Pascal Purin, who is in training for the 2017 Red Bull X-Alps, had a mammoth hike-and-fly day on 18 June 2016, hiking up 9,540m and flying down again with his AirDesign UFO.
This is believed to be a hike-and-fly height gain record, though it is not administered by either the FAi or Guinness. It was previously held by Florian Ebenbichler, Pascal’s X-Alps supporter and trainer, with 8,860m.
Pascal, who is sponsored by Skinfit, started his day at 3am with a 1,060m climb up the Elferhütte in Stubaital. It took him one hour and 15 minutes. He unpacked his kit and flew back down … and then repeated this eight times, amassing the total height-gain of 9,540m.
The weather on the day was very changeable, with some of the climbs being in the rain, and he even had to sit out a thunderstorm before flying down on the eighth round, but the weather didn’t put off the throng of supporters in the landing field, there to congratulate Pascal on his achievement.