Red Bull Aces Brings Wingsuit Slalom Racing To TV

The world's first-ever wingsuit slalom competition will feature athletes racing four at a time through a mile-long aerial course; the race will air Saturday, May 14, at 8 pm PT/11 pm ET.

Held in Cloverdale, Calif., the best wingsuit athletes from an international field of 40 men and women from 18 countries jump in heats of four from a civilian Bell Huey helicopter at an altitude of 8,000 feet above sea level, and must weave between five 112-foot gates positioned thousands of feet in the air. All the gates are equipped with GPS positioning, and each competitor wears a GPS transmitter to determine whether they pass through the gates properly.

The winner is based not only on how quickly the finish line is crossed, but also on how many gates he or she correctly passes through.The athletes then pull their parachutes and descend under canopy back to the takeoff area.

Top competitors include Andy Farrington, Noah Bahnson, Matt Gerdes, Scott Palmer and Scotty Bob from the United States challenged by Norway's Espen Fadnes, Sweden's Petter Mazzetta and Australia's Rex Pemberton.

How do they do it? Wingsuits allow their pilots to zoom forward at a three-to-one ratio, meaning for every foot they fall, they advance forward three feet. By manipulating their bodies---streamlining them to speed up, for example---their aerobatic agility is similar to that of other non-motorized aircraft.

For more information, visit Red Bull at redbull.tv and FS1 at foxsports.com/RedBullSports.