The Great Game: ‘I figured out how to win’

Aaron Durogati won this year’s Red Bull X-Alps on his seventh attempt – he has competed in every edition since 2013. A professional mountain athlete who excels in climbing, skiing, paragliding and speedriding, often all on the same day, he lives in the Dolomites near Merano, Italy. Before this edition his best result was sixth in 2015. 

Famously, doctors once told him the state of his knees was so bad he should retire. A brilliant classic competition pilot he has won the Paragliding World Cup Superfinal twice and has made pioneering flights in the Greater Ranges, including an Asian record of 312km in Pakistan in 2022.

Aaron, congratulations! How are you?

Thanks, yeah, I’m good. A bit tired, but nothing is broken or hurt.

How did you pull it off to win as the first non-Swiss and the first one to beat Chrigel?

For sure, in the last edition I was also fit and flying well. But somehow it didn’t happen. I was maybe not believing enough, or it was not the right moment. This time everything was right.

This was the X-Alps where I was mentally the strongest. This definitely helped, because I think at one point the top ten or 15 athletes were all more or less equally good. Like in many sports, it is then about your mindset. This time I believed more in myself. From the start I thought I had a good chance to win.

Do you compare yourself with Chrigel?

I think we are very different. Different style. Chrigel is the one who showed us what is possible. And we are all trying to catch up. I won now...