Slovenian climber Domen Škofic took the sport of bouldering to new heights last month when he completed a challenging V11 set of holds and traverses on the outside of a glider flying through the Austrian Alps. Bouldering is a variation of rock climbing normally done at 20 feet or less without the use of climbing or safety gear. Škofic pulled off his climb by going from one surface to another on a Red Bull Blanik glider 6,000 feet above the Styrian town of Aigen. It took three tries to complete the full series of moves. Each climb ended with a parachute descent, the last one with a back flip from the top of the wing.
Škofic wasn’t the only one getting a workout. The Blanik, one of the gliders used by Red Bull’s Blanix demo team, was chosen for its stability and slow speed, but keeping it stable was a workout for the pilot as the climber changed its aerodynamics and weight and balance with each new hold.
Nominated for the worlds most useless stunt award 2025.
Flown and taught in the Blanik L-13 is a great training machine. Too bad many were grounded with a wing failure resulting in a very expensive inspection process.
Candidate for Darwin’s waiting room?
This is presumably the aerobatic (AC) version of the Blanik which is not subject to the wing failure problem and is still flying worldwide. Nice flying qualities but with the (in)convenient flap and spoiler handles right next to each other with sometimes unfortunate results.
Stupid. What is the point?
What red bull$#!+.
Amazing. Pure joy!!!
BFD
Well, on a positive note, at least the Blanik was still flyable when they were done. Unlike the two dipshits trying to switch airplanes.