Aaron Durogati and Red Bull X-Alps 2015, interview with the only Italian competitor

Flying skills, courage, resistance, luck...what counts most in the Red Bull X-Alps for you? Could you list them in order of importance?
Everything to me is important, except luck, as I don’t believe in luck!

What do you love most about the Red Bull X-Alps, and what scares you the most?
It’s hard to say, but the course is really good. I enjoy when I can do a really big flight. Two years ago, even though I had checked out the route, during the race I found myself in places I didn’t know existed and saw some beautiful landscapes. I am a competition pilot, so love the competition of course.
All in all I just want to be able to take the best decisions. I wish for myself I am able to take the best decisions, to be alert, make good decisions and not hurt myself.

Which is your best quality during the flight and where do you think you have to improve?
I think I am a fast pilot so on I good day I am able to fly fast, find a thermal, ride ridges, that is where I am really good. When the conditions are strong that’s perhaps where other pilots may feel scared but I don’t feel fear when flying fast.
Where I have to improve most is in the planning of the day and learning about the mountains beforehand so I don’t get lost. I don’t like studying, I prefer practical things so that’s where I have to improve. This year I will spend more time studying the route and area than before.

Do you have a particular strategy for this year, maybe drawing from your experience in the 2013 race?
Not really, me and Ondrej have already completed an X-Alps together, and during that race day by day we improved. We improve little by little. Ondrej is also a pilot and we will spend two months before the competition on the route checking out the area.

You won the World Cup in 2012, you qualified yourself second in X-Pyr 2014, how important is competing to you?
It’s important, I am a competition pilot and have a competitors soul inside me. Winning the world cup was for me a dream come true. I have dreamt about flying since I was six, when I took my first tandem flight with my father. Since then I have always dreamt about competing in the World Cup and to win was an amazing feeling.

Can you explain what flying means to you…if you close your eyes and think about flying, which images come to your mind?
It’s hard to say, I do flying in many different forms – cross country, acrobatics, speed riding, alpine. If I am doing cross country, I don’t look around me, I find the best way. In speed riding I try and find the nicest line and for aerobatics it’s about improving tricks and each discipline has a different motivation. I am flying every flyable day, I almost need to have a different target and different types of flying or it could almost become boring. That motivates me a lot, learning new skills for all parts of flying and each discipline gives me different strengths. These will help me in the race, for example, speed racing helps me take fast decisions everything is connected.

Info: redbullxalps.com


20/03/2015 - Red Bull X-Alps 2015 route revealed
On 5 July the Red Bull X-Alps 2015 gets underway, the world's most spectacular adventure race across 6 different countries and via a 1000km course on foot or by paraglider.