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Global Rescue XRedRocks

@xredrocks

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N Americas Premiere Hike & Fly Paragliding Competition is Sept 24-27 2025

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In paragliding, sometimes we get very high.

This is a video from a day of the RedRocks competition where I’m flying at altitudes over 5,000 meters (16,400+ ft) without supplemental oxygen, laughing about how awesome it is to be up there. Meanwhile, my brain is probably operating on airplane mode. 🧠✈️

Hypoxia is no joke, though. At high altitudes, reduced oxygen can impair judgment, slow reaction times, and even create feelings of euphoria. The scary part? You often don’t realize you’re hypoxic because the very brain responsible for recognizing the problem is already impaired.

In paragliding, where we’re constantly making critical decisions, that can become dangerous fast.

So while I might look like I’m having the time of my life (and I was), it’s a good reminder that feeling great doesn’t always mean you’re thinking straight.

@xredrocks

#Paragliding #Hypoxia #AdventureSports #HighAltitude #ParaglidingCompetition

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Trying out a spot I heard about before winter puts it out of reach.

@niviukparagliders @backcountry @rab.equipment.na @pitviper

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In paragliding, we can’t control the weather, we simply ride what’s there. Sometimes we get strong lifting air, and sometimes we get calm stable air.

That’s the deal with this sport. Nature runs the show. We just try to read it and fly the best we can with what we have.

@xredrocks

#hikeandfly #paragliding #paraglidingrace #xcflying #thermals

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Do you for yourself 🔥

#paragliding #women #motivation #utah

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The secret to any good hike and fly comp is a good audio book! When the weather isn’t good to fly, we spend a lot of time on the ground and 6 hours of walking goes way faster with the full cast edition audio book of Harry Potter!

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After 8 years of paragliding, I finally figured out how to pee while flying. 😂

Until now, my strategy was pretty simple: if I really had to go, I’d just land.

But now that I’m flying competitions where we can spend 6+ hours in the air, not having a way to pee becomes a real problem.

The solution? A condom catheter connected to a tube that lets you take care of business mid-flight.

Of course, there’s some important etiquette involved. No peeing over cities, roads, or, most importantly, other pilots flying below you.

Just another one of those things you never thought you’d need to learn as a pilot!

@xredrocks

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Some of the most entertaining, exciting, chaotic, and smooth launches from this year’s @global_rescue @xredrocks

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XRedRocks 2026 - It’s a reverent experience to come back annually to the place of my youth with a magic backpack and inspiring sky people to race by foot and air the beautiful corridors of Sanpete, Sevier, and beyond. Thanks @gavinmcclurg and company for bringing us all together to have an incredible life experience, one that we can laugh about and talk about for years to come. 📷 @benhortonphoto @xredrocks @niviukparagliders @skyrun_co

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As magical as it sounds to be flying in the clouds, it’s definitely not somewhere you want to be!

Flying inside clouds isn’t allowed in the US, so we do our best to stay clear of them. However, the strongest lift in a thermal is often right beneath cloud base, and rising air can quickly pull you upward into the cloud unintentionally if you misjudge how close you are to the base of them.

With zero visual reference, it becomes surprisingly difficult to tell exactly what the wing is doing and what direction you’re flying. The priority is to stay calm, use your instruments to maintain a steady heading, avoid overcorrecting or making sudden inputs, and get back into clear air as quickly and predictably as possible, especially knowing there could be other pilots right next to you that you might not be able to see.

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Most of the time when I’m paragliding, I’m searching for invisible columns of rising air called thermals to take me higher.

But every once in a while, the air makes itself VERY visible. 🌪️

Watching this dust devil stretch from the ground toward the cloud was incredible. It’s basically showing you exactly where the atmosphere is moving, but judging by how violently this one was rotating, that’s one thermal I was happy to admire from a distance 😂

Weather is amazing, especially when you can actually SEE what the air is doing. 🪂

@weatherchannel

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I thought flying in BIG rowdy air was scary… turns out the most stressful part of a paragliding competition is thermaling in the start cylinder with hundreds of other pilots 😅

Everyone is packed into the same patch of sky, circling in the same thermals, trying to climb as high as possible before the race starts, all while constantly looking around to make sure you don’t hit anyone.

Controlled chaos at its finest 🪂

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The 2026 @xredrocks is in the books! 🚀

A great edition of one of North America’s key hike & fly races, with around 50 athletes competing across the Pro, Adventure and Challenge divisions. The event once again brought together demanding routes, long days on foot and in the air, and plenty of tactical flying in the mountains of Utah 🏜️

A special mention to Niviuk pilot @gavinmcclurg, one of the driving forces behind the event and its organisation.

And congratulations to all the winners and the Niviuk pilots who took part!

PRO
🥇 Brian Cooper
🥈 Alex Berry
🥉 Alyse Little / Klimber 3 P

ADVENTURE
🥇 Robert Barlow
🥈 Peter Yeo / Ikuma 3 P
🥉 Lincoln DiLorenzo

CHALLENGE
🥇 Eyal Posener / Ikuma 3 P
🥈 Jack Ellingson
🥉 Laura Anderson

Great to see so many pilots taking on the X-Red Rocks adventure. See you at the next one! 🙌

📸 courtesy of @benhortonphoto

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