The World's Best Outdoor Athletes Gather in Interlaken
Interlaken, 24th June 2007 – The arrival of the athletes today in Interlaken marked the start of the much-awaited third edition of the extreme games. And so begins five days of non-stop sport and creativity, followed by a weekend of competitions, demos and induction courses dedicated entirely to the viewing public.
Having settled into their bivouacs located in the middle of the forest high up in the mountains of Interlaken, the six teams set out to recce the region, venturing off in search of inspiration. The teams now have five days and five nights in which to produce their short five-minute film. In other words, no time to waste! This year the competitors will have to raise the stakes and push their imagination to the limit in order to make the most of the setting of the Games and produce original images.
The Outdoor Games offers up two competition formats. One will bring together high calibre sporting disciplines, while the other is based around a video film festival concept. The films will be shot and produced on location during the course of the week preceding the competition events. As an original, multi-disciplined sporting event, the Outdoor Games invites internationally renowned athletes to take part in five sports: mountain biking, kayaking, climbing, parapenting and BASE jumping (freefalling from cliffs or beneath a parapente canopy). These groundbreaking Games offer the viewing public a unique opportunity to experience and share in moments of intense emotion and adrenaline.
There’s little doubt that we’ll witness a whole host of new sporting achievements and world firsts.
This year, the list of invited athletes is more than impressive. The growing reputation of the event has successfully attracted an ever-increasing number of athletes from all four corners of the globe.
The team that won last year’s event is back once again. Team ‘EPHEMERE’ is determined to defend its title by taking this year’s prize for best film in competition. Under the watchful eyes of the renowned Falquet brothers, this team blew the competition away with a film that was shot at night. Yves Burri (BASE jumper notably featured in Nuit de la Glisse) and Ludo May (mountain biker), both from the Valais region, won’t be afraid to push the limits. The same will certainly be true of climbers Fred and Francois Nicole, both from the region of Vaud, as well as the kayaker Raphaël Thiebaut and Mathias Roten, the rising star of the international parapenting scene. No need to tinker with a winning formula!
On the Swiss front, another team ‘NATURAL OUTBREAK’ is readying itself to give its best on its home turf under the captaincy of Swiss German Simon Hirter, one of the best kayakers in the world. Stay tuned for a whole lot more from the canyons and rivers of the Bern region…
The German team ‘CHAOS’, meanwhile, looks like it has a few surprises in store. The one-legged Simon Raafflaub (http://www.onefoot.ch/), who finished 5th in slalom, 9th in Super-G and 16th in downhill at the Paralympics in Turin 2006, seems to have more than a few tricks up his sleeve.
Amongst the other contenders, numerous unique characters make up the remaining teams. Géraldine Fasnacht, the renowned rider from Vaud, is at the reins of a hard-hitting all-female team going by the name of the ‘SPICY CHICKS’. She’ll put her skills to good use in the BASE jumping. By her side, the current kayaking world champion Ruth Gordon has made the trip from Canada to compete in her first Outdoor Games. The boys had better be up to it!
And as the frontiers of the Nissan Outdoor Games by Columbia are pushed in every sense, this third edition also welcomes a Scandinavian team, going by the evocative name ‘GOLG’, as well as a French team.
With that, it’s clear that the athletes’ performances are in safe hands for this 2007 edition of the Games!
For 2007, the Outdoor Games are proud to announce the support of a new title sponsor, Nissan. The car manufacturer is fully committed to adventure and freestyle sports. By sponsoring the event, Nissan has positioned itself in a sector that fully reflects the spirit of adventure and passion for new horizons that the brand embodies. Welcome to the world of NISSAN SPORTS ADVENTURE.
Having settled into their bivouacs located in the middle of the forest high up in the mountains of Interlaken, the six teams set out to recce the region, venturing off in search of inspiration. The teams now have five days and five nights in which to produce their short five-minute film. In other words, no time to waste! This year the competitors will have to raise the stakes and push their imagination to the limit in order to make the most of the setting of the Games and produce original images.
The Outdoor Games offers up two competition formats. One will bring together high calibre sporting disciplines, while the other is based around a video film festival concept. The films will be shot and produced on location during the course of the week preceding the competition events. As an original, multi-disciplined sporting event, the Outdoor Games invites internationally renowned athletes to take part in five sports: mountain biking, kayaking, climbing, parapenting and BASE jumping (freefalling from cliffs or beneath a parapente canopy). These groundbreaking Games offer the viewing public a unique opportunity to experience and share in moments of intense emotion and adrenaline.
There’s little doubt that we’ll witness a whole host of new sporting achievements and world firsts.
This year, the list of invited athletes is more than impressive. The growing reputation of the event has successfully attracted an ever-increasing number of athletes from all four corners of the globe.
The team that won last year’s event is back once again. Team ‘EPHEMERE’ is determined to defend its title by taking this year’s prize for best film in competition. Under the watchful eyes of the renowned Falquet brothers, this team blew the competition away with a film that was shot at night. Yves Burri (BASE jumper notably featured in Nuit de la Glisse) and Ludo May (mountain biker), both from the Valais region, won’t be afraid to push the limits. The same will certainly be true of climbers Fred and Francois Nicole, both from the region of Vaud, as well as the kayaker Raphaël Thiebaut and Mathias Roten, the rising star of the international parapenting scene. No need to tinker with a winning formula!
On the Swiss front, another team ‘NATURAL OUTBREAK’ is readying itself to give its best on its home turf under the captaincy of Swiss German Simon Hirter, one of the best kayakers in the world. Stay tuned for a whole lot more from the canyons and rivers of the Bern region…
The German team ‘CHAOS’, meanwhile, looks like it has a few surprises in store. The one-legged Simon Raafflaub (http://www.onefoot.ch/), who finished 5th in slalom, 9th in Super-G and 16th in downhill at the Paralympics in Turin 2006, seems to have more than a few tricks up his sleeve.
Amongst the other contenders, numerous unique characters make up the remaining teams. Géraldine Fasnacht, the renowned rider from Vaud, is at the reins of a hard-hitting all-female team going by the name of the ‘SPICY CHICKS’. She’ll put her skills to good use in the BASE jumping. By her side, the current kayaking world champion Ruth Gordon has made the trip from Canada to compete in her first Outdoor Games. The boys had better be up to it!
And as the frontiers of the Nissan Outdoor Games by Columbia are pushed in every sense, this third edition also welcomes a Scandinavian team, going by the evocative name ‘GOLG’, as well as a French team.
With that, it’s clear that the athletes’ performances are in safe hands for this 2007 edition of the Games!
For 2007, the Outdoor Games are proud to announce the support of a new title sponsor, Nissan. The car manufacturer is fully committed to adventure and freestyle sports. By sponsoring the event, Nissan has positioned itself in a sector that fully reflects the spirit of adventure and passion for new horizons that the brand embodies. Welcome to the world of NISSAN SPORTS ADVENTURE.