Red Bull Athlete Makes History With Audacious Gilder Climb

Anyone who is in the business of performing stunts inherently has a bit of showmanship in their DNA. However, not all stunts are created equal.

Some stunts are designed for the thrill of excitement, some are pointed at achieving a goal that otherwise seems impossible, and some are designed at specifically making Tom Cruise jealous. 

For Domen Škofic, a 31-year old world champion climber from Slovenia, the possibility of combining all three was too much of an opportunity to pass up. On August 23, Škofic became the first person to complete a fully-designed climbing route on the outside of an aircraft while airborne, facing freezing temperatures, G-forces, and constant wind speeds that can only be found 8,000 feet agl. 

It might seem like an unusual pairing—climbing and aviation—but climbers and aviators alike have always been driven by the same ethos: How big can I go? What limits can I push? Unsatisfied by the traditional bonds humans are confined to, both groups take perilous and sometimes cavalier risks to scratch whatever itch their passions have thrust upon them.

A more reserved, more level-headed group might have looked around at the present terrain and aimed for the highest peak they could climb. But Škofic and his team at Red Bull looked at the backside of a glider and decided to slap a climbing route on it because of course they did. 

But before Škofic could take his celebratory backflip off the side of Red Bull’s modified L-13 Blanik glider, there were a number of logistical and human obstacles to overcome. 

Designing the Route

In order to climb a route around an aircraft, there first had to be a route to climb. Since climbing on an airplane had never been done before, attempting to organize plans for the climb was essentially charting the uncharted.

All holds for the route were aerodynamically manufactured and produced by Škofic’s father, mechanical engineer Pavel Škofic, to withstand over 2,000 pounds of force. 

Domen Škofic and his father worked on the route at a climbing ranch in Slovenia, complete with a replica glider stationed on the ground to practice on prior to going airborne. While Škofic went through countless practice attempts making sure he had the route down, it was nearly impossible to replicate the conditions he would experience in the air. 

“All the tests we are conducting now are just informative,” Pavel Škofic said in a Red Bull YouTube video. In the air, everything will be totally different. First of all, everything will be moving. Second of all, his weight will also be moving the plane.” 

Traditionally, climbing routes are graded in terms of difficulty. Bouldering, the style of climbing most akin to the kind Domen Škofic performed, is graded on the V-scale. The V-scale goes all the way from a V-0, being the easiest, to a V-17, which only the most expert climbers can complete. 

Škofic’s airplane route grades out at a V-11, an advanced grade that typically only 10 percent of climbers on the ground can complete. 

The route is designed to begin with Škofic in the cockpit. Once ready, he exits the cockpit’s rear seat and makes his way down the left side of the fuselage and out to the middle of the wing. He then circles back, climbing under the fuselage and down along the right wing before hoisting himself up on the top of the plane, completing the climb. 

Physical Toll

Škofic and his team spent months refining the route, training in wind tunnels, and carrying out parachute jumps, But even with all the preparation, no practice could simulate the experience of being outside a moving aircraft. 

“We estimate the biggest problem will be very cold temperatures at 3,000 meters, around minus-10 degrees [Celsius/14 degrees Fahrenheit],” Pavel Škofic said. “His hands will be frozen. It’s hard to decide how long he will keep them warm.” 

At roughly 8,000 feet air temperature is usually around 40 F. However, given the 62 mph the aircraft will be traveling, for Domen Škofic the feeling was closer to 14 F during the climb due to the windchill. Even for an experienced climber like Škofic, who has trained in chillier places like Norway, that sort of cold was something new. 

In addition to the frigid temperatures at that altitude, the G-forces associated with the flight threw Škofic’s body into an unpredictable balance. 

“As the plane moves, I will experience positive and negative g forces,” he said. “Meaning at any point during the climb, I could weigh up to 20 kilos [44 pounds], more or less than my normal weight.”

In order to reach the ground safely, Škofic was suited with a parachute strapped to his body, adding another 26 or so pounds he had to account for while scaling the aircraft. 

The Aircraft

The aircraft commissioned for the climb was the Red Bull Blanix Aerobatic Team’s L-13 Blanik, a slow-flying, aluminum-built glider. The glider, most known for its flight training capabilities, has no propulsion capabilities of its own and relies on a tow aircraft for its initial motion. 

During the project, the L-13 Blanik was operated by Red Bull team pilot Ewald Roithner. When Roithner was asked about how the first flight was going to go, he kept the theme of unpredictability central.

“To be honest, I have no idea,” Roithner said. “I’m concerned a little bit about opening the canopy in the air. We never did anything like this before. When you are on the wing, it will be very hard for me to control the glider. Nobody knows how it will go.”

If Škofic was experiencing any signs of nervousness, he didn’t let it show. 

“I’ve done all the preparation I can,” he said. “The only thing left to do is climb the route in the sky.”

The Climb

Gliding at 8,000 feet, hands covered in chalk, Škofic began his first attempt.

He seemingly cruised through the first three-fourths of the route, making his way through the left wing, across the fuselage, and out on the right. About half way out on the right wing, attempting to position both hands on a hold, Škofic slipped, deploying his parachute while in free fall. 

“It’s cold out there,” he said. “I couldn’t feel the fingers anymore. It’s actually much harder than on the ground. When you come out, and with a 100-kilometer wind, it’s crazy.”

Said Pavel Škofic: “Domen is very used to [the] cold. He can train at minus-5 [C]  without problem. For him to struggle so much, it must have been very cold.” 

Attempts two and three were more of the same, with Škofic failing on nearly the same handhold on the right wing near the climb’s finish each attempt. 

“The problem is the wobbles of the plane,” he said. “At some points, [it] was feeling like I’m gonna get ripped off…Doubts are coming in. Basically every try is random. You feel like you got it, but then something new surprises you.” 

On the fourth attempt, as Škofic reached the same point he had three times previously, he was able to maintain a strong grip on the final hold before carrying himself over the top of the wing. After that it was all joyful screams and a celebratory backflip off the glider to finish. 

“It was an incredible feeling—much harder than the preparation on the ground,” he said in a Red Bull news release. “I started to doubt whether I could do it, but the route was just challenging enough. Something like this has certainly never been done before. Climbing always gave me the urge to jump. Combining climbing with skydiving in this project was a dream come true.”

Two Worlds, One Mindset

There’s a lot to be said about the melding of two passions—climbing and aviation—that are diametrically opposed in so many ways.

But fundamentally, these hobbies begin with the same origins in mind. Both start with a singular Point A and a desire to get to Point B, one way or another. Aviators look to the sky, and through sheer human ingenuity say, “I can conquer that.” Climbers face a chunk of earth and think through brute strength and grace they can overcome any obstacle.

Both shuck fear aside in the process. 

The methods to reach each desired endpoint, while different, both involve besting the elements. There’s the external ones to overcome certainly, but maybe more importantly, the internal as well. 

“[It’s] just a matter of will and a matter of goal,” Pavel Škofic said. “The fears can be always removed if you have a real goal.”