Dolomitenmann

The Dolomitenmann is an extreme sports relay race held in September in the East Tyrolean, or Dolomite Mountains of Austria, near the city of Lienz. The founder and organiser is Werner Grissmann, a former World Cup skier.

The Dolomitenmann relay race has been run annually since 1988. In recent years the race has been sponsored by the manufacturers of Red Bull energy drink and is now known as Red Bull Dolomitenmann. The race is billed by its organizers as "the world's toughest team relay race".

The race is started by the mountain runner on the town square of Lienz at 674 metres (2,211 ft) above sea level. who then runs a distance of around 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) up to Kühbodentörl at 2,441 metres (8,009 ft).

When the runner makes the hand-off to the team’s paraglider, he must also run, this time with his whole equipment to the first take-off point. After descending by air to Moosalm, the paraglider runs to a second take-off point, descending to Leisach where the mountain biker is ready and waiting.

The mountain biker typically climbs 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) or more, over a distance of about 27 kilometres (17 mi). After the climb, the mountain biker must ride a downhill track to the finish.

The teams kayaker swims across the river Drau where his boat is stationed. His first maneuver is an "alpine-start", or a drop off a 7 metres (23 ft) ramp into the river. After the jump the kayaker must navigate a difficult white water track on the river Isel () before a last sprint back to the main square of Lienz.

The fastest athlete of each discipline receives a trophy designed by Jos Pirkner and the title Dolomitenmann.

As of September 2016, there are 51 Dolomitenmen from 9 nations.

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Wikipedia