Adventure Travel News

Typically English weather conditions with water from all sides and chilly
temperatures turned out to suit Gary Hunt perfectly at the penultimate stop of
the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2010 in Sisikon, Switzerland. Taking the
lead after round one, the 26-year-old prevailed against his competitors and took
his fourth season victory in front of 3,500 weatherproof spectators on Lake
Lucerne this Saturday afternoon. The Brit is just one point away from winning
the overall title at the final in Hilo, Hawaii, on September 12.

After missing the entry during his world premiere of a running take-off in Italy, it was
Hunt’s day today. His mother and sister came to watch their first ever cliff diving
competition and had the English weather on board. “It’s a good feeling having my
family here. It’s the first time my mum and my sister have seen me dive live so it
makes it even better to have won. It’s a great win for me. After having a little mishap
in Italy there were a lot of bad thoughts in my mind – am I going to crumble now when
it comes to the final? It feels great to get another win under my belt. I’m in a great
place going into the final,” says the Southampton-based diver, who won ahead of
Colombian Orlando Duque and Kent De Mond from the US.

Accompanied by heavy rainfall, the competition offered some additional surprises: last
year’s Swiss stop winner and the man victorious in Italy, Artem Silchenko (RUS),
missed his second dive and came ninth. Two divers made it to the final round for the
first time this year – Michal Navratil, from Prague, and Frenchman Cyrille
Oumedjkane finished fourth and sixth respectively, narrowing the gap to the top six in
the overall standings. After the last but one competition, Gary Hunt has a
commanding lead of 19 points, in front of Orlando Duque (73 pts) and Artem
Silchenko (67 pts).

Mounted on an iconic landmark, surrounded by mountains up to 1500m high and
towering over Switzerland’s fourth largest lake – the stage was set at 26.6m for the
world’s most accomplished high divers in the tiny and picturesque village of Sisikon.

Spectators on boats, inflatable air mattresses or surfboards were not put off by the
wet coming from above and almost multiplied ten-fold the number of 370 residents.

With five athletes still fighting for a position in the top six, the grand final in the sport’s
country of origin promises to be an attention-grabbing competition on September 12.

Results Stop 5 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, Sisikon (SUI)

1. Gary Hunt | GBR | 417.50 pts
2. Orlando Duque | COL | 380.50 pts
3. Kent De Mond | USA | 322.65 pts
4. Michal Navratil | CZE | 321.80 pts
5. Hassan Mouti | FRA | 307.65 pts
6. Cyrille Oumedjkane | FRA | 293.30 pts
7. Alain Kohl | LUX | 188.30 pts
8. Steve Black | AUS | 188.05 pts
9. Artem Silchenko | RUS | 184.20 pts
10. Eber Pava | COL | 120.60 pts
11. Slava Polyeshchuk | UKR | 84.60 pts
12. Andrey Ignatenko | UKR | 68.40 pts

La Rochelle, Yucatán and Kragerø – the World Series has reached its midway
point and Briton Gary Hunt is the man of the 2010 season so far. With the
maximum haul of points he stands out from the rest. Bright sunshine and more
than 12,000 spectators on boats and ships crowding the Skagerrak strait in
Norway’s summer hot spot on Saturday afternoon cheered the cliff diving elite
to deliver peak performances.

17 points ahead of his nearest rival, and not giving away a single point after three out
of six stops, the 26-year-old has three reasons to feel safe in his leading position: “I’ve
very recently come from 10m Olympic-style diving and I think that makes my form a
little tighter. The consistency this year has been much better. It’s been a great start for
me, it couldn’t have gone better, but there’s still three competitions left. It’s not in the
bag just yet and I’m going to play around with a new dive in the next competition so
let’s see how that goes.” After another battle for the podium today, Artem Silchenko
(RUS) and Orlando Duque (COL), separated by only one point, are fighting for the
second overall position. With another second place the Russian further underlined his
claims to be number one: “I beat Orlando who’s a great diver but I lose to Gary.
Second place is good but I want to win and I can do it, I know it.”

The competition for the top six has never been so tight, only 0.05 point dividing
positions 7 and 8, 1.5 points between rank 7 and 9. Forced by the new format the
athletes have to take out their most difficult dives already in round two. Out of twelve
participants Alain Kohl (LUX), ranked on a personal best 4th today, is the ninth to
reach the top six and gives striking proof of the World Series’ claim of having the
world’s best high divers.

1,000 spectators for each athlete – the divers’ view from the 26.8m platform on the
skerry could hardly have been more impressive. Thousands of boats on the water and
spectators along the shoreline turned the picturesque Kragerø archipelago into a
floating arena.

From a solid rock in the Oslo fjord, the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series heads to
southern Italy for the next stop in Polignano a Mare on August 8.
Results Stop 3 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, Kragerø (NOR)

1. Gary Hunt | GBR | 386.45 pts
2. Artem Silchenko | RUS | 355,15 pts
3. Orlando Duque | COL | 342.20 pts
4. Alain Kohl | LUX | 307.65 pts
5. Steve Black | AUS | 302.55 pts
6. Slava Polyeshchuk | UKR | 265.50 pts
7. Magnus Vigeland | MEX | 196.85 pts
8. Hassan Mouti | FRA | 195.40 pts
9. Michal Navratil | CZE | 195.35 pts
10. Kent de Mond | USA | 185.20 pts
11. Eber Pava | COL | 182.60 pts
12. Andrey Ignatenko | UKR | 180.95 pts
13. Cyrille Oumedjkane | FRA | 166.40 pts

Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2010. The world’s best divers, six challenging
competitions and 26 metres between take off and hitting the water smoothly, via
athletic perfection. A selection of famous and well-known diving spots, as well as
extraordinary natural and challenging urban venues, have been chosen. Occurring for
the second year, the share between known and new locations is 50-50. Starting on
May 15 in La Rochelle (FRA), the series took a leap over the Atlantic Ocean to
Mexico (Yucatán) and came back to Europe for competitions in Norway (Kragerø),
Italy (Polignano a Mare) and Switzerland (Sisikon), before reaching the land of the
sport’s origin, Hawaii (Hilo), on September 12 for the grand final.

Red Bull Cliff Diving competitions are judged by five international jurors with scores
awarded according to the degree of difficulty and the execution of the dive.

Simply incredible.

Hans Peaty MacAskill Highlands from ResetFilms.co.uk on Vimeo.

Fluid Extraction from Ed’s Elbow from Walking the Amazon Videos on Vimeo.

Red Bull Reporter is a nationwide search to find the best young music & culture, and sports writers, filmmakers, photographers and presenters, giving them the chance of a lifetime: to use their skills and indulge their passions as a Red Bull Reporter.

The most talented young media makers could be selected for one of our many exciting assignments – each designed to give them an amazing experience as a working member of the media – covering world-class sports, cutting-edge music and innovative culture events. What’s more, Red Bull events happen all over the world and we’ll be dispatching Red Bull Reporters out there to cover them!

www.redbullreporter.com

To enter, budding writers, photographers, filmmakers and presenters upload the best examples for consideration by site users, and the Red Bull Editorial Team.

If selected, a Red Bull Reporter could find themselves travelling on assignment to exciting events in the UK and overseas; or be introduced to an incredible cultural opinion leader, or high profile athlete. Following their assignment, each Red Bull Reporter’s content will be showcased to the world.

Show off your skills and springboard your career as a filmmaker or presenter!

Red Bull Reporter have teamed up with STA Travel to give two lucky, ambitious talents the opportunity to head to Switzerland to report from the 2010 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series.

The search is on for one filmmaker and one presenter. The selected entrants will travel to Sisikon,  in the heart of Switzerland, on August 28th to live out their dreams as the next big talents, covering one of the most exhilarating events on the  Red Bull calendar; Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2010!

Red Bull Cliff Diving stops in Sisikon

On August 28, the world’s most accomplished cliff divers will return to Sisikon, in the heart of Switzerland, to dive from the town’s iconic landmark, a huge rock off the eastern shore of Lake Uri, a part of Lake Lucerne.

The 12 competitors will dive from a height of 26 metres into the depths of the lake, with a spectacular glacier and surrounding mountains as the backdrop. 

The village, with 270 residents, eagerly awaits thousands of visitors who from their boats, inflatable air mattresses, surf boards and the shore will watch the honed bodies gliding their way through the air into the depths.

Show off your Skills – Upload Now!

So, are you the next big thing? Find out and enter today. All you need to do is choose your category (filmmaking or presenting) and then show off your talents and upload your best work so far.

To apply for this exciting assignment or for more details visit www.redbullreporter.com

The STA Travel website will also feature the video report created by the chosen reporters from the event exclusively afterwards.

Deadline for submissions is Friday 13th August, and you must be free to travel the weekend of the 27th-29th August. All accommodation and travel expenses will be covered.
NB You must be 16 years or over and a UK resident to apply.

Good luck!

Ah, the season of adventure travel is upon us! The excitable anticipation, the mystery of exploring a new location and the unmistakable whilst inevitable uncertainty of not having a clue where you are when you get lost.

Although we like an air of mystery surrounding an expedition of the more adventurous nature, the line is drawn where the weather is concerned. British weather, unfortunately, inspires as much confidence as the ‘correct’ directions you were told by an assertive passer-by.

But whatever you do, whatever the weather, do not let it spoil your trip. Spin the situation around and use it to your advantage. So what if it is raining? Who cares if the wind is causing you to look like a flustered Father Christmas? It will be all the more satisfying completing a walk, hike or trek if you are against adverse weather conditions.

Just make sure you are kitted out correctly! The North Face stock a fine collection of clothing to suit any form of adventure travel in any weather. The brand is a premium supplier of authentic and technically innovative products, and caters for the higher end of the outdoor clothing market.

Their most popular jacket, the North Face resolve jacket has an astounding amount of science behind it (as explained in the video below), and is the perfect jacket to accompany you on your adventure. It is lightweight, waterproof and breathable and is ideally suited to changeable weather conditions.

There are some fantastic hiking trails around the UK, none perhaps more popular and dare I say flashy than the Lands End to John O Groats walk, crossing the whole country. The beauty of the hike is you can pretty much follow any route you like, just make sure your journey is continous!

2nd victory for the Briton in Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2010 in Yucatán

His personal perception of cliff diving is “out of this world” and Gary Hunt’s performance these days can also be described as not of this world: the 25-year-old’s innovative style and creativity culminated in the second consecutive win at Sunday’s competition of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2010 in Yucatán, Mexico. The exotic surrounding of Cenote Ik Kil was the perfect venue for high-class high diving from 27.25m into sacred fresh water.

The Triple Quad – the most difficult dive, the first one exclusively perceived for cliff diving and invented by the Southampton-based diver – assured Gary Hunt top spot on the podium. With the day’s top score of 160.00 points he took the lead by 27.25 points ahead of his closest competitor in round two. To pick up his trophy he only needed a solid third dive, but his spirit of innovation was rewarded once more: “It is hard work and practice. Learning all my difficult dives last year has paid off. I don’t know why the others don’t try the same DD but I suppose it’s because it’s a very difficult dive and you cannot practice in a diving pool. You just have to trust in yourself and go for it. When you see somebody before you get good scores, like Artem, it definitely makes you think that you have to do this and you go for 10s every time.”

After a 2nd place at the kick-off competition in La Rochelle, France, three weeks ago, nine-times world champion Orlando Duque from Colombia finished 3rd (348.40 points). Performing an impressive new dive with a so-called blind entry – a rarely shown landing manouevre where the diver sees the water for the last time at least half a somersault before the entry and lines up “blind” – Artem Silchenko (RUS) claimed 2nd position (363.05 points). In the overall standings after two out of six stops Englishman Hunt leads with a score of 40 points ahead of Orlando Duque (29 points) and Artem Silchenko (27 points).

27.25m above fresh water, with schools of small catfish down below, the diving platform overlooked the Sacred Blue Cenote, probably the most impressive of allegedly 3,000 of these mystical sinkholes on the northern Yucatán Peninsula. The well is 60m in diameter, with water 39m deep and was used as a place of sacrifice in pre-Columbian times. Being the most remote of all the 2010 Series locations only a few people looking for respite in the pristine water witnessed the acrobatic free falls on June 6.

For the 3rd stop the World Series will come back to Europe and be hosted by the Norwegian summer hot spot Kragerø on July 24, 2010.

Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2010. The world’s best divers, six challenging competitions and 26 metres between take off and hitting the water smoothly, via athletic perfection. A selection of famous and well-known diving spots, as well as extraordinary natural and challenging urban venues, have been chosen. Occurring for the second year, the share between known and new locations is 50-50. Starting on May 15 in La Rochelle (FRA), the series took a leap over the Atlantic Ocean to Mexico (Yucatán) and will come back to Europe for competitions in Norway (Kragerø), Italy (Polignano a Mare) and Switzerland (Sisikon), before reaching the land of the sport’s origin, Hawaii (Hilo), on September 12 for the grand final.

Red Bull Cliff Diving competitions are judged by five international jurors with scores awarded according to the degree of difficulty and the execution of the dive.

Pictures free for editorial use: info in picture caption | Credit: VC – Vincent Curutchet, RD – Ray Demski

Official website: www.redbullcliffdiving.com

We’ve just addded ‘Go-Where‘ to our adventure travel company database:

“Go where? Go anywhere! Whatever your reason for exploring Scotland – whether you’re a rider, hillwalker, kite surfer, mountain man or woman, or first-time Scotland visitor wanting to connect with Scotland’s best outdoor adventures – we provide bespoke travel solutions and the local knowledge to get you there.” *
*Extract from the Adventure Providers website.

How would you like to WIN a FREE trip on Arenui the Boutique Liveaboard in 2010? Well you could and it is very very simple.

Go to: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Kuta-Indonesia/Arenui-The-Boutique-Liveaboard/342691100837?ref=ts and simply become a friend of the Arenui on their facebook page.

It is as simple as that.

Saturday, 15th May, 2010 – 50,000 spectators, 27.50 metres, 14° water temperature and an English winner – the sport’s most distinguished series of competitions started with the victory of cliff diver Gary Hunt. On May 15 the historic port of La Rochelle hosted the eagerly-anticipated high diving battle and it exceeded all expectations. The spectators’ never-ending cheering motivated the athletes to flaunt their jaw-dropping leaps from Saint Nicolas Tower. Orlando Duque (COL) and Kent De Mond (USA) finished second and third respectively.

2009’s series runner-up Hunt performed the most difficult dive and started season II of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series the way he finished the last – with a victory. In freezing conditions, 25 year-old Gary Hunt was awarded three tens for his last dive by the international jury and scored 390.10 points overall. “To finish ahead of Orlando Duque is great, he’s the one we’re all chasing. I went with a very difficult dive in the second round and in the third was happy with how I hit. The competition is great this year and I think after La Rochelle that it can get much better. I’m pleased that in the off-season I haven’t lost the momentum I had built up at the end of the last series. It was strange hearing the British national anthem in France, I wasn’t expecting that, but it was nice!” the Southampton-based diver said. He relegated nine times world champion and World Series champion 2009 Orlando Duque from Colombia (369.30 points) to second place and American Kent De Mond (328.25 points) to third.

The new competition format – only the top six after the first two heats make it to the final round – added an extra slice of tension for the athletes. Don’t save the best till last was the finalists’ strategy and each of them performed the dive with the highest degree of difficulty in the decisive second heat. This meant a lot of pressure on the athletes’ shoulders but all the better show for the hardy crowd of 50,000 that packedthe historic port of La Rochelle inspite of the cold. At single-digit outside temperatures and heavy winds, walking was hardly possible for the divers after the landing in ice-cold water. It was the French audience’s enthusiasm that let the high divers compete on quite literally the highest level.

To heat the competition between the world’s best high divers up the second stop of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2010 will be hosted in Yucatán, Mexico on June 6.

Press release care of: www.redbullcliffdiving.com.