At the weekend, the world’s toughest team relay race took place for the 24th time in Lienz, Austria. Here are the best photos from Red Bull Dolomitenmann 2011.
Red Bull Dolomitenmann is held yearly in September in the East Tyrolean Dolomites near the city of Lienz. Each of the 110 starting team consists of a mountain runner, a paraglider, a white water kayaker and a mountain biker racer, in that order.
Mountain runner Markus Kröll has been on the Red Bull Dolomitenmann podium seven times. The world class athlete, hailing from the Tyrol’s Zillertal, is also an artist with a background as a painter. Kröll typically runs and climbs a few thousand feet from a start line that is already far above sea level. The actual running distance is usually six to eight miles, but that is far less challenging than the change in elevation.
When the runner makes the hand-off to the team’s paraglider at the Kühbodentörl (“Cowground Gate” in English), he must also run – this time with all of his equipment – to the first jump-off point.
Among the participants: Red Bull X-Alps pilots Helmut Eichholzer (l.) and Paul Guschlbauer (r.).
After descending by air to Moosalm, the paraglider runs (again!) to a second start point, descending to the Leisach river where the kayaker is ready and waiting.
Harald Hudetz usually does an excellent kajaking job for his respective teams, which has garnered him fifth overall position in the event’s historical standings.
The team's kayaker swims across the river Drau where his boat is stationed. His first manoeuvre is an "alpine-start", or a drop of 20 feet from a ramp into the river. After the jump the kayaker must navigate a difficult white water track on the river Isel before handing off to the mountain biker.
The mountain biker then climbs 8,000 feet or more, over a distance of about eight miles. After the climb, the mountain biker must ride a downhill track to the finish – usually entailing exuberant delight in refreshments.
To all those hard-nosed mountain heroes out there: The countdown for Red Bull Dolomitenmann 2012 has already begun.
Red Bull Dolomitenmann 2011: Results
Team Results:
1. Team Robotunits
2. Kolland Topsport Kleine Zeitung
3. Alpine Pro
Running Results:
1. Azarya Weldemariam (ERI)
2. Jonathan Wyatt (NZL)
3. David Schneider (CHE)
Paragliding Results:
1. Markus Prantl (ITA)
2. Paul Guschlbauer (AUT)
3. Christian Amon (AUT)
Kayaking Results:
1. Harald Hudetz (AUT)
2. Kamil Mruzek (CZE)
3. Lukas Kubrican (CZE)
Mountainbiking Results:
1. Hannes Pallhuber (ITA)
2. Alban Lakata (AUT)
3. Mike Felderer (ITA)
Photos © Mirja Geh, Martin Lugger, Erwin Polanc and Philipp Schuster for Red Bull Content Pool
 Andreas Panzenberger (2) - Red Bull Content Pool.jpg "Red Bull Dolomitenmann 1")
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