Hi there, everybody. Welcome to a very special episode of the Cloudbase Mayhem. The Red Bull X-Alps starts tomorrow morning. It is right now 6 p.m. my time over in Europe. So we've got about, let's see, what is that, 12, 15, 16 hours until the start of the best race on Earth, in my opinion. And I went around the athlete camp today, spent all day talking to a whole bunch of the teams, and in some cases, their supporters. Rich Benstead, Tommy Friedrich, Tom de Dorlodot, James Elliott, Damien Lacaze, Tanguy Renaud-Goud, and his supporter, Tim Roches, from Team Nivea, good buddies of mine. Marcus Anders, Celine Lorenz, Aaron Durogati, Nicola Danini, Lennart Oblak, who is an Olympian biathlete and showed how strong he was in the prologue, an amazing athlete.
Logan Walters, and my former supporter, and now Logan's supporter, and very good friend, Reavis Sutphin-Gray. So we talk. Weather, the route, all the additional places that they can't land, the very kind of, the difficulty of the German leg this year because of the, they can only use official DHV launches between Kimsey and Lermus. And we talk a lot about what people's anxieties are and fears are and how anxious they are to get this thing going and training. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing.
And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. and prepare better and whatever. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. And we talk to the veterans and a whole bunch of the rookies and find out how they're doing. And from tomorrow on, it's going to be just hike and Fly. It's just going good. You had a pretty rough week last week.
You were laid flat. You got pretty sick after the Worlds. Yeah. Actually, already the last two tasks on the Worlds, I was quite sick. Not terribly sick, but enough to not feel really good. And then on the way back home from France, I got really sick. And I lay two days in the bed. I had to take antibiotics to make it a faster recovery. So, yeah, today it's Saturday. I still will have to take two more antibiotics. And tomorrow I stop it. Then you'll be perfect. Yeah. It didn't seem to affect you too badly in the prologue. Man, you're strong. It was good. I mean, I started the race really chill. I was just walking over the starting arch.
And then everyone was really running fast. I was thinking, maybe either everyone becomes Superman or I don't think they can hold this piece forever. So, actually, after a little while, I also started jogging in the flat part. But I really didn't want to push on the flat. And once it started to get hard, a little bit more uphill, I definitely pushed. You turned on the afterburners. Yeah. And I felt okay. A little bit burning lungs, but not too bad. So, I think also the other wasn't pushing like full, full power. But I was really happy to be one of the top guys at the first turn point. Yeah. And I think in this race, having that extra night pass is going to be maybe important.
Nice to have as a padding. Yeah, definitely. I don't know when I can use it actually but I think the most cool thing about it it's that I have it and it's not someone else yeah sure so yeah the main thing I wanted to ask you is the team when we spent time together at the ex-red rocks this fall the last night you and I were talking you said this is you're going to change it this year and you're not going to have pilots on the team and you're going to make more of the decisions yourself a big adjustment most of the pilots fly with or most of the athletes have pilots on their teams is that what you ended up doing yeah yeah yeah it's basically Andrea it's this very good friend from me from my home place he's starting flying now ah okay now the first two days of training here nice but otherwise he's quite good in driving and many many other things you and then it's Bruno and Fede which are two mountain guide okay cool they they fly down yeah they fly on the p yeah okay so the decisions are on you this time yeah you're gonna be you're gonna be deciding through the through the 12 days where to go where to launch what the route is yeah definitely Bruno has also a little bit an idea but the point is that I want to take the decision this time okay I don't have anyone which will do a real strategy for me for sure they Bruno at least has the knowledge
to do a real strategy for me for sure I don't have anyone which will do a
real if I gonna ask him for a takeoff and tell him look I'm here or he will see anyway from the live tracking he can give me like a takeoff yeah but in general weather strategy and yeah these I will have to do by myself yeah I just saw you doing the the gentleman from burn errors here is that what are you using for tech this time around basically as you know I'm not really good with technology and finally he came here so I kind of understood a bit how this application works and this application it's quite amazing you can have actually everything there weather forecast you can routing you have the live tracking on it and I use it a bit in the past months checking out the weather because I would not have also a weatherman on the competition yeah I will just check the burner map by myself and just standard metal blue and soaring Matthew yeah and with these I'm gonna take my decision yeah okay how has your preparation this time for your sixth different how is it different from previous editions other than a big change in the team yeah let's say it was a tough winter so it might be I'm a little bit less fit than normally because yeah I got sick really often is the last winter so I miss maybe comparing other years the base which I build up in the winter with the really long things I did it but I was kind of three weeks sick so I I lost a little bit of of time because of that but otherwise I'm since actually six seven years and don't prepare exiles in a particular way no I I just prepare myself for my life you're just living yeah and I'm anyway training a lot and I don't do any specific thing for excels you know yeah I mean in a way yes but it just
yeah I'm anyway training a lot and I don't do any specific thing for excels you know yeah I mean in a way yes but it just I mean in a way yes but it
just like that I try I mean it's not I try I do some more long things for the excels like
that I try I mean it's not I try I do some more long things for the
excels and then during the summer where it comes this shorter race
and for example and then during the summer where it comes this shorter
race and for example then by the end of the summer the dolomite man I adjust my training with
then by the end of the summer the dolomite man I adjust my training
with some more interval a section and yeah but it's nothing really focused on some more interval a section and yeah but it's nothing really focused on excels you told me something it the X Red excels you told me something it the X Red rocks that blew me away one of the days was a big rocks that blew me away one of the days was a big rocks that blew me away one of the days was a big vertical day and you got to the vertical day and you got to the vertical day and you got to the top before everybody else's you did every top before everybody else's you did every top before everybody else's you did every day and you weren't even sweating day and you weren't even sweating day and you weren't even sweating there was no drops of water on your face there was no drops of water on your face there was no drops of water on your face I would be just soaked moving not that I I would be just soaked moving not that I I would be just soaked moving not that I can move that fast but if I was trying can move that fast but if I was trying can move that fast but if I was trying to move that fast and you said you have to move that fast and you said you have to move that fast and you said you have them a very interesting hydration system them a very interesting hydration system them a very interesting hydration system can you tell everybody about what you do can you tell everybody about what you do can you tell everybody about what you do there well it's just that I don't drink there well it's just that I don't drink there well it's just that I don't drink so there's no water to sweat now when so there's no water to sweat now when so there's no water to sweat now when I'm on the eggs Alps Bruno it's all the I'm on the eggs Alps Bruno it's all the I'm on the eggs Alps Bruno it's all the time giving me to drink but like when time giving me to drink but like when time giving me to drink but like when I'm by myself I have a half a liter I'm by myself I have a half a liter I'm by myself I have a half a liter of water for a day amazing and you've been of water for a day amazing and you've been of water for a day amazing and you've been training this way for you said six training this way for you said six training this way for you said six seven years yeah yeah Wow I mean I you seven years yeah yeah Wow I mean I you seven years yeah yeah Wow I mean I you know like I like to look at the weight know like I like to look at the weight know like I like to look at the weight of the things and you don't want to of the things and you don't want to of the things and you don't want to carry a half kilo water yeah not one carry a half kilo water yeah not one carry a half kilo water yeah not one kilo so I think how do you know yeah kilo so I think how do you know yeah kilo so I think how do you know yeah amazing Aaron best of luck I'm really amazing Aaron best of luck I'm really amazing Aaron best of luck I'm really excited to watch you in this one I think excited to watch you in this one I think excited to watch you in this one I think you're really hitting your prime and you're really hitting your prime and you're really hitting your prime and you've had a big year Pakistan and the
you've had a big year Pakistan and the you've had a big year Pakistan and
the worlds and the Superfinal and a bunch
worlds and the Superfinal and a bunch worlds and the Superfinal and a
bunch of hike and fly and the Dolomiti and to of hike and fly and the Dolomiti and to of hike and fly and the Dolomiti and to get your year man good luck thank you get your year man good luck thank you get your year man good luck thank you very much Kevin always a pleasure thanks very much Kevin always a pleasure thanks very much Kevin always a pleasure thanks how are you hi Celine you excited I'm
how are you hi Celine you excited I'm how are you hi Celine you excited
I'm super excited and nervous I bet you're
super excited and nervous I bet you're super excited and nervous I bet
you're nervous it's hard as a rookie isn't it
nervous it's hard as a rookie isn't it nervous it's hard as a rookie isn't
it you don't know what you don't know yet
you don't know what you don't know yet you don't know what you don't know
yet no but I'm really looking forward to
no but I'm really looking forward to no but I'm really looking forward
to that how is your ankle my ankle is that how is your ankle my ankle is that how is your ankle my ankle is getting better and better every day getting better and better every day getting better and better every day yeah surprise every morning a different yeah surprise every morning a different yeah surprise every morning a different color yeah that's good
but less blue color yeah that's good but less blue color yeah that's good but less blue less purple yeah what did you do you less purple yeah what did you do you less purple yeah what did you do you sprained it or yes on the shooting for sprained it or yes on the shooting for sprained it or yes on the shooting for the after all the months yeah but the the after all the months yeah
but the
the after all the months yeah but
the pre-shooting we wanted to make a nice pre-shooting we wanted to make a nice pre-shooting we wanted to make a nice shot and I trusted my ankle all right shot and I trusted my ankle all right shot and I trusted my ankle all right your your background is acro yes in the your your background is acro yes in the your your background is acro yes in the very beginning I was just trying acro very beginning I was just trying acro very beginning I was just trying acro yeah okay where are you from I'm from yeah okay where are you from I'm from yeah okay where are you from I'm from Germany from the south part okay from
Germany from the south part okay from Germany from the south part okay
from the Alps in the Alps yeah like here I
the Alps in the Alps yeah like
here I
the Alps in the Alps yeah like here
I mean yeah yes I was born in Garmisch mean
yeah yes I was born in Garmisch mean yeah yes I was born in Garmisch
near demos vonk it must be your local near demos vonk it must be your local near demos vonk it must be your local site yeah okay I was born there and when
site yeah okay I was born there
and when
site yeah okay I was born there and
when I was 10 years old we moved to Kim see
I was 10 years old we moved to Kim see I was 10 years old we moved to Kim
see okay and we I was living there on a hut
okay and we I was living there on a hut okay and we I was living there on a
hut in the mountains with my mom and my
in the mountains with my mom and my in the mountains with my mom and
my sister this is sister yeah and I grew up sister this is sister yeah and I grew up sister this is sister yeah and I grew up there on the mountain and I also learned there on the mountain and I also learned there on the mountain and I also learned flying there around Kim see many of you flying there around Kim see many of you
flying there around Kim see many of
you pal Andra there's there's quite a few
pal Andra there's there's quite a few pal Andra there's there's quite a
few acro acro pilots here who have kind of
acro acro pilots here who have kind of acro acro pilots here who have kind
of made the switch when did you make the
made the switch when did you make the made the switch when did you make the
switch to XC are you still more of an
switch to XC are you still more of an switch to XC are you still more of an
actor XC pilot or an acro pilot now I'm
actor XC pilot or an acro pilot now I'm actor XC pilot or an acro pilot now I'm
a way more XC pilot before now I'm more a way
more XC
pilot before now I'm more a way more XC pilot before now
I'm more XC pilot
than acro pilot okay I made the
XC pilot than acro pilot okay I made the XC pilot than acro pilot okay I made
the switch after I had an accident with my switch after I had an accident with my switch after I had an accident with my ex-boyfriend he died when we did a hike ex-boyfriend he died when we did a hike ex-boyfriend he died when we did a hike and fly together and he was my acro and fly together and he was my acro and fly together and he was my acro buddy we were flying syncra together and buddy we were flying syncra together and buddy we were flying syncra together and we would did everything and afterwards I
we would did everything and afterwards I we would did everything and afterwards
I couldn't really enjoy flying acro anymore
couldn't really enjoy flying acro anymore couldn't really enjoy flying acro anymore
because there was something missing and
because there was something missing and because there was something missing
and that's why I kind of stopped I tried to that's why I kind of stopped I tried to that's why I kind of stopped I tried to get back to it but it's when you want get back to it but it's when you want get back to it but it's when you want to stop you really need to practice a lot
to stop you really need to practice a lot to stop you really need to practice a
lot a lot a lot to get back into the level
a lot a lot a lot to get back into the level a lot a lot a lot to get back into the
level you have been so yeah I was here
you have been so yeah I was here you have been so yeah I was here
that's a tough story tough life yeah
that's a tough story tough life
yeah that's a
tough story tough life
yeah yeah that's so easy and how long ago was
yeah that's so easy and how long ago was yeah that's so easy and how long ago
was that um it was 2019. okay so yeah and that was 2019. okay so yeah and that was 2019. okay so yeah and that was about when you started flying XE that was about when you started flying XE that was about when you started flying XE yeah yeah I would imagine the acro yeah yeah I would imagine the acro yeah yeah I would imagine the acro background has really helps you background has really helps you background has really helps you especially for an event like this when especially for an event like this when especially for an event like this when the weather isn't so good or things are the weather isn't so good or things are the weather isn't so good or things are a little bit dicey I was talking to your reporters when you were coming into the goal uh in the prologue and yeah and they were saying what a competent pilot you are that if it's because it was getting pretty big the skies were getting really big and i said is this gonna make her nervous and they said nah she's fine she's used to this she's good at the is is fear much of a is that playing much of a role as you go into this fear of the conditions of the weather is that a thing with you or no so not so much i think i wouldn't say it's fear i have a lot of respect of the weather thing because a lot of power and all that yes um but i wouldn't say it's fear okay it's more respect and when i feel that feeling of well i'm super focused and i really yeah but i wouldn't say i'm i'm scared what is the what is the greatest source of anxiety if you will at this stage and what what are you most worried about in the next 12 days yeah that yeah for sure my ankle that i cannot really push as much as i want because of that and my fitness i cannot compare my fitness to the others that's what i really know and that's yeah the weather also yeah it's not really helping yeah yeah i'm really counting on my flow flying right yeah so let's see what this will bring yeah yeah uh your team how did you assemble your team how did you put it together it's a lot of logistics yes but yeah i have three guys on my team yeah one is jacob it's my main supporter i know him from flying tandem together in gamish and we are super good friends and we did a lot of hiking flights together and yeah we can be both good mood but we also know afterwards it's all fine again and we can love together nice so i think that's a good base for being like in a super stressed um environment and the second one is francie he's also from gamish yeah and i'm living in his parents house underneath the roof and i know him from there and um he's also a super good friend now and he's really having a good vibe and he's good for the organizing in the van and and then tim he's i know him from kimsey and he's a really good acro pilot and he's good in flying and um he's also good in photography and yeah it's also it's working well yeah very well yeah so your whole team is very familiar with this area that i don't think the fans understand very much because i didn't even tell very recently but the leg between kimsey and lermus is one that has been in many of the the additions but there's this new thing where you can't fly unless it's from a dhv approved launch which makes that leg much much different yeah there are launches through that zone if you take the north or the more direct line to lermus and stay kind of north side of the massif going in but if you bomb that's a hard place to walk yeah and there's not huge distances but there's distances between the launches and then some of the launches aren't going to be oriented correctly for the bavarian winds coming in yeah i asked anybody this yet but you'd be a good one to ask as you know the area so well do you have a plan a a plan b a plan c what what is the what is the what are we going to see through there where are people going to take the in valley or are they going to go direct and hope for the best i think if it's good flying everyone would prefer the in valley because for sure there's the airspace around innsbruck which can be tricky with the ctr and if you come low you need to land um but i think it's a higher mountains it's may it's more race route because you this year you also don't need to go around the two spitze it's a big change you don't have to be on the north side yeah yeah i think the people would prefer the in valley this year so fly the in valley and then take one of the spine routes up on the south side of the zoo spits and then you're in yeah i think okay when it's good flying that that airspace has in has always made me very nervous because it's big it's a ctr yeah but you're allowed to come if you stay very close to the terrain if you're bombing out it's it's okay right you can come in underneath it yeah you can for landing it's good but the rule this year is that if you enter the ctr you straight have to go land so you don't get a penalty if you enter the ctr you just need to you have to land land you can't keep going no you are not allowed to glide and use the valley breeze to go further you can't just stay under 300 no yeah you're done yeah okay okay and if you don't show that obviously in your track you're going to get the airspace penalty yep okay i didn't know that interesting um well we have the ankle anything else that's are you there's a lot going into this is there yes we're less than 24 hours now are you just are you just fuck it let's go let's do it let's get this thing going yeah for me it's like oh i just i really want to just go and that it's finally starting to help like more than the last six months was just except here except there it is this is that organizing searching for sponsors everything was just around that and now it's such a long like here in the pre-week is super nice with all the athletes but it's also like uh like how do you say when the horses are yes let's go yes yes you just want to go and then it's starting yeah well we're not long now no i wish you the best of luck have a wonderful adventure with your team and i'll see you out there on course line hopefully we'll be flying with you quite a bit hopefully yeah thanks for your time thank you awesome i am talking to damien lacaze uh always smiling how are you bud um hello i'm fine thank you uh a bit uh excited now but uh ready to to start it's a bit long to stay here for one week and waiting for a lot of anticipation isn't it yeah i always had a hard time with this week just come on let's just do it let's do it how do you feel this time compared to your rookie year last year or two years ago i'm my feeling is much more much less stressed okay so i'm going to tell you a little bit about what i've been doing for the last three years okay uh two years ago i i didn't sleep at all at all four days before the start this was crazy i was exhausted before starting and now it's better yeah i i sleep well i i keep calm i enjoy time with my team i i chill here it's now it's a good mood for me and i hope my
precedent experience will help me to to do a lot of really big mountain experience uh
with expeditions with antoine that we talked about in the podcast a couple years ago how do you think that that helps you in in races like this just that that experience i don't know if if it helps a lot but yeah when we um in the mountain i'm like at home like in my home you know it's not uh you understand it yeah it makes sense for me i mean the terrain you understand normal normal area it's not uh impressive for me so that's a good way to to feel good yeah but my alpine experience i think my alpine experience don't don't help me a lot look at maxim he's not a mountaineer at all and he's in two or three years he learned a lot about that and now it's better than me in mountains you know you've been doing other hike and fly races though and quite well and also you have quite a bit of comp experience in in there this has been an interesting debate you know someone like Paul Guschlbauer doesn't really fly many competitions but he does really well in this event uh Chrigel had obviously in his past done a ton maxime lots he's one of the best in the world he's the world champion right now how much do you think there's crossover how much how important is it to know how to fly really fast versus just mountain flying yeah i think comp to make some competition in high level it helps a lot to fly fast and it's very important for the first then first days when we are all together in gaggles and something like that and it's important too when we are alone to to increase your flight speed you know it's for me comes helps me a lot to to to learn to fly faster but um you you can be very strong in i can fly too without uh competition like paul for example it's uh yeah if you're a good cross country pilot if you if you um manage to get high all the time don't make mistakes it's what it's working well uh too yeah so there is two schools of that i think maxim is full of speed uh and uh don't make many mistakes and he's very fast in fly but uh you can do very very good without this this race experience i think more more important to just stay in the air isn't it i think in the long run as to sometimes you have to fly slow yeah on the short run like bound to fly in france or yeah it's very important to not make mistake because it's over if you if you land quickly or something like that and very important to to fly fast without mistakes so on the short run maybe it's more important than the x-alps do you have an overriding goal an achievement something you want to get out of the race uh yeah um i have two okay first is to to spend an amazing an amazing sorry a good lots of good times with my team and uh like two years ago um keep smiling uh even in the in the hard moments and the second is to see the lmz because uh yesterday uh two years ago i missing it not many did one day for 100k maybe before maybe because of my penalty i don't know but uh this year i want to see the goal yes damien good luck we'll be watching you and uh you look very prepared and and confident and i can't wait to watch you race thank you very much thanks bud that would be good as a background noise is the crackle of the bacon that's totally canadian well and everybody loves bacon we
learned a lot from
you okay i'm with team canada james good to see you man we had some we had some fun stories last night we're uh 24 hours out how you feeling yeah thanks gavin uh super stoked to be here um feeling uh excited uh nervous 12 days it's a massive massive challenge uh i think we're prepared but you never really know until you're actually in it yeah you don't know until you don't know what you don't know yet do you exactly it's a rookie team what has you most concerned i guess if you will or or scared or most anxious about the next 12 days uh where do i start we have a litany no i i think we're i think we're pretty good um i you know we have a big support team um we got a lot of brains on the ground um which is by design uh you know i'm playing uh you know in european turf uh you know it's really a european sport so i wanted to have as much um you know i'm playing uh you know in european turf uh you know it's really a european um back up and support as possible uh ultimately obviously the
decision making
comes down to me in the air and those minute by minute second by second decisions um translate
into many kilometers on the ground so
i'm hoping that i can make the right call in unfamiliar terrain um and unfamiliar conditions unfamiliar valley winds and make uh make solid calls that i'm happy with to get me a long course line so um right now as mentioned it's just a lot of the unknown but
i think that we've done everything we can to prepare there's never enough times there no no no i mean we could um you know we could spend months um researching a course um you know scouting individual locations individual
turn points but um
ultimately it it really
depends on the day you know what the weather is going to be like for that uh that particular site um so yeah there's there's a lot there's a lot to wrap your mind
around you're one of the athletes in my mind
that uh you know you're one of the athletes in my mind that uh you know you're one of the athletes you know our our mutual
trainer ben abruzzo has trained you and he has talked about that you know you're unlike many of the athletes here you've got a very serious job you've got a family a lot of the athletes have families but many of them are professional pilots this is what they do 24 7 uh you've had to juggle a lot to get ready for this what does that look like i saw a lot of pretty crazy posts on instagram and post holing and yeah we don't have very favorable conditions for flying in the winter in canada yeah exactly and that's just it so a lot of the a lot of the winter was physical prep uh working with ben he had a very detailed uh as you know extremely detailed training program um that i was following as much as possible it required a lot of creativity in terms of scheduling and planning um where i could fit it into my schedule a lot of early mornings um some
late nights
uh trying to fit the volume of training in there during the high high volume weeks um and uh then i was able to do a lot of the training and i was able to do a lot of the training and then lately i've transitioned to more flying um so i recently got the advanced gear uh that i'll be racing uh for the X-Alps and uh became familiar with that um so yeah it's it's really a challenge coming from north america not just canada but north america
i think in general it's um it's um yeah it's it's it's definitely a challenge but uh the physical prep wise uh i don't know if i just just maxed it out um what is your job uh i run a cosmetic surgery clinic okay um on the back end finance and administration so it's uh it's serious but i'm also flexible so i heard in the i heard last night we were telling stories during the x period you were handling spreadsheets and billing and i
don't think a lot of the athletes are doing that kind of thing these 12 days yeah there was a there was some uh you know by side of the road uh payroll submissions and let's make a pact right now in front of your team who's also you're not gonna do that for the next 12 days right you're gonna let these let these guys handle that that's right if i'm top landing it's to check the route not to uh not to make a business call um but i um on that same note i think that um i'm confident in my in my skills in my and my training as a pilot i i'm i'm um reassured by you know the amount of prep i put into it and and my flying tech and my flying skill that uh it's even in the prologue it was nice to see that i'm not uh at the back of the pack you know i'm still kind of in the middle and i say okay well if i could do this full time you know where would i be so maybe that's uh in the future a little bit so the future possibly possibly well we'll talk in 12 days one of the best pieces of advice and we'll close on this but one of the best pieces of advice i got before my first one in 2015 i went
through a lot of things and i was like i'm gonna do this and i was like i'm gonna do this and i was like i'm gonna do this and i was going
through zurich and sat down with Tom Payne was still working at google and he's a
real map expert and he was kind of taking us through the course as you've done with him and he he said how are you guys handling conflict resolution and because he he supported john chambers in
one and then he did one he did the 2009 event himself and then he supported john chambers twice and
especially with a big team uh there's a lot going on mistakes are going to be made how
if you guys talked about that how how would you handle when things go when they don't go well yeah uh team dynamics are are definitely uh a big part of performance overall as a team um you know there's the old saying if you want to go fast go alone if you want to go far go as a team so i think that um for us it's um it's really just about open communication yeah um you know rule or goal number one is to is to um you know be safe for us all to be safe supporters um myself um rule number two is to have fun you know this is a very serious race um but you know none of us are you know getting rich off this it's not our you know our day job so uh if we weren't having fun then we wouldn't be here so i
think it's
important to keep
that in perspective and to make sure that um when things come up um to just address them openly to um you know work towards solutions um and to involve the whole team um ultimately if we're not enjoying this we're not having fun then what's the yeah we just have some cat food ready to go that's right don't be a pussy don't be a pussy that's probably rule number maybe three glad we got that straight james thanks a lot good luck you look incredibly fit and uh there's a lot of smiling people on your team i think you guys are gonna have a blast enjoy the adventure thanks super
stoked okay first up we're talking to leonard oblak who was in the pyeongchang olympics for biathlon and i saw you go up the hill the other day in the prologue man you were fast yeah actually i felt really good um but uh yeah i learned i learned many things from the prologue i pushed forward uh but then i didn't expect the helicopter uh about me and then i just didn't hear the the voice from the navigation and then i got lost once and then the second time and then i was i was really struggling and then i just need to look at my phone and to to find the right path and then i need to descend a little bit and then i just fall into the middle of the group and uh yeah i just uh try uh try to push hard as possible and then i
caught maxim in the front and
i saw that he he's really good and then it's it's not worth to push uh forward uh just follow
uh the relax um on on his back yeah that's it i mean that leads us to a really good thing i remember back in 2015 when i was a rookie
what's the uh you learned a lot just from the prologue it's kind of nice to have these little quick races to learn all these things but you're obviously incredibly fit and i'm sure you're pretty fired up to get out the
gun but it did it uh kind of set in the in your mind the the sometimes slow is fast yeah uh or let's say uh to do uh more with your head is sometimes better than just with your legs yeah so where is your head right now you're we're about 24 hours from the start what do you think i mean as a rookie there's a lot of unknowns um yeah it's quite uh an unknown unknown world uh for me this race i have never experienced something like that so i even don't know what to expect i just know that physically and mentally i'm really good uh prepared um um actually i didn't prepare uh do the preparations um i don't know um something special it's just my way of life i train every day it's in my nature so yeah i know that i can i can do that in 12 days i can fight on the ground i can fly by my own in the air and yeah the goal is just to um to push uh to give everything i have and uh to fly uh as i can you started flying in 2016 you said but it's been kind of a dream your last name means cloud oblak yeah that's very cool how does the i would imagine biathlon i i've never done any you know professional cross country skiing by any means and i i don't even know how to shoot anything i've never shot a gun but the i would imagine it's the perfect combo for this kind of thing where you have incredibly high heart rate going really hard and then you can just drop it in a second right isn't that what biathlon is all about yeah you know um it's kind of similar here um in biathlon yeah it consists of um actually of dynamic and aesthetic yeah and you need to have um let's say a lot of adrenaline and motivation on the track and then you need to calm into a minute or even less that you can uh be very precise that you you could be really precise and then again you need to to switch to get back into flow and i mean i would imagine that really lends uh perfectly to launching you know you you've you've got these incredible climbs day after day many times obviously often in one day and then you can just get you just calm right down and be ready to go yeah yeah there is uh let's say um i know how to do it in biathlon but i need to learn uh how to do it here because i saw on the prologue that the guys are really professionals and really really fast at the takeoff yeah i saw uh Chrigel uh coming at the takeoff and once i turned around he's off yeah he's off he and tangy and aaron they're like the maxime too they're it they just the bags out the wings out and they're off the hill it's amazing exactly over and over and i'm really not used to it you know i'm like a free flyer and uh when i reach the takeoff i normally enjoy the view for a few minutes uh and then i prepare myself in let's say in three four or five minutes but here you know in five minutes they are already on the first turn point they i learned something from kriegel's coach a few years ago from thomas i when i started working with him for the last race you know that it's the they really they break it down into seconds you know that every packing if you can pack a minute faster than everybody else then at the end of the day that's five minutes six minutes and and a little bit more glide that's a half a k and it's it's all just it's adding up over the course of the race you know you have to think of it in these little tiny chunks not getting to zelem say it's the it's the little bit by bit by bit by bit and it's boy they've got they've ironed everything down to the last little thing haven't they yeah yeah what do you most nervous about at this point or is your olympic training you don't really have too much anxiety about it yeah the most nervous um uh about uh how um we will manage to do it as a team because as i said this is the first um uh edition uh for all of us and uh we don't know we will learn a lot i know yeah yeah we will see actually um exactly during the race um and we will realize after the the race what is important and what we missed and where we failed and so on there's a lot you don't know at this point but you'll know a lot in 12 days yeah yeah and you know in slovenia um when i became a national champion i know in slovenia every corner every village under me everything you know yeah but here you are on such a huge place that it's impossible for me especially because i'm not so experienced as the other pilots um yeah it will be a quite an unknown unknown world for me i get the sense from you that this is maybe the first of many yeah yeah exactly you're planning on this that's the plan yeah i like it good luck have fun i was very impressed by your ability to go uphill i think you're going to be well suited for this race have a good time enjoy the adventure yeah thanks thanks a lot thanks leonard can you say one oh yeah it's a little hard for me to say that how you guys doing doing good man nice to see you nice quite well yeah i'm happy that i'm remaining on usa one yes you've got that you're the veteran now and actually i mean i think we're technically just team usa this year yeah yeah a little bit only one so revis logan revis you've supported me in the last two how has that helped you get ready for this one is that is that uh knowledge and information and history really helped set up for this one less nervousness and less anxiety or is it all the same oh it's huge um you know in 2019 when i came over for my first race with you i had never flown in the alps um i was good at weather forecasting in the states um but it was a massive unknown um and things worked as i expected and learned a lot from ben a lot from you so i haven't done it twice i feel pretty prepared for a third one are you guys using a weather an outside third party for weather are you doing it all we don't need it yeah we got revis he's pretty good he's really good yeah yeah i like that app for sure how are you feeling you had a nice prologue uh you seem strong ben's your your trainer as well i just talked to james across the way and yeah both you guys how are you feeling i mean i think most people are saying good i'm saying good but uh yeah there's nerves there's um it's it's interesting to be on the start line with some really amazing athletes really amazing pilots so yeah there's a little bit of that like you know just figuring out where we stand how to make it all work and excited what are your what are your strengths do you feel like going into this are you playing to your strengths are you more worried about the weaknesses what are you what are you thinking about right now what are they we're 24 hours out what are the most because as a rookie team you've got a lot of experience you're your first time
but as a rookie team there's a lot you don't know i i remember being very nervous about that yeah
yeah the unknowns yeah i think you know for us we've got we've got a lot to think about and so i'm trying not to think about it yeah how's that going it's rough man yeah yeah being surrounded by ex-alps all the time but i love it you know just in strengths weaknesses we've got some
of both you know and i haven't really figured out what our big strength is or what our big weakness is i'm feeling fit ben did an awesome job i'm like body feels good sleeping is good excited to do more of that are there any kind of rules you've set as a team as just kind of okay here's the pace we're going to try to shoot for here's the
yeah totally oh here's the are there any what are you going to be telling logan in the first few days what is what what do you cut because you used to have to tell me a lot you know i used to have to kind of guide me through it in a sense because you get tired you get you get crushed we've been working a lot on pacing in the pre-race um i think that we're set there but the race excitement always ramps up so i have a feeling there might be a time or two where i'm telling them to dial it back we'll go at heart pace yeah there's pretty much no way to not go out hard yeah you know you get to the start line it's exciting your heart rate's already at 150 before you even start moving so we'll move and then bringing it way back yeah 12 days we learned a lot in the x-peer yeah as far as going out too hard you guys worked together in the x-peer we did we're a rookie x-alps team but we had this team in the x-peer um with chris as well and with chris lormer as well oh and then you have the videographer so you've got four on the team in a sense but three core yeah it's three core one one vehicle for the three of us and then we have matt fairfax here is going to do some filming uh for shocks so really excited about that yeah yeah yeah we did the x-peer in a smaller van in trickier terrain and fewer places to fill water worth cell service so in a lot of ways i think that was great preparation the team worked really well and i think uh with some of the advantages of the alps uh it'll be pretty smooth and i understand you and chris have a fond love of gummies just like you and Ben is that right yeah i'm definitely the the main gummy guy on the team but these guys dip into it every once in a while yeah every stop we make Revis loads up it's uh keeps them going whatever's gonna make the supporters happy I'm happy what goal what overriding goal or overriding achievement what do you want to get out of this what where would you like to be in in 12 days not necessarily geographically yeah yeah sure good question so the whole idea right now is go out have fun have an epic Adventure I'm not worried about placement I'm
not worried about competing against the other athletes because there's such a wide variety but what we're here to do is to keep moving and trying to make it to the finish line you say that
everybody has said that by the way okay is that a hard thing to achieve I mean it can you can you live that yeah it gets easier and easier okay I I'm a competitive person for sure yeah but for this race and I think we showed that in the prologue it wasn't about what place we got it was about not being not being on the ground
when we should be in the air yeah you know and honestly
I believe it but it also just helps me sleep yeah you know it just takes so much of the pressure off not thinking about the other athletes we're looking them at them as if you know they're showing us their moves they're showing you know some routes things like that but information exactly exactly that's what Revis is doing a ton of but
no the goal is LMC and we're we're racing the clock yeah Revis what are you doing differently if anything this time around how how has your past experience
uh informed how you go forward in this one uh we're using pretty much the same Blueprint we've maybe tweaked uh some of the apps and technology we use a little bit um but uh pretty much the same program continuously looking at weather forecasts uh real-time weather data all the live tracking and um just constantly updating our tactical profile as we go and uh trying to feed Logan only the relevant information when he's flying and as soon as he's on the ground give him the best uh route to the next launch or campsite and uh he's solid with the decision making in those situations too he's got the technical skills to land wherever he needs to and pull up a map and figure out next launch if he's out of cell service or if there's any question you know because we can't see everything he can I gather from following you on social and uh you know you're just your passion for this sport I gather this is potentially the first of many is that how you're kind of thinking about this coming into it the idea was was no let's think about this one let's decide after the race you know all that kind of stuff I can already say that I I love it you know we haven't started the race so I will let you know for sure after um yeah exactly let's talk in 12 days but for now you know we're trying to do our best to set ourselves up for future success and so no matter how this race goes hopefully there's uh the opportunity for another one whether we do it or not and do you see that for yourself as well Rose is this uh it's a big undertaking for for everybody not just Logan it's a it's a lot of prep it's a lot of time it's a lot of money it's there's a lot that goes into this yeah we were talking about that in the car the other day um I think where I stand is uh that was that was a good one yeah I think where I stand is
uh I can't realistically commit to doing I can play race support role in Europe every summer it just eats into my xc flying too much it's too much the good flying in the states but I certainly could do xops every other year pretty fun isn't it I'm hearing a lot of different things about the weather Tom Payne who's been in the race and followed the race since the beginning is saying he thinks it's going to be the fastest xops ever I'm also hearing that the first couple days look pretty tricky you're very good at the weather what are you seeing we're not looking that far ahead really um I'm trying generally not to look more than two days in advance because it's not that relevant to our tactics uh we make use of what we've got and uh I don't even want to know yeah yeah I haven't I haven't even thought about it well how
does tomorrow look let's say that I haven't gotten that far really excellent yeah forecast will uh get dialed in this evening it'll be what it is that's it yeah the whole thing you know there's a lot of unknowns we'll we'll figure them out as we go some things you can control and some things you have that's exactly right it's not relevant to Logan's decision making it stays out of his ears and out of his brain excellent love it guys good luck um I'm stoked to fly with you some hopefully and uh see what you guys do and mostly just stoked to see how you how your adventure unfolds thanks Gavin thanks for your time thanks I'm speaking to Marcus Anders hi Marcus how you feeling we're 24 hours out yeah it's uh getting close it's getting close the fun is getting real yeah it's a hard week isn't it I find that it's just so much going on you just want to go want to go do it yeah but it's it's you know it's part of the game uh you have to do all the
pre-week shots and um organization but at one point you
look really forward to the release to
the start because then basically it's just I can fly game and enjoying the pain enjoying the fun this is kind of home for you correct you're pretty close to home uh this is your third yeah okay
how does this one feel different if any from the previous two at this point uh it um kind of um feels good to have to start here um start in my kind of backyard um I know the area quite well that's why I took
it easy in the pre-week um and route-wise anyway um it's kind of similar to last
edition and the edition before it's just like puzzling together yeah so I think there I'm quite optimistic um and I know the area um but um um for me this except is not just the third except um it's like a milestone because um 15 months ago I had a bad crash with the Speedwing and I broke my upper leg quite hard so um it's kind of the milestone to get back into I can fly racing um because since then I did like proper comp racing some physical races
but not hike and fly racing and it feels super important for me to to just
know okay I can do it again and compete again how does it feel mentally with the the that injury and also the other two the last two you've had injuries as well that have unfortunately forced you to retire is does any of that play in your mind at this point or is it does that make you stronger I I think um and there's quite some some positive things out of this happening I was super lucky um and I appreciate it yet that I can still do all my stuff um but now I I fly differently I I think um more into that with some decisions I make and I really avoid unnecessary risk so if I'm not 100 sure if I can top land for example I have like some connection to my leg and my leg suddenly starts to like make some small pain and wow okay take it easy you don't need to force the top landing yeah and uh two years ago I was like quite good in the race and then on day 10 I made some mistakes on top landing and hurt my ankle um and then I had to retire the race unfortunately because I was like you you would have made Monaco you were doing really well you're having a good race that's good this year I'm really looking forward to make my race slow down sometimes because slowing down sometimes means you going fast you are going fast um you don't need to rush all the time that's also quite some learning from my my accident because there was some some brush involved and stuff um so I I'm feeling good yeah and I'm looking forward to to finish the race this year and kids and tell them say is there one thing that you're that concerns you as um is there one thing that's kind of got you the most nervous whether that's the the route or the other athletes or the team or the preparation something that is oh I wish there's could be that difference yeah you know the to have a proper goal for the race it can give you some some great motivation and for me the main goal will be reach the goal line and um I'm a little bit of afraid if you have this motivation situation and the weather is bad um and then you might not reach the goal even it can happen that none of all the pilots reach the goal line because of shitty weather because the route is longer there are some parts where you have to like land make a selfie do the via ferrata and also with the snow situation this year high turn points it might be tricky to reach them by foot and also flying wise because if there's a lot of snow sometimes it's not that easy to go into the high mountains and um this can like it is a good motivation in the beginning but at one point when you like see the end coming and you calculate our it's rainy and you don't reach the goal line you can fall into kind of depression and that's quite some mental game and and there I really need to be strong and my whole team need to be strong yeah it's not all gonna go according to plan we know that it never does yeah you can plan like uh for ages yes the end it will be different it is what it is that's that's also like the positive thing about the race because that's uh the Adventure it's Adventure flying you plan it will be different sometimes you get some cool surprises yeah sometimes you just up and you you think you you you you don't know how to fly anymore and then you see live tracking and everyone is bombing out and so it's okay it's okay it's okay yeah there's a lot of possibilities in 12 days isn't there there's been many times in mind where I just think oh well that's it you know and then an hour later you're okay and sometimes not but lots of ups and downs Marcus I wish you the best of luck you and your team have a wonderful Adventure stay healthy and and uh we'll see you in 12 days in cell yeah thank you very much it was really nice to talk to you as always and then see you see you at the finish line sounds good bud thank you good luck thanks Nicola sitting in your van we're about 24 hours out how are you feeling I'm feeling quite relaxed at the moment good yeah we are just thinking day by day and yeah because if you think at the whole race you can feel the yeah the anxiety yeah yeah yeah so we are quite relaxed and we just check it the weather for tomorrow and how does it look yeah not so good actually but yeah with the over development it's like uh quite cloudy all the day maybe in the afternoon it will be a bit of Sun but then some development yeah I'm hearing some quite strong Northeast winds maybe maybe some uh some weather predictions yeah they have some strong wind but others not so yeah we see yeah we will see tomorrow how does how do how do you feel if you can remember this time compared to two years ago you were a rookie going into the last one but still a lot of flying experience in your family and in your history but how do you feel this time compared to last time yeah it's quite different yeah when you are rookie everything is new uh you feel the pressure from the media from the other athletes and now it's quite it's more familiar no yeah when you come here and you already know many outlets so uh yeah I think it's it's it's a uh it felt more relaxed and more focused on to do your best and we have more experience that this helps us a bit and so yeah it's quite it's more nice the second time yeah you and I had a really cool flight off the Kimsey in in the last race that was very special that was really cool coming out of those clouds and and uh the the memories from this are amazing aren't they yeah yeah I remember you coming in the takeoff I was waiting there for quite a while and you told me like something like uh what a crazy we are we're just gonna fly into the invisible yeah yeah um last time with the you know they didn't they didn't there was quite a few accidents in the last race and some fear injuries a lot of really crazy weather the craziest that I had seen in my in my four editions I never really found out they didn't publish too much about what happened you hit some cable what what happened with the accident it was quite a strange situation I was flying very close to tail that was in front of me I was like 20 meters behind him and we were in this Valley with a lot of cables uh invisible cables yes Supreme that place is scary yeah yeah and uh I saw some cables before and don't then that was in front of me so I was a bit more relaxed and and then instantly I saw a cable just in front of Tao and one second later they'll catch this cable with the previous swing and I was so close that I was afraid to go into Tao that was falling yeah wow so we were also very close to the Ridge so I decided to go on the Ridge and Tom planned well that was falling beside me yeah uh and there was a small tree that I touch it with the star below and and spun you into the hill yeah right oh so it wasn't a cable that guy it was it it was the landing yeah yeah okay there was a cable yeah I took it I'm I was avoiding uh Tao and wow yeah I never even knew that yeah it happened in like one second two seconds yeah and how bad was the injury not so bad actually I had three macro fracture on the vertebrae okay uh but not nothing too serious uh I I just took two months of relax and then I was like okay yeah luckily what what what was it like emotionally to have to end I I've often I felt so bad over the years for people that have either gotten hurt or just can't keep going it must be really difficult yeah I mean um yeah it's better to don't think yeah during the race but yeah this sport is not uh it's not easy and I think in the next year uh we should like um have more rules because yeah yeah it's still an extreme sport but with more rules rules it's more fair and with less risk because yeah some beers I
it's still an extreme sport but with more rules it's more fair and with less risk because yeah some beers I it's still an extreme sport but with more rules it's more fair and with less risk because yeah some beers I it's still an extreme sport but with more rules it's more fair and with less risk because yeah some beers I it's still an extreme sport but with more rules it's more fair and with less risk because yeah some beers I it's still an extreme sport but with more rules it's more fair and with less risk because yeah some beers I it's still an extreme sport but with more rules it's more fair and with less risk because yeah some beers I it's still an extreme sport but with more rules it's more fair and with less risk because yeah some beers I
I someone told me that uh there were some
I I someone told me that uh there were some I I someone told me that uh there were some
cases that could be even worse than the injury
cases that could be even worse than the injury cases that could be even worse than the injury
you know yeah sure uh so yeah you know when you
you know yeah sure uh so yeah you know when you you know yeah sure uh so yeah you know when
you are in a race you you you have a mind of
are in a race you you you have a mind of are in a race you you you have a mind
of competition so you don't care about risk too competition so you don't care about risk too competition so you don't care about risk too much no uh I mean I'm quite shy so I care much no uh I mean I'm quite shy so I care much no uh I mean I'm quite shy so I care about these uh these risks yeah and there about these uh these risks yeah and there about these uh these risks yeah and there were things uh bad things happen what is were things uh bad things happen what is were things uh bad things happen what is your goal for this this one if you have your goal for this this one if you have your goal for this this one if you have you have many goals I'm sure but is you have many goals I'm sure but is you have many goals I'm sure but is there an overriding you know something there an overriding you know something there an overriding you know something you want to achieve from this race sure
you want to achieve from this race sure you want to achieve from this race
sure sure uh my goal is to enjoy the race yeah
sure uh my goal is to enjoy the race yeah sure uh my goal is to enjoy the race yeah
and then to reach the finish line and
and then to reach the finish line and and then to reach the finish line
and that is very a very ambitious goal but
that is very a very ambitious goal but that is very a very ambitious goal
but yeah this is what I'm looking for and
yeah this is what I'm looking for and yeah this is what I'm looking for
and this year I had some difficult moments
this year I had some difficult moments this year I had some difficult
moments at home so I'm not uh so trained as I
at home so I'm not uh so trained
as I
at home so I'm not uh so trained as
I wanted to be here physically you mean or
wanted to be here physically you mean or wanted to be here physically you mean
or flying wise no physical physically yeah flying wise no physical physically yeah flying wise no physical physically yeah I mean I'm not so bad maybe a bit more I mean I'm not so bad maybe a bit more I mean I'm not so bad maybe a bit more printed last time yeah but I was hoping printed last time yeah but I was hoping printed last time yeah but I was hoping to come here well more prepared but it's to come here well more prepared but it's to come here well more prepared but it's what it is and and the colors did the what it is and and the colors did the what it is and and the colors did the same your dad is one of the Legends of same your dad is one of the Legends of same your dad is one of the Legends of the sport what what advice has he given the sport what what advice has he given the sport what what advice has he given you that's helped it's uh actually you that's helped it's uh actually you that's helped it's uh actually speaking not so so much I was with me speaking not so so much I was with me speaking not so so much I was with me yeah and for example one time we were
yeah and for example one time we were yeah and for example one time we
were making a training task with other pilots
making a training task with other pilots making a training task with other
pilots in Italia and I was flying so bad and I
in Italia and I was flying so bad and I in Italia and I was flying so bad and
I was super sad at the landing and I asked
was super sad at the landing and I asked was super sad at the landing and I
asked him what what I did wrong no and he
him what what I did wrong no and
he him
what what I did wrong no and
he rapped me like ah you were flying today
rapped me like ah you were flying
today rapped me like ah you were flying today he shows me how to fly good like never he shows me how to fly good like never he shows me how to fly good like never really teach me okay yeah show by really teach me okay yeah show by really teach me okay yeah show by example yeah example yeah example yeah Nicola good luck uh I have a soft spot Nicola good luck uh I have a soft spot Nicola good luck uh I have a soft spot in my heart for you for some reason I I
in my heart for you for some reason
I I
in my heart for you for some reason I
I really like watching what you do and we
really like watching what you do
and we
really like watching what you do and
we had some nice moments in the air last
had some nice moments in the air last had some nice moments in the air
last time and I wish you the best of luck you time and
I wish you the best of luck you and
your team have a wonderful
and your team have a wonderful and your team have a
wonderful adventure thank you so much Kevin and
adventure thank you so much Kevin and adventure thank you so much Kevin
and see you around see you around sounds
see you around see you around sounds see you around see you around
sounds good all right I'm with team Oz Rich
good all right I'm with team Oz Rich good all right I'm with team Oz
Rich how you doing man yeah good yeah how you
how you doing man yeah good yeah how you how you doing man yeah good yeah how
you feeling pretty good yeah the prologue
feeling pretty good yeah the prologue feeling pretty good yeah the prologue
was a little bit stressful yeah it's was a little bit stressful yeah it's was a little bit stressful yeah it's something that you don't really want to something that you don't really want to
something that you don't really want to do a
prologue actually because I can
do a prologue actually because I can do a prologue actually because I can
sort of take my time and yeah like I've
sort of take my time and yeah
like I've
sort of take my time and yeah
like I've got three days to you know do all right
got three days to you know do all right got three days to you know do all
right I guess to so I really want to I don't I guess to so I really want to I don't I guess to so I really want to I don't want to get eliminated on day three want to get eliminated on day three want to get eliminated on day three that'll be a bit demoralizing is that that'll be a bit demoralizing is that that'll be a bit demoralizing is that your biggest fear at this point or your biggest fear at this point or your biggest fear at this point or what's your what's your biggest concern what's your what's your biggest concern what's your what's your biggest concern I guess my biggest concern is well being I guess my biggest concern is well being I guess my biggest concern is well being injured yeah is probably number one yeah injured yeah is probably number one yeah injured yeah is probably number one yeah and then being eliminated on day three I and then being eliminated on day three I and then being eliminated on day three I think would be yeah it wouldn't be great think would be yeah it wouldn't be great think would be yeah it wouldn't be great because it's a lot of prep to only go because it's a lot of prep to only go because it's a lot of prep to only go three days yeah the preparation people three days yeah the preparation people three days yeah the preparation people don't really realize how intense it is don't really realize how intense it is preparation is as soon as you get in preparation is as soon as you get in preparation is as soon as you get in you start thinking well I actually got you start thinking well I actually got you start thinking well I actually got myself two days just to celebrate I had myself two days just to celebrate I had myself two days just to celebrate I had a few drinks you know you called some a few drinks you know you called some a few drinks you know you called some friends up and then I needed to start friends up and then I needed to start friends up and then I needed to start training and stuff you know getting training and stuff you know getting training and stuff you know getting plans and the sister really as you know plans and the sister really as you know plans and the sister really as you know it's a lot big it's like being being a it's a lot big it's like being being a it's a lot big it's like being being a project manager for a company you know project manager for a company you know project manager for a company you know yes but and people are coming with you yes but and people are coming with you yes but and people are coming with you on this ride and it's sort of you know on this ride and it's sort of you know on this ride and it's sort of you know inherently it's pretty selfish activity inherently it's pretty selfish activity inherently it's pretty selfish activity mmm so trying to you know get the right mmm so trying to you know get the right mmm so trying to you know get the right people with the right skills and then I people with the right skills and then I people with the right skills and then I don't have heaps of money I don't you don't have heaps of money I don't you don't have heaps of money I don't you know spent most of my time not working in know spent most of my time not working in know spent most of my time not working in my life adventuring yeah so trying to my life adventuring yeah so trying to my life adventuring yeah so trying to work that in exercise and work I don't
work that in exercise and work I don't work that in exercise and work I
don't know how people like James does it with
know how people like James does it with know how people like James does it
with like two kids and a wife yeah it's like
two kids and a wife yeah it's like two kids and a wife yeah it's
impressive the ones that aren't you impressive the ones that aren't you impressive the ones that aren't you know quote-unquote professional pilots know quote-unquote professional pilots know quote-unquote professional pilots that they're doing this is you know that
they're doing this is you know that they're doing this is you know pretty much well I think it'd be really pretty much well I think it'd be really pretty much well I think it'd be really really really difficult to beat those really really difficult to beat those really really difficult to beat those guys because they're just full-time and guys because they're just full-time and guys because they're just full-time and they have you know support and have they have you know support and have they have you know support and
have heaps of sponsorship they don't really heaps of sponsorship they don't really heaps of sponsorship they don't really have to worry as much I don't think is have to worry as much I don't think is have to worry as much I don't think is it's different pressures it is different it's different pressures it is different it's different pressures it is different pressures probably a lot more people to pressures probably a lot more people to pressures probably a lot more people to make happy and yeah there's a lot there's make happy and yeah there's a lot there's make happy and yeah there's a lot there's a lot of demands to that you don't see a lot of demands to that you don't see a lot of demands to that you don't see a lot of people pulling them in you would a lot of people pulling them in you would a lot of people pulling them in you would have gone through it I believe yeah have gone through it I believe yeah have gone through it I believe yeah it's just you know it's a it's a lot of
it's just you know it's a it's a lot of it's just you know it's a it's a lot
of workload I've always thought that it's
workload I've always thought that it's workload I've always thought that it's
actually probably easier to just make
actually probably easier to just make actually probably easier to just
make your money then go do it spoke to him
your money then go do it spoke to him your money then go do it
spoke to him before is he did the sponsorship thing
before is he did the sponsorship thing before is he did the sponsorship
thing for the first race yeah and then for the
first race yeah and then for the first race yeah and then
afterwards it's just easier going and
afterwards it's just easier going and afterwards it's just easier going and
working get mom and get a little car and
working get mom and get a little car and working get mom and get a little car
and eat some cheese if I do it Nick's a
eat some cheese if I do it Nick's a eat some cheese if I do it Nick's
a special character hey he's very special
special character hey he's very
special special
character hey he's very special
yeah I yesterday we had this little yeah I yesterday we had this little yeah I yesterday we had this little moment where I was like okay when are moment where I was like okay when are moment where I was like okay when are you planning on washing my clothes you
you planning on washing my clothes you you planning on washing my clothes
you know Nicky's put in last time was like
know Nicky's put in last time was like know Nicky's put in last time was
like we didn't do any washing last time no he we
didn't do any washing last time no he we didn't do any washing last time no
he didn't need much yeah
give him some didn't need much yeah
give him some didn't need much yeah give him some butter be all right so I need to have butter be all right so I need to have butter be all right so I need to have that discussion oh boy yeah you should
that discussion oh boy yeah you should that discussion oh boy yeah you
should you should come on Team USA one of these
you should come on Team USA one of these you should come on Team USA one of
these days I'll show you some smell holy cow
days I'll show you some smell holy cow days I'll show you some smell holy
cow we win that category for sure so what we win that category for sure so what we win that category for sure so what do you what you said one of your concerns do you what you said one of your concerns do you what you said one of your concerns is the elimination but what what's kind is the elimination but what what's kind is the elimination but what what's kind of the source of maybe you and your team of the source of maybe you and your team as a rookie there's a lot you don't know you've got nikki who did uh who supported nick a couple times so she's bringing a lot of experience but what are the things that you guys are what would you say is kind of defining the race right now in terms of the oh shit factor you know what there's a lot you don't know when you're going into the is a rookie i'm really lucky actually i've i'm connected to a lot of inexperienced people and i was here for three weeks before the race and i just met just like previous xops pilots that were that are willing to help me out like um it's a nice community isn't it yeah it's fantastic all these people just came out of the woodwork so i've got um sebastian benz who i rate as one of the best pilots in the world he was doing the weather for us he's actually going to texas yeah in a couple of days to try and break the world record wicked with the swiss league yeah um so he was a bit like oh sorry it's the last minute just to let you know i'm gonna do the weather but his girlfriend
you're going to do the weather but his girlfriend is going to do the
weather stephy who supported Chrigel in in his last campaign so she's a meteorologist she's going to help us out with the weather great and then martin i'm not sure of martin's name but he was in four xops i think the last one was maybe 2017 martin mueller yeah geez yeah i know i met him flying the french flats yeah a couple of weeks ago he's super keen to help out he was saying Chrigel calls him up you know for advice oh yeah he's on legend we have a whatsapp group who was in 2017 xops yeah um shay gollis it was also in the 2017 xops um some pilots christopher from he actually works with bernard lives in fish he's on our group great helping us out when we go through there cool um and just random you know local pilots and men along the way who want to help i've added them to whatsapp so that's um that's something that will yeah we'll sort of call on and rely on we don't we're not going to rely on them this is just like yeah if they want more information it's good information i found in the xp that um a lot of people will kind of hold back because they don't want to tell you to do something that will end up um you know in a mistake but as long as we have a good weather forecast we know whether to take the north route or the south route something else i need to mention nova have just been incredible with our preparation i've slept in the night like i've been dirtbagging a bit slept in the nova office six times in the last couple of weeks great they help with the stickers they're helping with route decisions we've got like north route tracks south route tracks you know over developing in the back range tracks um till who's been contracting for nova for the last 20 30 years he was cruising around with us for a week helping us pointing out where not to go where to go there's a little bit a little bit of pressure actually because if i did something that he taught me i'm going to be why'd you do that no i told you that and that's so much information yeah but making the call at the time is you know it's yes it's another thing yeah it's another thing what is your i have to admit i don't know much about your background i read that your bio for your application you've done a lot of adventure type stuff but you said before we started recording you've been flying about 10 years give the listeners a very quick resume of your flying background yeah no worries probably starts with the the death of my mum so i was heavily into rock climbing and i was always since i was 12 i grew up near canungra which is a really popular flying spot in australia yeah saw a hang glider um and said to myself i'm going to do that when i get older my dad was a pilot a fixed wing pilot worked for civil aviation authority for 40 years he's been retired for ages now so i've sort of got it in my blood i was flying bolster wood gliders trying to catch them also when i was 10 down the local tennis court you know um so i've had it in my mind um to that i wanted to you know be a pilot sort of it was hang gliding actually i wanted to be a pilot i still do i'd like to get trained yeah and then my mum passed away 2012 i found myself i was volunteering um doing nursing in nepal and i was pretty sad i was close to mum and i thought oh well i may as well just have a look at this paragliding just to see if i liked it and i did um through uh was it blue blue sky paragliding and popper did their 17 day course and i was just hooked from day one and then the first four years i had two major shoulder operations um sort of back to back so i didn't do any flying for a year i had 60 hours in the first four years and the last six and a half years i just decided to hit it um and thought well if i'm going to get good at this i need to fly as much as i can and you know try and just be as confident as well my main goal actually was to just do vol biv so i went to went to pacara turn circles for 60 hours in the same thermal so i sort of went thermaling i was really lucky i went to went to beer directly after that trip and ran into brian moore he's like have you heard of brian yeah sure i've got a big man crush on that guy it's just the biggest adventure and he was doing vol biv in the late 80s in new zealand yep and this stuff doesn't really get talked about because of you know it's not big on social media yeah we didn't have instagram back then yeah exactly so if he was young and he'd be i don't know i don't know who i'd compare him to just john sylvester yeah yeah or Antoine Girard or something yeah um just the stuff that he was doing was just incredible and not just paragliding he was new zealand mountaineer of the year like really competent he does he does everything outdoors and he's really good at it you know i can create four um kiting snow kiting skiing so he was your inspiration yeah he took me on my first vol biv trip in beer got up to 6 000 meters landed down in manali and camped at 4 000.
my mind was just blown i was a hundred hour pilot i'm in yeah exactly and then after that i've been doing everything i can get that little twitch in your eye that you can never shake yeah i remember landing on the way back to beer because i didn't really know where to go when i landed and i just landed on the ground i was like oh my god what have i just done i don't know you know that was so full-on scary so that that was that was really important for me and then i'll just be i've spent a lot of time in beer you've got local friends have a motorcycle it's been difficult because of covert but that's a really good place to get skills up yeah so to cut a long story short my main goal was to get enough skills so i could do serious vol biv and then i was booked into a trip to kyrgyzstan i was going to go there for a month um and then covert happened yeah
so my flights were all
yeah my flights were all you know booked ready to go i was going to go with a canadian friend and then couldn't go because code and you got covered during the expir yeah yeah so i thought like i'm getting pretty old i was born in 1976 yeah and last year i just had this year before crazy idea i just applied for expir and then i got in and then i was just like a life experience thing i wanted to you know just go and have some fun with some mates and i got coded yeah like out of all the things that could happen yeah and then yeah tested myself on day five and like i was sick like really sick i had night sweats and stuff but yeah and i was like well i could do this with covered because i walked 300k with 16 000 meters of elevation and didn't fly very far it was it was a really full-on event yeah flew 180k or something but and then after that but we didn't really think it was like i don't know i wasn't put off by the experience and just applied for xops and here you are yeah well good luck my friend it's uh it's gonna be fun to watch you guys i wish you and your team the best of luck and have a wonderful and safe adventure and uh hope to see you in zelda in 12 days thanks for chatting and yeah our goal is to have as much fun as possible you know that's all that's what it's all about man yeah just whether you're going for the win or just having adventures it it ain't worth it if you're not having fun yeah exactly i think the team that has the most fun is probably the other ones that win well i'll be looking for you guys having fun thank you very much thanks man yeah thanks appreciate it cheers yeah just nice and steady because the hand is when it moves it's it's crazy oh awesome that uh okay we're talking to tangy and tim roches who uh you're a rookie this year you just
did the
chablé out and uh gave Chrigel a hell of a run for its money and you got fourth in the prologue beast what are you guys thinking at this point we're 24 hours from the race how do you feel uh good a little stressed because it's a first time we will do it so yeah we are me i'm a little bit stressed yeah i don't know i think it was the same for everyone in the team it's what what uh as a rookie team but you've worked together quite a bit in the borns the chablé
the chablé yeah it's
a the X Red Rocks you both competed in the X Red Rocks but do you feel that that gives you is it relevant to the X-Alps or is this just a completely different kind of it's so much more I think yeah we trained a lot we made many competition until today but the X-Alps it's one step over so it's longer it's harder it's the team is bigger so we will have to manage with all this so I think it will be one step over for sure was the prologue quite good for your confidence yeah yeah yeah it's good for the mentality to finish yeah close to the podium in the X-Pyr you had the small injury with your leg and you know that was tricky what did you change from from there to here I remember we were talking about this last fall in terms of your physical training I took a coach for my training and I made a lot of downhill more that's the preparation for the X-Pyr okay and I changed a lot this and I made also a lot of trail running more not only I can fly but also a lot of trail running yeah what is your what have you been doing to learn the course has that been on the move and you're flying a bunch of it are you doing mostly from maps what has been your team and your preparation for the twelve hundred and some odd kilometers that
you've been doing for the X-Pyr yeah yeah yeah yeah
yeah you've got to cover in the next 12 days I think we checked mostly mostly on internet on maps and on XA track
and all these maps yeah is your
plan to you
know between
each turn point do you have various different routes that you can just load up or you just gonna fly the sky is it more we will see during the race yeah yeah we prepared many things but for sure we need to adapt all time and yeah for sure it's always depending on what time we will be at this point or Tim you're a really accomplished World Cup pilot are you two in touch when he's flying and you're on the ground and you're feeding information or okay so when you're in the air you're you're getting feedback from you yeah yeah yeah and whether and many years so for the airspace okay yeah and for all the information about the other pilot yeah is it is a rookie team I know there's a lot of unknowns what is the most what is the thing you're more concerned about than anything else right now I think I will say how to manage with how to sleep and to not be so much tired to deal with this yeah don't yeah don't go so fast at the beginning keep a lot of energy yeah keep a lot of energy yeah keep a lot of energy yeah keep it tapped yeah yeah I'm really excited to watch you guys I think it's going to be a lot of fun I wish you the best of luck you're you're ready man I can tell it I can see it in your face so enjoy the adventure yeah thank you for giving thanks guys second time yeah excellent Tom it's good to be sitting here with you yeah getting ready for your ninth one how are you feeling yeah man I'm feeling great I mean as as always you know the pre-week is a little bit uh hectic you know everyone is running around we're trying to fix uh all the little problems and um but right now the team is ready everything is set and uh yeah it's always like uh it's time to go now you know we we wanna we just want to go we want to hit the road yeah I bet there's a lot of anticipation here isn't there you got here first though you said yeah so this time you know I played it a little bit differently um I came here first uh like yeah almost eight days ago or something yeah I came first and when you come first the team is relaxed you know the organization was super real uh I was the first in you know so no no stress everyone was uh really yeah peaceful and um I did everything on the first day I did the photo shooting the branding check you know the medical check everything was done really fast yeah um I kind of squeezed in you know here and there and um and then I could kind of disconnect again I went off I went to the mountains I went flying a little bit I just uh yeah left the place because even I I mean I like to spend time with all the shooters and stuff but this camping place you know it becomes uh you know everyone is stressed lots of questions and stuff and um I like to have a bit of a time off before I go on a race like this so then I came back for the prologue um prologue was amazing and everything went well and it's it's uh really cool this prologue because it's always a good opportunity to see if everything is ready test it all and double check everything and now it's time to go man yeah it's like we could stay here for five more days preparing and you know looking at things and preparing checklists and stuff but at the end of the day you know it's time to start and then we go and and uh when we really when we will be once we will be on the road it's gonna be you know gone and and everything stays behind and we can just focus on on racing you're on the pilot committee and there are some pretty big changes this year uh both for safety and for night pass and these kind of things but uh talk about the rest period I don't know that the fans understand how that works yeah so it's been you know it's been a while we've been talking about it for a while I I've known it I've known all the difference um you know situation because I in 2007 we had no rest period you know it was like 24 7 we slept almost nothing you know we would sleep two hours here two hours there everyone was exhausted it was very risky and obviously um the organization understood that okay it would make sense to put a rest period but then the first time they did it it was
a very short one yeah around four hours or something
and everyone sticks to that and then doesn't rest at all you know so and we've been talking to them for a while and this year we said okay we think that it's now time to really think about safety because we've come to a moment in in the Excel's uh history where um you know the level is extremely high uh people fly in all kind of conditions uh with technical gliders you know and with a little rest and can get quite dangerous so we thought okay we if we make the resting period a little longer and you can compare it to the experience or to other races even though the Excel is totally different and it's a it's a different League but um but you see that if you have more resting period um it actually goes faster because people take better decisions uh they run faster on the ground you know and they recover better um and we think and we hope that it would mean also less accidents and I'm always a little bit surprised and I mean touch wood um we hope that nothing's gonna ever gonna happen but it's quite incredible that's it has all those year nothing very serious has happened you know okay so now we are in a situation where we want to avoid every you know any big accident and we talked to the organizer and to the team with the pilot committee and with the athletes we asked for a little longer rest period and we finally found a really cool compromise and I think it's a that's a really good move um we have the rest period is a bit longer but only by half an hour so that's not very significant I mean it's seven hours instead of 6 30.
but what really makes a difference and I think it's super smart it's to we can adapt it and we can choose when we take this block of seven hours between 9 and 11 in the evening and it means between four and six in the morning so at nine you can say okay I can stop now because I've been hiking all day and I'm exhausted and I will push tomorrow morning again I'm feeling fresh I've been flying all day I'm just gonna go for two more hours and then tomorrow I position myself um and you stop at 11. what also is makes a big difference it means that you can better select your campsite because many times before I would say to my team hey guys six kilometers in front wait for me and then they will go but maybe they don't find something they go another kilometer and then it's steep and then you start you end up running up the hill you know to you arrive too early to the camp and then you burn 20 minutes just for nothing so now I think that's going to help also people so as soon as you get there you hit the clock and your bell exactly hours yeah that's great that's great so I think that's that's really cool to do it like this and the other big change is the night pass you now can call it at 8 p.m so it gives you another eight hours to think about it yeah so in the past we've seen that you know some athletes you know you you had to announce the the night pass around before noon I think and so it means that you don't really know where you're going to be in the evening you know you don't you don't have a clear idea in your head like am I going to fly far this afternoon and I'm going to be on top of mountain or and so we thought it would be much more interesting to be able to use it in the evening or to say to the organization that you will use it in the evening because then you can just say okay well now it's the time you know 7 p.m oh let's check what's the what would be a good move or do we have a long Valley Crossing tomorrow should we just push on foot or and so I think we will use it better uh this way and people will make better choices and it it also means that it's going to be safer for everyone because if you're exhausted and then you oh yeah I pulled my my night pass this morning but I didn't know I was gonna hike all day and I'm exhausted but you still want to use it so you push more and then you don't sleep and that's so I think it's also in terms of safety quite interesting and strategically a lot more interesting and for those who have two night passes um you know they can they've got some of that padding there I mean it's going to be I think tighter than we've ever seen maybe with the with the level and I think those the three that have it that it's nice to have it's a nice thing to have even a couple hours or something can make the whole difference it can make the whole difference especially at the end uh and the other big one is this yellow card red card thing what's that all about yeah so that's that's also interesting um I don't know that that came really from the organization side this they thought that we should have something you know like we should someone does something wrong like we've talked a lot about um flying into clouds before you know and we know that some athletes have been flying into clouds uh repeatedly and we also know that some athletes have been flying in teams and and that really is a big advantage if you're flying with three four or five guys around you you know like maybe competition pilots super fresh pilot local in the area they go in front they show you the trammels and stuff that's of course that's a massive advantage uh and that's something we don't want to see because obviously that's not there you know so the organization said okay well we should think about something and now they came out with the idea of well first penalty it's always there I mean if they are 100 sure you went into a cloud um it's filmed or it's you know you have proof then you might get a darkly penalty um but if there is a doubt and you know it's not cleared and this there's a yellow card you can get two yellow cards and then you get a red card and I think it it was just for them to say okay be careful we're looking at you don't do anything stupid and if you do everyone will know it's not like I give you a call it's you get a yellow card and then the whole community knows that you're being you know playing with the edges a little bit so I think that's all together that's interesting but I what I I'm not sure about is the way they should implement it because I don't think that the athletes will you know call the organization and say hey this guy went into a cloud I mean it's just we're all friends here and we all respect each other and stuff and so now it's too down to this I think between ourselves like between the athletes we kind of made a gentleman agreement when I talk with the other guys and yeah just let's okay that's okay if you get sucked into a cloud for 10 meters but just don't go 300 meters in the club don't use it to advantage just just let's play fair you know and the best will win and that's it yeah excellent so the final question I have to ask you this is your ninth one you've been doing this for half your life as you said in the press conference yesterday how is this different than the beginning how does it feel different yeah I mean it really feels different because you know in 2007 I was only 21 years old I was super young I had no clue about the whole thing I had no money I was on a super small budget I was sleeping in my van was more a car than a van so we had to keep the the door open so that I could sleep and you know so it was like it was quite tight and and yeah I had no clue about it like I didn't know how it would work and stuff but still I I had a great race I was always into the top 10 and I was really pushing physically and and flying also and but I have learned so much and and that's what I like from the very first edition is that you learn so much about the flying obviously but uh you know also how to prepare physically mentally about nutrition about uh you know dealing with the lack of sleep dealing with emotions and stuff and it I
was a
better person you know in a way also how to work with with the team you know how to and so um that's been very interesting and and for me it has been kind of a through my life you know um it helped me uh it was kind of a little Lighthouse you know out there every two years I knew okay I have the Excels in my agenda I have to select a proper team I have to prepare physically I have to take care of what I eat or I rest you know how I manage uh you know budgets or anything and so that's been really interesting uh for me it's it's really it comes down to this it's a it's a really big part of my life yeah and but you know if I look at if I take a bit of distance um I'm I'm not extremely um you know I'm a competitive guy but uh but all together this is not about this anymore you know this is more about the adventure and the beauty of being out there with the team and pushing my main goal is to make it to the end uh in style you know yeah like uh big lines and and fly well and I enjoy the flying and then push as much as I can and I want to be you know on the last day I want to say okay well I've I've gave it all you know all I had um and I think now it's number nine I'm pretty sure I'm gonna go for number 10 because that's a cool number but then then I might you know I might do something like you you do now I think that's so cool I would love to do that see the race from the outside and you know just be there with with everyone and and I think also for you it's so how people function and how they work and and maybe you come back in two years with all this knowledge you know in a sense I I look at it kind of like spying I always know what's going on with my team but this will give a chance I'm really looking forward to that I want to come and see what you guys do at night and the other teams and how it operates and as you know the team is everything it's everything fun I love it you're going to war you know with your best mates and it's it's tantalizing and that's the thing you know I've learned that through the years also um my first uh supporter at the time we could only have one supporter and we did like every team would come with only one supporter um and I remember telling him yeah you know I'm reaching but during the day you can stay at the campsite and you you know stay by the swimming pool read a book and then in the evening come and drop me some food and stuff and so I would go I would I would get into lines at the you know local shops to buy an ice cream or something you know it was the second time I did it with my um or the third time I did it with my brother just because we thought ah this is a cool Adventure but he knew nothing about paragliding right he's in the counter you know so my team has always been like okay well just pure feeling but since I would say 2013 2015 start to really select my teams and check okay how can they bring to the team and what what can they bring to the team and stuff and and this is so interesting yeah and we have really cool really good profiles this year uh people who really know how to how to deal with this and um and that's super interesting you learn so much yeah yeah Tom I wish you the best of luck you and you thank you so much have a wonderful Adventure and we will for sure being out in the air with you excellent yeah looking forward to flying with you maybe you can show me a few terminals I'll try yeah thanks my friend cheers man