pilots, the crushing blows of the airspace infringements and Hofer’s genius last flight that catapulted him from nowhere to a second X-Alps title with such aplomb.

With such incredible backdrops and a story like no other I was keen to know whether the Red Bull film team had managed to do the 2007 race justice. Well, relax. They have.
The 2007 film is even more of a five course meal than the previous editions and as such it’s a worthy addition to any pilot’s arsenal of inspirational movies. It digs deep into the minds and motivations of the athletes and faithfully documents the pain, hardships and sheer physical challenge of the race. The footage is stunning, a great amount of it shot in HD from a helicopter with hi-tech equipment - if you want rousing flying footage, then this film has it by the bucketload.

The eye candy is spliced with candid portrayals of life on the road gathered through the team cameras. Watch Lloyd Pennicuik bursting blisters, Kaoru Ogasawa flaked out in a hedgerow with exhaustion, the eternally smiling Aiden Toase brushing off another bad day, or the true grit of Tomo Coconea as he rewrote the rules for endurance.

The 2007 Red Bull X-Alps film will swing you one of two ways: it’ll either motivate you to get off your butt and start hiking and flying more so that you too can experience for yourself the amazing sensation of truly travelling with a paraglider; or you’ll find yourself shaking your head as you light up a cigarette and guzzle another can of Stella from the safety of your armchair, muttering something like, “Bloody nutters! You wouldn’t catch me doing that! What’s wrong with a week’s holiday in Annecy full-board?” Either way, this hour-and-a-half long film is entertaining, informative and awe-inspiring.

My only beef with the entire film is the narration. As with the 2005 film, Red Bull have used the deepest, growling, Marlboro Man capable of making your toes curl and the milk in the fridge turn to cheese. His breathy, rumbling baritone voice will send the bass bins of your speakers into spasm, if not your stomach, as he waxes lyrical about the superhuman endeavours of the pilots. It’s such a shame as this rather crass ‘over egging’ of the cake is the only downside of what is otherwise a blinding movie.