The Red Bulletin March 2018 - UK

UK EDITION MARCH 2018, £3.50

BEYOND THE ORDINARY

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THIS COULD BE YOU DESTINATION RED BULL TAKE TRIPS WITH AN EXTRA KICK OF ADRENALIN*

*…like a flight in the cockpit of a Red Bull Air Race plane with one of the world’s best aerobatic pilots.

Think you could handle it?

Find out on page 26

To draw the best lines on the deepest powder snow ever, the only rule is to follow your instincts.

There's more than just one way to enjoy life Courmayeur. Enjoying Italy at its peak. courmayeurmontblanc.it

EDITORIAL

It can be tough to step outside of your comfort zone.

And yet, as the stars of this month’s issue of The Red Bulletin remind us, those who take on the challenge can expect rich rewards.

Red Bull Air Race veteran Péter Besenyei shows off his aerobatic tricks on our cover – but it’s you who could push yourself to new limits in the pilot’s Extra 330L plane thanks to Destination Red Bull (page 26), a travel provider with a difference.

No, your eyes are not playing tricks – this is Hungarian flying ace Péter Besenyei performing one of his stomach-churning aerobatic moves. Fancy joining him in the cockpit? See page 26

When South African MMA champion Ronald Dlamini (page 54) suddenly lost his sight through illness, many expected him to give up the fight. But he decided to step back into the ring – and is now training others.

And we travel to Iceland to meet its volunteer searchand-rescue team, the ICE-SAR (page 62) – average Joes who brave freezing torrents, rocky crevasses and bouts of seasickness to save those in need.

CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE

TOM WARD

The former features editor of Men’s Health has written articles for publications including Esquire, GQ, The Guardian and Grazia.

Ward says his journey to South Africa to meet blind MMA fighter Ronald Dlamini – aka ‘The Black Mamba’ – will always stay with him. “[Dlamini] is one of the funniest people I've ever met,” says the writer. “His lust for life in the face of adversity is inspiring, to say the least.” Page 54

JONAS BENDIKSEN

The award-winning, Oslo-based photographer, who has made his career visiting wild places for Magnum Photos and National Geographic, travelled to Iceland to shoot the country’s searchand-rescue team in action. “It was a dream assignment,” says Bendiksen. “As volunteers, they all brave the wilderness because they just love being out there in difficult circumstances. That’s very inspiring to me.” Page 62

We hope you enjoy the issue.

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THE RED BULLETIN

PREDRAG VUKOVIC (COVER)

WELCOME TO OUR WORLD

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CONTENTS March

BULLEVARD Life and Style Beyond the Ordinary

10 Force of nature: Thor’s Chris

Hemsworth is no desk jockey

12 Aston Martin’s new hypercar 14 From striptease to songstress:

Dita von Teese’s next step

16 Spark and ride: the wild thrills

of downhill skateboarding 18 The survival kit that’s ready for anything – even zombies 20 Surface charge: Norway’s underwater restaurant 2 2 I, Tonya actor Margot Robbie talks tricks, trapeze and tattoos 24 The world’s hottest chillis

GUIDE

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Get it. Do it. See it

GLAM SLAM

Burlesque queen Dita von Teese reveals all about her new career in music – and it doesn’t involve former beau Marilyn Manson

80 This month on Red Bull TV 82 Supercharge your workout

with this stimulating fit suit

83 Dates for your calendar 84 Watches: the silicon revolution 86 Best surfed cold: the perfect

kit for catching winter waves

96 The Red Bulletin worldwide 98 Hucking around in California

26

LOOP DREAMS We take a headspinning flight with Red Bull Air Race legend Péter Besenyei – and now you can, too

06

THE RED BULLETIN

54 GETTY IMAGES, PREDRAG VUKOVIC, PAUL SAMUELS

SECOND SIGHT

In 2012, Ronald Dlamini, South Africa’s first black welterweight MMA champion, lost his vision.

Now he wants to train blind fighters worldwide

FEATURES 2 6 Destination Red Bull

Ever wanted to loop-the-loop with an aerobatics hero? Here’s your chance

3 6 Morgan Lake

Physically powerful, determined, level-headed: this British high-jumper has all the qualities of an Olympic champion. The Red Bulletin meets the 20-year-old

4 4 Elan Gale

For positive benefits, think negatively, says the self-help guru with a difference

4 6 Depeche Mode

The synth-pop trio who faced up to industry pressure and addiction – and won

5 2 Tanja Erath

How the German cyclist became a pro road racer in the comfort of her bedroom

5 4 Ronald Dlamini

The MMA legend who was robbed of his sight, but not his fighting spirit

6 2 ICE-SAR

On call with the brave, unpaid volunteers saving lives off the coast of Iceland

7 2 Awolnation

Sail hitmaker Aaron Bruno and his band go back to basics in Austria

THE RED BULLETIN

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BULLEVARD LIFE

&

STYLE

BEYOND

THE

ORDINARY

Second nature: Thor star Chris Hemsworth spent time in the Australian Outback during his youth

JOHN RUSSO/CONTOUR BY GETTY IMAGES

CHRIS HEMSWORTH “GET OUT OF THE OFFICE!” PAGE 10

THE RED BULLETIN

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JOHN RUSSO/CONTOUR BY GETTY IMAGES

RÜDIGER STURM

B UL L EVA R D

Chris Hemsworth, 34, an action hero who loves the surf: “The bigger the waves, the better”

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THE RED BULLETIN

I

n his youth, Chris Hemsworth loved to run around barefoot near his home. Now, at 34, the Australian is part of the Hollywood elite. The three Marvel films the actor has starred in to date as action hero Thor have grossed almost £1.5 billion worldwide.

But, says Hemsworth, he still has his feet on the ground. the red bulletin: Your new big-screen war drama, 12 Strong, is about a special forces unit deployed to Afghanistan. Who are the bravest people you’ve met in real life? chris hemsworth: My mother and father. My family didn’t have much money when I was a kid, but my parents never let me and my brothers [fellow actors Liam and Luke Hemsworth] feel poor. They toiled non-stop so that we could go on holiday or get the surfboard we desperately wanted.

Chris Hemsworth The Thor superstar, who grew up in the Australian Outback, rates nature as the ultimate antidote to the daily grind

“LOCK AWAY YOUR LAPTOP AND HEAD OUTDOORS” THE RED BULLETIN

You were raised in the Australian Outback…

Yes, I lived among the Aboriginal community and was able to see a completely different way of life. There were buffalo walking down the streets and crocodiles in the rivers. And you didn’t own a pair of shoes, because it’s too hot. We had a TV with a VCR, but there was no reception. We had two videos we could watch, but we never did, as we were always outside. As kids, we were surrounded by Aboriginal mythology and the stories they told.

What were these Aboriginal stories about?

About spirits up in the caves of the Outback. My friends and I would make our own

weapons and set off to explore those places. We saw all sorts of old cave paintings. Those are experiences no school will ever provide.

You’re a fan of the great outdoors to this day. What does nature give you?

I’m a person with a lot of energy, and I go crazy if I don’t have an outlet. It happens if ever I’m shooting in a city for an extended period. And I can’t get stuck in front of a screen the whole time. That’s why sometimes I lock my laptop away in a drawer and head outdoors.

How do you unwind?

Surfing. The bigger the waves and the further I’m drawn out of my comfort zone, the better. The intensity pulls me into the present more than anything else – you’re right there in the moment. I then try to hold on to that feeling for the rest of the day.

You’ve seen spiritual caves, ridden waves… How can the rest of us find inspiration?

There’s a danger that staying in the same place can mean you exist in a bubble. You can have a very limited understanding of the rest of the world. A drastic change of environment, where you see how other people live and learn about their culture, is beyond beneficial.

12 Strong is in cinemas now; 12strongmovie.com 11

B UL L EVA R D

Aston Martin Valkyrie It may look like a sci-fi creation, but this hypercar is street legal and ready to rumble

W

hatever you do, don’t refer to the Aston Martin Valkyrie as a supercar – that would be nothing short of an insult.

This sculptural powerhouse, a collaboration between the luxe British manufacturer and Red Bull Racing, is what the cognoscenti would call a hypercar, with performance and design characteristics that surpass anything in existence.

Constructed almost entirely from carbon fibre, the Valkyrie weighs less than a Mini Cooper, but with 1,130hp it generates twice the horsepower of the

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Porsche 911. For practical purposes, it’s a street-legal Formula One car — you could push the 6.5-litre hybrid V12 engine considerably past 350kph at a race track before piloting it to your driveway.

“It’s muscular but tiny, like a flyweight champion,” says Marek Reichman, chief creative officer for Aston Martin. “The aerodynamics are beyond slippery. The only word I can summon for the handling is unbelievable.”

The price is unbelievable, too: close to £3million. But don’t bother checking your

bank balance – all 150 cars produced are already spoken for. Aston Martin says that “more than a handful” have been purchased by current or former F1 drivers (with 450 enthusiasts on a waiting list, hoping a buyer drops out).

Reichman likens the otherworldly shape of the Valkyrie to a beautiful insect, or a shark sliding through the ocean. “Nothing like it exists, he says. “And nothing like it will ever exist again.” global.astonmartin.com

THE RED BULLETIN

PETER FLAX

FANTASTIC BEAST

As close as you’ll get to a Formula One car on the road, the Valkyrie corners and brakes as aggressively as Red Bull Racing’s RB6

The car’s structure is completely steel-free, and its aerodynamic carbon-fibre exterior and open underfloor maximise downforce THE RED BULLETIN

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B UL L EVA R D Dita von Teese: corset model, burlesque dancer and now pop star

the red bulletin: You’re loved by many for your burlesque act, but we had no idea you could sing… dita von teese: Well, I’m not a singer. I have confidence in what I do when creating burlesque shows and designing lingerie or perfume. But I also like to put myself in a position of vulnerability.

Why vulnerability?

I have such control over my image. What I do on stage, with all the crystals and the pink spotlight, is a glamorised version of myself. But what I enjoyed about the album was that it was me in the recording studio with all these artists, feeling very unsure of myself.

It put me in a very different place from when I’m on stage.

The burlesque queen turned pop singer lets loose on her new challenge, and why being hands-off can be empowering

“IT’S EXCITING WHEN PEOPLE HATE YOU” 14

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ichigan-born Dita von Teese made the switch from ballerina to fetish model and burlesque dancer in her early twenties, and soon came to the attention of Hugh Hefner, who in 2002 put her on the cover of Playboy. Von Teese became a pop icon, notorious for her daring shows, clothing lines, books, and her marriage to Marilyn Manson.

Now 45, she’s exploring new territory; this month, she releases an album of funky and sultry slow jams, written by and recorded with French troubadour Sébastien Tellier.

Because people can be mean and harsh, perhaps?

I’m the first person to tell everyone that I’m not a singer.

But I’m not going to just stay home because I’m afraid that somebody might say it sucks.

That’s life! It’s actually exciting when people hate what you do. I take that as a compliment, because it means I’m not mediocre. If everyone likes what you do, it might not be any good.

The album Dita Von Teese is released on February 18; artoftheteese.com

THE RED BULLETIN

JOHN RUSSO/CONTOUR BY GETTY IMAGES

Dita von Teese

MARCEL ANDERS

That doesn’t sound like the most enjoyable experience…

I liked it because it’s good to experiment with those feelings. It’s rewarding to let somebody else take control over things for once. And I figured that if Sébastien had faith in me, why would I walk away from the opportunity to do something that takes me out of my comfort zone?

VSSLGEAR.com

Downhill skating Four wheels, a sharp drop, speeds of up to 120kph, no brakes: for a wild few, this is the ultimate recipe for fun

SURFING THE TARMAC

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KONSTANTIN REYER

he sound of one man on a skateboard on a very steep hill is unmistakable.

The whoosh of air and the rumble of wheels on tarmac grow in volume as the board’s speed increases: 60kph, 70…

“Things get crazy once you go over 90kph,” says Nicola Nührig, a 30-year-old pro downhill skateboarder who’s doing a run at full race pace.

“You don’t notice the extra speed at all at that stage.”

The speedometer on his support vehicle shows 120kph at the end of the straight – a personal best for Austria’s two-time downhill champion.

Now to take a curve. Nührig shifts his centre of gravity, turns the board sideways, gets down low and supports himself with his hand. “It’s like surfing on tarmac,” he says. Only his wetsuit is made of leather. And any wipeout involves a concrete landing.

But, he says, with great risk comes great reward.

“The fascinating thing is being in the here and now,” says Nührig. “You can’t make a single mistake. You’re totally focused. It feels like flying.”

Instagram: @nicolanuehrig

CHRISTIAN EBERLE ABASOLO

T

Naturally inclined: Nührig, who began skateboarding in 1995. was Austrian downhill champion in 2013 and 2016 THE RED BULLETIN

B UL L EVA R D

Pro skateboarder Nicola Nührig slides through a bend.

Flint in his gloves ensures that sparks fly as he turns

THE RED BULLETIN

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B UL L EVA R D

Adventure survival kit

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Don’t take on the great outdoors unprepared.

The ingenious VSSL has your back – it’s like John Rambo in a tin

THE CAN THAT CAN PICK THE PERFECT TEAM You can build your kit, or buy one ready-made.

In the VSSL Supplies edition (pictured) are: A compass, built into the screw lid (a precision Suunto edition is also available) Six-hour beeswax candle Tinder, matches, and a mirror for search and rescue Whistle High-strength rope (7m) and razor blade First-aid kit with antiseptic and painkillers

n the treacherous wilderness, having the right tool to hand could mean the difference between life or death. But what is that item?

A box of matches? A knife? A compass? Some rope, perhaps?

Actually, your saviour is the VSSL – pronounced ‘vessel’, because this military-spec aluminium canister contains all these things and more.

The VSSL was devised out of necessity by Todd Weimer – not because he’s an ex-Navy Seal or veteran explorer, but because as a child growing up in the Canadian North he needed something to carry his pocket knife and matches.

Dissatisfied with the standard of off-the-shelf emergency supplies, he happened across a waterproof match case that did the trick. Decades later, now with children of his own, Weimer recalled his homemade survival tin and Kickstarted a professional-grade version.

What’s most ingenious about the VSSL is its modular design. The shell is a powerful LED flashlight, and the items – everything from fire starters and a first-aid kit to a oneman tent and, in the case of the tongue-in-cheek ‘Zombies!’ edition, a skull-perforating spike – slide into its interior.

“As kids, we would make our own survival gear,” recalls Weimer. “That taught me valuable lessons I’ve carried into adulthood: be prepared, improvise when required, and keep a positive mental attitude when the shit hits the fan.” vsslgear.com

Water-purifying tablets and can opener Coiled wire saw, as used by UK special forces

LED flashlight that lasts up to 20 hours on full beam, with a built-in SOS lantern that can run for 40 hours

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Also, trail markers for that Hansel and Gretel moment THE RED BULLETIN

TOM GUISE

Fishing tackle with 15m of line

Underwater restaurant

I

t resembles Moby-Dick – a gargantuan white whale emerging from the depths to swallow all in its path. And in many ways, that’s what it is.

When it opens next year, Under in Lindesnes, Norway, will become the world’s largest underwater restaurant, with a gourmet menu focusing on ‘short-travelled’ food. This means not only the fish and crustaceans from the freezing sea on the other side of its submerged panoramic glass wall, but also the wild sheep and seabirds that graze in the surrounding countryside.

Under will give diners a chance to observe the wildlife as well as eat it: plankton will be enticed into its waters by way of light, sounds and scent, in turn attracting fish and adding another level of food chain to this unique culinary experience. under.no

Plunging from the cliffs to the seabed, this Norwegian creation brings new meaning to surf ‘n’ turf.

Local fauna is on the menu – sourced from the land and skies above and from the waters below

DINING AT THE DEEP END

A glass wall showcases the local marine ecosystem – and the dish of the day

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MIR/SNØHETTA/STIAN BROCH

TOM GUISE

The menu draws ingredients from the surrounding waters, woods and beaches

The rock-like building, designed by Norwegian architects Snøhetta, plunges almost 6m beneath the water’s surface THE RED BULLETIN

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THE RED BULLETIN

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M

argot Robbie began her acting career in her native Australia – yes, there was the obligatory stint in Neighbours – but found fame on Hollywood’s golden streets after slapping Leonardo DiCaprio in an audition that secured her a lead role in 2013’s The Wolf Of Wall Street. But it’s in this month’s I, Tonya, a darkly funny biopic of Tonya Harding – the former figure skater who was banned for life from the sport in 1994 for her complicity in an assault on fellow US team member Nancy Kerrigan – that we get to see the true extent of her talents. the red bulletin: You burst onto the scene by Leonardo DiCaprio’s side in The Wolf Of Wall Street, and now I, Tonya has put you in the running for an Oscar. What’s the secret of your success? margot robbie: I had big dreams, and I laid out plans to achieve them. I work a lot and I prepare a lot. I just can’t show up for work thinking, “I’ll wing it, I’ll figure it out on the day.” I never want to assume I know everything there is to know.

So humility is key?

I just constantly try to keep learning. If I hear about an acting technique that I wasn’t aware of, I’ll sign up for a course in it. I read articles and study other people’s work.

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Does knowing your craft guarantee success in Hollywood?

No. I also had to build a great team around me. And I have to be business-minded as well. One of the things I’m most proud of is that I’m one of the youngest female producers with a producing deal at a major studio. [In 2017, her production company LuckyChap Entertainment announced the signing of a two-year deal with Warner Bros TV.] Were you born with business sense?

Yes, actually. I’ve had it ever since I was a kid. As soon as I was able to talk, I was putting on performances.

I’d invent magic tricks and then make my family pay to come and see my shows.

And once I had got them sucked into it, I would make them pay to find out how the trick was done.

That’s devious…

I even used to steal my brother’s toys and then go and sell them on the side of the road. Originally I never thought I would go into acting – I wanted to be a magician and own hotels.

Does your desire to acquire new skills cross over into your private life, too?

Yes, I always discover new little hobbies. Two years ago I was fascinated by trapeze, so I took up trapeze lessons.

Then I became fascinated by tattoos, so I started tattooing my friends.

What’s next on the agenda for 2018?

This year, I want to learn the banjo. Maybe that will be my next passion.

tattoos. But that’s not the point. I just enjoy what I like.

If there was one thing you could excel at, what would you choose?

What I want to achieve most of all is to remain in this industry. I want longevity and I want quality.

Which also requires figureskating skills in the case of I, Tonya…

All I can say is: bumps, bruises and blisters. And I herniated a disc in my neck. But it was all worth it in the end.

I, Tonya is in cinemas from February 23; itonyamovie.com

Margot Robbie The Aussie actor turned Leonardo DiCaprio’s head in The Wolf Of Wall Street. Now she’s chasing an Oscar.

Her recipe for success? Study, steal, and take up strange hobbies

“I TATTOOED SOME OF MY FRIENDS”

Are you worried you might become a jack of all trades, but master of none?

Let’s see. I wasn’t that bad at trapeze. I’m terrible at tattooing, which is why a lot of my friends now have awful THE RED BULLETIN

B UL L EVA R D

MARY ELLEN MATTHEWS/CPI SYNDICATION

RÜDIGER STURM

Actor, producer, trapeze artist, tattooist: Margot Robbie, 27, has many strings to her… banjo

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B UL L EVA R D

Heat seeker

3.18 million max

Pepper X

There’s no such thing as too hot for ‘Smokin’’ Ed Currie, creator of the palate-melting Pepper X

3 mil

“IT’S A BIT LIKE EATING LAVA”

2.2 million max

2 mil

Carolina Reaper

In 2013, Guinness World Records declared Currie’s hybrid the world’s hottest pepper

1.5 mil

1 mil

THE SCOVILLE SCALE Developed in 1912

by US pharmacist Wilbur Scoville, the scale measures the intensity of peppers in Scoville Heat Units (SHU). It signifies the dilution needed (eg, 2.2 million parts water, one part chilli) to mask the heat.

500,000

400,000

350,000 max

Habanero 300,000

200,000

100,000 50,000

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5,000 max

Tabasco sauce

E

But within seconds you start sweating profusely. Your saliva goes uncontrollable.

Your eyes water and turn red.

Most people freak out, scream and roll on the floor; some hallucinate. It can last from 10 minutes to half an hour, depending on the person.

d Currie deals in pleasure – and pain.

“People pay me to hurt them,” says the owner of PuckerButt Pepper Company with a wink.

He’s not kidding: there are numerous bizarre yet hilarious YouTube videos of lunatics sampling his peppers, which include the Carolina Reaper, one of the world’s hottest.

Here, he reveals their healing and hallucinatory potential.

Is it dangerous, though?

Some say it’s a bit like eating lava, but it’s not harmful at all. It’s the garbage food we eat that causes stomach issues.

the red bulletin: Why did you start breeding peppers? ed currie: I didn’t want to die. Cancer and heart disease run in my family, and I found out there’s a very small instance of both of these in populations around the world with hot peppers in their diet.

Go for the burn at puckerbutt peppercompany.com

What happens when people eat the Carolina Reaper?

At first, it tastes really sweet.

Your latest creation, Pepper X, is even hotter than the Reaper. Can you still taste the difference in heat?

Oh yeah! Your body gets used to heat. For many people, the pepper rush is addictive!

Ed Currie has been breeding eye-watering chilli peppers since the ’90s

THE RED BULLETIN

FLORIAN OBKIRCHER

2.5 mil

PUCKERBUTTPEPPERCOMPANY.COM/ED CURRIE

3.5 mil

THE WAY WE RIDE. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON CUBE BIKES, AND TO LOCATE YOUR NEAREST CUBE DEALER, PLEASE VISIT WWW.CUBE.EU

26 Looping the loop over Hungary: Péter Besenyei (rear) tests the author’s nerves

“WAAAAHHHHHH!” DESTINATION RED BULL offers adventures you won’t find at any other travel provider – such as a flight in a Red Bull Air Race cockpit. But how brave does a layman have to be to cope with loop-the-loops? This is a journey of self-discovery in 10 emotional outbursts Words ANDREAS ROTTENSCHLAGER Photography PREDRAG VUČKOVIĆ

T

he plan is for me to sit in the cockpit with one of the world’s most skilled aerobatic pilots to experience some of his best hair-raising manoeuvres. It’s not an opportunity I’ve ever had before, but now it’s an adventure anyone can book: Destination Red Bull is a travel provider for journeys beyond the ordinary, and arranges exclusive meetings with topflight sports stars (see page 54).

My pilot is 61-year-old Péter Besenyei, a former Red Bull Air Race world champion, aerobatics world champion and aircraft designer. In 2001, Besenyei was the first man to fly upside down beneath the Chain Bridge in Budapest, and in 2014 he hurtled through the Corinth Canal at more than 300kph.

Now, I will be experiencing everything he did, in the same cockpit. It may be a plane ride, but your emotions are on a roller coaster. One that starts before you even climb into the aircraft.

SCEPTICISM

The night before, I trawl through aerobatic flight videos on YouTube.

I come across a lot of brave people who get into planes and place their trust in the hands of their ace pilot. The first video shows a grown man shrieking like a schoolgirl. The second shows a woman covering her face with her hands; she’s as white as a sheet. Video number three was shot from an escort plane. It shows a plane that appears to be nose-diving 28

Briefing time: Besenyei explains the manoeuvres before takeoff

THE RED BULLETIN

Besenyei flew through the Corinth Canal at 300kph in 2014. Now, I will be experiencing everything he did

THE RED BULLETIN

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Our plane plummets, as straight as an arrow. I see three pedestrians on a country lane, getting bigger. One has his arm raised, pointing at us

out of control towards the ground as the pilot talks to his passenger over the radio.

“Isn’t it amazing?” he asks.

I shut my laptop.

CURIOSITY

Aerobatic pilots perform manoeuvres that require years of experience in high-end aeronautics. The repertoire includes loopthe-loops, nosedives and exotic-sounding manoeuvres such as the Immelmann turn (a half-loop followed by a half-roll) and the Cuban Eight (two partial loops and two half-rolls). There’s a g-force of up to 12 – that’s 12 times the force of gravity – at play as the pilots perform these tricks. At 12g, an 80kg man would weigh as much as 960kg as his plane hurtles towards the ground.

That night, before I go to bed, I think of my wife, my life insurance and my unpaid loans.

But, shortly before I nod off, I also find myself thinking this whole aerobatics business is pretty cool.

THE WEIGHT OF SPORTING EXPECTATION

The following morning, at a whitewashed hangar a 30-minute drive from Budapest, I meet Besenyei. Tall and wiry, with snowwhite designer stubble, he greets me with a firm handshake. Besenyei is a friendly guy with the clinical sense of humour of a world-class pilot. He also has the ability to read your thoughts.

“We won’t do anything you don’t want to,” he says.

“Sorry?”

“During the flight. I’ll announce the manoeuvres and you tell me what you think of them. Then we’ll see.”

Besenyei says he’s flown one-on-one with more than 1,000 passengers over the course of 30 years. “And not one of them has soiled my cockpit.”

He’s trying to reassure me, but instead creates an uneasy sense of responsibility: I mustn’t be the first person to throw up in the flying legend’s cockpit…

SELF-CONFIDENCE?

Steady hands: the legendary Red Bull Air Race pilot rolls the plane to the right

I slip into the pilot overalls, which are surprisingly soft. I put on my helmet and pull the microphone antenna down in front of my mouth. I almost feel like a real pilot – except for my fear of the flying bit.

At the hangar gate awaits our aircraft: an Extra 330L, dark blue, with the student’s seat up front and the pilot’s seat behind, and a wingspan of 7.70m.

I place my hand on the airfoil and make the wing bob up and down. The plane seems surprisingly light, as if it has a 31

This could be a nice day, I think. “Let’s do a loop-the-loop!” says Besenyei

Besenyei in the cockpit of his Extra 330L. The passenger seat up front has no joystick

hollow interior. This is confirmed when Besenyei proceeds to push the aircraft onto the runway by himself. He then picks up a stone and jams it under the plane’s rear wheel.

“So that it won’t roll away,” he says.

I stare at the stone. Besenyei the clairvoyant puts his hand on my shoulder.

“If you don’t feel up to it, we can just go for a sightseeing flight instead.”

“I want to fly manoeuvres,” I reply, trying to sound clinical. “Thank God,” says my inner voice.

I squeeze myself into my cockpit, which is sparsely fitted out. There are two minispeedometers, but no joystick. My legs jut into the nose of the aircraft. Besenyei straps me in, climbs into the pilot seat behind me, and closes the hatch.

JITTERS

He starts the plane. The whirr of the rotor vibrates gently in my chest. I stare at the only instrument in the cockpit that I’m allowed to touch: a white button 32

on a lever situated to the left of my knee.

It opens the on-board radio.

“Ready?” Besenyei radios through.

I press the white button. “Er… Yeah.”

INTENSE HEARTBEAT

At this precise moment, my heart starts to pound through the lining of my race suit.

I’m sitting in a flimsy aircraft that’s being held in place on the runway by a pebble.

My life is in the hands of a man I can’t see because he’s sitting behind me. I could still press the white button, murmur my excuses and get off the plane.

But that would be cowardly… and stupid. I’ll only get to go on a Besenyei flight once in my lifetime, after all.

Thump! Thump! Thump! goes my heart. And then we take off.

A SURPRISINGLY STRONG SENSE OF EUPHORIA

The ascent only takes a few seconds, and the view from the cockpit is phenomenal: fields, woods, Hungary’s broad plains.

On board, even I can feel tiny steering adjustments and little blasts of air. When pilots can really feel their aircraft, they call it ‘flying by the seat of your pants’, and now I know why. This could turn out to be quite a nice afternoon.

“Let’s do a loop-the-loop!” says the pilot.

“Er… OK.” Besenyei pulls up the aircraft’s nose, and Hungary’s fields vanish from view.

My field of vision turns blue as we climb steeply. The plane keeps turning – we’re now upside down – and then it plummets, as straight as an arrow.

The following image will remain etched in my memory: a Hungarian field hurtling towards us, and three pedestrians on a country lane, getting bigger and bigger.

One has his arm raised, pointing at us.

Then Besenyei turns the plane the right way up, an invisible fist wedges me into my seat and we’re flying in a straight line again as if nothing had happened.

“How did you like the loop-the-loop?”

Besenyei radios through.

THE RED BULLETIN

“Waaaahhhhhh!”

“Sorry?”

“Waaaahhhhhh! Wow!” Ideally I’d need a couple of minutes to process the manoeuvre intellectually.

A huge Hungarian loop-the-loop!

But Besenyei wants to make the most of our momentum: “Now we’re going to fly upside down.” He flips the aircraft over. The ground is now above us and the sky below. I’m strapped in as securely as anything. Now my body catches up with my emotions – it’s like being on

The Red Bull Air Race returns to Budapest in June (pictured: Nicolas Ivanoff, Team Hamilton, in 2017)

HOW TO ENJOY YOUR FLIGHT Five tips before takeoff 1. EAT WHAT YOU LIKE Should you eat anything in particular on the morning of the flight? No, says Besenyei. “An empty stomach is just as much of a mistake as stuffing yourself.

Just eat as if you were planning to go jogging after breakfast.”

2. TRUST THE PILOT The Destination Red Bull pilots are part of the global aerobatic elite, so there is no reason to panic. Would you be afraid to eat a meal cooked by a Michelin-starred chef? Of course not.

3. ASK STUPID QUESTIONS “What can I hang onto for dear life?”

“What should I wear?” “Can I make phone calls during the flight?” Communication will improve the experience.

4. KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN For every manoeuvre, there are points of reference you can keep your eyes fixed on. When the plane rolls, stare at its nose.

During a loop-the-loop, look at the wing tip, which will tell you the current angle of ascent. That way, you’ll enjoy each manoeuvre like a professional.

ARMIN WALCHER/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

5. BE HONEST What if you do feel sick during the flight?

Just radio through to the pilot behind you.

Even a relaxed sightseeing flight in the cockpit of a racer – think 360° view – beats any regular flight by an (air) mile.

a roller coaster. It’s great, a piece of cake.

Then Besenyei turns the plane back over.

DIZZINESS

I’ve almost forgotten my sole technical task of the day: the photographer has asked me to take selfies with the pilot.

So I get out the GoPro, stare into the lens and break the cardinal rule for any passenger: always keep an eye on the horizon as a reference point if you don’t want to feel sick.

As I turn the camera this way and that, I feel a slight rumbling sensation in my stomach, as if I’d eaten at a dodgy fish restaurant the night before. I think of Besenyei’s 1,000 previous passengers, none of whom has ever besmirched his cockpit, and I press the white button.

“Sightseeing flight!” Within seconds, the plane is flying calmly in a straight line through the sky. It’s a chance to catch my breath. And, anyway, sightseeing flights need to be put through their paces, too.

MALE HUBRIS

The pilot (rear) and the author take a sightseeing flight over Hungary

THE RED BULLETIN

As soon as my stomach recovers, I’m bored of the sightseeing flight. I’m an aerobatics pilot! I’ve got loop-the-loop experience!

I get on the radio and demand g-force.

Besenyei now flies S-shaped curves at high speed and tilts the plane 90° with every loop. The g-force wedges me harder into my seat than before and tugs on my facial muscles. This is top-level sport! Race mode! Luke Skywalker flying towards the Death Star! This has to be at

THE RED BULL AIR RACE EXPERIENCE DESTINATION RED BULL is all about travel beyond the ordinary. The Red Bull Air Race package gives you VIP status at the Budapest race on June 23-24. This includes access to the premium Sky Lounge, a night in a four-star hotel, the chance to meet Péter Besenyei and the Red Bull Air Race pilots, and that full-on g-force experience when you step into the cockpit as a guest on an aerobatic flight.

To book, go to destination.redbull.com

least 8g! (“Four,” corrects Besenyei after landing.) Within seconds, my ego shrinks back to non-pilot size, just as my respect for the racing and aerobatic pilots of this world increases.

PATHOS (AND A BIT OF PRIDE)

The aircraft touches down on the landing strip with a slight bump and comes to a standstill. Besenyei opens the hatch.

My wobbly legs feel their way back down onto terra firma via the left-hand wing.

And then my immune system is flooded with happiness hormones.

“Wow,” I say to Besenyei. “You didn’t puke,” my inner voice says triumphantly.

I was airborne. I have conquered gravity. I could fly manoeuvres again straight away, preferably a loop-the-loop.

For details of all the amazing adventures that Destination Red Bull has to offer, go to destination.redbull.com 33

1

TRAVEL BEYOND THE ORDINARY Book the trip of a

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Get up close to the elements, whether you want to (1) fly along the waves, (2) explore virgin territory by bike, (3) harness the wind on a board, or (4) dive off a cliff.

lifetime and immerse yourself in the world of Red Bull

E

xperience the unforgettable as you rub shoulders with your sporting idols and enjoy a level of access to events usually only available to the pros. These journeys are guaranteed to take you places you never thought you could go.

For destination information, travel details and current offers, visit destination.redbull.com

YOUR EXPERIENCE

3 4

YOUR TRAVEL COMPANIONS

1

Roman Hagara & Hans-Peter Steinacher, your shipmates Join the crew of two-time Olympic champions for an extreme sailing competition.

2

YOUR DECISION

Deciding which experience to choose is just the start of your adventure.

Destination Red Bull promises journeys that are unique, mind-blowing and unforgettable. From training with top sports stars to enjoying VIP status at exclusive events, you’ll find your ultimate trip right here.

Aksel Lund Svindal, your Norway expert

The skiing ace will be your guide around Oslo and take you to the place where it all began for him.

3

Bjørn Dunkerbeck, your windsurfing instructor

2

1

3

4

4

Orlando Duque, your diving partner

The world’s most successful cliff diver is ready to show you how it’s done.

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For info, continually updated offers and booking details, go to

destination.redbull.com

THE RED BULLETIN

RED BULL CONTENT POOL

Get windsurf advice – and tips on the Gran Canarian lifestyle – from the 42-time world champ.

KHAKI X-WIND

AUTOMATIC SWISS MADE

RAISING THE

BAR MORGAN LAKE became the first British woman ever to reach an Olympic high-jump final, thanks to a rare combination of physical power and sporting passion. Now, the 20-year-old athlete is honing her mental muscle to reach even headier heights in a season that could make hers a household name Words PAUL WILSON Photography ALEXIS CHABALA 36

Aiming high: Lake’s personal best stands at 1.96m – the height she jumped in Birmingham last July at Team GB’s trials for the World Championships

T

o appreciate how high Morgan Lake can jump, imagine that you’re balancing a standard 15cm ruler vertically on top of your head.

(If you’re reading this in a maths class at school, please feel free to use the real thing.) The ruler has a few extra millimetres at each end, so its uppermost edge will be about 16cm from your skull. Lake is 1.80m tall, and when she set her personal best in Birmingham last July – at Team GB’s trials for the World Championships – the bar was set at 1.96m. That’s about the same height as Kobe Bryant, Usain Bolt and Dwayne Johnson.

High jump requires grace, explosive power and precision in a combination demanded by no other sporting discipline. Lake makes it look easy. Still only 20, she is a veteran of two World Championships and an Olympic final. A couple of months after turning 17 in 2014, she won gold in high jump and heptathlon at the World Junior Championships; soon after, she represented her country at senior level in both events.

At the end of last year, she took the heptathlon off her schedule and committed fully to the high jump, saying that “the pressure of [heptathlon] competition was quite big for me”. The majority of professional athletes might not be so candid about their shortcomings, but Lake’s frankness also shows an understanding of her own mind,

38

and a wisdom beyond her years.

This is perhaps not so surprising given that she’s in the second year of a psychology degree.

“I think I wanted a distraction,” says Lake of her decision to study during her sporting career. “That way, I wouldn’t focus on training the whole time. I have enough time in my day to do my degree and my sport – though not as much time as I wish I had. I would say I’m coping, but I try not to think too much about how little time I have.

The best thing is to try to enjoy both, which I am.”

Psychology has long been an interest of Lake’s. Studying it now, she says, is “really beneficial to my sport. I definitely feel I’ve gained a mental edge”. She continues, “I’m doing a general psychology degree, but there are a few sports psychology modules. Some things that have been really useful are working on imagery and use of relaxation. Hopefully I haven’t taken too much on board from the stuff we’ve done on psychopaths.”

During the morning that The Red Bulletin spends with her at Lea Valley Athletics Centre in north London, Lake displays no

psychopathic tendencies. She exudes confidence in the way many professional sportspeople do, but minus any swagger, and with her ego firmly in check. At ease under questioning – and the lights of the photographer – she’s also very happy to enjoy a moment’s silence, a rare thing for most 20-year-olds, world-class athlete or otherwise. Look for her on social media and you’ll find measured, understated, thoughtful posts and messages. Lake has, as the phrase goes, an old head on young shoulders.

She still gets nervous before she competes, but uses this to her advantage. “When I was younger, I was told that nerves are a good thing, a sign that you’re passionate.

I was able to get my head around that, to build on them and use them for good, rather than being scared of them and allowing them to have a negative impact on my performance. My initial thoughts in competition are always, ‘Oh God…’, but I can change that into a positive force.”

Lake has also been able to cope with the scrutiny that modern-day athletes can find themselves under,

“Studying psychology has definitely given me a mental edge” THE RED BULLETIN

In the frame: Lake is being tipped as the new poster girl of UK athletics

If Lake continues her progression of 2cm per season, in two years’ time she’ll be jumping 2m

F

“I thrive on training.

I like the idea of hard work and being able to bank the results”

especially track-and-field stars refining their technique under intense coaching, with all performances on video, available for conversion into data to be mined for a fractional advantage.

“I actually like all of that looking back at what I’ve done, picking out the good things, trying to understand why they were so good, then learning from them.”

Lake’s learning – both her athletics training and her degree – is centred on Loughborough, where she studies at the university. Its world-class sporting facilities have earned it a reputation for sports science, and for encouraging athletes wanting to expand body and mind; 29 of its students, including Lake, were named in the GB teams for last year’s World Championships and World Para Athletics Championship. She’s based there, but her family home is in Berkshire, where, she says, “I can go home and it’s not about athletics all the time.”

or most of her life up to this point, that was not the case. Home was where the athletics conversation began and ended, because, until last summer, Lake’s coach was her father, Eldon. A former English schools triple-jump champion whose career was curtailed by injury at 18, Eldon introduced his children – Lake has a younger brother, Gabriel – to athletics at the age when most kids still have stabilisers on their bikes.

“I started sport when I was five,” says Lake. “Well, I know that I did, but I can’t really remember it specifically. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t doing sport.

At 10, I was doing standing long jump and running races at an athletics club. At first, my parents just took me and my brother down there for something to do. I did a lot of other things, too – such as swimming, netball and hockey – and I loved them all, but they were always second to athletics.”

What made you better than the other would-be gold medallists?

“Natural talent. But I loved it straight away. My dad loving the sport rubbed off on me, and I found my own passion. That kept me in it, and I suppose it meant I tried harder than other people.”

Tiger mums and dads yelling on the touchline at school sports days and club matches are one thing, but micromanaging your child’s life as they move into professional sport is viewed by many with scepticism.

The parent-coach is often characterised as being too pushy, and is accused of living vicariously through the child’s achievements.

There has never been any suggestion that Eldon Lake has been anything other than a positive influence on 41

– which touches down in China, Qatar, USA, Morocco and eight European countries.

Lake’s progress in the last two years has been impressive: her PB has increased by 2cm each season.

Similar improvement over the next two years will take her to 2m – the British record – and genuine medal contention at the big events. A 10thplace finish at the Rio Olympics in 2016 was followed by sixth place in the World Championship final last year. Don’t bet against a higher standing at the next major contest.

“I’m not one of those people who PBs in training and then can’t jump as high in competition,” she says.

“I’m the opposite. I’m getting better at training, but I just feel the edge in competition and I can perform.”

She feels that the timing is right, too. “This was a good year for me to make the change to just doing high jump. In previous years, I would have put myself under a lot of pressure; any training session that went bad – in whichever discipline – would make me think I’d ruined all the hard work I’d put into the other six [heptathlon events]. This is a growing year for me, and I know that, so it’s not the end of the world if something doesn’t go right.”

Confidence trick: “When I was younger, I was told that nerves are a good thing, a sign that you’re passionate. I was able to get my head around that and use them for good”

Photographer’s assistants: NIKOLAS LOUKA and RICKY RAMSEY Hair and make-up: NEUSA NEVES using DHC and Charlotte Mensah hair care

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his daughter’s sporting career, but when their professional relationship came to an end, tongues wagged.

“I needed the natural progression to a new coach,” explains Lake.

“Different training partners, different set-up. I was getting to a point where things were maybe a bit repetitive. I needed a change.”

So, whose decision was it?

“Honestly,” she says, looking The Red Bulletin right in the eye, “it was a mix of the both of us. We’d been arguing quite a lot, but then we both stepped back and talked how it probably would be best for me to go with someone else. My dad was my only coach from the time I started training seriously to when I was 13 or 14 and began working with other specialist coaches. He’s really close to my current coach [Fuzz Caan] and still has a big impact on me and

what I do. He’s my dad and he’ll be at every competition.”

Eldon will be well travelled this year. Marked on his daughter’s calendar for 2018 are the British Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham in February, followed by the World Indoor Championships at the same arena just a month later. The Commonwealth Games take place on Australia’s Gold Coast in April, and then, with no big summer competition to focus on, Lake will be fully committed to the IAAF Diamond League – athletics’ travelling global showcase

“This is a growing year for me”

Morgan Lake is doing all the right things to become a champion.

There can be few athletes her age with the mental fortitude she demonstrates, boosted in no small measure by her psychology studies, and her physical abilities are no less impressive. She manages mind and body better than she did when doing both heptathlon and high jump. “In training, if I’m pushing myself when I don’t need to be, that’s when you can end up worse off,” she says. “Taking rest days is important. My coach and I talk a lot about mental energy.

“But I thrive on training, too. I like the idea of hard work and being able to bank the results, so I’ll still do an extra set where I can. That feeling of knowing I’ve done the work – and what I can do with it – is what drives me in the first place.”

Such dedication has every chance of driving the 20-year-old athlete into first place, too.

Follow Morgan Lake on Twitter: @morgan_a_lake THE RED BULLETIN

Negative energy: fear and regret are no enemy to Elan Gale, 34

Accept your limitations…

You’re fine. You’re not a total piece of shit. But you’re not that great” ELAN GALE

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THE RED BULLETIN

TA K E F I V E

TV producer ELAN GALE on…

THE POWER OF NEGATIVE THINKING

The brains behind shows including The Bachelor shares words of wisdom from his new book, You’re Not That Great, a witty send-up of the self-help genre

1 Positivity is a disease

In my job, I talk to a lot of people, and I’ve noticed that the better someone tells me they’re doing, often the worse they are, whereas the people who work hard tend to be full of doubt. Positivity is like a giant hammock you just can’t get out of. It makes you complacent. “What’s wrong with being happy?” you might ask.

Don’t get the two mixed up! Positivity is just a shortcut to happiness. Instead of choosing to be positive, you need to be critical of yourself and work on yourself to achieve real happiness.

gain power from others 2 You not believing in you

Remember coming home from school with a drawing? Your parents would applaud you and tape your garbage artwork to the refrigerator door instead of seeing it on fire. Let’s face it, they turned you into the egomaniacal monster you are now. You want to be praised for who you already are, and you don’t care if people actually mean it or not. The most inspiring thing in my life was when my father told me I wouldn’t be able to find a job in the entertainment industry.

For months I didn’t sleep, and I did anything I could to prove him wrong.

3 Use regret to your advantage

Yes, regret, the thing that everyone tells you not to have, is perhaps the most vital tool in your body. If you don’t have regrets, you don’t think you’ve made mistakes. And if you don’t make mistakes, you can’t correct your behaviour. It’s a recurring theme for me in my career. I’m constantly working on several projects at THE RED BULLETIN

the same time, so I have to find ways to emotionally reinvest in whatever project is in front of me. I do that because I was a lazy kid and didn’t get a college degree, which I massively regret. That’s the main driving force in my life.

4 Don’t fear rock bottom

My friend James Gunn [director of the Guardians Of The Galaxy movies] once told me the most important emotion in his professional success is desperation.

It’s like, if you’re put in the position where you don’t have options, you will find a way to succeed. Desperation comes coupled with fear, and fear is a great motivator. I have never not had an unbelievable amount of fear when approaching a deadline. But a deadline is basically the end of your ability to make decisions, which allows you to push your creative potential to the limit.

5 You’re not that great

You’re probably convinced that it’s important to like yourself. Because liking yourself is a source of confidence, right? Wrong. Accept and acknowledge your limitations. Don’t worry about feeling great, just be great! Despite all the positive reinforcement you’ve had your whole life, I’m sure there’s a smart little voice inside you that knows you don’t really like yourself that much.

I mean, you’re fine. You’re not a total piece of shit. But you’re not that great.

twitter.com/theyearofelan Interview FLORIAN OBKIRCHER Photography CATIE LAFFOON 45

Depeche Mode (left to right): Andy Fletcher, Dave Gahan, Martin Gore

Survival Mode ANTON CORBIJN

Since forming in Basildon, Essex, back in 1980, DEPECHE MODE have faced tests of many kinds, from dealing with overnight fame to overcoming addiction. But the band have endured, and today their angst-ridden synth-pop sounds as vital as ever. The Red Bulletin caught up with Dave Gahan and Martin Gore to discuss their rebel days, the perils of being a rock star, and how they attribute their success to a complete lack of ambition Words BENJAMĂ?N ACOSTA

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hile many of their contemporaries from the ’80s pop scene have long since faded, Depeche Mode have successfully navigated almost four tumultuous decades in music. And last year’s release, Spirit – the band’s 14th studio album, characterised by angry, urgent protest at the current state of the world – is the sound of anything but fatigue or, worse, complacency. The trio are concerned with the present, with keeping their ideas fresh. “It’s not just about seeing what we can do with the latest audio and video recording equipment and technology,” says Martin Gore, keyboard player, singer and the band’s primary songwriter. “It’s about an intense experience of the here and now, living every moment to be true to yourself. That means being sensitive and aware of what is happening to us as human beings.”

Depeche Mode were formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980, when Gore, Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke – who left the following year to start Yazoo, then Erasure – linked up with lead singer Dave Gahan. The teenagers were initially in it just for the fun; they certainly never aimed to become the world’s biggest electronic music band and go on to sell 120 million records. It was always about the creative process and making music that excited them.

“When you’re in the business of making art, you’re at the centre of forces that exert a very powerful attraction,” says Gahan today. “And that isn’t exclusive to music either. We’re talking about creativity, about producing something you believe in and feel.

It’s a mixture of joy and sadness – the creative process can be painful at times, and extremely pleasurable at others.

Paradoxically, the dark side produces its share of inspiration. So, you have to find the balance to keep afloat.”

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Their music soon began to excite others, too. As Depeche Mode’s catchy synthdriven songs became regular chart hits and their stock soared, several large record companies got out their cheque book. But the band chose instead to stick with small independent label Mute Records. They wanted to stay true to their roots, to avoid selling out and becoming commercialised.

“There was a lot of pressure in the ’80s to be on the radio, but we were rebels and we wanted to have fun without the pretence of writing hit songs,” says Gore, referring to their very personal and somewhat misunderstood album Black Celebration (1986) and the following year’s Music For The Masses, which, as the title suggests, gave Depeche Mode greater visibility outside the UK. Conversely, the band’s low-profile approach opened many more doors than they had expected, and when they released Violator (1990) – the album that features the DM classics Personal Jesus and Enjoy The Silence – they were propelled, much to their surprise, to international stardom.

In the years that followed, Depeche Mode struggled with some serious issues: the pressures of fame, drug abuse in Gahan’s case, alcoholism in Gore’s. But the band weathered the storm and lessons were learnt. “Fame is really nothing but a media construct,” says Gahan. “It can destroy you if it makes you think you have it all figured out. Falling into the fame trap can end up being a threat, and the fear can lead to a lack of balance and a devastating block. So it’s about keeping yourself in the right state of mind and in good physical shape. But the public is different. The fans stay focused on your music and what you’re doing musically, and not just on what’s going on in your personal life.”

Today, in their mid-fifties, their addictions behind them, the members of Depeche Mode seem to have got life sorted. Now they’re turning their attentions to the state of the world…

In 2010, Gahan was named one of music’s ‘100 Greatest Frontmen’

by Q magazine

THE RED BULLETIN

“Fame can destroy you if it makes you think you have it all figured out”

Dave Gahan

GETTY IMAGES

the red bulletin: What has driven you to continue making music all these years? martin gore: Impulse and need.

You know the saying ‘Your biography is your biology’? You could say that our biography is our discography. I believe that writing songs is a desire that nothing can suppress; we continue to do it because we have to. Even though we THE RED BULLETIN

haven’t always lived through everything we write about, we’ve had similar experiences. In the end, these are themes we care deeply about, and the ones that make us angry. dave gahan: It’s also interesting when you consider that it’s like sharing who you are, what you think and what you feel. A personal opinion is a selfish act, but when it’s applied to art, ego becomes transformed into something else. Music informs us, and has helped us to reflect on who we are, what is going on in the world around us, where we live, developments in society and new ways of living together. We have our own 49

personal interpretation, but music is also a collective experience. At the same time we also want it to constantly amaze us with its rhythm and melody. What we are trying to find is an aesthetic discourse based on the interpretative form and the content of the message. We don’t only have something to say, but we’re working in a form that we love and that we see as identifying us.

Creativity is increased when there are no limits, but doesn’t life always impose limits? gahan: Limits are necessary in a way.

I think that even creative work requires some degree of discipline. The point is that we carve out that space ourselves.

The freedom to create is extremely important, but at the same time there will always be constraints: for instance,

“Getting older has its good points… the ability to reinvent yourself helps to make the most of what you have” Martin Gore

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you’ll have a song to finish, an album to produce, or you have to go on tour. There have been times in the past when we couldn’t focus or concentrate, and that was one of the big lessons for us. But now we all know what to do to get the result we really want. gore: The ’90s were a stormy time for us precisely because they threw up new situations and we didn’t know how to fully manage them. You only control a band if everyone agrees on everything.

It’s not just about agreeing on the type of sound you want to achieve; there’s lots of other stuff that can be very delicate to handle, starting with each person’s emotional state. I think that these are the most significant limits you have to maintain in order to continue working as a team.

THE RED BULLETIN

Does that mean you operate differently these days? gahan: If I compare how I look at life now with what I was doing a few years ago, I see a huge difference. I think that I was living the way half of the world lives right now: fast. It’s not as if I take everything calmly in my stride now, but I don’t have the feeling that I’m trying to live at such a fast pace, or that I’m full of anxiety and all that shit.

We’re sold the idea that consumption is all, that we have to keep rushing just to stay in touch and not get left behind or left out. But left out of what, or where?

Out of oneself! And that’s the pity. When you realise that this void inside can’t be filled with this frenzy of consumption, it’s an opportunity to think about things a little more.

Depeche Mode’s latest album, Spirit, was a hit with fans and music critics, and debuted at number five in the UK

Has it been it difficult staying on track over the years? gahan: Time provides answers insofar as you recognise your successes and failures. Success can be dangerous when it’s overblown, and failures can be very valuable when you view them from the right perspective. I don’t know if you could say it’s been really difficult generally, because what’s interesting in the end is how you see and experience the present. But there’s no doubt that life can be simpler when we focus our attention on what is really of value.

Clinging to success can take you to extremes. ‘Success’ is relative and personal. The problem is that we often associate success with status, which can distort our image of who we truly are.

‘Rock star’ is a dangerous concept when the lifestyle borders on excess. There’s no manual on how to manage it, only a few signposts along the way.

Leaving all that behind must be part of a constant process of renewal… gore: I suppose it’s part of the natural process of life. They say that the only thing we can be sure of in life is death, but another thing we can say for sure is that the desire for renewal is an inevitable part of the process of life.

Getting older has its good points. The ability to reinvent yourself, and to be more intuitive, helps to make the most of what you have.

You’ve said in the past that you didn’t have ambitious plans for Depeche Mode in the beginning… gore: I don’t like the word ‘ambition’, because I don’t think it leads to anything good. In actual fact, we had a dream – just like any other business you put together with your friends. But we had practically no expectations. gahan: We had no desire to be famous or anything like that. We just took it all in our stride, guided by a natural curiosity – a curiosity that turned out to be one of the main forces that drove us. Also, in those situations, naivety helps you not to feel frustrated. On the contrary, everything turns into a surprise.

GETTY IMAGES

Is it easier, then, to develop creative ideas when you push expectations to one side? gore: It’s not just that. You also manage to avoid a lot of problems. Like in any business, it’s better if you can remain in good shape, both financially and emotionally. Whatever order you put them in, they are both essential.

THE RED BULLETIN

Do you still consider yourselves rebels? gore: There are ways of being a kind of low-key rebel, depending on how you play the system. Sometimes that can mean being a homebody and sometimes a low-profile traveller, passing unnoticed.

As musicians, we believe in our ability to make the most of our platform to talk about what we dislike about the present, and the changes we’d like to see. Our music always had a political side, a social aspect, besides dealing with our own personal stories.

Does longevity sometimes seem a curse as much as a blessing? Is it tough not to dwell on past glories? gore: I see it as this corner in a house where you keep some of your trophies.

You’ll never wear those medals again.

Not repeating ourselves is something we do unconsciously when we put out an album like Spirit. We even like reworking some of our old songs when we play them live. You have to stay fresh and keep inventing to stay creative. We love breaks between albums and tours when all we have to do is live our own lives. What I mean is that we disconnect from one other and later reconnect as though we were starting again from zero. These periods of silence amp up and intensify our times together. They structure the new project, so to speak.

Having spent so much of your lives on stage, though, your breaks from it must feel strange… gahan: Not being on tour and not having an audience means there’s a huge void [in your life]. For me, the energy you get from performing as an artist is unique and a real privilege. I found it hard at first, but now it’s different. Having my family not only helps to make up for that, but also gives me the balance I need to work on whatever comes next. I think it’s vital for me to have those different environments, those different realities coexisting in my life. I love being on stage and I love seeing the fans enjoying themselves. It’s as though I’m selecting the best and most intense sensations to take home with me and store.

Depeche Mode are currently on their world tour, and will return to the UK to headline at the Isle of Wight Festival on June 23; depechemode.com

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TAK E F I V E

Athlete TANJA ERATH on…

BECOMING A PRO FROM YOUR BEDROOM The 28-year-old German road racer climbed into the saddle of a static bike inside her one-room apartment and virtually cycled her way to a real-life professional contract

2 I like to do things differently I loved the concept of the Zwift Academy. To get onto a pro team, you’d usually need contacts in cycling, or a certain background to get through the door. But with Zwift it’s meritocratic: the team doesn’t know anything about you – it’s all about performance.

3 I discovered a new reality

In Zwift, you ride through real-life places and watch the progress of your avatar. If someone else is riding faster, they pass you. If there’s an uphill section, your smart trainer makes it feel harder; on a descent it feels easier, like real-life cycling. You push yourself as hard as in a real race. You know the other avatars are people sitting on their home trainers, too.

I didn’t think I could push myself so far while sitting in my bedroom, but it works.

faced up to stiff 4 Iinternational competition

In 2017, 2,159 girls joined the Academy.

The first stage was to complete 15 VR workouts in six weeks, and only 500-600 managed it. Then 10 girls were chosen for the semi-finals. I Strava-stalked the competition and knew my numbers were good. Then we had to do seven workouts: four in Zwift and three in the real world.

The three finalists travelled to a training camp with CANYON//SRAM in Koblenz.

I couldn’t believe it – it was surreal.

Erath was only the second athlete to win at the Zwift Academy

1 I thought that by now I would be working in a hospital, but I’m travelling the world as a pro road racer!”

TANJA ERATH

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I never dreamt I’d be doing this

I was a triathlete for about 15 years, having started when I was 11. I was an ambitious amateur; good, but not a pro, as I was focused instead on studying medicine. Then, in 2016, I got an injury that stopped me running, so I turned to cycling. A friend told me about the Zwift Academy, a series of virtual reality tests and races that gives you the chance to win a contract with the CANYON//SRAM Racing team – and I won! I thought that by now I’d be working in a hospital, but I’m travelling the world as a pro road racer!

a virtual challenge 5 Iintoturned a brand new life

Winning was the strangest, most surprising thing. It’s changed my life. I’ve moved to Girona, and I’m no longer a student, or working as a doctor. Suddenly I’m a pro cyclist with a life of training, racing and travel. I have a schedule that says, “Go to Yorkshire to race, then California, then France.” It’s not virtual any more, it’s real.

Follow Erath’s progress at wmncycling.com Interview RUTH MORGAN Photography DAN FOSTER THE RED BULLETIN

The Visionary At 30, RONALD ‘THE BLACK MAMBA’ DLAMINI became South Africa‘s first black welterweight MMA champion, gaining celebrity status. Then meningitis left him in a 10-day coma, and when he woke he discovered he was blind.

But his life in the ring wasn‘t over. The fight had just begun Words TOM WARD Photography PAUL SAMUELS

All eyes on me: Dlamini is an inspirational presence in MMA

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F

ight night at Durban’s Greyville Racecourse.

Outside, lightning flares and rain lashes the streets; inside, flashing neon lights strafe a packed function room as 2,000 spectators await the start of the bimonthly Pro-Am MMA tournament. First on the card is Iksaan Rahaman, a bantamweight fighter and part of local team GBH, or Gorgeous Boyz Hardcore. Rahaman is fit, toned. He bounces on his feet in eager anticipation. His opponent, just as compact and efficient, runs through his own warmup. Then the fight is on. The crowd cheers above the slap of skin on skin.

At first, it appears this is not Rahaman’s night. But then, in a flurry of well-timed kicks and a late takedown, his opponent is beaten by a KO, and Rahaman’s hand is raised in victory. Later, he will credit his

The local hero enjoys downtime in Durban

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win to coach Ronald Dlamini, South Africa’s first black welterweight champion.

What makes the achievement surprising is that for the past five years Dlamini has been totally blind. A blow-by-blow account of the fight has been recounted to Dlamini, but he didn’t need to see it to know how it played out. In the preceding weeks, he and Rahaman trained hour after hour for this moment, anticipating the opponent’s moves, his reactions, his weaknesses.

Rahaman hadn’t met or trained with Dlamini prior to the latter’s loss of sight, but, post-fight, he has no doubt it was his coach’s deadly insight that brought victory.

“The man can do incredible things for somebody who can’t see,” Rahaman says.

“He can parry punches, he can attack, he can take you down and force you into submission. He teaches that you don’t have to see everything, just have a feel for it.”

Blind ambition

At 78kg and 1.76m tall, Dlamini has the broad, muscular frame of an athlete.

Cauliflower ears betray his fighting past, but he is handsome, lithe. His professional MMA record up until 2012 – the year he last fought professionally – is an impressive 27-4 (two defeats by KO, the other two due to earlier injuries). But then Dlamini learnt early on how to survive a fight.

“I’ve always been interested in it,” he says, calmly. “I came from a poor family and was very quiet and shy. I had a very big head, and the bullies used to tease me

Dlamini’s sight loss hasn’t diminished his skills in training – these days, he works by instinct

about it. Every day after school, I’d have to fight my way out.”

His non-schoolyard fighting career began when, at the age of 11, he left his grandmother’s house where he’d grown up, and went to live with his parents and 14-year-old brother in Mandeni in Sundumbili township, a 90-minute drive from Durban. His brother trained in Kyokushin karate, a brutal, full-contact form of the sport. Bored at home, Dlamini announced he would go along to the dojo, too. There, his interest was met with amused scepticism, and although he had no knowledge of the sport he was pitted against one of the club’s best fighters.

“They made me spar with a black belt my first session!” he says, his voice rising an octave. “I didn’t care, man. I was mean.

I had nothing to lose. I decided then that I wanted to be the best.” After walking 6km to school each day, Dlamini would run 10km to the gym, train, then run home again, determined to better the black belt. “Three months later, I hit him. Two months later, he could not have his way with me,” he says, his pride still evident.

Dlamini wasn’t finished. He wanted to be challenged, literally and figuratively.

Having grown tired of karate, he switched to kickboxing at 19, before taking up Muay Thai. It was at his debut Muay Thai fight he first gained the moniker that endures to this day: ‘Black Mamba’. Few black South Africans had the resources required to advance to Dlamini’s level, so all his

opponents were white. Dlamini – black, muscular, and as proficient at showboating as in executing lightning-fast takedowns – stood out immediately. In that first fight, he knocked down his opponent, then performed the splits while waiting for him to get back up. The crowd loved it. “I won and everyone started screaming, ‘Black Mamba! Black Mamba!’” he laughs.

Dlamini volunteered for his MMA debut to help out a friend at late notice. He won the bout, but, as his reputation grew, he was subjected to racial slurs posted online by a prominent white fighter. Dlamini kept quiet, and in 2010 a South African welterweight title match was arranged to settle the score. Dlamini made fast work of his opponent. “I had him down on the floor. His coach was shouting things he should do. But I kept telling him, ‘It’s not going to work, baby!’” Dlamini won the fight – then jumped up onto the cage. His trainer, Rhyne Hassan, had become the first black coach of an MMA champion, and Dlamini was the first black welterweight champion in South African history.

Two years later, Dlamini retired from pro fighting. He’d achieved all he could and was no longer being challenged. He was at the top of his game.

Dark days

It was around this time the headaches started; a throbbing bloom of pain. After a few days, Dlamini went to the hospital.

A doctor told him he had meningitis but

Getting respect in the dressing room

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could be cured. After the medical man left, and seeing Dlamini was in pain, a nurse approached, injected him with a painkiller and told him not to tell the doctor. “She took five steps back and I lost my sight,” he says, his words heavy as he recalls the shock and confusion of being plunged into darkness. “I was in a coma for 10 days.

When I woke, I felt mad. I was trying to hit everyone – I thought I was in the ring.”

After a few days, Dlamini’s first visitors were allowed to see him. His twin sister sat with him every day, and friends from GBH stopped by when they could. Seeing the champion slumped in his hospital bed brought hardened fighters to tears. As Dlamini struggled to get to grips with his new, dark world, his body was racked with pain and he was unable to eat. His weight plunged to a gaunt 49kg. It was difficult to believe the great Black Mamba could rise again.

But instead of staying down, Dlamini decided to fight. He moved into his family home, where his sister and parents would bathe him and cook his meals. Slowly, as the months passed, he learnt how to function again. As his strength returned, Ronald began to stubbornly refuse help as he moved around the house. He knew that if he was to regain a fraction of his former strength, he would have to relearn how to master his body.

Dlamini had been handed a new challenge, and he rose to it with the same vigour that had brought him victory in the ring. “My mind started coming back.

I knew, blind or not, I had to come out of there and make a difference,” he says. He wanted to train, to get back into the ring.

“Losing your sight humbles your spirit and demoralises you. To live is to suffer, but you have to find meaning within that suffering. I felt I was being given this cross because I could carry it.”

Most of the blind people Dlamini met during his recovery were not so motivated; many had stories of abuse – some had been robbed, others assaulted.

Dlamini’s path suddenly seemed clear: he would teach self-defence to the visually impaired. “I wouldn’t have known about these people if I was sighted,” he says.

“I wanted to pass on my skills.”

Feeling that he was beginning to find himself again, Dlamini called his friends for a meeting at the local mall. Over food, he told them he was still the same Black Mamba; they’d just have to adjust to him THE RED BULLETIN

The Black Mamba’s ambition is to train blind fighters all over the world

“To live is to suffer. You have to find meaning in that suffering”

The full-contact style of MMA suits him well: “All it takes is one touch, then I know where you are and what you are doing”

Sparring with Iksaan Rahaman

for me to forget something I’ve touched. All other senses are amplified: I smell better, I hear better. Just by touching you, I know your body weight. When I spar, I listen to the breathing. I listen to the footsteps.

I’ll strike where you’re most vulnerable.”

Second sight

here and there. He made jokes. They laughed. “I learned that from fighting: when you lose a fight, face your friends straight away and move on. I’ve lost in front of everybody. I’ve been disappointed before. You have to move forward.”

Fighting back

Moving is something that still comes naturally to Dlamini. Watching the 37-year-old working out at the Train Gym, the headquarters of GBH, it’s clear that the loss of sight has not diminished his skill in the ring. He moves naturally and effortlessly. He’s in incredible shape and works by instinct with a punch bag, twisting and turning lightly on his feet, landing every hit. Dlamini is training with Hassan – one of the best fighters GBH has ever produced, and one of his closest friends – as he has done so many times before. “He has managed to accept his circumstances,” says Hassan, as he watches his friend. “It was do or die.

I never thought I would see anyone that strong. This is someone who lived a full life, and he’s still trying to live a full life.

I asked him one day in hospital what he would do if he could do anything in the world. He said, ‘I want to be training with you guys.’ That’s all he wanted.”

With tragic coincidence, three months before Dlamini lost his sight, he and Hassan had begun fighting blindfolded.

The idea was that it would be useful if THE RED BULLETIN

”Fighters know I’m the guy who never gives up” either man had to defend himself in the dark – they had no idea how useful it would prove. It helped Dlamini believe he would fight again, that he could hone his other senses. For example, he’s now he’s able to give detailed directions while travelling by car, pointing out landmarks with pinpoint accuracy. But it’s in the ring, where, as a coach, Dlamini spars with both blind and sighted partners on a daily basis, that his metamorphosis really becomes visible.

He has discovered that MMA, with its emphasis on contact, grappling and holds, plays to his strengths. “All it takes is one touch, then I know where you are and what you are doing,” he says. In the ring he can visualise an opponent’s steps, the direction of their lunges, and where their fist will land. And he knows instinctively that if a fist is coming towards his head, it’s likely his opponent’s torso is unguarded.

Then all Dlamini has to do is get close, get hold of you, and put an end to the fight.

“The strongest sense in humans is visual,” he says. “It’s very hard for you to forget something you see. Now, it’s hard

At the MMA tournament at Greyville Racecourse on Saturday night, Dlamini negotiates the crowd with Hassan, who wears sunglasses, a tracksuit and lots of gold. Dlamini – in full Black Mamba mode – sports a thick GBH chain, a cap worn backwards, and a GBH T-shirt. Other GBH members greet him as he passes.

The evening has been organised by local martial arts legend Larry Vorstor, known respectfully as Shihan Larry. Dlamini taught MMA at his dojo after winning the welterweight championship. “I love him to pieces,” Vorstor says. “There’s no end to him. He’s a cage-fighting champion who’s gone blind but hasn’t tapped out.

He’s an absolute inspiration.”

In the changing room, where Rahaman and the other competitors are warming up, Dlamini is greeted by the fighters one by one. They respectfully call him “sensei” and hold him closely as they talk tactics.

Dlamini is quiet, focused, in his element.

He no longer sits in his fighter’s corner in the ring, but instead gives a pep talk here before the bout. He may not be able to see, but right now he is the one in the room with the clearest vision. “I can’t see the fight,” Dlamini shrugs. “I have someone describing it, and I can see it in my head. But as long as the fighters know I’m there, they’re all right. When they see me, they find strength, because they know I’m the guy who never gives up.”

Dlamini has many plans for the future.

Next year, he will give seminars on life as a blind man, and he has a contract to run a second blind MMA class in a wealthy part of town. It’s his ambition to train blind fighters worldwide. “I’m trying to create a united society. I don’t want anyone to feel discriminated against or isolated,” he says. “I want to travel the world and bring light to people. I don’t want to sit around and complain that it’s all over. You have to create your chances.”

He stands, ready to head back into the distant din of the Saturday night crowd and take on his next challenge. “If you’re still breathing,” The Black Mamba says with a smile, “you have to try.”

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THE TEAM IS THE HERO

In close-knit, sparsely populated Iceland, a squad of highly trained unpaid volunteers serves as the island’s searchand-rescue crew. This committed team, which comprises ordinary people with regular day jobs, saves lives in the freezing waters of the North Atlantic Ocean Words NORA O’DONNELL Photography JONAS BENDIKSEN

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Iceland’s search-andrescue volunteers perform an exercise in the turbulent North Atlantic

Members of the ICE-SAR team in Selfoss gear up

J

ust off the coast of Iceland, a few miles southwest of Reykjavík, a tactical boat is doing high-speed doughnuts in the North Atlantic Ocean. Inside the compact cabin, two crewmen clad in orange-red dry suits grin gleefully from behind the wheel of their homemade thrill ride as I grip the back of their seats to avoid being tossed around like popcorn.

“Are you trying to make me barf?”

I shout with an uneasy laugh. I can’t hear their reply over the roar of the engine, but I can see them chuckling.

On this drizzly Saturday in October, the promise of rough and uninviting waters is unfulfilled. The sea being calmer than anticipated, the crew is turning the boat into a whirligig to heighten the drama. This is a practice exercise for Iceland’s emergency response team, so the more they can simulate challenging

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conditions, the better. They need to be prepared to save someone’s life.

The island’s rugged and largely uninhabited landscape, full of active volcanoes, wild rivers and slippery glaciers, can be alluring and downright dangerous to both casual sightseers and seasoned adventurers.

When they get lost (or worse), it falls upon Iceland’s highly trained – and all-volunteer – rescue team to answer the call. Although the country has a police force and a coastguard, there’s no standing army, so it’s often up to ordinary citizens – from carpenters and truck drivers to students and archivists – to respond to accidents.

Whether at work or at home, these individuals drop everything to help those in need, no questions asked.

Known as the Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue, or ICE-SAR for short, this independent organisation boasts about 4,000 active members spread across almost 100 teams.

Since the first team was founded in 1918, these good Samaritans have helped tens of thousands of people

caught in blizzards, swept away by flash floods and buried by avalanches. In 2017 alone, ICE-SAR responded to more than 1,000 call outs, which included around 150 life-threatening crises.

None of this work is government funded. Instead, the members raise money by selling fireworks for the country’s massive New Year’s Eve celebrations, and collectible keyrings depicting miniature rescuers. This may not sound adequate to support the cost of expensive equipment, but each of the teams sells a lot of fireworks and keyrings.

“This year, our division made more than £5,000 just selling keyrings,” says Heimir Haraldsson, the team leader for today’s exercise, and chairman of the local boating unit near Reykjavík.

Haraldsson, a 41-year-old marine engineer with a burly and steadfast figure and the demeanour of a gentle scoutmaster, is the veteran on board.

As we thump across the bitterly cold North Atlantic, he explains how he THE RED BULLETIN

“It’s refreshing,” says one ICE-SAR member about the deadly cold water

A swift-water rescue specialist leaps from a boulder in the raging Tungufljót river

Magnús Sigurdsson practices lifting his brother Elias up a crevasse on the Sólheimajökull glacier

On average, the Selfoss team takes part in 40 to 50 missions per year 66

THE RED BULLETIN

grew up in Hof, a small village in southeast Iceland, and worked on the docks, soaking up seafarer knowledge from the local captains.

“We were all in fish,” he shouts over the engine noise, describing his hometown. “It’s not for everybody.

In Reykjavík, everyone is selling teas and ice cream, working in shops.

I grew up with just plain old fishing.

Maybe that’s what drew me to the rescue team.”

As a teenager, Haraldsson joined ICE-SAR’s youth division, which he describes as a step up from being a scout. “It’s the most important part of ICE-SAR – all the young people who can come in and get training in all kinds of stuff,” he says.

T

he eight-member team out on the open sea for this afternoon’s exercise is entirely made up of adult volunteers, though many of them are only in their early twenties. Around half of these are still in the process of completing the 18 months of basic training, which includes courses in sea rescue, mountaineering and first aid. From there, members can get more specialised training – everything from alpine to swift-water rescue.

“I haven’t chosen a group yet,” says Dagbjört Jónsdóttir, the only woman in the crew. “I’m a newbie.”

Jónsdóttir, a 31-year-old architect with expressive eyes and hair styled in two sensible pigtail braids, sits on the backside of the boat as it bounces rhythmically across the ocean. With a gloved hand, she casually wipes away the arctic seawater that’s splashing in her face. It’s only her second time on the boat, and there’s chatter about who gets to play the overboard victim in today’s practice run. When asked if she would be comfortable jumping into the water, Jónsdóttir responds with a small laugh. “Yeah…” she says, stretching out the word in uncertainty.

The water is around 4°C, which is mercilessly cold if you’re not aware.

Without the protection of a wetsuit or drysuit, a temperature that low can cause a person to lose muscle control and drown in 10 minutes or less.

This is common knowledge for the rescue team. In Iceland, the water is always frigid, and the weather can change in a split second. As long as you’re prepared and cautious, the

THE RED BULLETIN

Heimir Haraldsson, 41, is a team leader for the boating division based near Reykjavík

country is an abundant playground for outdoorsy types and the adrenalin junkies on the ICE-SAR squad.

Almost all the members I spoke to participate in some form of action sports – everything from cold-water surfing to ice climbing.

“I love mountain biking – a lot,” Jónsdóttir says. “That’s why it’s so nice to join the rescue team. It’s the perfect place to meet other people with the same interests. We have so much nature here. And when there’s shitty weather, you just brush it off.

You go out and have fun anyway. If you’re dressed properly, you’re fine.”

Everyone on board is wearing the same clown-orange drysuit, ready for a plunge in the icy ocean water if necessary. Today’s lucky victim ends up being Daniel Ágústsson, a 20-year-old photography student who’s playing the role of overboard fisherman. Without complaint, he repeatedly jumps in the water so the others can practise hoisting him onto the rescue boat. He puffs his cheeks like a blowfish and clenches his eyes shut at the shock of the temperature.

ICE-SAR’s boating division works in tandem with the coastguard, which operates a helicopter for rescues on the water. For the team on the boat, the operation can often turn into a salvage mission to collect anything from the wreckage.

“But you never know if the helicopter might break down or not

be able to make the manoeuvre to perform a rescue,” Haraldsson says.

There’s always that ‘what if”’ situation, and Jónsdóttir is quick to point out that there are other ways ICE-SAR volunteers can help.

“Often the volunteers who have been doing it for years get the more challenging assignments,” she says.

“The other day, I was saying to my friend, ‘When I’m at the base, I feel like I’m not doing anything.’ And she said, ‘No. Just being here is such a big support.’ The volunteers who are going out on missions are so tired, mentally and physically. Imagine if you came back to base and no one was there and you go home with all this baggage. By just being there and having a positive spirit, it encourages them. Everybody helps in some way.”

Many times, the volunteers are more involved in searching than they are rescuing. In January 2017, after 20-year-old Birna Brjánsdóttir failed to return home, officials launched the largest missing-person search in the country’s history. In excess of 700 volunteers canvassed more than 4,300 miles. On the eighth day of the search, a helicopter spotted the young woman’s body on a beach about an hour from Reykjavík. Nine months later, a Greenlandic sailor was found guilty of her killing. It was a rare case of murder in a country that has one of the world’s lowest crime rates.

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“When I see tourists doing something strange, I think common sense is not that common�

In other cases, ICE-SAR responds to tourists whose reckless behaviour puts them in perilous situations.

As the number of yearly visitors surpasses two million, the stories of poor judgment continue to make headlines. In 2015, four young and ill-prepared British adventurers caused a minor uproar when they had to be rescued three times during their attempt to cross Iceland on skis. A year later, dozens of tourists ignored a barricade of chains and warning signs at the Gullfoss waterfall to walk on an icy footpath.

Then, at the same location in 2017, a foreign traveller climbed down the steep cliffs below the viewing spot, risking her life to take a selfie.

“When I see tourists doing something strange, I think common sense is not that common,” says Ágúst Kjartansson, a 28-year-old ICE-SAR team leader and training instructor. “The thing is, common sense is based on where you’re from.

Main roads in Iceland can look like small farm roads to foreigners.”

Last year on the south coast, Kjartansson explains, a tourist stood in the middle of the main road at night in an attempt to observe the Northern Lights. He was hit and killed by a car travelling at 90kph.

“Just think twice before you do something,” Kjartansson advises anyone visiting Iceland. “Try not to put yourself in danger. If it doesn’t look safe, don’t do it.”

T Dagbjört Jónsdóttir and Stefán Reynisson grip the side of a tactical rescue boat as it rips across the North Atlantic

he day after the ocean exercise, I join Kjartansson and his very active rescue team, which is based in the southern town of Selfoss. We meet at the Tungufljót river near Strokkur, an active geyser that’s a popular stop for tourists passing through southern Iceland.

Kjartansson is leading a swift-water exercise, which only a small number of the teams are trained to do.

The Tungufljót river bursts with fresh glacial water, Class III rapids, and whirlpools that swirl close to enormous boulders. Below the surface, thousands of piercing rocks are masked by the rushing water. It’s below 4°C, even lower than yesterday.

“It’s really cold,” says Magnús Sigurdsson, another instructor. “It wakes you up. It’s refreshing!”

It doesn’t look refreshing – it looks terrifying. The roar of the rapids 69

“Normal people would not jump into this,“ says one of the members Selfoss team leader and instructor Agúst Kjartansson pulls another volunteer to safety during a rescue simulation

forces everyone to speak up. “Normal people would not jump into this,” says one of the members.

“But we’re not normal people,” responds another. “Ágúst is a pretty aggressive swimmer,” Sigurdsson says before they begin jumping into the water.

“He looks like a beast.”

Without exaggeration, Kjartansson resembles a Viking warrior. With his ruddy cheeks; long, caramelcoloured beard, and short-but-robust build, he looks like he could powerlift a 13th-century longship.

In his drysuit and helmet, Kjartansson leaps into the water.

As the rapids drive him downstream, he frenziedly changes course by using the reduced flow of the water around the boulder to swim upstream. His strokes quicken with robotic precision as he reaches two 70

of his team members already on the boulder. They extend their hands and pull him up.

Each of the rescuers does this several more times, but when they make it ashore, one of them diverts from the group and proceeds to vomit from exertion. Still, no one complains. In fact, there is a familial vibe among the team. When asked why they joined ICE-SAR, almost everyone mentions companionship in their answer.

Later, at a lunch break at a nearby cafeteria, it’s like a table of rowdy siblings. At one point, they joke about how they’re all related – which is basically true. On an island that spent centuries in relative isolation, the 330,000 current residents share many common ancestors. There’s even an incest-prevention app, which uses a database to help Icelanders

trace their genetic heritage and determine if you’re too closely related to hook up with someone.

Its motto? “Bump in the app before you bump in the bed.”

But whenever there’s a big rescue mission, the notion that everyone in Iceland is distantly related brings them together as a powerful force for good. It’s as if the entire country is a small town, pitching in to save the life of a local.

Many members of the Selfoss team are also skilled in alpinism, so after lunch Magnús Sigurdsson, 27, and his younger brother, Elias, 20, head to the Sólheimajökull glacier for a crevasse-rescue exercise. Two years ago, the road to Sólheimajökull wasn’t paved, but now it is, a horde of tourists rush to see the melting attraction. Although steps have been chiselled into the ice to make the THE RED BULLETIN

journey easier, this is place where a false step by a wandering sightseer could spell disaster.

From the very top of a crevasse, Magnús and Elias are lowered to the bottom on ropes. Elias plays the part of the victim while Magnús lifts his brother onto his lap, secures him with rope, and signals the two team members at the top to start lifting. It’s so effortless that they have to be told to stop smiling for the camera.

On average, the Selfoss team takes part in 40 to 50 missions per year. As they are all volunteers, they sometimes get the call while at work, but employers are very supportive: being a member of ICE-SAR comes with a level of respect, especially when the searches demand long hours in hard conditions.

“It doesn’t matter even if it’s Christmas,” Elias says on the ride back to Selfoss.

I

n 2015, the Selfoss team received a call at 1am on December 26.

A man who had lost his job had jumped into the river. It was around -12°C outside. The team, which included Elias, Magnús and Kjartansson, searched for the man for 48 hours, taking only a few hours of rest in between. They tried to use boats, but all of the banks were frozen. The only place where the

ICE-SAR volunteers perform rescues with minimal personal equipment that’s always close at hand

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water was warm enough to lower them was next to the sewage pipe.

“It wasn’t pleasant that night,” Kjartansson tells me the following day at a coffee shop in Reykjavík; he commutes to the capital from Selfoss for his job as a systems programmer at the university hospital.

“While we were motorboating on the river, the splashes of water froze instantly on our drysuits,” he says. “And it was so dark. We only had headlamps and flashlights.”

Everyone in Selfoss was involved, including the police force, the fire department and the coastguard, but the man was never found.

As ICE-SAR members are unpaid, I ask Kjartansson if he ever regrets volunteering in situations where he’s covered in frozen sewage the day after Christmas.

“No,” he responds definitely. “We help because we can and because we’re ready. I’m not thinking about myself. I just put everything aside so I can completely focus on the mission and how I can make the search as effective as possible. Of course, some emotions come in when you get really tired or something. But that’s just part of searching.”

There’s also the rush of adrenalin that comes when saving someone is within your grasp.

A few weeks earlier, Kjartansson says, his team was meeting at the base when they got a call that someone had jumped off a bridge. The Selfoss team leapt into action, immediately getting their boat on the river.

“I was on the boat,” Kjartansson recalls, “and I jumped into the water to open his airway.”

Only nine minutes had passed since the call. The team lifted the man into the boat, and emergency medical technicians were waiting on the shore. The coastguard then arrived via helicopter and took the victim to the hospital where he received further treatment.

But Kjartansson won’t take credit for any acts of heroism. “I wouldn’t have been able to put the boat on the river as quickly if I’d been by myself.

I wouldn’t have been able to pick up the guy by myself. Even though it was me who opened up his airway, I was part of a big chain. Everything worked out because that chain didn’t break. The team is the hero.”

icesar.com 71

Live at Supersense: while on stage, the band can see the producer at the mixers and the sound engineer at the editing console

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#nofilter

AWOLNATION would rather be seen as authentic than flawless.

Which is why the Sail hitmakers recorded an analogue live EP in Vienna in one take, with no edits. In a sea of digital perfection, the result is refreshingly raw…

Words ALEX LISETZ Photography JORK WEISMANN

Bruno says. “If anything, the opposite was true.” The Awolnation star would go on to extricate such painfully honest lyrics from himself with his band, “because I wanted to touch our fans in the same way my favourite musicians had touched me.”

But how far would Bruno really go in this search for honesty and authenticity?

In two days’ time, he would face the ultimate test.

ACETATE AND SAPPHIRE

In the frame: Bruno and the band during the recording in Vienna

A

wolnation vocalist Aaron Bruno is standing barefoot on a tiny stage, scared that someone’s phone might go off. In front of him is a roomful of Awolnation fans, waiting for him to get the concert underway.

Bruno might now let his thoughts drift to the 79 weeks that his worldwide hit Sail spent on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, or to a morning run in the mountains of Malibu, or to the look in his wife’s eyes.

But instead he’s thinking of everything that could possibly go wrong. When the sound engineer finally gives the prearranged signal, the guitarist waiting next to Bruno gets things going. The frontman grabs the microphone and starts to sing. It’s all or nothing now.

ON THE HUNT

Two days earlier, Bruno was sitting on a brown, patterned couch on the top floor of Vienna’s 25hours Hotel, giving 74

interviews. Bruno is an un-Californian Californian: he’s not into small talk. But today he has a lot to say, especially about the new Awolnation album – the band’s third – Here Come The Runts. “I wanted to show who I really was, in a more open, in-your-face way,” Bruno stresses in every interview. The journalists nod politely.

They’ve heard the ‘most honest and personal album’ shtick from any number of pop stars. But this guy really means it.

“I’m looking for something real,” explains the 39-year-old, “because everything around us is fake. Our food is fake. Our relationships are fake. The music we listen to. All of it.”

Bruno has had this sense for as long as he can remember. During his youth, he was fascinated by the straight edge movement – a branch of the punk music scene that promoted getting your kicks without the use of drugs or alcohol. He was drawn to punk’s raw, unbridled energy. And he loved the late singersongwriter Jeff Buckley for the pure emotion contained in his voice. “It didn’t matter if he didn’t hit every note exactly,”

At exactly 9am the next day, the members of Awolnation come trickling out of their tour bus. Your regular rock star would be winding down now after an all-nighter, but Bruno is wide awake. He’s dying to finally set eyes on the small Vienna studio he’s heard so much about. Supersense is more or less the Mecca of analogue technology, also serving as a cafe, shop and collection of curios. This is the place to come if you want to take photographs on the world’s largest Polaroid camera, or make a vinyl record using the highestgrade, most impeccably restored original 1960s kit. German hip-hop group Die Fantastischen Vier and Belgian rockers Triggerfinger are among those who have laid down tracks here. And it’s why Bruno has made the long journey from LA, too.

Founder and owner Florian ‘Doc’ Kaps, who has turned Supersense into an industry institution with a continentwide reputation, gives Bruno a technical crash course in analogue recording.

“Every sound your mics pick up goes straight to the vinyl engraving machine via the mixers,” explains the Austrian.

As he runs through his tutorial, Kaps gently pats a collector’s item from the ’60s that looks like a cross between a washing machine and some kind of time-travel device. “Up here, a sapphire engraver etches every sound vibration into the lacquer film. This creates a record that is 12 minutes in duration on each side. We can’t stop the recording, we can’t repeat anything, and we can’t change anything once we’re done. If you sing off-key or a phone goes off in the crowd, it all ends up on the record.”

Bruno nods. “Got it, man.” He gets right up close and sniffs the film. His songs will smell of acetate varnish, his voice will be a groove, and his energy will create a layer of black lacquer.

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Don’t be fooled by the holes – with more than 10 million album sales to his name, this man can afford a new T-shirt

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“I’m looking for something real, because everything around us is fake“ 75

Soul searching: Awolnation vocalist Aaron Bruno is aiming for honesty and authenticity with his music

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“I think we’re in awe of perfection, but it’s the imperfect that touches us and creates a connection” THE RED BULLETIN

He smiles and his often-restless eyes adopt a softer expression.

EVA MÜHLBACHER

FLAWS AND ALL

So why would Bruno want to record an EP in the 21st century using technology that dates back more than 50 years? “Analogue technology takes you out of your comfort zone,” he explains. “You’re revealing yourself without a filter when you make a live record. There’s no room for tricks.”

But analogue recording is laborious and old-fashioned…

“You shouldn’t always take the path of least resistance,” Bruno counters.

“Of course recording digitally has a million advantages. But can you form a relationship with a sound file? I’ve got a well-worn John Denver Christmas LP at home, and my vinyl copy of Dire Straits’ Brothers In Arms – which is a legendary album – is so scratched you can barely listen to it any more. They’re real old friends as far as I’m concerned.”

And if something goes really wrong, you could always throw the recording away and try again with a new piece of vinyl, right? Bruno’s eyes open wide.

“No, because we want to reveal ourselves warts and all,” he says. “And it’s more important to be honest and authentic than it is to be flawless.”

He then relates the tale of his 2011 mega-hit Sail, which is second only to Imagine Dragons’ Radioactive for most weeks ever spent by a song in the Billboard Top 100 chart. “I did the vocals in 20 minutes, and each track was done in a single take,” Bruno recalls. “I loved the raw energy of the song.” It was only after it had been released that he noticed the recording was far from perfect. “I’m totally flat on a couple of notes, and the percussion is completely out of time from start to finish.”

Yet, despite these flaws, Sail has sold more 10 million copies worldwide. Or was it because of them? “I think we’re in awe of perfection,” he says. “But it’s the imperfect that touches us and creates a connection. That’s why we should dare to reveal how imperfect we really are much more often.”

RAW NERVES

In general, however, we humans are reluctant to highlight our imperfections.

THE RED BULLETIN

Which explains why, two hours before the gig, all those involved are noticeably tense.

Lukas Obwaller, the cutting engineer, goes through all the steps once more: start the equipment, make the lead-in groove for the turntable needle, remember the cue for the band, check the instruments…

Eric Stenman, the band’s producer, has stuck Post-it notes on his mixers. During the soundcheck, he noted where he had to cancel out the echo and when he should crank up which control. Stenman is worried that if the band run over by so much as 10 seconds, the record might end in the middle of a bar, and that wouldn’t be at all elegant.

And yet, at the same time, everyone would be perfectly justified in remaining calm. Digital detox has done Awolnation

How to record straight to vinyl Digital recording has been the industry standard since the ’90s because it’s cheaper, more efficient, and the results are easier to rework. Songs are mixed and mastered to completion after recording, and all the information is compressed so as to take up as little memory as possible.

By contrast, vinyl albums are recorded using a cutting machine. A sapphire engraver makes a complex 3D groove in the raw material, and a vacuum cleaner removes the shavings that are created.

The variations in this groove are then translated by the record-player needle into speaker-cone vibrations.

An analogue tape was also running throughout the Awolnation gig at the Supersense studio, and, in the days following the concert, 77 further vinyl EPs were made painstakingly by hand from that recording in real time. To buy a copy of the record, go to: masterrecord.supersense.com/ awolnation

good on a couple of prior occasions, after all: Bruno wrote the entirety of the band’s second album, 2015’s Run, in a remote wooden cabin with no internet connection. And he recorded their current hit, Passion – along with the rest of the new album – using the same cheap ’50s Gibson guitar that he learnt to play on back in the day.

A MOMENT OF INTIMACY

At 8.37pm, Bruno goes on stage and whispers words of assurance to his team: “Today it’s all about having fun.” But then he starts having all the thoughts he’d hoped to avoid – about broken mics, forgetting his lyrics, and missing cues.

The first song of the night, Seven Sticks Of Dynamite, begins. The band really go for it right from the off, and Bruno quickly settles to his task. He sings with power and focus, and the crowd go wild – but he’s not yet totally feeling the flow. Next up is Passion, the new single.

Hands go up in the air, Bruno sails through a complicated section, and the 12 minutes of the first side are done.

A short break follows, then it’s on to recording the second side. But then it happens: during the intro to Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf), the drum pedal breaks.

With the sapphire engraver continuing to make grooves in the rotating lacquer film, the song needs to be started again.

And the funny thing is, it doesn’t matter at all. On the contrary, this little hiccup actually creates a closer bond between the band and the crowd.

It also flicks a switch in Bruno. The frontman now sings like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders. First he sings Hollow and then Sail, but in a way it’s never been heard before; the song sounds full of energy and yet intimate at the same time. Bruno is in close touch with his internal world and his feelings, but he’s also tuned in with every single member of the crowd.

With that, the recording is over, and no one in the Awolnation team can understand just what they’d been so nervous about. In the end, it had all came down to the simplest thing in the world: being themselves.

Analog In Vienna, a film about the recording of the Awolnation EP, is on redbull.tv; awolnationmusic.com 77

guide Get it. Do it. See it.

Anton Sintsov (RUS) in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, during last year’s World Cup

10 BARTEK WOLINSKI/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

March

UCI XCO MTB WORLD CUP

The world’s premier cross-country mountain biking contest is back – and for the first year it all kicks off on Coetzenburg mountain in South Africa. Experience the mud, sweat and scrapes on redbull.tv

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GUI D E

See it Schurter en route to the World Cup crown in Vallnord, Andorra, last July

TIME TO MAKE TRACKS

Among the highlights on Red Bull TV this month: the pinnacle of mountain biking, a frozen rally, and snowboard pros catching big air in Colorado…

WATCH RED BULL TV ANYWHERE

Red Bull TV is a global digital entertainment destination featuring programming that is beyond the ordinary and is available any time, anywhere. Go online at redbull.tv, download the app, or connect via your Smart TV. To find out more, visit redbull.tv

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10 March LIVE

UCI XCO MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP 2018

The UCI MTB World Cup attracts the elite of international cross-country mountain biking, and many thousands of spectators. This season, for the very first time, it opens on the slopes of the Coetzenburg mountain in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Will reigning champion Nino Schurter (SUI) be able to defend his title against a strong French squad?

The Swiss rider trails Stéphane Tempier (FRA) in Val di Sole, Italy, in August 2017

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February / March

BARTEK WOLINSKI/RED BULL CONTENT POOL (2), JEFF BROCKMEYER/RED BULL CONTENT POOL, JAANUS REE/RED BULL CONTENT POOL, MIHAI STETCU/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

Hear handpicked music and interviews with influential artists.

This month’s pick is…

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5

to 10 March LIVE

BURTON US OPEN

The most prestigious event in competitive snowboarding returns to Vail in Colorado. Now in its 36th year, the US Open showcases the skills of the world’s top pros in both slopestyle and halfpipe. See all the action live!

RISKY BUSINESS

15 17

to 18 February LIVE

FIA WRC SWEDEN

The second stop of the WRC season ventures deep into the frozen forests of Sweden and Norway. First run in 1950, the rally attracts 200,000 spectators over four days and presents a unique challenge for drivers.

February LIVE

22

February ON AIR

Musician, resident DJ at arguably the world’s best techno club (Berghain) and head honcho of one of the most influential house labels right now (Running Back), Gerd Janson is a man whose taste you can blindly trust when it comes to dance music. In his weekly show on Red Bull Radio, airing every fourth Thursday of the month, Janson opens up his private collection, playing the best in house, disco, techno and beyond.

RED BULL CRASHED ICE

A sizzling atmosphere is guaranteed as this ice-cross downhill spectacle hits Marseille in the South of France.

See the skaters hurtle down a massive ice track with gaps, drops and hairpin turns, at speeds of up to 80kph.

LISTEN AT REDBULLRADIO.COM

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Get it

Fitness

MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY Add these to the suit for the best full-body workout

COMPRESSION FABRIC

Ensures a perfect fit and stimulates blood circulation

SIXTEEN ELECTRODES

Deliver targeted electrical pulses

BOOSTER

BASE PLATE

Links the BOOSTER to the ANTELOPE.SUIT

INTEGRATED WIRING

Couples the shorts to the shirt via plug-in connectors

ANTELOPE. APP

BREATHABLE AND ANTIBACTERIAL

The suit is not machine-washable, however

The heart and brains of the operation, powering the electrodes and their pulses. The battery lasts up to four hours.

WEAR THE SUIT FOR

The BOOSTER connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth. Select from various workout modes using the ANTELOPE.APP.

This stimulating, electrodepacked fit suit will instantly beef up your workout

The superhero-style ANTELOPE.SUIT can make 20 minutes in the gym as effective as three hours wearing standard fitness kit. No, really. It houses 16 electrodes that boost your workout by electrically manipulating your muscles into working harder, mimicking the bioelectric pulses sent from your brain.

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CALFGUARDS

An ideal addition to the suit, with integrated electrodes that target the calf muscles to provide more strength, speed… and, of course, style.

The ANTELOPE.SUIT and BOOSTER costs €1,399 (around £1,250); info.antelope.club

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KURT KEINRATH & MICHAEL ZECHANY

OPTIMISE YOUR MUSCLES

Each electrode targets a specific area – chest, stomach, neck, back, upper arms, hamstrings, quads, glutes – and is controlled by the booster console via an app on your smartphone.

The ANTELOPE.TECHWEAR fabric is both flexible and lightweight, so the suit can be worn anywhere – adding a full-body workout to targeted training, or giving a boost to a particular problem area when you’re doing a more general session.

While Electro Muscle Stimulation (EMS) won’t do all the hard work for you, it does bring us mere mortals closer to achieving gym-god status. And the ANTELOPE.SUIT’s recovery mode gently helps prevent aching muscles while your body get used to its brave new world.

WERNER JESSNER

running, keep fit, yoga

GU I D E February / March

3

Feb to 17 June Ocean Liners: Speed And Style Planes, trains and cars are all engineering marvels, but the luxury ship is on a higher level of magnificence. With photos and artefacts from leviathans such as the Canberra, Queen Mary and, of course, Titanic, this exhibition is a testament to human achievement and hubris.

V&A, London; vam.ac.uk

15

to 18 February The London Classic Car Show London is a car-spotters’ dream every day of the year, but this weekend the capital’s quota of classic automobiles will rocket as more than 700 of the most iconic road vehicles in history gather under one roof. See them drive down Grand Avenue, a quarter-mile indoor roadway; and keep an eye out for motorrelated celebrities – previous years’ attendees include James May, Chris Evans and Jenson Button.

ExCel London; thelondonclassiccar show.co.uk

24

22

Do it to 25 February ITTF Team World Cup Table tennis, which began life as a parlour game in Victorian England, comes home with the first big tournament in London since 1954. Twelve men’s and women’s teams will compete; England automatically qualified by winning bronze in 2016.

Copper Box Arena, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London; ittf.com

February to 4 March

ROUNDHOUSE RISING FESTIVAL

The Roundhouse in Camden, north London, has played host to legends such as The Doors, Pink Floyd, Bowie and Hendrix, but this festival – now in its ninth year – is about finding the stars of tomorrow. The 2018 line-up includes workshops with big industry names; Rising Soundclash, a battle of the DJs; and a day of performances and talks featuring special guests and curated by Brit rapper Little Simz.

NICI EBERL/NICI-EBERL.COM, GAMEFACE MEDIA/TOUGH MUDDER

Roundhouse, London; roundhouse.org.uk

23 THE RED BULLETIN

to 24 March Tough Mudder 5K

It’s cold, wet and muddy outside – stay indoors, or have a roll in the muck? If the latter grabs you, try the Tough Mudder 5K, the latest in the series of notoriously filthy fun runs. This 5km dash features 10 epic obstacles, including the Everest 2.0 (a slick 5m half-pipe) and Pyramid Scheme (take a guess). And the action begins the night before with 5K Up Late, a festival of music, drinking, and endurance challenges.

Stratford, London; toughmudder.co.uk

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GUI D E

Get it

Watches

ULYSSE NARDIN MARINE TORPILLEUR MILITARY

New wave

Inspired by the 19th-century pocket watches of seafaring naval captains, this ode to history is sailing boldly into the future with a diamond-coated silicon escapement and balance wheel inside its hull. ulysse-nardin.com

Timeless classic from the front, future retro from behind

TOMORROW’S CLOCKWORK HEART Human progress can be gauged by our mastery of materials: stone, bronze, iron and, more recently, silicon. The element’s semiconducting properties, and the fact we can abundantly grow it into pure crystals, makes it ideal for building the microchips that have revolutionised our lives. But silicon is equally suited to more antiquated technology, such as the oscillating balance spring at the heart of a mechanical watch.

It’s less magnetic or corrosive than steel or nickel, more shock resistant, and requires no lubrication to stay frictionless. Perfect until humankind’s next material age.

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BAUME & MERCIER CLIFTON BAUMATIC

Spring to attention

Founded in 1830 by two brothers in Les Bois, a Swiss village close to the Jura Mountains, Baume & Mercier prides itself on a reputation for simple, reliable mechanical timepieces. The Clifton Baumatic is no different, except that simple reliability comes from a complex patented marvel: the TwinSpir balance spring. The TwinSpir is so-called because it’s actually two narrow silicon coils bound together at an opposing angle from each other, improving its isothermal and elastic properties and keeping the newly minted movement ticking accurately for up to five days. This is impressive enough for Baume & Mercier to do more than boast about it – the watchmaker has created a transparent back to show it off. baume-et-mercier.com

TUDOR HERITAGE BLACK BAY CHRONO

Worlds collide

As well as blending motorsport and diving design, this watch is a mix of materials – its steel case houses a balance spring made of Silinvar, a temperature-resistant silicon co-developed by parent company Rolex. tudorwatch.com

ZENITH DEFY EL PRIMERO 21

Flash forward

This titanium chronometer has two silicon escapements: one for the time, the other for the stopwatch. Each second is marked by a full sweep of the hand, powered by a balance spring made from a patented carbon nanotube composite. zenith-watches.com

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THE RED BULLETIN BEYOND THE ORDINARY

Subscribe now for £20 for a year or purchase a single copy at

getredbulletin.com

CHILL SEEKERS GREAT SURFING isn’t always about sunshine and board shorts.

Off-season on the Devon coast, it means getting up in the dark, wrapping up against the cold and waiting for the waves to break…

Photography DAVID GOLDMAN Styling SARAH ANN MURRAY 86

GUI D E “The biggest appeal of cold-water surfing is the crowds – generally there aren’t many, which has always been a big draw for me, and a bonus worth braving the elements for” Andrew Cotton, 35

Andrew wears TIKI Zepha2 5/4/3 GBS Steamer wetsuit and Pro Boots, tikisurf. co.uk; SHACKLETON Endurance jacket, shackletoncompany. com. Surfboard, stylist's own Opposite: Tim wears QUIKSILVER 5/4/3 Syncro wetsuit, quiksilver.com.

FOURTH SURFBOARDS Shank surfboard, fourthsurfboards.com

GUI D E “Cold-water surfing awakens every inch of my body and mind. It makes me feel alive. I find cold water extremely healing and it can change my mood in an instant” Corinne Evans, 29

Corinne wears BUFF Airon knitted hat, buffwear.co.uk; C-SKINS Rewired 5:4 wetsuit, c-skins.com; ARC’TERYX Cerium LT Hoody, arcteryx.com; GARMIN Fenix 5S watch, buy.garmin.com; FOURTH SURFBOARDS Shank surfboard, fourthsurfboards.com

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THE RED BULLETIN

GUI D E Blue, black and yellow wetsuit, surfer's own; QUIKSILVER wetsuit, quiksilver.com; UNDER ARMOUR ColdGear Reactor fleece full zip hoodie, underarmour. co.uk; OSPREY Exos 48 backpack, ospreyeurope. com; JS surfboard and ANIMAL board bag, surfer's own

GUI D E “There’s a commitment to climbing into a freezing cold, often-damp wetsuit that's been abandoned in your back garden for a while. I never come out of the water regretting it. The feeling of accomplishment while you defrost by the fire afterwards is next level” Holly Madge, 29

Clockwise from top left: Holly wears PATAGONIA Iron Forge Hemp canvas double knee pants, eu.patagonia.com; DC Backwoods technical riding shacket, dcshoes-uk.co.uk; LAND ROVER Explore phone, landrover. co.uk. MERRELL Chameleon 7 Mid hiker boots, merrell.com.

Holly wears J CREW striped cashmere scarf, jcrew.com; CHEAP MONDAY Against Knit jumper, cheapmonday.com; VANS Weathered SK8Hi shoes, vans.co.uk; hat, shirt and jeans, stylist's own. Andrew wears FINISTERRE Nebulas jacket and RNLI Fernebo beanie, finisterre.com; SURF PERIMETERS striped T-shirt, surfperimeters.com; VANS Carlow shirt, vans.co.uk

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THE RED BULLETIN

Corinne wears BUFF Amby Sno/ Cru hat and Comber wrap, buffwear. co.uk; ROXY Gwen sunglasses, roxy-uk. co.uk; HOWIES Lumberjane jacket, howies.co.uk. C-SKINS Rewired 5:4 wetsuit, c-skins.com; FOURTH SURFBOARDS Shank surfboard, fourthsurfboards.com; jeans, stylist’s own

DC Crestline 23L backpack, dcshoesuk.co.uk; blue, black and yellow wetsuit, surfer’s own; QUIKSILVER wetsuit, quiksilver. com; JS surfboard and ANIMAL board bag, surfer's own

GUI D E “They say life is better in board shorts, but I prefer a wetsuit.

My local break only produces surf during a storm, so I grew up paddling out in freezing conditions with hail, gales and ridiculous currents. But the beach would pump and only a small crew surfed it, which made it feel like ours” Tim Hunt, 29

Tim wears DC Camper cap, dcshoes-uk.co.uk; VANS Subculture hoodie, vans.co.uk; COLUMBIA Mountain Side heavyweight fleece, columbia sportswear.co.uk; jeans, surfer’s own

Photographer’s assistant: Chris Lanaway Surfers: Andrew Cotton, Corinne Evans, Tim Hunt, Holly Madge Styling assistant: Serina Hussain Hair and make-up: Hannah Symons Production assistant: Paddy Butler THE RED BULLETIN

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DISCOVER LOS CABOS

THE RED BULLETIN PROMOTION

Red Bull’s Extreme Sailing SeriesTM Team adventure in Los Cabos, a magical land located at the tip of the southern Baja California Peninsula

L

os Cabos: Breathtaking seas, awe-inspiring deserts and inspirational mountain vistas merge to create stunning landscapes full of contrasts. Also known as “Land’s End,” due to its geographical location, Los Cabos is the perfect place for an active adventure. Something Red Bull’s Extreme Sailing SeriesTM Team experienced first-hand!

Delicious Delights Red Bull’s top athletes were invited to dive into the local cuisine by Enrique Silva and Gabriel Castillo, culinary wizards and owners of the organic farm and restaurant, Los Tamarindos.

Here, the team not only learned about growing and farming some of the region’s organic foods, but also got to harvest and prepare some of the region’s mostfamous dishes! An eye-opening experience, even for well-travelled athletes!

PHOTO: LLOYD IMAGES, VISIT LOS CABOS

Dunetastic After a relaxing first day, it was time for the athletes to take it up a gear on day two as they mounted their Polaris ATVs and headed into the desert for hi-octane fun with Cactus Tours. The crew were treated to some of the most spectacular coastal views, while also taming some of the wildest dunes around!

Rest and relaxation With the final stop on the Extreme Sailing SeriesTM calendar just around the corner, the team’s third day was all about preparation, both mentally and physically. There isn’t a better place to find that winning balance than at Breathless Resort San Lucas!

Race time After three days of rest, relaxation and training, the moment of truth had arrived for the team as they took to the beautiful waters of the bay for an event that did not fail to live up to expectations for both

From top to bottom: On board with the team. Culinary discovery at Los Tamarindos, ATV adventures with Cactus Tours.

The breath-taking views at the San Lucas resort.

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THE RED BULLETIN WORLDWIDE

MEXICO DEPECHE MODE

Analogue adventures in Austria, wingsuited wonders in the Swiss skies, and a young Olympics hopeful reaching new heights in the UK – just some of the highlights from our issues around the globe this month

In our interview with the synth-pop survivors, Dave Gahan and Martin Gore reveal how to master challenges in life

NEXT-LEVEL FITNESS DON’T TRAIN HARDER. TRAIN SMARTER.

Here, five world-class athletes share workout secrets and mental tips to help you get stronger, faster and leaner—and otherwise crush it this summer.

Words WILL COCKRELL

Pro rugby star Carlin Isles shows off his explosive power with this modified push-up.

Photography MIKO LIM

27

USA FITNESS GUIDE Stronger, quicker, fitter: three female world-class athletes and two male counterparts let us in on their workout secrets and provide psychological tips

THIBAULT GACHET/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

Si Vince Reffet rate son avion, il le prend en vol.

Une poignée de minutes plus tôt, il s’est élancé d’un sommet suisse à 4 158 m d’altitude.

UNE PORTE DANS LE CIEL

En rentrant, le 13 octobre dernier, dans un avion à 138 km/h par une porte de 1,58 m de large sur 1,25 m de haut, les Soul Flyers FRED FUGEN et VINCE REFFET ont réalisé le projet le plus risqué et le plus flippant de toute leur carrière.

Décryptage. Texte PATRICIA OUDIT

26

FRANCE A DOOR IN THE SKY Wingsuit flying in the Bernese Alps with BASE jumpers Fred Fugen and Vince Reffet

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”IMPERFECTION IS THE QUALITY THAT TOUCHES US MOST” AUSTRIA AWOLNATION A day at the studio as the band record a live session direct to vinyl, because keeping it real is what matters

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March

GLOBAL TEAM Aiming high: Lake’s personal best stands at 1.96m – the height she jumped in Birmingham last July at Team GB’s trials for the World Championships

RAISING THE

BAR MORGAN LAKE became the first British woman ever to reach an Olympic high-jump final, thanks to a rare combination of physical power and sporting passion. Now, the 20-year-old athlete is honing her mental muscle to reach even headier heights in a season that could make hers a household name Words PAUL WILSON

Photography ALEXIS CHABALA

36

UNITED KINGDOM MORGAN LAKE The British athlete, who juggles highjump with university studies, tells us how mental training raised her game

SWITZERLAND MARKUS KELLER The former halfpipe world champion gave up what he does best – and became even better. We catch up with Keller on the deep-powdered slopes of Japan and find out why he left his comfort zone

UNITED KINGDOM

Editor-in-Chief Alexander Macheck The Red Bulletin United Kingdom, ISSN 2308-5894 Editor Ruth Morgan Associate Editor Tom Guise Music Editor Florian Obkircher Chief Sub-Editor Davydd Chong Publishing Manager Ollie Stretton Advertisement Sales Mark Bishop, mark.bishop@uk.redbull.com Printed by Prinovis GmbH & Co KG, Printing Company Nuremberg, 90471 Nuremberg, Germany UK Office 155-171 Tooley Street, London SE1 2JP Tel: +44 (0) 20 3117 2000 Subscribe getredbulletin.com Enquiries or orders to: subs@uk.redbulletin.com Back issues available to purchase at: getredbulletin.com Basic subscription rate is £20.00 per year. International rates are available The Red Bulletin is published 10 times a year. Please allow four to six weeks for delivery of the first issue Customer Service +44 (0)1227 277248 subs@uk.redbulletin.com

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ALEXANDER MEGOS ist einer der besten Kletterer der Welt. Warum?

Weil er auf jeder Route seine 10 Prinzipien des Erfolgs befolgt.

FRANK KRETSCHMANN/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

Text BEN KRISCHKE

Alexander Megos, 24, Ausnahmekletterer: „Scheitern beginnt in dem Moment, in dem du dein Ziel unterschätzt.“

37

GERMANY ALEXANDER MEGOS The medal-winning German shares his 10 steps to success on the world’s toughest climbing routes – and also in everyday life

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Action highlight

In the BMX world, a ‘hucker’ is a rider who’ll throw him or herself into jumps that others aren’t brave – or foolish – enough to attempt. This is how Mike ‘Hucker’ Clark made his name.

“I constantly fell on my nose,” says the American, who is now among his sport’s elite. So why has he retained the moniker?

“Simple: I'm proud of every scratch.” redbull.com/bike

98

“People have always thought BMX riders are strange“ Mike ‘Hucker’ Clark, 30, specialises in pulling off flights of fancy

GARTH MILAN/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

Lake Forest, California

Makes you fly

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