Aaron Durogati is a professional paraglider pilot and one of the thirty athletes selected to compete in the Red Bull X-Alps. Born in Merano, Italy, in 1986, he grew up surrounded by some of the country’s highest mountains. It was here that his passion for the outdoors and alpine sports began, leading him to paragliding, speed riding, mountaineering, skiing and ski touring.
The mountains around his hometown became his natural training ground. Equally at home climbing, skiing or flying, Durogati often combines several disciplines in a single day. He is a qualified paragliding and ski instructor, coaches the Merano ski team, and, alongside his competitive career, is involved in testing and developing paragliders for GIN Gliders.
As a competition pilot, Durogati has established himself among the world’s leading paragliders. A two-time world champion with numerous podium finishes, his achievements include victory in the Paragliding World Cup.
Red Bull X-Alps Winner
The Red Bull X-Alps, one of the world’s toughest adventure races, has played a defining role in Durogati’s career. Known for trusting his instincts rather than relying solely on instruments and data, he brings a highly individual approach to racing. In 2025, his determination paid off when he won the Red Bull X-Alps.
The victory was all the more remarkable given the challenges he had faced along the way. Problems with his knees had led doctors to advise him to give up competitive sport, but Durogati chose to continue pursuing his passion and competing at the highest level.
From the Alps to the Himalayas and Karakoram
Beyond competition, Durogati continues to explore the limits of what is possible in the mountains, taking on pioneering flights across the Himalayas and Karakoram. In 2022, he set an Asian record with a 312-kilometre triangular flight in Pakistan, combining technical precision, experience and a deep understanding of flying in demanding high-altitude terrain.
Hike & Fly World Record
In 2026, Durogati set a new Hike & Fly world record in Slogen, Norway. He completed 18 ascents and covered 19,434 vertical metres within 24 hours.
Combining demanding climbs on foot with paragliding descents, Hike & Fly requires an exceptional blend of endurance, efficiency and flying skill.
Touching the Sky VR
Among the projects featuring Aaron Durogati is Touching the Sky VR, created with French wingsuit pilot Fred Fugen and filmmaker Jonathan Griffith. The project combines paragliding, wingsuit flying and virtual reality, aiming to recreate the sensation of free flight as realistically as possible. Developed over more than two years for the Meta Quest platform, Touching the Sky VR required the team to develop new filming techniques. Specially designed 3D 360-degree cameras were created to capture the flights from every angle and transform them into an immersive virtual reality experience. Filming took the team to some of the world’s most spectacular and remote mountain regions, including Zermatt in Switzerland, the Mont Blanc massif on the French-Italian border, the Dolomites in northern Italy, and the Karakoram in Pakistan.
The most challenging stage of filming took place in the Karakoram, where flying demanded a precise understanding of thermal conditions. The vast scale, altitude and remoteness of the mountains created an environment very different from the Alps. One of the project’s most spectacular locations was Great Trango Tower (6,286 m), an imposing granite peak and legendary destination for big-wall climbing, which provided a dramatic backdrop for some of the aerial sequences. Producing Touching the Sky VR required close coordination between the athletes and film crews. Every flight and shot depended on the weather, visibility and safety conditions, often leaving the team waiting for exactly the right window to capture each sequence.
The project showcases the exceptional flying skills of Durogati and Fugen, taking viewers to places and perspectives normally accessible only to elite athletes in paragliding and aerial sports. A companion documentary, The Making of Touching the Sky VR, offers a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges, teamwork and technological innovation involved in creating the project. Through immersive virtual reality, Touching the Sky VR transports viewers to remote mountain landscapes, bringing them closer than ever to the extraordinary sensation of free flight.
