21st Red Bull Dolomitenmann

Mission "Where is the children's birthday party?" or "21st Red Bull Dolomitenmann" - Lienz - 06.09.2008

"Registration"

It started at a fairly standard Oker 9:32 appointment, i.e. me (HD) on the Oker and nobody else. At the exit there was a tourist (despite the rain), so I thought, and chatted to me. However, not with the usual question "isn't it too cold", but whether I would like to take part in the Red Bull DolomitenMann as a canoeist. The Harz Paragliding School would sponsor something for us. A quick thought.

After a brief explanation, there was still no great interest, so I first exchanged details so that I could get the URL emailed to me. I still have 1 week until the registration deadline. So I first asked the RR's if anyone was interested. Answer only from Andi, but only "interesting, but then I'm on my honeymoon". Then Anja's comment "you won't be able to do it anyway" and "CLICK": Mail out with the OK to participate.....

4 months later, having already been on the Oker and North Sea once each with the old Hurrycane (which is actually supposed to be the competition boat), things are getting serious. However, I don't really feel comfortable, so the Salto comes along too (plus Kingpin). The week before I was working in Bratislava and went out on the WW course there in the evening after work, but it was quite sporty, the Hurry stayed on the roof and moved further back in the likelihood of being used.

Then Thursday evening via Vienna (picking up Anja) over to Lienz, where the runner Carsten and paraglider Gernot are already waiting.

Friday morning river survey: The core section, here called "Iselkatarakt" (which is not the real one), actually looks OK, only the last crossing through a roller is more suitable for a flat-bottomed boat (Salto). So first unload the somersault (the buoyancy bodies are in there anyway). Land start: At approx. 7 meters above the water surface, a platform is built with a 1.5 meter long approx. 70° slope and then a remaining drop height of approx. 5.7 meters. So Hoellentypen.avi in economy version. Someone in front of me does a forward-fast rollover on impact, so I pull the tip up a bit, which causes me to twist a bit and I can count my vertebrae. But everything else is fine. Then the first gates, strangely they're not sorted at all, first the 3 and 2, and then the 1 at the bottom. You have to do this a few times, it gets really exhausting as you have to slide upstream over stones. Then a slalom course, where the gates were sorted "correctly", which was really fun. On the next upstream section, however, it was 21 again and you could barely see 20 at the bottom. Well, various paddlers were biting their teeth out and I could only choose between breaking off or smashing into a tree on one traverse. 1:0 for the Hurry. The whole thing is repeated at 25/24 and then there's gate 26, which is so easy to ride that you wonder what it's all about. Later I find out that a tree has been hung directly in front of it in the evening (more precisely, there are 2 trees hanging from a crane and a guy line to the shore, so that the branches float on the surface of the water). Then come 27 and 28, which are quite high up on the right and left of a "snap" roll in eddies, so we soon see a Perception Pirouette, which lives up to its name until the paddler gets out. Finally, we head up the Isel and then quickly cross into a large eddy in the middle and cross over again at the bottom through a hole (1:1 for Hurry vs. Salto).

So 2nd pass with Hurry.... Well, it works a bit better, only the spraydeck opens at the land start, which is completely surprising as the deck is so tight that it doesn't actually work. But it does on the second attempt, only I no longer hit the paddle on my lower lip.

However, the 21 remains unachieved again due to lack of energy. 31/32 goes quite well, so it becomes the Hurry.

At the boat inspection, someone says: "Ah, a Hurrycane, I tested it too, now I'm driving an Invader, it's longer" and I think to myself, "Hello, is this a classic car event?" Otherwise everything goes well for me, only some people have borderline boat lengths (max. 340cm), like Bernie Mauracher, but then it's OK.

So down to the runner's start and later to the landing site of the paragliders, although this could be described as a planned crash site for them. Then I had another false start when (our team is 29) a paraglider with the right color came bombing in and was recognized by the stadium announcer as 29 (as was I), but it was 62. While waiting for my eagle, I stopped worrying about being killed by a glider crashing into me. It was all the more shocking that MY glider hit the Red Bull gate while I was waiting for it and killed the glider (1 meter long tear):

Then I hit the plane next to the debris of the gate before Bernie Mauracher (respect to my runner and flyer).

So off to the ramp: swim through some current beforehand and run through some forest (phew, first time already), grab the right boat and quickly close the nasty spraydeck on the ramp, because whoever manages this first gets to jump first, which works, then Bernie wished me a nice day.....Klatsch, Spritzdecke auf.....sch..., but no problem, paddled with a full boat often enough in the old swimming pool. But the same happened to the starters in front of and behind me, only the 2nd behind me broke his only paddle.

The 21 remains unattained, after 3 failed attempts I am allowed to carry the boom over. Then everything goes as trained, but unfortunately a bit slower than on Friday, I should have saved the run with the somersault...

Well, I'm in the winners' list, not among the disqualified (missed goals) or technically knocked out. Goal and target achieved, good prerequisites for doing better next year.

HD