Red Bull.com

Not content with mastering hang-gliding, paragliding and BASE jumping, Austrian action hero Hannes Arch also added Red Bull Air Race World Champion to his string of impressive titles in 2008 after just two seasons competing in the world’s fastest motorsport.

Born in the Styria region of Austria, a young Hannes found his love of the outdoors and extreme sports in the mountains of his homeland and hasn’t looked back since. He qualified as a mountain guide while still a teenager and expanded on his love of climbing by taking up hang-gliding, paragliding and BASE jumping before turning his hand to powered flight – and irritatingly, very quickly became just as proficient at this mentally and physically challenging discipline. His flying accolades before qualifying as a Red Bull Air Race pilot include the title of 2006 European Aerobatic Champion in the Aerobatic Freestyle Category, an achievement that many pilots can only dream of.

Together with Swiss daredevil Ueli Gegenschatz, Hannes was also the first man to BASE jump from the north face of the Eiger, later repeating the feat on the north face of the Matterhorn. He retains an interest in these sports as the organiser of the gruelling Red Bull X-Alps – an all-out endurance race that invites self-confessed masochists to travel between Salzburg and Monaco either by hiking or paragliding across the 800km mountain route.

While the Red Bull Air Race takes a break in 2011, Hannes will be immersing himself in his other pursuits – a spot of surfing on Hawaii, performing jaw-dropping stunts in his aerobatic race plane and continuing to build the Arch extreme sports empire. This isn’t the kind of guy who sits still for even a minute so expect plenty more in the future.
 

• Keep up with Hannes at his personal website
• Hannes Arch on Facebook