Check it out

What: Honza Rejmanek’s third bid to win the X-Alps race

When and where: Starting at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, July 17, in Salzburg, Austria, and ending 10 to 12 days later in Monaco

Watch it: Follow the race in real time at http://www.redbullXAlps.com

You can help: To support Rejmanek’s efforts, donations can be made online at http://www.honzair.com

By Margaret Burns

The scenery is unparalleled, and so is the effort — paragliding or hiking along the arc of the Alps in a 900-mile race that covers 10 to 12 days. Only the fittest and most skilled pilots can survive, and one of those is a Davis man.

Honza Rejmanek is the only American among 32 competitors in the X-Alps 2011 race from Salzburg, Austria, to Monaco, which begins Sunday, July 17.

“We had over 100 applications from all over the world and it was very difficult to decide who would be accepted as a competitor this year,” the race organizers said. “We selected for skills, stamina and guts.”

Rejmanek, who turns 36 on Saturday, certainly fits that description. This will be his third time in the X-Alps competition; in 2009, he finished third in a field of 30 participants. Most did not complete the race.

This will be the fifth biennial X-Alps race since 2003. Pilots start by hiking out of Mozartplatz in Salzburg and paraglide and hike over and in the Austrian, Italian, Swiss and French Alps until they finally glide down to a raft in the Mediterranean Sea a quarter-mile off the coast of Monaco.

The athletes can choose their own route but they must make specified mountain peak turnpoints within a circumscribed distance. The course has eight turnpoints, including Dachstein in Austria, Tre Cime in Italy, the Matterhorn in Switzerland, Mont Blanc in France, then Mont Gros in France, just 5 kilometers from the finish point on the raft off Monaco.

Although the air distance is 864 km, the actual distance traversed may be 1,400 km or more (roughly 900 miles). It depends on the weather and the pilots’ individual decisions about paragliding or hiking, and how they read the weather, terrain, their abilities and their fatigue.

Every 48 hours, the last participant is eliminated from the race. The race ends 48 hours after the first pilot lands at Monaco.

The race is completed in 10 to 12 days. Pilots must carry all their own flying and hiking gear (about 25 pounds) as well as tracking devices that allow the race to be monitored in real time. They can cover ground only by flying or hiking.

Race rules permit flying only between sunrise and sunset, so athletes walk as much as they can at night. This year, the athletes are required to rest between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m.

The endurance athletes are allowed one supporter on the ground. That person provides food, advice and encouragement, massages, first aid, map-reading, strategy, whatever is necessary. His vehicle is a home on wheels during the race.

Rejmanek came to Davis from the Czech Republic with his parents when he was 10 years old. He always wanted to fly and thought he would try hang-gliding. Then he toyed with the idea of a paramotor — a paraglider with a motorized seat. But the moment he realized it was more convenient to pilot a paraglider on air currents alone — you can stuff your gear in a backpack and keep going and going — he was sold.

Rejmanek was certified as a paraglider pilot before he got his driver’s license. He worked in a UC Davis lab and saved his money to buy his own gear, while his parents helped by paying for lessons. In 1994, while a student at UC Santa Cruz, he had a chance to study abroad. A five-week vacation paragliding in the French Alps near Chamonix sealed his fate.

“It was heaven,” he says.

In the 1990s, he was an apprentice then a certified instructor and taught in Pacifica. He also became a tandem instructor, a license that allows him to take a passenger up with him.

In 2000, he and some friends bought a paramotor and set up a touring company in Costa Rica giving tandem rides to ecotourists.

“We didn’t make much money but we didn’t lose any,” he says.

It was there that he received an offer to do tandem paragliding in Sun Valley, Idaho, a popular paragliding site during the summer.

“Sun Valley has very strong flying conditions with high thermals that give you enormous lift,” Rejmanek says. “After Sun Valley, other places are relatively mellow, even the Alps.”

On a chairlift there, he met his wife, Barbora, also from Czechoslovakia and also a pilot.

That summer he also met Dave Hanning, who has been his supporter in the past two races.

“Dave is invaluable as a supporter,” Rejmanek says. “Not only is he a paraglider pilot himself, but he has been a mountain guide on both Rainier and McKinley. He has experience at organizing expeditions. He is my lifeline — makes sure I have the proper food and enough of it.

“I may use 6,000 to 8,000 calories a day during the race. He makes sure I stay hydrated appropriately and keeps up my motivation. Plus which, he is really gregarious, talks with other people and makes life pleasant.”

Rejmanek’s flying experiences were crucial to leading him to study atmospheric sciences. He has a master of science degree from UCD.

When he isn’t competing or training, he works in the atmospheric sciences department at UCD, doing studies that are collecting up-to-date data on water usage in various crops. Right now, he and his colleagues are working with rice farmers.

How does he train for this race?

“I am continuously in training in the sense that I have to keep up my flying skills and keep myself in good condition,” he explains. “About six months before the race, I am much more conscientious about making sure I get good flying days in more frequently.

“I am aware that hiking is not my strongest point, so I am constantly working on that for endurance. Going for a hike with Martin, my son (almost 2 1/2), on my shoulders is perfect. He weighs about 25 pounds, the same as my backpack, and it gives us good time together.”

In addition to the physical demands of flying and walking, Rejmanek also emphasizes the need to do what he calls “precarious landing practice.”

“Launching is a relatively slow process, but landing comes abruptly,” he says. “In this race, it is necessary to have confidence that you can land in a tight, awkward place. We are often above the tree line and landing on scree — loose rocks. That is very important for this race.”

Rejmanek finishes training a couple of weeks before the race begins. You might still see him walking from Davis through Winters and on up to Lake Berryessa, the highest point in the near vicinity.

“This race is a great game, a great adventure,” he says. “For me, it is a great luxury to be able to fly and hike for nearly two weeks in beautiful country with amazing athletes.”

To support Rejmanek’s efforts, donations can be made online at http://www.honzair.com.

The race begins at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, July 17, in Salzburg, Austria. It can be followed in real time on the website, http://www.redbullXAlps.com.

— Margaret S. Burns is a local freelance writer. Reach her at [email protected]

DCIM100GOPRO

Honza Rejmanek flies over the northwest edge of Davis as he trains for the X-Alps Endurance Race, which begins next month in Austria. Highway 113 cuts across the middle of the photo. Courtesy photo

DCIM100GOPRO

Honza Rejmanek of Davis flies directly over Route 128 east of Lake Berryessa as he trains for the X-Alps Endurance Race, which begins next month in Austria. The covered groves of Four Winds Nursery are in the bottom left. Monticello Dam and Markley Cove are just above and to the right of Rejmanek. Courtesy photo

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Honza Rejmanek with his son, Martin, on a training hike above Lake Berryessa as he prepares for his third try at the X-Alps race from Salzburg, Austria, to Monaco. In 2009, he finished third. Courtesy photo

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The X-Alps Endurance Race starts Sunday, July 17, and covers 864 kilometers in the Austrian, Italian, Swiss and French Alps until it ends a quarter-mile off the coast of Monaco. Courtesy map

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