Paragliding
New Hike & Fly world record: Aaron Durogati climbs two Everests in one day
How many times can one person climb a mountain, fly back down, and do it all over again in 24 hours? Aaron Durogati just set a wild new benchmark in Norway.
Most people hike up a mountain, take a picture, eat a sandwich and call it a day. Aaron Durogati hiked up, launched into the sky, flew down, landed... and did it again. And again. And again. 18 times. For almost 24 hours.
By the time the clock stopped, Durogati had racked up enough vertical climbing to equal nearly two Mount Everests – in a single day – setting a new 24-hour Hike & Fly world record with 19,424m of total positive elevation gain.
To understand how big that is: Mount Everest is 8,849m high. Durogati climbed more than double that height in total, not in one straight line, but by repeatedly hiking up a mountain, flying down with a paraglider, landing, then starting again.
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Aaron Durogati’s Hike and Fly record in numbers
Aaron Durogati set a new Hike and Fly world record in just under 24 hours
© Daniele Molineris/Red Bull Content Pool
The mark surpassed the previous record of 17,534m, set by French athlete Tanguy Renaud-Goud in 2024. That record was already elite-level, which shows just how serious Durogati’s new benchmark is.
- 19,424m – total positive elevation gain
- 23:42:32 – time taken to complete the challenge
- 18 ascents – number of climbs
- 1,080m – average vertical gain per ascent
There were a couple of hard moments... but I tried to stay focused
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What is Hike and Fly?
Hike & Fly is exactly what it sounds like, but way harder than it sounds.
Durogati had to climb more than 1,000 vertical metres on each ascent
© Daniele Molineris/Red Bull Content Pool
Athletes carry a lightweight paraglider and all their gear on their back. They hike or run up a mountain using only their own legs. Then, when the conditions are right, they open the paraglider, launch into the air and fly back down. After landing, they pack the wing, put it back on their back and climb again.
So it’s not just hiking. And it’s not just flying.
It’s mountain running, paragliding, navigation, weather reading, endurance and decision-making all smashed into one sport. You need strong legs to climb, a calm brain to fly, and enough focus to keep making smart choices when your body is tired.
Staying focused is important when the body is tired
© Daniele Molineris/Red Bull Content Pool
Durogati is not new to this world. He is a Red Bull X-Alps champion and World Cup winner, which means he has already competed at the highest level of Hike & Fly and paragliding. But even for someone with his experience, this challenge was huge.
"There were a couple of hard moments," Durogati shared. "After 4,000-5,000 vertical meters I got really tired, especially thinking about the 20 hours I had left, but I tried to stay really focused on every lap, every step."
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Why Slogen Mountain?
Durogati chose Slogen Mountain in Skylstad, Norway, for his record attempt. The mountain is 1,564m high and rises sharply above the surrounding landscape, making it a strong location for repeated climbs and flights.
But a mountain like Slogen is not a treadmill. It is real terrain, with changing weather, wind, rough ground, and requires big physical effort every time up. Each ascent meant Durogati had to climb more than 1,000 vertical metres on average. Each descent meant he had to safely launch, control the paraglider, and land, before doing it all again.
"I tried to divide the ascent in little pieces and be really precise, efficient and fast during flying - in a way just ‘run’," Durogati said. "But of course at night, when it gets darker, also with some rain showers, it was tough, but I had really good support which kept me motivated throughout.”
Aaron Durogati takes off on one of his many descents down Slogen Mountain
© Daniele Molineris/Red Bull Content Pool
Over the full attempt, he completed 18 ascents and covered 103km including the flights. During the descents, he reached a maximum speed of 86kph on his paraglider.
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Performance insights: Durogati burns 10,000 calories
That means this was not just about being fit. It was also about flying well while tired. It meant being well prepared. "I worked really hard on my strength, my physical preparation, I built a few special paragliders for this project, special backpacks and harnesses," he said.
After the feat, Durogati shared his performance data, and it shows just how controlled the effort had to be.
During the attempt, he had an average heart rate of 118bpm, meaning he stayed mostly in a steady endurance zone, often called Zone 2. For many people, Zone 2 feels like an easy run or bike ride: steady, not too fast and something you can hold for a long time.
Durogati is an experienced Red Bull X-Alps athlete and World Cup winner
© Daniele Molineris/Red Bull Content Pool
But Durogati held that effort while climbing mountains for nearly 24 hours, carrying gear, flying a paraglider, and repeating the same brutal loop 18 times.
His maximum heart rate reached 158bpm, and he burned around 10,094 calories. For context, that is several days’ worth of food for many people, burned in one challenge. His suggested recovery time after the effort was 119 hours, which is almost five full days.
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Durogati's reaction
Claiming the world record is an incredible ending to a lengthy and intense project. Durogati shared: "It feels really amazing as it was a long-term project. I’m racing a lot and to pull off this whole project I needed about three-quarters of a year, and the right location and a good team. It was something that was missing in my career, and this year I found the motivation, the place and the time, and in the last 24 hours everything came together and I made it.”
Durogati repeated the same hiking and flying loop 18 times
© Daniele Molineris / Red Bull Content Pool