SÖLDEN, AUSTRIA — Mario Neurauter has spent seven years working his way up to bigger drops on a mountain bike. This fall, the Austrian rider landed the biggest one yet: a Guinness World Records title for the highest vertical drop on a bicycle onto a target.
Neurauter cleared 3.80 meters, or 12.46 feet, before landing squarely on a marked target during the Bike Republic Sölden Festival, held alongside the Swatch Nines event in the Austrian Alps. Guinness certified the attempt, which took place on Sept. 13, 2025, and announced the title this month.
Years in the making
Neurauter, who dreams of turning professional, said he built up to the record gradually rather than attempting it cold.
I started small and worked my way up to bigger and bigger drops over the years.
Mario Neurauter, mountain biker
He described the landing itself as the hard part, given the precision needed to hit a fixed target rather than an open slope.
I wasn't scared, but I knew that hitting the box would be tricky.
Mario Neurauter, mountain biker
Organizers in the Tyrolean resort town had billed the festival weekend as a showcase for several record bids, pairing Neurauter's drop attempts with other bike stunts and competitions. Festival organizers said he also made two further attempts that weekend — a flat drop and a 360-degree flat drop onto a target — though Guinness had not confirmed those results as of its October announcement.
Neurauter has broken his collarbone twice during his riding career but said he had never been hurt attempting a drop of this kind. For now, he has no new attempt scheduled, saying only that he intends to keep progressing in the sport he has chased since his early teens.
The target record is distinct from Guinness's broader category for highest vertical drop on a bicycle, with no target required, which is held separately by Swiss rider Daniel Degiampietro at 4.22 meters, set in Predazzo, Italy, in 2021. Landing on a fixed target rather than an open slope adds a margin for error that most big-drop specialists avoid, organizers at the Sölden festival said, which is part of why attempts in that category are rarer and the records shorter.