Comp League

Heute kann das Schweizer Team nochmals trainieren. Der Trainingstask wurde mit 63 Kilometern den Verhältnissen angepasst, jedoch sehr auf der konservativen Seite. Es sollte demnach kein Problem sein den Task im Goal zu beenden. Sind wir gespannt wie sich das Schweizer Team schlägt. Den Task önnt ihr mit dem Link rechts live verfolgen.

By Jörg Ewald: Good weather, finally! Sunny, very little wind at altitude, dry, it looked almost perfect. The only hair in the soup: the super-heated Surselva would pull in air from both North and South - some reports even talked about the onset of "shallow Föhn", which we had gotten to know already at the beginning of the competition. Our objectives for the task were therefore: Go big, go to places we have not been yet this week, stay away from the areas most affected by the inflow from the South, and therefore land in Trun instead of Disentis. The task led first to the West, towards Oberalp pass, then crossed the main valley towards Vals. Another long crossing led to the Flims and Laax ski arena, with two turnpoints (Cassons and Grap Masegn), back across the valley one more time to Bündner Rigi, and then goal in Trun, for 99.3 km. The first few climbs were rough and fast, and pilots had no problem with getting to a good position for the race start. Some attempts to do the first valley crossing before the start and take the start cylinder on the South side had to be abandoned, in the end the whole field started together racing towards Oberalp pass. Conditions there were much more turbulent than expected: With no defined wind direction, every thermal going off would pull air towards it, making for a wild mix. Back to launch and crossing towards Garvera worked well, the pilots did not even have to go deeper towards Piz Muraun to make maximum altitude and continue onward. Originally we had planned to fly to the mountains to the South-East of Vals, but ultimately decided to turn earlier towards Flims, to avoid the expected turbulence in that area (thanks for the hint Martin!). From there, most pilots followed the "logical" route along the eastern ridge, which worked really well by then. Only, Noah Kiener had a different idea, he headed straight North, along the western rim of the Vals valley, This worked even better, and he arrived at the Cassons Grat turnpoint with a lead of about 20 minutes. But what looked like a decisive lead started shrinking again quickly when Noah struggled finding the one thermal that would give him enough altitude for the final crossing of the Rhine valley. The followers had almost caught up with him when he finally hit the right spot, climbed out and flew to victory, still with a 7-minute lead on the followers. In total 44 pilots made goal in this long and demanding task. Their arrival times ranged from 2:45 h to 5:18 h. As one of them put it: "It was level 2 all the way around" - meaning "sporty, demanding, but OK to fly". Unfortunately, two pilots lost control of their gliders during the race and were unable to recover. The first incident required a complicated helicopter rescue out of steep terrain, the pilot was transferred to the hospital, and we all wish him a speedy and full recovery. The second pilot had enough altitude to deploy his reserve parachute, ended up on the ground unscathed, but in steep, rocky territory he could not leave on foot. With REGA having an incredibly busy day, he needed to wait for nearly 3 hours until they came to fly him out. Day winners Junior: Nic Jacomet (SUI) Sports Class: Frédéric Monnet (SUI) Women: Violeta Jimenez (USA) Overall: Noah Kiener (SUI) This was the conclusion of the 2026 Disentis Open. A new crew stepped into huge footprints, and ran a successful competition - with kind guidance by members of the previous organization team from the sidelines. Despite starting out with the worst weather forecasts for the week that we all could remember, we managed to fly three interesting and challenging tasks that showed once again what a fabulous spot Disentis is for paragliding racing. Some mistakes were made, and either fixed on the spot, or taken as a lesson, to improve on for the next edition. The final mistake being that for the prize giving, the author (Race Director and acting presenter) mixed up some names when calling pilots to the podium. This is why the pictures below do not completely correspond with the actual final rankings: Junior 1. Nic Jacomet (SUI) 2. Thierry Stoll (SUI) 3. Nicola Heiniger (SUI) Sports Class 1. Frédéric Monnet (SUI) 2. Gaëtan Gerber (SUI) 3. Loïc Theubet (SUI) Women 1. Zaborowska Agnieszka (GBR) 2. Violeta Jimenez (USA) 3. Linda Hoch (SUI) Overall 1. Lars Meerstetter (SUI) 2. Davide Licini (SUI) 3. Simon Steiner (SUI) Photos by Martin Scheel.

Die Schweizer Nationalmannschaft ist gut, komplett und mit allem Material in Kruševo (Nord Mazedonien) angekommen. Das diesjährige Nationalteam besteht aus: - Sarah Zimmermann / Ozone Enzo 3/Zeno 2 / Gin Genie Race 5 - Noé Court / Niviuk Iceapeak X-one / Niviuk Rocket R - Stephan Morgenthaler / Ozone Enzo 3 / Ozone Submarine - Jérôme Kägi / Ozone Enzo 3 / Ozone Submarine - Roger Aeschbacher /Ozone eNZO 3 / Ozone Submarine - Tim Rochas / Niviuk Iceapeak X-one / Niviuk Rocket R - Dani Graf / Teamleader Der 8. August können die Pilotinnen und Piloten locker angehen, es steht die Registration, freies Fliegen und das General Briefing an. Der 9. August wird aus einem Trainingstask bestehen. Ab dann gilt es ernst und es werden bis am 19. August Tasks geflogen. Die Wartezeit auf das (reservierte!!) Mietauto war dann allerdings fast so lang wie der Flug, doch das Team zeigte sich motiviert und auch diese Unannehmlichkeit wurde locker weggesteckt. Drückt uns die Daumen!

The forecasts hold, everything is shaping up great for a big day: Sunny, weak winds from the SW, good thermals, no rain. The program stays, see you at Caischavedra middle station for a 10:15 task briefing.

In short: The best day of the week, let's go big! We will be at the south side of a high-pressure system centered over Germany. This brings drier and cooler air to our area. At altitude, we still expect westerly winds, but quite weak in the afternoon, only 5-15 km/h, maybe 20 km/h at 4000 m. Thermals should be stronger than today, at a 2.5 m/s average (today was indicated with 1.5 m/s), up to 3400-3600 m, where cumulus clouds will form. The air in our area is drying, so no overdevelopment is expected, as well as no rain in the main valley and to the north of it. There is a small chance for some isolated showers to the South-East of us. The plan is as usual: Get up by 9:30/10:00, be ready for a 10:15 task briefing. We expect to set a big task, get enough rest! Next update at 8 tomorrow morning.

Task distance: 35.8 km Launch window: 11:15 Race start (SSS): 12:15 Status: Task stopped due to incoming rain in the east — but with most pilots already safely on the ground A Short Window, A Fast Task Today's weather only offered a narrow window to fly, so the task committee opted for a short but punchy task. It turned out to be exactly the right call: a compact 35.8 km course that delivered fast, tactical racing and a goal field full of smiling pilots. Conditions Before the start, cloudbase sat low at around 2300–2400 m, gradually building through the morning. By the time the start gate opened at 12:15, cloudbase had climbed to roughly 2700 m — enough to give pilots a solid position for the start. The clouds themselves developed quickly, and staying clear of cloud base in the final minutes before the start proved tricky for the field. The Route Out of the start, the task led west along the ridge to the first turnpoint, then out into the valley for the second. From there, pilots faced the day's first real tactical choice: take the longer line along the high ridge, or push the shorter, lower ridge line toward turnpoint 3. The leading gaggle chose the low route — but arrived at the crossing point undercooked, leaving the valley crossing to turnpoint 4 with only around 2300 m. That decision would go on to define the entire race. The Key Moment The chasing group played it safer, topping up to around 2800 m before committing to the same crossing — a difference of roughly 500 m that proved decisive. On the other side, the leading gaggle pushed for the ESS on the south side of the valley first, but their thin altitude margin forced them to cross back to the north side in search of lift just to reach ESS and goal. Not everyone made it — several pilots landed just a few hundred metres short of the ESS cylinder. The chasing group, by contrast, arrived with height to spare and could fly the optimised line straight to the ESS without any detours — closing, and in many cases erasing, the gap to the leaders in the process. The Finish With rain moving in from the east, the task was eventually stopped — though by that point the vast majority of the field was already on the ground. A well-timed call all around: the short window was used to full effect, producing a fast and genuinely exciting racing task. Most pilots came into goal with a smile. Results: Overall: 1. Morane Montavon 2. Lars Meerstetter 3. Martin Kubicek Sports Class: 1. Stefan Bahn 2. Raphael Oerer 3. Thierry Stoll Women: 1. Violeta Jimenez 2. Agnieszka Zaborowska 3. Martina Hauri Juniors: 1. Thierry Stoll 2. Nicola Heiniger 3. Jean Morisetti Fotos: Martin Scheel