When most companies want to sell a few extra cans of soda, they hire a celeb and shoot an over the top Superbowl commercial. When Red Bull wants to sell an extra crate or two of energy drinks, it turns to its roster of insanely talented athletes and shoots something crazy. For its latest stunt, the company has filmed ace pilot Dario Costa as he flies down a legendary ski course.
Outlandish Red Bull films are nothing new and over the past decade the energy drink maker has shot some awesome films starring cyclists, Formula 1 drivers, skydivers and regular divers. The plucky little energy drink maker has now turned to Red Bull Air Race winner Dario Costa to pull off something incredible.
In a new film shared by the brand this week, Costa raced down the Streif ski run, which races down the side of an Austrian alp. The run is a formidable two-mile route that features a near-3,000 foot drop in elevation and a maximum gradient of almost 85 percent.
Athletes who take on the course can hit speeds of up to 95 miles per hour, and nasty crashes on the route have left skiers with all manner of broken bones. In the worst instances, competitors caught out have ended up in a coma. It’s a serious route, then.
Clearly, the thought of skiing down this terrifying course wasn’t enough for Red Bull’s marketing team, so they asked Costa to fly down it instead. The resulting film is mighty impressive, and sees the Italian pilot skim the deck in his Zivko Edge 540 aerobatics plane while hitting speeds of up to 217 mph.
Along the course, Costa tackles tight turns, changing altitude and centrifugal forces that topped 10Gs. There are some real heart-in-mouth moments, like when the Italian pilot passes through a Red Bull arch on the course and his wheels look inches from the ground. In a statement shared by Red Bull, Costa explained his approach to the ridiculous challenge:
“It was a real challenge to do. First of all, I had to memorize the course, just like I would for a Red Bull Air Race. In contrast to a Red Bull Air Race course however, which is designed so that you fly in at a speed of 370kph don’t have to reduce this during the maneuvers, I had to adjust the power for every section of the Streif in order to stay within the course, not hit any obstacles and not exceed the g-force limits for the aircraft. It took a lot of work.”
The whole run is over in less than 90 seconds. In contrast, skiers taking on the route can expect to reach the bottom in around two minutes, which sounds equally insane.
The full film is linked here for you to enjoy. If you want to check out a few other ridiculous Red Bull moments then you can head here to see a cyclist ride along a moving train or here to see what the energy drink maker can do with the world’s fastest drone.