avalancha team

Austria's Paul Guschlbauer and Britain's Jon Chambers have been named as the 31st and 32nd athletes to participate at the Red Bull X-Alps 2011.

The decision to invite 27-year-old Guschlbauer to take part as the fourth Austrian was made by the Race Committee due to the high quality of applications from that nation.

Julien Serre was also asked to take part as a fourth French team, but due to new work and family committments was unable to accept. As the third 'reserve' athlete, Chambers put forward a convincing argument for selection and will now start the race on July 17, 2011 as team GBR2. 

Writer, former competition pilot and editor of Cross Country magazine, Hugh Miller has been part of the Red Bull X-Alps news team since 2005 and has become known for his lively reports. Currently writing a book about the psychology involved in paragliding, Hugh gave us his opinion on the 2011 athletes.

"It's an interesting mix," he says. "It's nice to see some old characters back and some new faces.

"I think it's hard to predict what will happen with these athletes. Of course Christian Maurer (SUI1) is the favourite this time and won't have the benefit of being a newcomer. In 2009 the focus was on Alex Hofer (SUI2), who had the assured manner of a champion. 

He's known in the paragliding scene as a stunt pilot, but now he's committed to 864km of endurance hiking and cross country flying. Why has he chosen to do this and is he up to the task? We find out...

For many people your participation in the Red Bull X-Alps 2011 is a big surprise. Why did you decide to compete in it?
The Red Bull X-Alps is by no doubt the greatest paragliding adventure race. I toyed with the idea of participating for years. It's a huge challenge. I specialize in acrobatic flying and ground handling, but started to concentrate on training my physical strength for the Red Bull X-Alps about three years ago. The Red Bull X-Alps is a great combination of adventure, paragliding and hiking, which is exactly what I am interested in.