Icarus Trophy 2022
We’re Back in the USA
The world’s toughest paramotor adventure race kicks off again Stateside in just over a year - and the tension is already beginning to mount. Have you got the skills and resilience to paramotor 1,000km across some of the most remote and epic wilderness in America?
It’s time to find out.
the Concept
The Icarus Trophy is an epic event considered by many as the ultimate aerial adventure race. It's man and machine vs the skies.
Pilots, competing individually or in teams, not only battle each other but also nature’s elements as they fly their way across 1,000km of extraordinary and challenging off-grid terrain.
Over 3-5 days of high-impact adrenaline racing, pilots either following a set course or navigate their own way from checkpoint to checkpoint in a bid to fly faster and get to the finish line first.
The Route
With each Icarus Trophy event comes a dramatic new location and more importantly, a challenging new route to sort the proverbial men from the boys.
The Icarus Trophy has a notorious reputation for being quite brutal, making competitors sweat and cry – all before lunchtime. And for 2022 we are upping the stakes, big-time! It promises to be one of the most eagerly anticipated and awe-inspiring routes in the history of the Icarus Trophy.
So you better start training, the Icarus Trophy 2022 will be the ultimate test of perseverance, mental strength, and airmanship.
An adventure of 2 Divisions
Adventure Division
Beacons of madcappery, Adventure Division Pilots make it to the finish line under their own (or borrowed) steam.
Pilots opting for the Adventure Division can accept outside support and travel forward using transport other than flying. Pilots can also choose to be classed under either the Pure Adventure or Adventure First sub-category.
Pilots must fly with all their own equipment but can accept outside help if it's not pre-arranged. If you stream across the finish line on a fan-powered bicycle having lost your wing in an ill-conceived bet at an illegal gambling joint with only one shoe as clothing and covered head to foot in mud, you have probably embraced the spirit.
Pilots will be placed by the time spent flying the course to the finish line.
In the Adventure First category, pilots can bring their own race support: family, friends, instructors, or pets.
Adventure First category pilots will be no less of a legend and will be classed as 'finished' on the leaderboard without classification.
Race Division
The cream of an outstanding crop, Race Division pilots must fly unsupported and get there first to win.
Pilots must remain unsupported for the entire racing event - they can only progress by flying or walking. If they choose to walk, they then must carry their equipment.
Pilots can use 'open access' support - anything that the average person can access. Should they manage to charm total strangers into lending their assistance, that's kosher. They cannot use the help offered by friends, distant relatives, other pilots, or the race team to further their progress.
Pilots must launch from 200m of their landing point. If they can't, they must travel back (in the direction of the start line) on foot until a good launch site is found.
More detailed rules will be given to all pilots.
A good number of pilots start in Race Division and then choose to drop down to Adventure. This is a great choice if you're not sure if you want to go full race as it's harder to go from Adventure to Race during the event.
Unsupported (well, almost)
Any pilot that completes the entire Icarus Trophy course will have truly achieved the exceptional… but in our view, it’s sometimes more about really embracing the spirit of your adventure, and not how fast you get to the finish line. That means setting out into the world and fending for yourself. Have to carry everything you’ll need such as food, clothes, a method of sleeping, and some spares to keep your aerial steed in working condition. Anything less becomes a bit mundane and starts to remove all the real fun bits and the serendipitous experiences that you’ll talk about for years to come.
However…
We understand that you are not high-level special forces operatives or larger-than-life superheroes, despite the fact you can fly… We, therefore, adopt as our primary concern, safety measures that embody our duty of care to all competing pilots. To seek to eliminate the danger of fatalities, disabling injuries, and to reduce minor accidents and injuries.
Live race tracking
You'll be issued with a satellite tracker which can send and receive messages from anywhere on earth and send an SOS message if the cavalry needs to come and scoop you up. This way the whole world can tune in to follow the ups and downs of your race.
Specialised race weather
You'll get expert daily weather updates piped direct to your tracking device and emails made just for the race pilots.
Spares truck
No matter how great a pilot we think we are, it is inevitable that at some point during the Icarus Trophy your paramotor is going to take the occasional knock or worse case, a hard butt-landing… So while you can carry some essentials on you, there are some parts that would make leaving the ground rather a challenge.
With this in mind, we have a spares truck that can carry some of the parts you think you might need throughout the Icarus Trophy event. Space is limited to a set size and the truck may take a while to reach you depending on where you've landed out, so don't forget to pack some sandwiches.
ICARUS Trophy MANAGEMENT
Supported by Parajet
Originally created by The Adventurists in 2014, the Icarus Trophy is now run independently and on a not-for-profit basis from 2021 onwards. The goal of the next phase is to increase participation and allow even more paramotor pilots to experience long-distance aerial adventure racing. The Icarus Trophy events are organised by an updated experienced and professional race team and will continue to be supported by Parajet and other partners.
