Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or in a cocoon-like 'pod' suspended below a fabric wing. Wing shape is maintained by the suspension lines, the pressure of air entering vents in the front of the wing, and the aerodynamic forces of the air flowing over the outside.
The Alaska Range is a relatively narrow, 600-mile-long (950 km) mountain range in the southcentral region of the U.S. state of Alaska, from Lake Clark at its southwest end to the White River in Canada's Yukon Territory in the southeast. Denali, the highest mountain in North America, is in the Alaska Range. The range is part of the American Cordillera.
Mount Assiniboine, also known as Assiniboine Mountain, is a pyramidal peak mountain on the Great Divide, on the British Columbia/Alberta border in Canada.
Ice climbing is a climbing discipline which involves ascending routes that consist only of frozen water. To ascend the route, the ice climber uses specialist equipment, particularly double ice axes and rigid crampons. To protect the route, the ice climber uses steel ice screws that require skill to employ safely and rely on the ice holding firm in any fall. Ice climbing routes can vary significantly by type, and include seasonally frozen waterfalls, high permanently frozen alpine couloirs, and large hanging icicles.
The Dolomitenmann is an extreme sports relay race held in September in the East Tyrolean, or so-called Dolomite Mountains of Austria, near the city of Lienz. The founder and organiser is Werner Grissmann, a former World Cup skier.
Stanley Peak is a 3,155-metre (10,351 ft) mountain located in the Ball Range, at the northeastern section of Kootenay National Park, in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The mountain was named in 1901 by its first climber, the English explorer Edward Whymper, after Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, the sixth Governor-General of Canada. There are sources that date the naming in 1912 after Stanley H. Mitchell, Secretary-Treasurer of Alpine Club of Canada.
Tiger Mountain is a mountain in the U.S. state of Washington. It is at the center of the Issaquah Alps, a small range in the Eastside region of King County, Washington southeast of Seattle. The mountain is part of a designated protected area, the Tiger Mountain State Forest, and has several recreational areas used for hiking, mountain biking, and paragliding.
The Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic is an adventure challenge that espouses purity of style and zero impact. Started in 1982 as a 150-mile (240 km) wilderness traverse, the Classic has crossed various mountain ranges throughout Alaska with some routes covering nearly 250 miles (400 km). Traditionally, the same route has been used for three years in a row, with each year being a different month.
Hannes Arch was an Austrian pilot who competed in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship from 2007 to 2016. Arch won the World Championship in the 2008 season.
Will Gadd is a prominent Canadian ice climber, mixed climber and paraglider pilot. He formerly held the paragliding world distance record, with a flight of 423 km in Zapata, Texas. He is the host of the documentary series Fearless Planet, working with regional scientists and traveling with them, or by himself, to various locations that are in the individual episode's focus.
The Red Bull X-Alps is a paragliding race in which athletes must hike or fly 1,200 km across the Alps. It first launched in 2003 and has since taken place every other year. Around 30 athletes take part and must navigate their way via a predetermined set of turn points that vary with each race. Every kilometer must be covered either on foot or by paraglider. Teams consist of one athlete and one official supporter, whose role it is to provide technical advice, mental and nutritional support.
Ueli Steck was a Swiss rock climber and alpinist. He was the first to climb Annapurna solo via its South Face, and set speed records on the North Face trilogy in the Alps. He won two Piolet d'Or awards, in 2009 and 2014. Having previously summitted Mount Everest, Steck died on 30 April 2017 after falling during an acclimatizing climb for an attempt on the Hornbein route on the West Ridge of Everest without supplemental oxygen.
Harry Taylor is a British mountaineer, security advisor and former SAS member. He founded ‘High Adventure’ with Loel Guinness, an extreme sports company specifically designed to set records in climbing, paragliding, and skydiving. His team set a world distance flight record for a paraglider at 150.6 km in Namibia. In 1991, with close friend Charles "Nish" Bruce he made a tandem skydive with oxygen from 27,000 feet over Badajoz in Spain. Taylor did a tandem paraglider flight from Cho Oyu 8,201m Tibet and was also the 1st British paraglider pilot to fly from Denali, Alaska.
Matt Segal is an American professional climber. He participates in a variety of climbing activities including single-pitch traditional climbing and bouldering.
Mike O'Shea is an Irish adventurer and safety consultant.
Vernon "Vern" Tejas is an American mountain climber and mountain guide. He is the current world record holder in the amount of time taken to summit all of the Seven Summits consecutively, having also previously held the same record. He was also the first person to solo summit several of the world's tallest peaks. Tejas was named one of the top fifty Alaskan athletes of the twentieth century by Sports Illustrated in 2002. In 2012, he was elected to the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame. Tejas plays the harmonica and guitar. He currently resides in Greenwich Village, New York.
Skywalk GmbH & Co. KG is a German aircraft manufacturer based in Marquartstein, Bavaria. Founded by Manfred Kistler and Thomas Allertseder in 2001, the company specializes in the design and manufacture of paragliders in the form of ready-to-fly aircraft as well as paragliding harnesses. The company also makes kite surfing wings and promotional tents.
Mount King George is a prominent 3,413-metre (11,198-foot) mountain summit located in Height of the Rockies Provincial Park, in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, Canada. The mountain is the highest point of The Royal Group, a subset of the Rockies, which includes Mount Queen Mary, Mount Princess Mary, Mount Prince George, Mount Prince Albert, Mount Prince Henry, Mount Prince John, and Mount Prince Edward. Its nearest higher peak is Mount Joffre, 16.0 km (9.9 mi) to the east. Mount King George is composed of sedimentary rock laid down during the Cambrian period. Formed in shallow seas, this sedimentary rock was pushed east and over the top of younger rock during the Laramide orogeny.
Tom de Dorlodot is a professional adventurer, paraglider pilot and public speaker. Born in Belgium, he is known for his exploratory journeys around the world, flying remote areas by paraglider and paramotor in places such as Pakistan, Madagascar and French Polynesia.
The X-Pyr is an international multi-day "hike-and-fly" paragliding endurance race. The competition route traverses the Pyrenees mountain range from west to east, starting near Hondarribia, Spain, on the Bay of Biscay and finishing near the France-Spain border along the Mediterranean Sea.
