Icarus Trophy 2017 - Course Overview

03.10.2017 - Update

Due to the recent tragic events in Las Vegas, and out of respect for the victims and their families; we are diverting all Icarus Trophy pilots to a new finish line and continuing the race on an adjusted schedule.

We're in regular contact with the pilots, who are all safe, as are the race crew, pilot ground support teams and friends of the race on the road with us.

The race will continue and the new finish line has been confirmed as being in the Greater Moab area

Our thoughts are with everyone affected.

The Adventurists

Course legend - that's quite a slice of America, y'all

In a sentence, the Icarus Trophy 2017 takes pilots from the Canadian border to the bright lights of Las Vegas.  1000 miles of paramotoring and 5 states in 12 days.  Montana - Idaho - Utah - Arizona - Nevada.  Mountains, prairies, desert, salt flats, canyons and creeks.  All interspersed with quaint small town airports and appalling coffee served by the bucketload in truck stops.  A heady cocktail for the senses

Flathead Lake, Montana. The start line

We are launching from Polson airport, Montana, at the southern tip of Flathead Lake, which as you can see from this photo, is in fact a time warp.  If the pilots can successfully climb out of the 1970s, they will embark on their epic journey south, and probably avoid the water since flying over open water is generally best avoided

Polson Airport - where the magic happens

We will spend the weekend briefing and assessing the pilots right here at Polson Municipal Airport.  Pilots will launch, conditions permitting, at sunrise on Sunday 24th September, so around 7.30am

The high desert of Montana, just beyond the Mission mountain range

What's exciting about this then?  Well.  Those mountains will throw off a lot of rotor, turbulent air, which will require some skilful and sturdy-stomached piloting.  It's also just rather high; a very cold, very spectacular flight awaits, quite early on in the race.  The Missions also have one of the highest concentrations of bears in the continental US.  There are some safe landing zones in amongst those mighty peaks...but you're a bit of a sitting duck down there with the 4-legged locals.

It's not always a pilots lounge and a pizza...

Pilots need to be prepared to land when the conditions dictate, and find shelter and provisions using their adventure nous.  This is Team Biro, our joint adventure division trophy-winners in 2016, making camp close to Arco, Idaho, day 3 of the Trophy last year.  Arco is the first city to be lit by atomic power in the world, and site of at least a dozen (fine, ONE) false nuclear reactor blast practical jokes.  

The incomparable Monument Valley, the Race Class checkpoint 2017

Not many folks get to see their own shadow in the mighty mesas of this most iconic landscape.  If they can park their brakes awhile they can pinch themselves.  If they can land at Gouldings Lodge they can get a Root Beer float and some cool Navaho stuff for the folks back home

Needles Overlook, Southern Utah

Once into Utah pilots will see some of the most iconic landscapes in the US, from a vantage point few can match.  The punks.

Sunrise launch from Brigham airport, Utah

Pilots are free to launch at sunrise, or 30 minutes prior to sunrise if they have flares and are in race class.  They are rewarded for a cold and early start with views like this one.  It's highly illegal to fly over residential and built up areas, so pilots need to climb quickly and get safely away without waking up the neighbours or dropping their breakfast bars into the picket fenced gardens of suburbia from 1000 feet.  It's all part of the Icarus Pilot Skillset

Rainbow Plateau, Arizona - the home straight

Bonneville Salt Flats - this is not photoshopped

Yes, this is not a postcard with some paramotors added in.  ast year our plucky adventure class renegades took a day's detour to the Bonneville Slat flats, Idaho, and came back with images this good, that we had to include them on the race course proper for 2017.  Hopefully a welcome morning or evening's acrobatics awaits our pilots.  It's likely to get pretty thermic in the heat of the day though, so unlikely to be pleasant flying.

This race will push you and your machine far, far beyond what you thought possible

11,000 feet up on a paramotor makes the world look pretty tiny.  Admire the curvature of the earth and the engineering marvel on your back and over your head as you take off from some serious elevations (6500ft or so from Dillon, MT) and climb out over some incredible passes.  (This was Trey last year, just seeing how high he could go)

The finish line is Mesquite, Nevada, which is a cauldron

It's so hot that pilots will find their approach to the airport rather bumpy in the heat of the day, a final test of gumption and gusset-resilience before they land for the final time and get greeted with scenes of total pandemonium such as this.  Actually once they are safely unbuckled and de-helmeted, things get pretty festive, pretty fast.

Last man in buys the chips in Vegas.

Using the municipal airports is a great refuelling and navigation strategy

America is truly blessed with a network of well equipped regional airports, complete with pilots' lounges, courtesy cars, fuel pumps and of course, nicely tended runways.  This view, a brightly coloured winged rosed up at the side of the runway, the other local aircraft in the background and the glorious big country that makes any kind of aviation here such a joy, is a pretty common one on the Trophy.  Here's a particularly fine example from 2016 pilot Miroslav Svec

If you are a pilot or a paramotoring nerd of the first degree, you may wish to see the SkyVector files that our course designer and race director Mr Shane put together for our pilots.  These are not the prescribed course (pilots are responsible for setting their own, planning their own fuel stops and overnights, or freestyling accordingly if they are too balls out for planning of any kind), but they do spell a tentative suitable course from start to finish.

Here's the Race Class route

Here's the Adventure Division route

The difference, in a sentence or two?  Adventure division pilots cut the corner off and they don't have to do the checkpoint at Monument Valley.  Instead, they'll cut south-west from Spanish Fork Canyon and head past Zion National Park (NB - NOT over it...)

Everyone will split in the badlands of Utah after a night on the tiles in Wendover, hopefully.  This should be where the Adventure Division Trophy is won and lost, as Wendover is the gambling outpost of the region and backdrop of a hundred trucker/prostitute unions.  Fingers crossed. 

They'll head down the I-15 corridor through more high desert and down the foothills of the Wasatch towards the towns of Fillmore, Beaver, and eventually Cedar City. After passing Cedar City, the landscape and topography begin to change into the red cliffs and rocky region that southern Utah is known for.

The route takes racers directly past Zion National Park as they head into the town of St. George. Pilots will have to circumnavigate the controlled airspace east of town and head directly toward the Virgin River Gorge as they cross the Arizona border.

Pilots will have to decide whether to go high over the Paiute and Beaver Dam wilderness areas (2000’ above ground) or risk flying through the gorge down low - the weather will be the determining factor.

After the last “gauntlet” in the gorge, pilots will have a 10-mile sprint to cross the gates and finish at the Mesquite Municipal Airport, where they will be showered with libations and praise for completing the world’s toughest air race. Route mileage is approximately 847nm in total.

Meanwhile, in race class, there's an additional 230 miles or so of deliciousness to contend with. There are several different ways of getting to Monument Valley, but the most obvious seems to be starting up Spanish Fork Canyon just north of Santaquin.

A long uphill pass crossing that spans over 25 miles following highway 6 towards Price is the gateway to eastern Utah. From Price, pilots will have to figure out the best way to get around Canyonlands and Arches National Parks that are so quintessentially “southern Utah.” (they must NOT fly over these parks under any circumstances!)

Race division pilots are encouraged to head southeast to Green River, then head directly for Crescent Junction on Interstate 70 before moving south between Canyonlands National Park and Arches national park through Moab. This route will give the most options for refuel, as going west of Canyonlands is out in the certifiable “boondocks.”

Following the fuel stops, pilots will follow Hwy 191 through Moab, Monticello, Blanding, and “Mexican Hat” - the last fuel stop before Monument Valley.

Pilots are encouraged to land at Goulding’s Airport in Monument Valley for a quick fuel stop but are only obligated to fly “around” the checkpoint before heading due West for Page, AZ. Page is the easternmost point of the Grand Canyon, and pilots will have to jump through a few hoops to avoid the restricted airspace as they cross the Colorado River near Horseshoe Bend.

Flying north of the Vermillion Cliffs wilderness area, pilots are rewarded with frankly preposterous views of southern Utah that most 'normal' people will never enjoy.

Racing along the north rim of the Grand Canyon, pilots will find friendly airports and fuel stops in Kanab, UT and Colorado City, AZ as they criss-cross back and forth over the state border heading towards St. George.

From St. George, the Race Division pilots re-join the Adventure Division route to fly the Virgin River (gorge) all the way to Mesquite, NV. Route mileage total is approximately 1078nm.