A personal report back on the 2014 X-Berg Challenge

The X-Berg challenge is a fresh concept developed by Pierre Carter. It is a race that traverses the Drakensberg from the top of Oliviershoek Pass, through to Underberg, with six checkpoints along the way. A twist is that you can either go on foot, use a bicycle or a paraglider. Once you chose your means of transport, you are stuck with that for the rest of the race. It is a simple trade-off of going for a lightweight run, or taking the extra weight up the hills to go faster down them.