The Red Bull race takes paragliders over the dangerous Alps
A hazardous paragliding adventure across Europe
Many people believe there is no adventure left in the world, but Lloyd Pennicuik is living proof that adventure is where you find it. Lloyd is an adventure athlete who is about to take off on the most dangerous and most gruelling race yet thought of.
In July Lloyd will join 30 other international paragliders who will fly, run and stagger 818 kms from Salzburg to Monaco. This 20 days and nights, non-stop adventure is over the snow-capped Alps, with turning points in Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and France. Athletes must carry their flying equipment at all times which weighs a hefty 20kg. Hopefully, they finish on the beautiful Mediterranean Coast with the winner the first to fly, walk or run across the line.
Lloyd Pennicuik is one of the super fit and highly skilled international paragliders who has been selected to contest what’s known as the “Red Bull X Alps” adventure. He is the only Australian amongst athletes from around the world from Germany to Japan.
Residents of the Hinterland may have seen Lloyd floating off the ridges of the Range. He flies regularly with the Conondale Flyers and he is now looking for sponsorship for this expensive ($40,000) leap into the unknown. He spoke to the Hinterland Times about the enormous physical demands of the ‘Red Bull’.
Lloyd steers his glider by simply pulling down on the lines in each hand
“I found sky-diving rather boring. You go up, jump out and it’s a big rush for a bit then it’s all over quickly. I started with flying trikes, a powered hang glider, then I jumped into hang gliders. I got fairly good pretty quickly and entered the 2001 world championships in Spain after only competing for about two years.
It’s this amazing mental game you play when you are up in the air. As soon as you’re flying across country, you’re looking for these invisible thermals, invisible parcels of hot air rising that’s rising up. You’re looking at the cloud conditions, what the winds doing, what it’s doing when it snakes up valleys.
“Generally you’re up for two or three hours. I do a lot of competitions. I did a flight once from Widgee up near Gympie all the way up past Chinchilla, 200kms in a straight line, that took me five and a half hours. I only landed because I wasn’t sure whether anyone was coming out to pick me up.
Paragliders basically sit in a padded bag. They navigate by GPS in a little electronic cockpit unit that sits in their lap. It also tells them whether they’re going up or down in foggy weather.
A race involves taking off from a set point and then turning at points which are set into the GPS. Race goers have to fly within a radius of those turning points and then to a finish line. You get scored on the speed which you have flown the course. You fly at about 40km an hour. You can speed them up to 60kms an hour and you steer them by pulling down on a couple of lines, just like a parachute.
“There are massive distances in between turning points and when you land, you pack all your gear into a back pack and start running. And it’s non-stop night and day. We have a GPS tracking device on us that sends data via a every 15 minutes to the Red Bull’s (sponsor) internet site. So there is live tracking the whole time. We also have one supporter who can drive a vehicle and feed you. We are also allowed to sleep in the vehicle.
The Red Bull race is always a gruelling test of stamina says Lloyd.
“This is a non-stop, full-on race. If you can stay awake 24 hours a day, then you just go for it. You can only fly during daylight hours so that during the night I was running all the time. You have to be fit. I ran between one and two marathons a day every day. The prize is 10,000 euros this year. This is the hardest endurance race in the world, and one of the most dangerous , taking off in turbulent conditions, three hours sleep a day. It took me 17 days to complete the race last time and I was averaging 3-4 hours of sleep a day. You’re either running or flying. Mentally, it’s just ridiculously hard.
“It’s ridiculously expensive and I am still paying off the last race”, says Lloyd. “I have a website and I am raffling off my wing from the last competition. I would appreciate more sponsorship”
Contact Lloyd Pennicuik on email: lloydpennicuik@hotmail.com
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