2023-05-17 10:15:43
The Hike, Smile & Fly Festival from June 8th to 11th, 2023 in Kitzbühel and Kirchberg provides the ideal setting for the 20th edition of the Red Bull X-Alps.
Kitzbuhel (OTS) – Soon it’s time! 32 top athletes, including four women, demonstrate their outstanding stamina and flying skills as part of the Red Bull X-Alps. The board of directors of Bergbahn Kitzbühel as well as Kitzbühel Tourism and the Kitzbüheler Alpen – Brixental Tourist Association have made every effort to bring the starting location for the 20th edition of the Red Bull X-Alps to Kitzbühel and the prelude (prologue) to Kirchberg. “The Red Bull X-Alps is the largest digital outdoor event with an audience of millions around the world. That’s why it was important for us to put together a suitable supporting program. A big thank you goes to Bernd Krainbucher and Gidi Koidl from the Hang & Paragliders Kitzbühel for the excellent organization of the Hike, Smile & Fly Festival. It will be a sociable meeting place for the athletes, locals and our guests,” say Mag. Anton Bodner and Mag. Christian Wörister, board duo of the Bergbahn Kitzbühel.
Prologue starting in Kirchberg on June 8, 2023
The Red Bull X-Alps will kick off with a one-day prologue on June 8th in Kirchberg. “We are very happy to be the host region for the start of the Red Bull X-Alps 2023. Together with Ulrich Grill and his team, Bergbahn AG Kitzbühel and Kitzbühel Tourism, and project manager Bernd Krainbucher, we are well prepared. It’s really impressive what the organizers and participants of the Red Bull X-Alps achieve,” emphasizes Mag. Christoph Stöckl, Managing Director of the Kitzbüheler Alpen – Brixental Tourist Association.
As part of the prologue, the athletes have to cover a 58.6 km route past seven turnpoints within the Kitzbühel Alps. That’s almost twice the distance of the prologue in 2021. It will be an exciting one-day battle before the actual race that determines the starting order. The winner also receives an additional Nightpass, which he/she can use to hike through the prescribed rest period.
Start of the Red Bull X-Alps in Kitzbühel on June 11, 2023
Kitzbühel as a sports town is known worldwide for great sporting achievements. “In addition to the Hahnenkamm races and the Generali Open, this year for the first time the Red Bull X-Alps join the ranks of top sporting performances. It is a special honor for us to be the starting point for the toughest adventure race for the first time and to be able to welcome the best athletes in the world to the Hahnenkamm in summer,” says Dr. Viktoria Veider-Walser, Managing Director of Kitzbühel Tourismus.
The 32 athletes start right in the center of Kitzbühel, from where they have to walk 900 meters up to the Hahnenkamm. There they will try to spread out their paragliders to – ideally – fly over the Alps. If the weather is bad, continue on foot.
The route at a glance:
- Length: 1,223 km
- The start is for the first time in Kitzbühel – Kirchberg.
- There is a via ferrata passage in the Sesto Dolomites. The route runs through five countries: Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France and Italy
- There are 15 mandatory turnpoints.
- The course runs counterclockwise.
Details on the athletes and live tracking can be found below redbullxalps.com
“As the organizer of the Red Bull X-Alps, I am extremely proud to be able to spend a whole week in such a prestigious destination as Kitzbühel / Kirchberg with our entire organization and all athletes and their teams. It begins with the registration of the athletes and then continues with the prologue in Kirchberg, the press conference and finally the start in Kitzbühel for the 20th anniversary race. This unique adventure begins with the run up the Hahnenkamm,” says Ulrich Grill, organizer of the Red Bull X-Alps
Hike, Smile & Fly Festival in Kitzbühel and Kirchberg
From June 8th to 11th the Hike, Smile & Fly Testival will be held at Maurachfeld near the Hahnenkammbahn in Kitzbühel as well as at the Hahnenkamm and the Kitzbüheler Horn. The award ceremonies of the Hike, Smile & Fly Rallye and the athletes’ parade of the Red Bull X-Alps will take place in Kitzbühel’s city park.
Tommy Friedrich is Red Bull X-Alps starter and ambassador of the Hike, Smile & Fly Festival. “While the Red Bull X-Alps is the absolute highlight of the season for us professionals, I am particularly pleased that the Hike, Smile & Fly Festival presented by With his rally on June 10, Jacques Lemans also gives rookies and connoisseurs the opportunity to move shoulder to shoulder with the stars of the scene in Hike and Fly sport in a professional and at the same time beautiful setting around Kitzbühel and Kirchberg to celebrate a festival in the truest sense of the word,” says the top athlete happily.
Hike, Smile & Fly Festival 2023 – the supporting program at a glance
→ daily from June 8th to 11th, 2023
Hike, Smile & Fly Testival from 9 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. on the Maurachfeld in Kitzbühel as well as on the Hahnenkamm and Kitzbüheler Horn
→ 08. Juni | Prolog Red Bull X-Alps
11.00 a.m. Start of the Red Bull X-Alps prologue on the village square in Kirchberg
→ June 09 | Official Red Bull X-Alps press conference
11.00 a.m. in the start house of the Hahnenkamm races on the Hahnenkamm
→ 10. Juni | Hike, Smile & Fly Rallye
09.00-22.00 bands and music in the Kitzbühel school park
10.00 a.m. Start in the city park of Kitzbühel
from 1.00 p.m. reaching the stage destination (Auracher Hochwildalm)
6.30 pm finish time in the Kitzbühel city park
7.00 p.m. award ceremony in the city park of Kitzbühel
→ 11. Juni | Start Red Bull X-Alps
11.30 a.m. in downtown Kitzbühel
12.00 p.m. the athletes reach the turnpoint on the Hahnenkamm
Details and exact times are available hikeandflyfestival.at
Questions & contact:
Bergbahn AG Kitzbühel
Elisabeth Laiminger
Presse/Marketing
+436646118804
e.laiminger@kitzski.at
press.kitzski.at
1684318592
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